Ya Mon!

Here are a few photos of Jamaica & our little nephew Kayleb. We are planning on some road trips to see family and friends this weekend and in August, it is great to be back in Indiana!

Eric and I are enjoying the time we have with friends and family. I am really settling into my job and enjoying it more and more each day, I just don't like the commute. I went from 5 minutes to 30 minutes one way :(
Eric continues to have the job of looking for a job, the market is brutal out there, but he continues to be persistent and is picking up small jobs here and there.

My conclusion on life right now is wrapped in this quote:

O SON OF MAN! For everything there is a sign. The sign of love is fortitude under My decree and patience under My trials. (Baha'u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words)

Uncle Eric & Daddy to Kayleb

Prom pic :)

Warm Ocean water!

Jess & Johnathan Jamaican wedding

Bride & Bridesmaids

beautiful Bride!!

Congratulations!

Action shot!

Juggling July

Hello dear friends. Quick update:
1. Settling in finally in our temporary home with our friends who are the kindest and most fun to live with.
2. Spending time with Terry, Katie, Angie, Mom & Bill
3. Met our little nephew for the first time Kayleb Anthony :)
4. Returned from a Jamaican wedding!! Congrats Jess and Johnathan!!!

We are keeping busy traveling and Jamaica was warm with white beautiful sandy beaches. I am so thankful to have moved home so that I can take a quick drive on the weekend to visit with friends/family without having to book a long flight.

Upcoming and exciting news:
My dear friend Anna will be having her baby girl in 2 months!! Meredith, my college roommate, is getting married, can't wait! Get to see my Mother's family this Labor day weekend :)... it's been a long time. And I have quite a few Continuing Education courses this Fall, take a NAIOMT exam AND I registered for my Board Certification Exam for Orthopedics (big feat) this week. I love being a PT and so grateful to have a job.

Love to you all & I will be posting pictures this weekend
Please stay in touch

Joyful

Well... I was back in Indiana for 2 weeks and already have had a trip back to my second beautiful home in Washington. It was a surprise trip for my friend Caryn's engagement that her now fiance so secretly and meticulously organized for her. She was completely surprised first of all with her engagement and secondly all her friends surprised her shortly after saying "Yes"! I got to spend the day with a good friend climbing Granite Mtn. in the Cascade mountain range, then spend a wonderful evening with Caryn & Chris and company :) I can't wait for the wedding in Seattle which will be in November!!  Congratulations once again! It was a perfect day in Seattle 70 degrees & sunny (only 2 days like this all spring/summer & I got lucky enough to have great weather while I was there!)

As for any other news on the household front, Eric had an interview last week and will be hopefully hearing good news this week. We are holding on tight with prayerful thoughts. But, overall I am settling into my new job which is going good, once again I love being a physical therapist! I am so happy to be near my family once again and feel the summer breeze in the evening listening to the cicadas sing... I love Indiana summer nights!

Mt. Rainier (pic taken from 5,600 ft. elevation)

(whew! end of the climb, snowy in June)

(2 miles into the climb up... a little tired)

Finally made it up to the top (5,600 feet with ~4000 elevation gain in 4 miles up)

Dad Day

Our first weekend back to the Midwest we got to visit my father on his big special Father's Day! And my sister arranged a welcome home party!! We went disc golfing, tubing down the White River south of the Manistee National Forest in Michigan, beautiful place only 20 minutes from Lake Michigan. We then played some crochet and I suck at it... everyone else was good! Ahhh... I am happy to be home with my family. Still haven't seen all the family yet, but we will soon... we are here for a while now.

Flip City in Michigan, one of the highest rated courses in the U.S.

Eric showing off his discs

Dad teeing off

Piles of rocks (see that basket far in the distance, yeah Eric parked his disc right next to it)

For father's day Dad got a new stereo for the car

Dad throwing his up shot

Dad & Angie kicked my butt in crochet

Road trip across the U.S.

We had a safe trip across the U.S. Our stops included:
Spokane, WA for Eric's Disc Golf Tournament

Lake in the middle of eastern Washington

Eric was in 3rd place after 2 rounds!

(first sun we've seen in a long time, a little bright for us)

Last drive in the state of Washington

Next stop Yellowstone, we visited the Grand Tetons, Old Faithful, Mammoth Springs, stayed on Yellowstone Lake ~7600 ft in elevation, heard a Bull Moose singing, and saw many bison and elk, no bears though, it was a beautiful place and recommend you to go if you get a chance:

Grand Tetons

Old Faithful Geyser (see the rainbow! yeah I took that :)

We then decided to move on along through Wyoming towing our 3000# on the back of our Subaru Forester up/down mountains. Well.. my battery died on my camera right after Old Faithful and I took pictures with my cell phone which I need to get uploaded a later date. But, we saw the most beautiful mountains in Wyoming, Bighorn Mtn Range (desert and forest in one!). We then drove through South Dakota, Iowa & Illinois, stopping in Des Moines, then Peoria to play disc golf:

Iowa countryside

Hot hot hot!

Chloe tired from the trip!

Everything went smooth altogether, we were happy to finally make it back after 9 days of traveling and for the record we will not move our own stuff across the country again. It is nice to be home, but I will always long to climb a mountain the the Pacific Northwest.