Best summer, EVER... Or at least close

This summer has been full of fun. It seems that fun is more of a luxury when you are an adult as opposed to a necessary ingredient like when you are 12 or 16. Surprisingly this summer has delivered as one of the most fun for Brian and I. Here's a list of why: ( I apologize that the pics don't correspond with the writing, blogger needs a new iPad app)

#1. It all started one day at my parents when we were all together, meaning all of my family and all of Brian's. We spent the afternoon in the pool with our siblings and nieces and had a blast. We played chicken, jump or dive (my fav), diving board chicken, categories, almost drown one of the twins, and enjoyed a dinner together. Lee even came out to show us all up with his unaged diving board skills. It is such a nice treat to be together when we rarely are. This goes down as one of the best days of all time for me. And thanks to Sasha and our mothers for watching our kids so could play like the old days with Bobby Joe, Aaron, and Sarah.

#2. Getting to see my high school girlfriends at our ten year reunion. I love these girls and since we all live so far apart, we rarely get together and this was a long time coming! I was also a bridesmaid in a wedding and loved, loved that trip. I have been lucky enough to see 2 friends get married this summer and they were both a blast. I love weddings and I love dancing.

#3. My sister came to visit for about 10 days. She is always fun to be around and brings out the best in me. She has this great ability to be herself no matter who she is around. She is never intimidated and never fears what people may think of her. I love this about her. #4. My in-laws visit. They were here for a week and we had a great time. Since we live so far away we rarely get to celebrate birthdays, which is so sad. This year however, we were able to be with Rita on her bday. We had a great day filled with hiking, pizza and ice cream in Medora, pedicures, steaks from Brian and even a homeade cake. It was very special to be together instead of just skyping. I have finally relaxed enough to stop trying to impress them when they come. Since I was relaxed this was prob my fav visit. I also wasnt pregnant or recovering from a c-section so that may figure in too, lol. I even let them eat sandwiches one day for lunch, or maybe two. Still don't know how I did that!

#5. The 4th of July. I love everything about it the 4th in this town. We hosted a party this year and had a great time. Brian cooked his best ever ribs and we were even able to see the fireworks (thanks Benny for staying up WAY past bed time). Also, we enjoyed lunch on Hardee's by dressing our children as spiderman. So fun!

#6. Karaoke. We hosted a Filipino party that of course included karaoke. I feared no one would sing but little did I know that my sober friends and I would be fighting over the microphone til almost 11 on a Tuesday night. So much fun!

#7. The backyard. We have spent many a days and evenings here entertaining and having a good ole time. We love North Dakota summers and we love our backyard. You can see a good shot of her from the 4th.

#8. Volleyball. We have been playing volleyball with friends this summer and surprisingly this so much fun. Sometimes we need to do adult only activities that are slightly competitive and active. My sister was in town for 2 games and I loved playing with her.

#9. Our friends. We have a good group of friends who enjoy and need to get together often. We have watched 10 families come and go through our 2.5 yr stay. It is hard and it sucks, thankfully when some leave, some move in. We are very happy right now, not that happiness is our goal, but it does help along the way. I have been unable to be completely honest with people in Oklahoma for fear that if they knew I was happy that it might indirectly hurt their feelings. At my reunion I heard Brian telling people we were happy and liked ND. I had been telling them we were hoping to move back, which is a half truth maybe, but his is the whole truth. So now I am trying to be honest and have embraced lyrics from my fav JB "the grass ain't always greener on the other side, it's greener where you water it." So dear Oklahoma, I love you and miss you and someday I will prob return to you, but in the meantime I am happy here and it doesn't lessen my feelings for you! Back to our friends, they have made a huge difference in our attitude here. They remind us of home. They love the Lord and we are able to talk about spiritual matters or trivial things too. They are super competivite and love paying games. My kind of people. Brian and I are both able to be ourselves around them, which is huge.

I also have an amazing group of women I meet with who spur me on BIG time. No one should do life alone and we certainly are not!

#10. Bridge jumping. We randomly decided to jump off this bridge after volleyball last week. By randomly i mean, we knew it was safe bc we watched teenagers do it but had no pre concieved ideas to do it ourselves. It was a thrill, obviously, and so refreshing to escape the heat. Thats when we reached a new level of friendship bc I could see these people are just kids too. Kids having kids, making tye dye shirts. They still want adventure and fun- all the things no one wants to give up but can sometimes be taken from you when you reach adulthood. This was the icing on a summer of greatness. Below is a pic from the fair. I about made my friend and our 4 boys loose their lunch on this ride. Oh, it was great. I love rides.

#11. Coke. Starting with 1 and going down to 10. I have ended almost each of these wonderful evenings with a cold coca cola. When Beau was in the nicu, June 2009, I "quit" drinking dr pepper. Meaning I just drank coke and I often got one on the way to the hospital from McDonald's. You know when they have their $1 summer large tea or soft drink sale? Except they don't do it here. Anyways, whether it was Rita, Aaron, Brian and I running to Sonic or Brian stopping off at a gas station soaking wet, we have enjoyed us some coke and root beer floats to top off our great evenings. I love my man.

So, July isn't even over. I am excited to see what the rest of the summer holds. It will be over quickly! I smelled fall in the air this morning. Hope you are enjoying yourself as much as we are.