Happy Birthday Midge!

Today my sweet little girl turns 7. How is that possible? Has it really been 7 years since that fiery little red head joined our family? I am so grateful for that day when I first held her in my arms. I fell in love with that little face and today that love has only mulitplied.

Kayla girl, thank you for joining our family. You've brought such a spunk to our family. I love your strong will, your stubborness when you "know" your right, you're unshakeable determination, and your giggle that is so contagious.

I love all the cards and pictures you constantly make that tell me you love me. I love that you still love to play with your dolls and yet squeal when you watch "Never Say Never" with your sister. I love when you help me bake our treats.

You are such a sweet girl Midge and I'm so grateful you are our's. I love you so much !! Happy Birthday!!

Today's highlights: Lunch date with Dad, mom and all 6 of you went to see "Judy Moody and the not bummer summer", and swimming.

Birthday Dinner: spaghetti, watermelon, brocolli, angel food cake with berries and Moose Tracks ice cream

Is it September yet?

I normally love summer. I really do, but this heat wave is unrelentless. We hit 101 degrees yesterday with 92 % humidity. OH. MY. HECK. I don't even want to breathe when it's that hot. Please summer, bring back the oh so comfortable 80's with a soft breeze. I would love you again.

All wiped out

We were so exhausted when we finally made it home. Two weeks of going nonstop where's a body out. My Coleman is an early riser and goes nonstop everday. Well the day after we got back he didn't wake up. We tried waking him about 10:00 but he just came and went to sleep at the table. We moved him to the couch and he slept until 1:30. He woke up and ate and played for a couple of hours and was back to sleep at 4:50, standing by the couch. He slept until 8:45 pm, woke up and ate dinner and went back to sleep until 8:30 the next morning. Poor little thing was wiped out.

Are you serious?

We pulled into our driveway around 12:30 am after being gone for 2 weeks. As we opened the garage door, my family started gagging. I couldn't smell anything still (hadn't since we left Indiana) and they were swearing something had to be dead in there. Much to our horror we discovered our deep freeze was open about an inch and the smell was from all the rotting meat. Yep. We lost a large freezer full of meat. Not a good welcome home gift. We tried not to think about how much money we were throwing away as we cleaned that puppy out. Made us sick to our stomachs in more way then one.

Also, later that morning I headed to the dr. I got sick the day before we left for Idaho and it had just progressively got worse durring the trip. I know it was my own fault for not resting but let's not point fingers: :) Anyway, the dr told me I had pnuemonia. So lame. Who gets pneumonia in July? She gave me 3 awesome meds to get me feeling better. Sure enough, three days later I could hear, smell and taste again. Finally.

The only thing I liked about this diagnosis... at least it made me feel a little better about the trouble I had on the hike. I was so upset with myself. I was running on an incline on the treadmill everday and I couldn't catch my breath climbing a mountain? Really frustrated that I had to pass Madden off to Lloyd and Lyndsay to pack for me (but grateful they did). My kids were way ahead of me and I was just trying to breathe. So upset with myself on that mountain. I will admitt that Tyson tried to talk me out of the hike but I wouldn't hear of it :) Again, let's not point fingers :)

YUMMY!

On the way back from Idaho we stopped at a Chinese Buffett for dinner. I saw some interesting foods and brought them back to the table for the kids to try. I told them I would give them money to eat what was on the plate if anyone would man up and try it. Once I put the plate on the table the girls immediately shrieked and claimed this was so disgusting. I offered them $5 for the frog leg and $10 for the octopus. My Wyatt manned up and took that octopus by the tentacles. Despite his sister's cries of disgust he got the whole thing down. I'm so proud :) His take on it,"Not bad. Just a little rubbery." Love that kid.

Idaho Trip

We recently made our annual track down I-80 to the great state of Idaho. 30 hours to bond in the suburban :) Actually our kids rocked. They seriously are amazing travelers. They went 4-5 hrs between stops the whole way there and back. They slept great thru the night in their carseats and small spaces between the carseats. We were so happy. Nevertheless, we were thrilled to arrive on Mom and Dad's doorstep the next morning.

We had such a fun 2 weeks. We soooo love getting to spend time with the family and getting back to our mountains. Sigh. Oh, we so miss them.

I forgot my camera at home so the pics are limited to what Mariah took and what I'm stealing off my sisters-in-laws blogs :)

Trip highlights:

Kids: fishing, the great hike to the frozen lake, sleeping on the tramp with Phylicia, Jake, and Reagan at their house, grandma's bedtime stories, spa day with the girl cousins, sleepover at Uncle Russ's house, four wheelers (nonstop), playing in Uncle Lloyd's flooded yard, tubing on the 4th and sleeping in the tent with Hayden, Jake and Jackson

Tyson: spending time with his brothers on motorcycles and fishing, campfire songs with the family, testimony meeting, fishing day with Dad, Randy and the boys.

Me: watching the Bacholorette with my Lee sisters, girls night out getting pedicures and dinner with shopping on the side, watching my hubby and his brothers behave like little boys as they stripped off their shirts to see who could do the longest belly slide in Lloyd's flooded yard, playing Discombobulation, tubing on the 4th, and just spending time with my family.

We are so lucky to be part of such a great family. I so loved watching my little McCoy with his 17 yr old cousin Hayden. He adored him and Hayden took him everywhere. It melted my heart. I loved watching Wyatt and Jake. Two boys lost in a sea of girls :) They were glued to each other the whole time. Mariah and Lanae, Makayla and Raegan and Aliesha and then watching Coleman fight with London :) loved it all. I have the cutest nieces and nephews. I so loved playing with them and watching my kids with all of them.

It was hard to leave this year. We had some tears shed in the back of the suburban and pleads for us to please move back and then the kids got upset too :)

We had a great trip and can't wait to head west again next summer.

Yay for sisters-in-law

In June my awesome Fetters sisters-in-laws came to visit for a few days. Amanda came from New York with her cuties Lizzie and Maren and Amber came from Minneapolis with her darlings, Maya, Brynn and Zoey. We shopped, picniced, swam, made jewlery and just visited. So nice. Thanks ladies for making the long drive to come see us. We sure loved having you!!