July 2009

David and I started out July on the road. The plan was for us to meet Mom and get the kids in Kansas City, MO, then drive back to Lincoln, NE and meet Davids family for a camping trip. It ended up Mom got sick and couldn't make the trip, so David and I decided to make a FAST trip to AR, pick the kids up and make it back to Lincoln, NE the next day. We made this decision at 3:00 in the afternoon which meant we would be in AR sometime around 2:00 am! That was the plan until the wonderful GPS got us completely lost in Kansas City. We finally found a gas station open and bought an old fashioned atlas. So that tacked on an extra hour to our trip. We finally made it to Mom and Dad's around 4:00 am. I don't ever want to do that again if at all possible. We visited until noon and then headed out for Kansas City. We decided to stay the night with Ben and Julie Anderson. They are such a wonderful couple I really wish we lived closer. They have two girls just Katherine and Devon's age. They get along great. The kids got to swim in their pool, which of course was the highlight. The next morning we left and headed for Lincoln. David's family had rented campers and were going to be staying at the church camp Dennis works for. The weekend was in celebration of Howard and Cynthia's 20th anniversary. We all had a blast. Dennis took everyone on the rope course they have at the camp, took us canoeing and we also went to a waterpark in the state park just down the road. On the last night we were there all the siblings got together and sang the song from Howard and Cynthia's wedding, Household of Faith. Then Mom and Dad told us their story and a little of what it was like to blend two families. The struggles and the triumph of seeing their kids grow so close. It was a blessed night. David got a stomach flu the last two days we were there. I felt so sorry for him. He had to get the camper loaded up and ready to go and then drive 3 hours home while fighting throwing up. But all in all we all agreed we had a great time and wanted to do it again.

Devon turned 2 this month. We really didn't do anything real special for his this year. Granny and Grandad were out of town. So it was just us. I was planning to make him a cake, but I got called into work that morning and was not able to make one. So he had a piece of leftover apple pie with a candle in it. :( I felt kind of bad not to have a real party, but he is only two, he won't remember right?

While the kids were in AR I got William's nursery "corner" fixed up. He is going to be in Katherine's room for the first few months and then I will move him downstairs to Devon's room. We moved the crib into Katherine's room while she was gone. She got back and I don't think she liked the idea of sharing her room. She has adjusted to it now and is actually excited to have the new baby in her room.

Luke, Morgan, Raley, Bethany and her boyfriend Cody came up to visit us at the end of July. It was the first time I had seen Luke since he got back from Iraq and it was the first time he and Morgan had seen our house. I was so glad Cody got to come and we got to meet him. It sounds like he and Bethany are getting pretty serious! We all had a great visit. We played volleyball at the park in Cozad and then went to the new old fashioned soda shop. Sun. night we took everyone out to the lake and had a picnic and David took everyone skiing. It was a short visit, but I was so glad they all got to come. Family is such a wonderful blessing. I hope not to take it for granted.