I Hope They Call Me on a Mission....

My sis-in-law has this quote on her wall...I will be using it VERY soon...but it is appropriate here:

mis*sion*ar*y (noun):  someone who leaves their family for two years so others can be with their family for Eternity

Chris' cousin left on a mission and I wanted to do a little something...so I came up with this:
(I'm kinda proud of it...LOL)  We are going to make it a monthly goal to write to our family missionary and maybe he will even get a little treat out of it!  What a lucky guy...ha!

Fun with Cousins

 One of the highlights of this trip is seeing all of our cousins.  There are many more pics of these cuties to come and many more cousins, but here are some from our first week in Reno.

 My boys can't get enough of little Peyton.  They can hardly grasp the fact that he is a "walking baby" and isn't 1 year old yet.  He is so fun and has really warmed up to us in the past couple of weeks.

 On Mondays, Grandma Debbie usually hangs our with Ally and Zack, but since we have been here, we gladly have taken her place.  Our first week, we swam, watched movies and painted bird houses.  Logan LOVES Ally and Tracen and Zack get a long great.  It is fun to have them all together!

Welcome to ReNo!

We got to Reno on July 10...which side note is also my Dad's birthday...and have been here ever since, playing, visiting and having fun. We miss Chris tons and miss our friends in PA and our home, but we are having a good time. I have TONS of pictures, so I am going to try and get caught up and go in order.

When we first got here, I spent a lot of time at the hospital visiting my sweet grandma Lou! (thanks to an awesome babysitter/aunt who would take the boys!) She has made a ton of improvements since the first day that I saw her, but she still has a LONG way to go. She is now in a rehabilitation hospital where they have her learning to speak, swallow and breathe.  But with little improvement everyday, it is encouraging and keeps the faith and hope.  

One of our first play dates was with some of our greatest friends the Iverson's.  We played at the mall indoor play place and then headed over to do some swirling.  The kids had so much fun interacting with each other.  At one point, Brooklyn (5) told her mom that she needed to tell her a secret.  And speaking about Tracen she whispered, "I think I'm going to marry him!"  Yes, please!  We would love it.  Imagine their awesome mother-in-laws :)  We got pictures of the kids, but I don't have them, so you will have to deal with mine and Lindsay's cute faces :)

On Saturday, July 14, I headed to San Fransisco with Kent, Christin and her sister, Traci.  We ran a 5K called the Color Run.  Basically, you show up with a white shirt and by the end, you are a rainbow.  It was fun!

The BEFORE

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and after 3.1 miles (maybe...it didn't feel that long)...the AFTER

We did it!  PS, I am a terrible jumper...ha!

Life Lion

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE Hershey?  Where else do you have a level 1 trauma center surrounded by fields of wheat and corn, stuck in the middle of a small town frosted with chocolate and littered with AMAZING young families!  It has been the perfect fit for us.  One downfall...um...our Daddy works WAY too much!  AND we don't have family.  (maybe that was more like 2 downfalls)  I am always telling people that if I could pick up Hershey and move it closer to family, that it would be my ideal.  So I guess we will just have to live it up for the next 47 1/2 months!  Today for PIM playgroup we headed over to the Life Lion hangars to watch the helicopters fly out.  It was totally AWESOME!  The KIDS LOVED IT!!!...even though it was a bit windy and noisy!  And we didn't only get to see one, but two fly out.  By the time the people were don telling us about the helicopters and giving us an up-close-and-personal-look, they got a call and had to go.  They had said that from the time they get a call to the time they are off the ground is a mere 5 minutes...how amazing is that?  Needless to say, it was our one great outing for the day as we will be packing, cleaning and getting ready for our trip out West!

 

Foot note: In the video the propellers look like they aren't moving, but in reality they were going so stinkin' fast...I think that my phone camera couldn't keep up!

Ortho BBQ

Last night we co-hosted the annual ORTHO BBQ...I think we just signed ourselves up for the next 3 years, but I am happy to do it.  Our great friends and neighbors helped in the planning and putting it all together...it was a good time with lots of good food and fun to see everyone outside of the grueling work schedule.  The heat was ridiculous at 101 degrees plus the humidity it was a scorcher to say the least...but luckily we brought out all our water toys and the clouds offered a nice covering in the evening making it quite pleasant.  The highlight of the night however, was when Chris' chief on the Trauma service challenged Chris to a slip and slide competition.  On the line was Chris having to round EVERY weekend for the next 9 weeks!  Ahh!  Luckily I am going to be gone 6 of those...so I wasn't too worried....ha!  Here is the friendly competition :)

I hope you enjoyed this craziness...Chris has no shame...sometimes I think I am more embarrassed by his actions...lol....needless to say, he rose to the challenge and won't have to round every weekend :)

Fourth of July

Our Fourth of July was low key.  In the evening we had some friends over for a BBQ and then headed over to the Medical Center to listen to the Hershey Orchestra.  Then we headed to our friends house to watch the fire works.    It was nice to get out of the house for a few hours. Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays. I love the patriotism and the celebration of our great nation. God bless the USA!

Whipped Ice Cream

I have fond memories of

eating ice cream with Grandpa Kay.

He loved to have his ice cream every night after dinner.

Vanilla ice cream with Hershey chocolate syrup.  

Lou (Grandma) would throw it in the microwave

for a few seconds and whip it, 

basically making a milk shake in a bowl. 

Growing up we were in the same ward as my Grandma

and I loved sneaking into the library with her,

sitting by her in the pews at church,

walking by and giving a quick hi and listening to her sing the hymns.

She doesn't have a pop star voice, but it is a good voice,

unique and I love listening to it.

Going to town, playing back yard baseball

participating in many games of "Oh Hell,"

family dinners, spending the night, cupboard cleaning in the summers,

camping trips in the trailer and many, many holiday dinners.

Tonight we had ice cream and in memory of Lou
I had it whipped.  Emotions ran strong with my
simple bowl of ice cream.

Tuesday night Lou had a stroke.
It's pretty bad, it's pretty scary and I am
really FAR AWAY.  I leave on Tuesday, but until then
I wait and worry and pray that the same grandma
will be there when I get there...but I don't think that will happen.
She was healthy...walked daily, swam 3 times a week and had
an active life style.  It wasn't supposed to happen this way,
not to my Grandma.
I think I am still in a daze.  Being so far away,
not seeing what is going on, makes it so that it doesn't seem real.
I sat and played "How Great Thou Art" on the piano...it's her funeral
song.  We used to sing it to her every time we were all together.
She always said that it did her no good for us to
sing it to her after she was "dead."

So for now, I sit and wait.  Tuesday can't come soon enough.
And in the memory of Grandma
I think I might have a lot more whipped ice cream.

Summer...Summer...Summer time!

We have had so much fun this summer!  It has been crazy.  We have been busy busy busy, playing, completing projects, Vacation Bible School, going to movies, riding rides at Hershey Park, going to the water park at Hershey Park (can you tell we like Hershey Park?), sleeping in "Grandma's room", getting ice cream at Friendly's, hanging out with friends and being together as a family (whenever Chris' schedule permits).  I don't know if I will ever get our blog caught up, but maybe while we are in Reno/Utah...10 day :)  Eeek!  We are excited!

Here are some highlights of our June:

Last night Chris and I went on a date!  Yes, it has been that long...I am pretty sure I blogged about our last date we had.  Ha!  We hit up an AMAZING Thai restaurant (Bangkok 56) for the best dinner I have had in a while!  Their chicken was melt in your mouth good.  Chris and I agreed that we would be making that place a "usual" while we are here.  Then we headed over a little state park "Fort Hunter" and talked and walked near the river...and of course...documented our time together.  (P.S...it was Chris who pulled out the camera first!)  Finally, we ended the night by going to Baskin Robbins (my favorite ice cream shop) only to be disappointed.  In 29 1/2 years, I have never, I repeat, never walked in to a BR 31 flavors and been disappointed...there was no Peanut Butter and Chocolate!  What?  So I walked out...Chris was all confused...he just doesn't understand my deep love for this flavor...and I feel like it is a BR staple???  What the heck?!

We have had many dates at Hershey Park and Tracen never tires of wanting to take a picture with the candy characters.  Logan on the other hand is a bit skeptical and won't even go near them!

Last weekend we took Daddy to the movies!  We saw Brave and loved it...maybe it was a bit scary...but we liked it none-the-less.  We are excited to see Madagascar 3 in Reno :)

 

Through Tracen's school, we found out about Vacation Bible School.  It is a big thing out here.  Basically, churches provide 1 week of 2 1/2 hours of FREE bible school for kids 3 - 10.  We jumped all over the idea.  Tracen loved it...Logan was a bit nervous, but it was also late at night (6 - 8:30pm) and we weren't very good at getting naps before...because we have been playing so much.  But they had lots of fun doing crafts, singing songs and learning bible stories.  After the first night, for FHE, we took the boys to Friendly's for some ice cream.  We really like to flex our muscles around here lately.

With vacation comes a love for not sleeping in our own bed.  I remember this as a kid too...there is always something more fun about sleeping somewhere other than your room.  So the boys have had a lot of sleepovers in "Grandma's room."  Don't worry, they kick each other all night, I just happened to snap a picture before the wildness.

With the heat, we have traveled to the water park a TON!  Our favorite is the Wave Pool.  Water is the best way to beat 98 degree weather with 80% humidity...seriously...can we say, "melting"?

And we really like to eat oreos while at the pool...can you tell?!?

I made a dress!  One of my many projects was making a short-sleeve maxi dress with my friend.  Mine is a little wild and crazy, but when I saw the fabric, it reminded me of my personality...busy...colorful and fun :)  We finished them up this week and wore them to church today. You can't really even tell they are the same dress since our fabric is so different.  I love her stripes!  I actually have the same fabric to make a skirt...that is on the project list for tomorrow! 

Lots more fun, but this post is already ridiculously long!  In Chris news, he is no longer an INTERN!  Yay!  Congrats babe!  He is starting Ortho Trauma tomorrow for 10 weeks!  It is going to be a busy year and I plan to keep us busy so that it makes the time fly by!  I am so proud of his hard work and how good he is with the boys.  They miss their dad ToNs when he is gone, but when he is home, he is so good at making them feel like the most important little dudes in the world.  I love our little family and the time we are having here in PA.  While we miss seeing our extended family, we have really felt like we have fit right in here in PA.