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!