Whew!!! It's been a long time since my last post! We've had a busy summer, and there's been so much going on that I haven't had time to post anything up until now. I promise to try not to let that happen again! :)
Let's see, where to start...
John's brother, Marshall, got married on June 6! :) The wedding was in Midland, so all the family got a little "vacation" that weekend. Jonathan and Jacob spent that weekend with Grammy & Paw-Paw (my parents), so John and I got a little time to ourselves for the first time since the kiddos came along. The wedding was absolutely beautiful! Marshall's wife, Kristin, is so sweet and she is so much fun! She and I had lunch together after they got back from their honeymoon. John and I both so happy to have a new sister in our lives, and we're looking forward to getting to know her better.
The evening we came home from Marshall & Kristin's wedding, our church's Vacation Bible School started. I taught one of the 1st & 2nd grade (the biggest class this year--so big we had to divide them into 2 groups) classes. They were an awesome group of kids, and it was such a blessing to be able to teach them. This was also Jonathan's first year to be in an actual class. He wasn't too crazy about the opening assembly each night, but once his class got started he seemed to have a pretty good time. He even looked forward to going back each night. On Family Night, he even got up on stage with the rest of his class and sang a couple of songs for the parents! Afterwards, since all the kids raised so much money for missions, they got to throw water balloons at the entire church staff. Jonathan dropped one of his balloons and didn't get a chance to hit his Grammy, but he got Paw-Paw with one!
A week after VBS, we headed to Hollis, OK for the Trammell Family Reunion. (This is my dad's family on his mother's side.) We've gone pretty much every year for the last several years. This time there were some cousins there that hadn't been before, and Jonathan made a few new friends. Father's Day was the next week. John has been wanting so much to attend a major league baseball game, and this year the boys and I gave him the chance to do just that. His schedule is quite busy this year between work and his CPA exam, but as soon as the door opens he's thinking of maybe a Rockies or a Rangers game.
We had an awesome Fourth of July this year! My cousin, Lacy, was visiting from Kansas. We cooked steaks out on the grill at my Nana's house, then went out and found a spot between Wal-Mart and Lowe's and settled in to watch the fireworks. Jonathan was really into the show, and it was so much fun to watch him enjoy the display! Jacob, on the other hand, just slept right through it all!
John's birthday was extra special this year. His birthday and his dad's birthday are only a week apart, so we had a big dinner at Marshall & Kristin's house to celebrate both their big days. The boys gave Daddy the entire animated Transformers series from the '80s on DVD, and I gave him golf lessons. Then John got to spend his first birthday ever with his biological grandmother. We had dinner with Millie and her husband, Richard. Then the next day we went to the new Transfomers movie with our good friends the Hannas, and got our families together for dinner that night. Over this past weekend, we also had a chance to get together with John's biological Uncle Rick & Aunt Susan and have lunch.
Jonathan & Jacob continue to grow and grow. We took them to the zoo last week--again with our very good friends the Hannas! The other night, when I was giving the boys their baths, we decided to try something new. Jacob already tries to climb out his infant tub, so I thought why not put them in the big tub together?!? It was quite an experience, but they both seemed to have a good time. And it's much easier to bathe them both at the same time rather than do two separate baths. It's hard to believe we're only a week and a half away from Jakey's first birthday! He already stands and will walk along while hanging on to the edge of the coffee table. (He won't let you hold his hands and try to walk him, though!) Jonathan's speech contines to improve every day. He knows all his family member's first names, and he uses them on a regular basis. Now if we could just get the concept of sharing down...
Anyway, that should bring you up to speed. I'll be more prompt with the posts from now on! I have pictures of a lot of the above events I'll post as soon as I can. Also, I'll be sure to post a blog about Jake's first b-day here in the next couple of weeks, and we have friends coming up the first week in August for a friend reunion and I'll be sure to blog about that too. There's lots more Merriss mania to come, so stay tuned...
