Our trip

We left for our big trip out East on June 23rd and got home on the 7th of July. We stayed at Michael's Sister and family's house for the weekend. Joshua had a ton of fun playing with their children. They played with blocks, cars, in their yard and at the splash pad. We had a great time at the Iowa City mall riding the carousel and playing in the Children Museum. Joshua was very sad that we had to go but it helped that our next stop had children too.


My handsome men on a break during the trip out East.


Will enjoying the carousel


Alexa and Joshua cleaning teeth at the Children Museum


Joshua making a pizza at the Children Museum


Will enjoying Aunt Misty's window.





Enjoying Aunt Misty's rocker.


Joshua enjoying the splash pad.


Alexa and Joshua


Joshua climbing the climbing wall. He made it all the way up then needed help on the way down.


Alexa and Joshua getting ready to go down the slides.

After Misty's house we drove to Charleston Illinois to my dear friends house. It was her wedding on the 3rd so I helped her with some last minute preparations for her big day it was so much fun and I loved being her matron of honor. I put together a bag of goodies with any possible item we might need, safety pins, lotion, hairspray, bobby pins, tide cleaner, etc. This is probably the last wedding I will be in and it was a great way to go out. I loved every second of this wedding, thank you Danielle for allowing me to be in it! Unfortunately I have no pictures of the wedding (since I was in it) so Danielle if you have some pictures I want them!!

While we were in Charleston I had a lot of fun with Jillian my little buddy for the time being. I painted her nails and curled her hair, I had a lot of fun playing with Danielle's girl. She has quite the personality and makes me laugh constantly. Tyler is hilarious too, he draws some pretty impressive pictures can play video games very well and was a great play mate for Joshua. Will had a lot of fun playing in their large house. He wasn't too sure about the dogs at first and would cry anytime they barked but as time went on he loved those dogs and would hug on them and giggle at them. Danielle has one step down from their dining room to their living room. While we were there Will became a pro at crawling up and down them. He can now pull him self to standing (another thing he learned to do there).


Tyler and Joshua. Joshua was very mad that Tyler had to leave and was not willing to give me a smile


Tyler hugging Joshua


Danielle and I (I miss you!!!)


Jillian and I


Jillian and Will

Joshua, once again was sad to leave, he had acquired two little buddies. Joshua loved drawing, playing video games and just playing pretend with Tyler, Danielle's son. Jillian was a ton of fun to but enjoyed more of the girlie things like dress up and playing mom and dad. One day we enjoyed the sprinkler outside and another day we took Joshua, Will and Jillian to the pool. Joshua LOVED the water slide and would go on it all day long if he was allowed to. We all enjoyed wonderful company with Danielle and her now husband and their wonderful cooking. We are so sad they live so far away (a 15.5 hour drive) and are looking forward to seeing them again soon.

While they boys and I were in Charleston Michael's friend Nathan picked up Michael and took him to Indianapolis to spend a couple of days with him. Then Monday night we met half way to pick him up. It was great to meet Nathan we have all talked with him for awhile now online but had yet to meet him. We are looking forward to seeing you again in October.

We are now in Ft. Collins and settled in, enjoying the Colorado weather. Our next visitors will be arriving on July 28th from Texas and I cannot wait to see them!!

Pictures of our trip to Idaho and Oregon

Will happy as can be. Little does he know we will be in the car for 6 hours!






Will fighting Andrea for her tray. He loves playing with his, which he dropped so he grabbed for Andrea's.




And he won.


Will at my dad's


Joshua finding eggs in the coup.


Farmer Joshua


Look at my egg. There were three in the coup that day.


Now time to check on the horses (my Step-mom has 2)


Nap time for the baby.


Random Hugs that warmed my heart.


Joshua watching a movie with Linda


A good family picture


The four of us at our hotel pool in La Grande.


My sister Erin with us in the water.


Erin and I at her place.


Erin and Joshua outside of her place.


Andrea and Will (Will is playing with a bottle, he thought he wanted one too since Andrea was holding one. He still won't take formula or water from one though.)

Our trip to Idaho and Oregon

Last week we took a drive to Boise, Idaho to see some great friends, then headed over to Oregon to see my Dad, Step-mom, and Sister. We had such a wonderful time and really didn't want to leave. Joshua was sad every time we told him we had to go to another town.

Our first stop was at Little America, hotel, just outside of Rock Springs Wyoming. We headed out a day early so the next day of travel wouldn't be so hard. I think Joshua was the only one who slept well that night and even he woke up quite a bit and was talking in his sleep.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights we stayed at our friends house in Boise, Idaho. They had a baby girl 5 months ago and it was nice finally being able to meet her. Us Women had a great time sewing and the men played games. The babies had fun playing with each other, Will loved their dog, and Joshua enjoyed the dog, movies, and video games.

Monday we drove over to Baker City, Oregon to spend the day with my Dad and Step-mom. It was nice to see them again and enjoy a wonderful meal. Once we walked in the door Joshua asked where the eggs were, he had remembered playing hide and find the wood eggs with my Step-mom. He had a fun time hiding and finding the eggs with my Step-mom and Dad once again. Later Joshua went outside to help my Step-mom with the chickens and horses, he had asked 'Do you have a farmers hat, mayme?' something else he had remembered from last time. While he was outside about to see if the horses needed water he told me 'I've been to this farm before'. I am always impressed with how great his memory is, especially since the last time we had been there was 9 months ago. On our way out the door he asked if my dad and step-mom could move to 'Laramie, Wywoming'. They said no and so he asked if just one of them could move there instead. I'm glad he likes them so much, I wish we could see them more often.

Monday afternoon we drove to La Grande, Oregon to see my little sister. We met up at the hotel we were staying at and enjoyed a wonderful dinner downtown at the Cock n' Bull. I had a very good salad and sandwich called the Turk n' Cranberry, and had a wonderful conversation with my family. After dinner we went back to the hotel so we could all swim, then talk more with my sister we were up until 10pm our time talking. We slept a little better in that hotel, however, in both hotels we stayed at I had dreams that they kicked us out because of Will getting up so many times at night. Tuesday morning Will was up at 6:00 mtn time so 5:00 for everyone else there. We had a very early breakfast and when it was time for Wills nap at 9:00mtn time Michael took Joshua swimming and I took a 2 hour nap! After nap time we went to my sisters cosmetology school so she could cut my hair. I am so proud of her, she has accomplished a lot and in July will graduate and start work in a shop! She did a wonderful job on my hair and I wish I lived closer so she could be my main hair stylist! For lunch I tried out a great burger joint called Nell's n' Out, I ate a great cheeseburger and curly fries with a milk shake to share. We took lunch back to my sisters house and left about an hour later so we could make it to Boise for dinner. Just before we got to my sisters house we heard Joshua exlaim 'I like this place!!' I said 'Oh, yeah? What does it have?' He said 'The ball thing!!'. 9 months ago we visited my sister at her house for about 3 hours or so and Joshua loved playing with the pool table. I am blown away by his memory.

We stayed Tuesday night in Boise at our friends and drove back home on Wednesday. Wednesday was a very long day. We did stop for lunch and little breaks along the way. Whenever we stopped we would get a new Red Box movie for Joshua to watch, we got three that day and it was so worth it. We were on the road for 14 hours and I don't think I have ever been happier to be home.

I'll post pictures soon!!

Third stop Oregon...

Okay... I am so sorry it has taken me FOREVER to get my Oregon Pictures posted. Here they are. The pictures include pictures of my sister with my boys, my dad with my boys, Oregon mountains, and my sister and I. We had a great time in Oregon, even though we were there only two days. It was great being able to see my dad, step-mom and sister again. It has been way too long since our last trip out there. Joshua LOVED seeing all the animals my family have chickens, two horses, and three dogs. Joshua was 'farmer Joshua' whenever he would go outside with his Grandma. I thought he looked cute in the hat and had to take some picture. I thought the picture of him in the hat turned out rather well. :)

The night we got into Baker City we drove to LaGrande to see my sister. It was great to see her and have her meet Will for the first time. The mountains were beautiful driving in, Joshua and Will fell asleep on the way over. Joshua in his BK crown was too cute to pass up taking pictures of him. We were able to see my sister's place and hang out there for a little while before heading back to my dad's house. We had some good conversations, lots of games of hide wood eggs and find them, and lots of good food (as always thank you Linda for your wonderful hospitality).

On Friday we drove to Boise ID to see some GREAT friends of ours who used to live here (you are greatly missed). We had great conversations, games, and food. Thank you for entertaining us, we look forward to our next visit. For the fourth of July we went to a parade downtown and ment to light fire works that night and watch the local fireworks. I came down with a sore throat that as of TODAY is finally going away. So I went to bed and the guys played games. The 5th of July we lit some sparklers and smoke balls. One of the green smoke balls rolled under our green jetta. It looked like our car was melting. :) It was great fun.

We took the entire 9 hour trip home in one day, however, it took us 12 hours to get home. It has taken some time to get on a schedule again but I think we are finally back to a normal life here. Enjoy the pictures.

Second stop Ketchum Idaho

Our next stop was in Ketchum Idaho. We were able to stay there with Michael's Mom, Dad, and Sister in their time share. It was an enjoyable stay and I'm glad we went. The town was tiny but it was gorgeous, and so was the area surrounding it. We went on many walks, a hike and I went on a short run with Todd. The town had a lot of cute stores to shop in and a wonderful chocolate and ice-cream store. On Sunday we went to a nice church in a town 15 minutes away. Will slept nicely in his travel bed and Joshua slept in the LARGE walk in closet, that was his 'bed room' for during our stay there. We left Ketchum on Thursday so we could stay a night with my Dad and Step-Mom in Oregon.








Maxine and Todd on the trail below, the picture is zoomed in.


same shot zoomed in.

A tiny little park.









Family picture