FHE at Grandma Sandy's, Random pictures, and Freezing Corn!

To start off, you just can never have too many pictures of your babies, right??  Especially if they're as cute as mine. :)  In July we got together with Bo's family a ton.  One night we had FHE, where the highlight of the night was playing "Treasure, Treasure."  Also known as Button, Button, Who's got the Button.  Another day we got together and shucked, boiled, cut, and froze corn. That was a waaaaaay long day.  And of course, through them all, the kids played and played.  We love family!

 

Free Collin Raye Concert ? Yes, Please!!

Amanda, Bo's sister, texted us one day telling us that there was going to be a free Collin Raye concert in Moses Lake in early July, and we were sold! Combine the free concert with free babysitters (my parents), and we pretty much had it made for an awesome night. :)

We joined up with Matt and Amanda and Travis and Rozzie at dinner and then all headed out to the park for the concert.  It was a really good concert too. The music was great, the weather was perfect, and the company was fun.  It was a good time!

 

Kylie's Wedding

Bo's cousin, Kylie Beus, got married the beginning of July, shortly after our arrival to the Tri-Cities.  The kids had fun watching the wedding, but to be honest, the reception was their favorite part.  The reception was a The Country Mercantile and the whole place, rides included, was reserved for the party. Carter, Megan, and Derrick had so much fun riding the rides!  Well, Carter and Megan did.  Derrick would only get on the train (not pictured).

As for the pictures, the first two are from the wedding.  The kids all thought the waterfall behind the pulpit was really cool.  The following pictures are of the kids riding the rides and of us parents trying to get a group grandkid photo.  Derrick was NOT having it.  It's rare when you can get Derrick in the picture taking mood, and that night was not a good night for him.  I love how I have the whole thing documented. No Derrick, then Bo trying Derrick sit, then Derrick flipping out, then Bo's dad holding him and trying to get him to settle down.  CLASSIC.  Oh Derrick, how I love you so!

 

Unpacking Fun

Unpacking can always be an adventure, especially when all of your belongings have been packed and gone for over a month, and in some cases a couple of months.  Oh, the treasures to be found!!  "So THAT'S where that was!" and "I forgot about these!" were common phrases from all of us when we were unpacking the boxes.  It was like a giant Christmas.  Shoot, I should have just left half of the toy boxes packed and brought them out on Christmas morning!

I found our stand up toy and promptly cleaned, assembled, and stuffed Perry into it. Carter found his Cars collection of ...cars.  :) He also found the camera....  Derrick and Megan were happy with their long lost puzzles and stuffed animals. :)

During the unpacking phase we took a break and drove to my parents home to visit.  The first picture is of Othello, Bo's hometown.  The second picture is my parents' home. The rest of the pictures are just fun pictures to document our life.  Yep, we were happy.  Yep, we got along (sort of ), and yep, I went without makeup a little too often. :)

 

4th of July

We left the reunion on July 3rd, went and picked up our new van, and headed up to Washington, ready to be done with moving.  We passed one of Bo's new workplaces as we drove to Terra's (Bo's sister).  The picture is the of the Kadlec Freestanding ER.  About 1/3 of his shifts per month are there.  We got to Terra's late on the 3rd, spent the night and hung out for a bit in the morning before heading over to our new place, which is a townhome just around the block from Terra.

We unpacked as quickly as we could and then headed out with Bo's Mom and her husband Reed, along with Bo's sister, Michelle, and her family to go see some fireworks at a nearby park.

Below are pictures of the ER, the kids waiting for fireworks, Derrick and Perry sleeping after a long day of unpacking, our beautiful new van, Perry and Clara (who are about 2 weeks apart!) and Megan with her cousins, Brielle and Hallie.

 

 our new van!!

 



Baker Family Reunion 2014

From June 30 to July 3rd we had the Baker Family Reunion up in this GINORMOUS lodge in Heber City, Utah.  I think ginormous is an understatement.  The cabin had 12? bed rooms, as many bathrooms, if not more, an indoor swimming pool, a huge kitchen, a couple of different living rooms, a recreation room with pool table and ping pong, a lookout and so much more. It was perfect for our family.

The reunion was so much fun.  It was filled with games, good food, tons of chocolate, prizes, laughter, swimming, a talent show, an auction, and so much more.  The best part was just being able to be around all the family.  My family is pretty awesome. :)  As mentioned in the previous post, my camera battery had died, and with spotty cell coverage, dealing with the car dealership, nursing a baby, and socializing, these are apparently the only pictures I was able to take with my cell phone.

 

 

Random pictures from our move

Here are some pictures I found from our drive from Indiana to Utah.  My camera battery had died and I couldn't recharge it (thanks to it being packed and already in Washington), so these are all the pics I have.  So sad.  The top picture is from Wyoming.  The swimming pool one could be from anywhere. We got a hotel with a pool every night so that we could get the kids energy out.  The first night we stopped in Des Moines, Iowa, the second night in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the third night we stayed in Provo, Utah, before heading up to Cedar City for the Baker Family Reunion.

When we were driving across the country, our Explorer was working absolutely wonderful.  When we entered Provo, however, our Explorer started acting super funny and making weird noises.  The next morning, the morning we were supposed to go the reunion, our car completely broke down!!!!  Like wouldn't hardly move. Thank goodness my brother Ivin was in town, you know...for the family reunion, and was able to come help us.  We took our car to a shop and discovered that the transmission was shot.  NOT.COOL.  We had already invested $3000 last summer in car repairs, and were just not down to doing that again.  It wasn't worth that.  We were already planning on getting a van in July or August, so we just decided to scrap the car and go buy a van.

Buying a van with absolutely no research and preparation is very stressful.  Add that to the fact that we were homeless, sick to death of traveling, and were supposed to be up in the mountains in a couple of hours, and lets just say that I was pretty darn near close to losing it.

We did it though, we got a Toyota Sienna, and let me just tell you that I absolutely LOVE that van.  It's so nice.  So new (brand new!), so smooth, and it fits so much!!! 

I count my blessings that we broke down in a town that we were familiar with and that we had family in the area.  I count my blessings that my family was safe. I count my blessings that we were in a position to afford a van.  The Lord was really looking out for us.