Before the Vacation

So we haven't been up to much, a little of this, a little of that. Our adventure begins next week when we will leave Monday night for Utah. Justin has two siblings that live there and his brother will be coming down from Utah to visit as well. It'll be a mini-family reunion. We haven't seen these siblings anywhere from 7 months to a year ago. Two siblings had babies in that time, so we have two new nieces to meet as well. One of Justin's sister's hasn't met Hazel yet, so she'll get to meet her too. We will be there for one nephew's birthday and a baby blessing. We are so excited for our trip! So it'll be two weeks until my next letter, but I'm sure the next one will be full and long.

A few things we did this past week was visiting with Justin's dad's dad, Grandpa Crook. It was the first time he met Hazel, and its been almost two years since he saw Levi, so he was huge. The kids seemed to enjoy him a lot.

Another thing we did was a garage sale. We sorted through a lot of the kids clothes my mom has for us, and got rid of five garbage bags full. I sold those and many other things at the sale and made about $65 in all. I think if I had a place in town to do it, I would have sold more, but since I don't have any where to do it, I did it at my sister's house, which is north of Corvallis by a mile or two. People still came, and everyone loved the prices. It was worth it, I think.

In good news, Justin and I heard word we are now #1 on the waiting list for the Camas Commons, the subsidized housing. We are looking to move in at the beginning of September. We are so excited and grateful for this oppurtunity. It will be larger, have washer/dryer hook-ups, and have three bedrooms for only $10 more a month than what we pay now. Granted we wouldn't get free cable or a pool, but it will be so much nicer for us. The complex is managed by an LDS family, and the complex has several LDS families there who are in the same position we are, so that will be nice.

That's all for now!

Fourth of July

Well the day before the Fourth we decided to make some tye-dye T-shirts. Justin said he had never made one before, so it was something fun and new to all (except me, fun for me, but not new). I made mine purple and orange, Justin wanted yellow and green, Levi requested a rainbow, and I made Hazel on with red, orange, and yellow. I did spiral designs on all, and everyone had fun making and wearing their designs.

I bought Levi and me harmonicas at a garage sale, and I have learned to play Taps and Oh, Susanna. Levi just loves to play it. His "music" doesn't sound too bad, just doesn't really have a beat.

More pool fun has been had by all. Justin occasionally gets to join us which Levi and I appreciate! Hazel seems to do well in the water, something Levi did not do at her age. Levi wanted you to hold him the whole time, but Hazel is okay floating by herself. Both are getting tanner, even though Hazel is in SPF 60 and Levi in SPF 15. They have their mom and dad's skin I guess! Oh, and yes you do see Justin with a goatee in the photo. He tried it out for a week or so at my request, but as soon as his parents saw it he shaved it off.

Levi has been really sweet with Hazel lately. Now that she can sit up he loves to sit or lay next to her and try to make her smile, which isn't hard for him to do. She just loves all his little antics!

Our Fourth of July was very fun and we loved to celebrate with family. I made red, white, and blue pancakes for breakfast. We headed to Justin's parents in Albany for lunch where we had a wonderful BBQ. Justin was our monitor to make sure everything from the food to the plates and cups were made in America... because we couldn't eat anything or do anything that wasn't affiliated with America on the Fourth! He "approved" of our lunch as we all felt everything we ate was very American. How much more American can you get than hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, and watermelon? Okay, maybe an apple pie, but we didn't have one. After lunch Justin had to go to work and I headed to my sister's house. Her neighborhood was having a block party so we got to participate in that a little. We then roasted s'mores and lit off our own fireworks. We ended the evening by watching the Corvallis fireworks. It always makes me miss Nebraska and the fireworks we would see there. Justin also remembers Wyoming (who has no restrictions about fireworks) and Utah's fireworks and misses them too. I keep telling him one day we'll go to Utah or Wyoming for the Fourth so that our kids can see some real fireworks!

Again my two sweethearts!

Just today we went up to Salem to the Discovery Center and Carousel. We went with my sister and her kids and my mom. All the kids had a wonderful time, and Levi seems to really be warming up to the carousel! Hazel absolutely loved the bubble room that they had, and we even caught Levi in a huge bubble and Justin was able to use a hula hoop to make a large bubble and then make it wobble and dance!

Well that's all this week! See you next week!