Balloons!

Saturday (9/11) we braved the dark and woke up early to go see the Hot Air Balloons. This is something that we did every year when I was a kid and I wanted to take the boys at least once before we move. My dad and Amanda came with us along with our friends Lindy, Ava and Kelsea. It was so much fun! Luckily, my kids crashed at 11 and slept for 4 hours after so I was able to get a nap after waking up at 4 in the morning. However when I told this to Chris, he reminded me that he used to get up at 3 and have to work a 12 - 15 hour day. I felt a little bad that I was able to nap :)

Walking down to the park at 4:45am.
We got to watch the "Glow Show" up close an personal. I never knew there was a glow show..I only ever knew about Dawn Patrol...but we got there early enough to see this and it was breath-taking.

The crew!!!

Our friends, Lindy, Ava and Kelsea

All of us minus one

They did a tribute to 9-11 with with and then had a fly by in the "one man left behind" formation. It was powerful.

We found a sweet parking spot after the early morning show and sat on our car and watched the balloons rise into the air! The boys were mesmerized!

Grandpa Steve and Logan

Amanda and Tracen- he is a goof!

My boys just love Grandpa Steve! They will sure miss him when we move! I guess they will just have to come out and visit a lot :)

The balloons! They are spectacular!!

Here is the end of the glow show...the battle of the balloons! It was pretty cool!

I Finally Got My Camera Back!!!

So here are all the pictures...I will try and keep them in sequential order, but you never know with this program :) Here Goes nothing!

T-BALL

Tracen played T-ball through the YMCA this year. He enjoyed it a lot! Here are some pictures from the little ceremony to give out medals!

Mom and Tracen making funny faces :)

One day he may learn how to smile for the camera

Daddy and Tracen making Monster faces! (ARRRRRRR)

FIRES with KENTON

When Kent was here we had a couple of nights where we had a fire outside. Jace and Tracen having a fun time being buddies!!!

Kent and Chris doing fire dancing with sparklers!

Kent and Morgan even showed off their patriotism

Fourth of July

This was our last fourth in Reno/Sparks so we headed down to Victorian Square to watch the fireworks! Tracen hates loud noises so we brought his ear muffs and he was able to enjoy the night and watch the fireworks!

Bear Lake

I once again braved taking the boys out to Utah for about a week. We had a great time!

Here they are on the plane.. they were so good on the way there.


After the plane ride we had to drive about 2 hours up to the Lake. The boys zonked out in the car. Check out their super pillows! Curious George and Buzz Lightyear. I made them mini pillows for school (with matching blankets...not shown) and they worked out perfect for our trip!



Tracen is out!

We stopped in Logan and caught up with my friend Megan! It was tons of fun!

The boys loved playing with Grandpa Jay when we got to the cabin!

This is my favorite. Chris so reminds me of his grandpa!

Me and Logie on the boat!

Tracen loved driving the boad with Uncle Kent!

We didn't all ride the tube, but we floated. Tracen was a bit nervous!

Logie went on a tube ride with Alex and had so much fun. At one point when we told him he was done, he told me "No, I want more mama!"

The Zoo

Our last day in SLC we went to the Zoo and the little elephant was having her 1st birthday party so we got cupcakes. It was fun!

Back To School

School started back today with my students.
I am excited because I love to teach and
get to know the kids I work with.
But even more exciting is the fact that I just experienced my LAST first day of School at Bishop Manogue.
It is crazy! I can't believe how quickly these years have gone and yet I am completely ready to move on with our next adventures.
I will be sad to leave GREAT friends that I have met there...
but I have 9 1/2 months...so I plan to make the most of it.

On the agenda for this year:
1)sparkling cider lunches aka champagne lunches
2) movie night
3)Math dept Christmas party
4)Last performance as a LOGARITHM...we are doing Vanilla Ice meets N'SYNC
5)Put on Your Kicks...PROM '86 (Put it on your calendar 3*19*2011...Faculty Musical)
6)Christmas in May
7)Birthday Pranks
8)much...much...more I am sure :)

On a sad note:
I hate to even publish this,
but let it be a warning to ALL out there like ME!
After completely tearing apart my house and rearranging all my furniture, I have declared that my WEDDING RINGS are LOST.
Last Monday (the 16th) I got in the car after dropping the boys off at school and looked at my hand and noticed my wedding rings were not there.
Naturally, I panicked!
This has happened one other time, but they were found in my bed
where they fell off (or I very well could have taken them off in my sleep).
But no luck this time.
I feel like a part of myself is missing
and I don't know if I will ever let it go.
Luckily, my sweet Christopher has been very kind about it.
I don't know what I would do if he was ANGRY at me on top of the guilt I feel already.
So here is the LESSON to be LEARNED.
If your rings can slide off your finger...get them SIZED!
Even if you figure you will be CAREFUL
and if you like that when you get
HUGE, PREGNANT and SWOLLEN that you can still wear them...it is
NOT WORTH THE RISK!!!
I still have HOPE that they could turn up,
but I am seriously considering a scavenger hunt around all the Reno pawn shops
to see if someone turned them in. (If you're up for an adventure...let me know)
My ring was/is so unique I KNOW I could spot it in a second.
But for now, I think about it everytime I start playing with my finger like I used to do when I would twirl my ring when I was nervous.
It truly makes me SICK thinking that I have misplaced
something that holds so much meaning for me.

Sometimes I wish...

1. Chris could be home (especially on the tough days when I would rather lay in bed than do anything at all)

2. 4th year was over and we were moved and in our new home ready to embark on our newest adventure.

3. I could get over all of my insecurities and really embrace life.

4. I would just let myself have a good cry instead of having to be the one holding it together all of the time.

5. I was a better mom and did more things with my boys that I have always wanted to do.

6. Little people didn't throw temper tantrums.

7. I was 16 again and could just be silly and do silly things.

8. I could snuggle with my boys (all three of them) all day.

9. My boys weren't so big, even though I really enjoy this time.

10. I lived in a small town like "Gilmore Girls" and had tons of super close friends for my neighbors.

11. I didn't love chocolate and icecream so much.

12. I could sew like my Mom.

13. I could sing like Amanda.

14. I could run like Lindy.

15. I could have thick, long, blonde hair.

Across the Country: Reno, NV to Harrisburg, PA

Before we left, I was trying to explain to Tracen that Mommy and Daddy were going to be leaving for a few days and so he would have to stay with Grandma Debbie. He didn't like this idea and so I asked him:

Me: "Do you want Daddy to have to go to Pennsylvania ALL by himself?"

Tracen: "No...."

Me: "So then Mommy needs to go with Daddy for a few days, I'll be back I promise."

Tracen: "But I don't want you to go."

Me: "But you don't want Daddy to be alone to you?"

Tracen: "No....so, I'll just come with you!"

What a smart guy...almost convinced me to let him tag along :(

Here are some details from our trip:

Approximately 2500 miles and 40 hours later we are now in Harrisburg, PA.

Us...in the car!!!

Wednesday: July 28th

Reno, NV to Salt Lake City, UT (520 miles and 7.5 hours)

We left at 645 pm and arrived in SLC around 215 am

Thursday: July 29th

SLC, UT to Lincoln, NE (872 miles and 12.5 hours)

We left SLC around 1130 am and arrived in Lincoln around 1 am

Friday: July 30th

Lincoln, NE to Columbus, OH (840 miles and 14 hours)

We left Lincoln around 1030 am and arrived in Columbus around 130 am

We stopped and looked at the Mississippi River. Neither of us had ever seen it before...so that was kinda fun =0)Us by the river....

Just me and the Mississippi!

The bridge we crossed over the Mississippi...we felt very connected to Christin and Kent at that moment! Ha!

Saturday: July 31st

Columbus, OH to Harrisburg, PA (380 miles and 6.5 hours)

We left Columbus around 1130 am and arrived in Harrisburg around 6 pm

On our drive through Pennsylvania to Harrisburg, we traveled on the turnpike...it cost us $12 just to drive on the road. But hey...on the bright side we didn't have too much traffic...pay for no traffic...I would do it any day!

Beautiful Pennsylvania...we traveled through about 3 or 4 of these cool tunnels through the hills.

We traveled through LOTS of states, drove over LOTS of rivers, listened to two books, watched one movie and just hung out.

We traveled through: Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. I wish I had taken pictures of all the "welcome signs," but I thought about that too late....maybe next time!

One of the many rivers we crossed...no, its not the Mississippi

Today, we traveled to the land of Hershey, PA and went to Chocolate World. After a chocolate tour and lots of crowds we called it good.

The Hershey tour was more like a Disneyland Kiddie ride.... it was fun!

And this is for Christin...you gotta love the GIGANTIC display of Reeses :)

Good luck, Chris! You will rock it out here at Penn State :)

I had to add this...isn't he handsome! Soon to be Dr. Karrasch...you know you would want to have him as your doctor :)

Time to Update...but my Camera is DEAD

I have been wanting to update, and I have fun pictures, but my battery is dead on my camera and I have NO IDEA where I put it so...here's what's new:

Christopher *finished 3rd year...studied super hard and rocked his Surgery Rotation and got awesome reviews (we are so proud)

*starting 4th year with tests!!!

*home from Vegas for the past 4 weeks!

*Studying...studying....and more studying BORING :(

*getting ready to apply for residency...we picked out our 66 schools...yes, I did just say 66!

*leaving Wednesday to go to PA and OH for 2 away rotations for 8 weeks

Sara

*hating that school starts in 3 weeks (booo!!! but it is my last year....YAY!!!!)
*training for my first 1/2 marathon in October

*has logged 111.52 miles since April (now that is crazy to think about)

*ran a 5K and placed 33/195 people, 8/137 women with a time of 28:03 (which was 2 1/2 mins behind my goal time...bummer, but not bad)

*loving being home with my boys and hanging out with them

*SO ready to find out where we will be heading for residency

Tracen

*Playing a lot!

*Loves the number 4, can you guess why?

*loves to sing Veggie Tales in the car...this kid is a performer if you catch him at the right time

*Thinks his room is "off limits" to any babies and that includes poor Ethan

*Is having Mommy separation anxiety and is CONSTANTLY telling me to "stay out of the street when I run"

*eating better...I didn't say good, but better

*loves super heros but thinks that he is a bad guy because he likes to swim and scare people

*Has a fake (stuffed animal) dog (Buster) that he absolutely loves

*Is just a super fun kid! I wish more people could get to know him :)

Logan

*Is ALL BOY and LOVES to play swords

*Is throughly convinced that he can do anything if he makes this weird duck noise before he does it

*Loves to swim

*Loves babies and is super affectionate

*Has the biggest lips I have ever seen on a little guy

*Love to be Buzz Lightyear and jump off EVERYTHING! (but he has to say "To infinity and beyond!" first)

*Adores his brother

*Has a very tender and cuddly side that I absolutely love