Devils Tower!

The picture says it all, it's a big rock in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. We have been there many times before, however we have never taken a photo like the one below. At first it was going to be a big group of us taking the picture. Our family(5), my brothers family(5), my mom and Dave(2), that is a grand total of 12 people. As the time actually came for us to start dressing up all but our family had pulled out of the photo. Most of them started coming around as Erica and I were dressing the boys. So 9 out of 12 isn't bad. After our old time photo it was getting kind of late so My Mom and brother's family decided to start heading back. Erica and I borrowed a couple of our nieces and went to the Tower. We had a good time walking the base trail and scaring the deer.

FIRE TRUCK!

As it turns out when you are a volunteer firefighter as Grandpa Dave is, one of the perks is that you can take your Grand kids out for a ride when they come to visit. When I heard that we were going to the fire station to see the trucks, I knew that the kids would be excited. But as we were walking around Dave jumped in the truck and started it up. That scared the heck out of the kids, but then they jumped in and were stoked. I thought maybe we would just rev the engine a little but then they started pulling off. I jumped in the truck and drove off with the littlest firefighters in Pine Haven. We drove down around the town for a minute then down to the lake. The kids had a blast and so did I.

Why do we have to sit here Dad?

What does that do?

To Granny's house we go!

We had a rather uneventful trip going to Gillette to see my mom. The babies only needed to get out once and play/eat at a rest station. The only comment that I can make is how high Glendo reservoir is. When we made it to Gillette we stopped by one of Erica's best friends workplace to say high, then meet my mom at Wally World to pick up snacks for Granny's house. We traveled the 40+ over the mountain and through the woods to finally end up at Grandma's house. The kids were so excited to see all the deer that Grandpa Dave feeds. As my mom was cooking us breakfast for dinner, Grandpa Dave pulled out a train set for the boys to play with. The next day we actually did what the boy's love the most, we went to the PARK! They played hard for almost an hour, even Grandpa Dave and Mom got in on the fun. Dave was climbing around the play ground like a monkey entertaining the boys.

Deer, Deer, LOOK DADDY DEER!

Where does this piece go?

What? A purple whale in Wyoming!

Monkeying around!

Conquering the wall!

Saying Goodbye

Well our four day stay has come to an end and we need to be getting on to Grandma Marie's. It was great to be able to see Erica's parents for a few days we all had a blast and we were sorry to have to leave. The last evening we were there both Nick and Connor actually crashed out on Grandpa's lap. They don't even sleep on my lap! Aside from the pictures already posted from our visit I decided to share some our favorite memories from the trip hope you enjoy.

Sleeping babies!

Proud Grandpa

They love playing games with grandma

Mom ma's and their babies

Don't Worry he didn't drink them!

Comparing hair color

My Best Friends

The first full day we were in Cheyenne was shaping up to be the worse day of the whole trip. Saturday, June 5, I knew for 100% that it would be the worst and saddest of the whole trip. We had to say good by to one of our beloved family members, Foxy.

My very Best Friend of 24 years, the one whom was born 17 1/2 hours after me, the one whose been there with me through pretty much everything, was on her way to come see me too. She made the day worthwhile. I was so sad, but she made my day happy again. It was so great to see her again after two years have now passed.

She was there at the hospital with me when Connor was born, her and my other BF cut his cord right after he was born and she even stayed at the hospital with me so I wasn't alone that night.

I had a great day with Jamie, we had pizza for lunch and talked about old times and new things going on in our lives. She introduced us to her new boyfriend, then we all went out and a great dinner at Twin Dragon, that she was so gracious to pay for. A wonderful end to such a hard and sad day. I love you, Jamie! Thanks for always being there for us!

Almost a week later we made our way up to Gillette and I got to go out to dinner with my other Bestest Friend in the whole world. Ben, myself and the kiddos all went out to have dinner at Applebee's with Sherry and her cute little ladies man, Liam. (Liam was born exactly 3 months to the day, after Connor.) Ben didn't enjoy his dinner too much but other than that we had a great time. After dinner I fed Baby Tommy and Ben took the boys back with him to his mother's house about an hour away and Sherry took me out for a couple of beers. We had a blast and even got to meet a crazy drunk girl whom was cracking us all up! I wish I could have had more time with both of my dearest and best friends, but time didn't allow it, so I can't wait until next time! I love you, Sherry It was fun and I can't wait to see you and Jamie again!!!!

Frog Chasing

It is weird there is actually green grass and ponds in Cheyenne. As long as I can remember the grass has been brown, and the air has been dry. Outside Erica’s parent’s house there is a little pond and the sound of the frogs will drive you nuts at dusk. So we decided to go hunting for them, well they proved to be extremely elusive, we did not catch a single frog. We did however catch several mosquitoes, and as Nick say’s pokey stickers on our shoes. As a good end to our hunting trip Erica’s dad found a worm for Nick and a big beetle for Connor.

Fishing at Granite Reservoir

What a day, the fishing was absolutely horrible, I think we caught a grand total of two fish. The weather was great for about an hour then a huge thunderstorm dumped on us. Then it was great again then the wind picked up to around 80 miles an hour and knocked down our shade tent (it actually bent the aluminum poles). Then it was great again, then another thunderstorm went through. It ended up being a nice day after the storms passed us through. Even the mosquitoes left us alone after that. We had a feast prepared by Erica's dad, Tony found he had two little helpers following him everywhere, Erica's mom was a huge help keeping the baby happy during his first fishing trip, and Erica actually got to relax drink a beer and chase frogs with Connor. As for me I tried to stay in that chair and fish for the whole day. It's not very often that I just get to sit and relax. A wonderful day fishing.

All Together!

Nick's Fish!
Racoon eyes!

Fishing buddies!

Lazy Days!

Grill Master!

Keep um' happy!

Family Vaction 2010

Our family vacation has come to and end. We got home late last night and didn’t even unpack before we went to sleep. This was as Erica’s dad pointed out my first actual vacation since joining the Navy. Usually we are moving! Not this time it was all about visiting and just enjoying good family company. So I was trying to decide how to write this post, if I tried to do it all in one post it would be too long, so what will follow will keep in tradition of this blog it will be individual posts of events that have taken place over the last 18 days. It all begins with a car ride.

This particular car ride felt like the second longest in our life. We stupidly decide to drive from San Diego all the way to Cheyenne WY, without stopping overnight. Friday the 3rd of June I got off work at a decent time and helped Erica pack up the van. After stopping for some In & Out we actually got on the road at 9:30pm. We had to stop to feed the baby about every three to four hours, and Erica and I actually got about 15 minutes of sleep somewhere in Utah. We arrived in Cheyenne on June 4th at 9pm, so adjusting for the time difference we spent a grand total of 23 hours on the road.

Most expensive gas of the whole trip!

So GREEN!

3am and drunk of chocolate milk again.

Are we thereYet?