Oklahoma...where the wind comes sweeping down the plain.

In June I took the kiddos down to Texas and Oklahoma to spend a few days with my family. We added a new stop this year -- this spring my sister and her family moved to Borger, TX. Where you ask?!? It is in the panhandle of TX about 45 minutes NE of Amarillo. We took this opportunity to stay a couple of nights with them, see their beautiful new home, and let the cousins play their hearts out.

From Borger it is just a short 3 and a half hour drive to my parents home in Oklahoma. Somehow it had been over a year since I had been there and it was wonderful to visit with them and see their beautifully remodeled kitchen in person. We kept the visit pretty low key. Morgan loves getting golf lessons from Grandpa. Too bad it was so steaming hot when he took them to the driving range, they were pooped after about 20 minutes. We did some errands and of course ate lunch at Braum's.


Codi's family came in to help celebrate Father's Day (after their van breaking down -- ugh!). It was so nice being together, even if it was a little crazy. It made us really miss Clint and Cyle. With the cousins, we checked out some of the new parks on Ft. Sill. There was this awesome water park that the kids totally loved -- so cool! It was especially nice to go to church together. It seemed like a rather short weekend when Codi's family had to leave (via OKC to get a rental car for the way home.)




On Monday, I finally got the opportunity to hang out with my amazing friend Veronica and meet her 3 adopted kiddos. We enjoyed a picnic at Medicine Park and of course, all the kiddos headed straight for the river getting themselves soaked. We decided to try somewhere a little drier and headed to her house so the kids could play while she and I got caught up. She is one of those truly gifted people and I always feel inspired being around her. So great to be with her, even if it was only for a few hours.

Tuesday, I have to say, was the best. My parents' very nice neighbors let us come over and swim in their pool during the day. It was absolute heaven! We were in the pool about 4 or 5 hours. Trevor and Morgan are total fishes and Peyton, after about 15 minutes of holding onto me, figured out how to balance and kick all over the pool with the help of her life jacket and a pool noodle. This allowed me to relax on a raft and watch and splash the kids. My mom even got in on the relaxing action with us. Absolutely fantastic day.

It's a boy!

We went for our ultrasound at the clinic (sadly, there were no good pictures that I can post). I had the idea that this little baby was a boy and my suspicions were confirmed. Most importantly, everything looked great and was developing normally. I was glad to see that he looks healthy and growing well.

When we told the kiddos, Trevor was thrilled! He was very excited that "the teams were going to be even." Truth be told, that was what I was hoping for too. That is what I grew up with, and was so convenient when we played family games.

Now all we need to do is figure out a name...

Bolder Boulder - Happy Memorial Day!

Myself, I would never pay to run in a race. No thanks. But my wonderful husband enjoys running the Bolder Boulder 10K. Must be the rush of running it with 50,000 other people, or the bands along the route, or hearing the crowd cheer as you run into the stadium. This year, Ken asked his sister Holly to run it with him. We also had our friend Atsuko visiting from Japan that wanted the American experience of running the Bolder Boulder -- it is one of the largest races in the US.

Ken hadn't had the time to train like he would have liked, but I think he still had a good time running it with Atsuko, and even though Holly was not able to run in the same heat with them, she was able to finish within a few minutes of the other two.

I was so glad that Atsuko took her camera. She got some really fun pictures...

After the race, "the cousin's" came over for a BBQ. We always have a good time with the Wenhams! I loved watching some of the ceremonies on TV. Of course I spent a lot of time thinking about my brothers, Clint and Cyle and their service for our country. I am so grateful for this blessed land that we live in and for those that have fought to defend freedom around the world.

School Wrap-up

Granted, it is July, but I do want to update my blog/journal with Morgan and Trevor's end of school happenings. It felt like a bit of a whirlwind. Morgan had field day and a end of school picnic and Trevor had his preschool graduation.

The kids seem to look forward to field day all year, especially when the fire department comes and sprays off the whole student body. Atsuko, took Trevor over to watch Morgan compete in the games (okay, I was crashed out on the couch) and Trevor even got to do some of the games. I was so glad Atsuko got some fun pictures of the kids.

The next night, we attended Trevor's preschool graduation at Robyn's nest. He had a great year learning with Ms. Robyn. At graduation he got to present on Jupiter and . Even though we had worked on what he would say, apparently we did not work enough on the presentation aspect. He thought it would be good to hit himself while he talked. Huh?!? In any case it was a nice night and we loved getting to support Trevor on his special night.

On the last day at Prairie Ridge they hold a school picnic with the class and teacher. It was great to visit with Ms. McEvers and see Morgan play with her friends and take some pictures. Ken and I were happy to see how well she was doing in school. She had an awesome report card! We were proud of all of her hard work. Great job Morgan!