A Boy and his friends!

One of the highlights of being back in Colorado was seeing all of our friends!!  Especially for Mr. G Man.  He has been missing everyone like crazy so to see all of his buddies was so special!  It seemed like they all picked up where they left off and had a grand time!  

First stop when we got into Colorado was to Wy-Wy, also known as Wyatt.  Luckily we caught them the night before they were leaving town, good thing cause the trip would not have been the same without seeing Wy-Wy!  G often tells us "school would all be okay if only Wyatt was here" so good thing we got to see them even if it was only for bit!

Catching up on life

Goofy boys

Pretending to be asleep

So excited!

There's the picture I was trying to get!

Wyatt's older brother Gage even played video games with them for a little bit, what a treat!

One of the days we had G's buddies from school over for a pool party, and let me just tell you those Hygiene Hawks no how to party :)

Who can make the biggest splash?

I think Savanah beat the boys on this one!

A pool full of Hawks!

Taking some time to sun bath :)

Dylan and Savannah

Cory, Timmy, and Gentry

Just relaxing

Hygiene at it's finest!

All together!

I might have enjoyed the action setting a little too much :)

The ripple effect

Ready

Set

Jump!

Gentry and Jackson flipping together :)

Maybe they need to be Olympic synchronized divers some day :)

We also got to hang with our best buds the Pressnalls!  G has missed Asher so much and had a great time, although we certainly didn't get enough time with them while we were home.  G is certain that Asher needs to move to Costa Rica.  I also think it would be awesome, since my whole adult life I have wanted to live near my dear friend Nikki and about 8 months after they moved to the Denver area with for Adam's work we moved to Costa Rica.  It really was one of the harder things of leaving, I finally have my best bud so close and then we leave :(  Sad, but thankfully no matter where either of us live we will always be close and dream about the day we are next door neighbors drinking a cup of joe (although I don't actually like coffee so I will drink hot tea or some orange juice!) and watching Good Morning America together :)

Looks like a serious part of the movie

Missing living so close to our buddies!!

I'm not gonna lie, it makes me a little sad that Lucas likes Jeff more than me, he's so cute and funny!

Selfish Parenting Outings: Jump Street with Nate and Gentry David!

My sweet madre drove us up to Colorado and we got to have a couple of fun days with her and Nate before they headed back to NM.  One of the days we went to Jump Street.  If you live the greater Denver area and haven't been, you are missing out and need to schedule either your kids, or your next birthday party there.  It is seriously the funnest place on earth!  Time and time again, Jeff and I are the only adults that are jumping with all the kids, but seriously neither one of us care, cause it is so fun!!  I would be lying if I said we went for the kids, Jeff and I absolutely LOVE trampolines and seriously this outing was secretly about us having a really fun day all while bouncing crazily on trampolines...of course it was even more fun because we got to go with the boys, but make no mistake this was one of those selfish parent outings :)

Here is a list of the top 20 reasons you should go:

1.  You can practice yoga for your warm up!

2.  You can do back handsprings no matter how old you are.

3.  You can jump all together as a family

4.  You can dunk basketballs when your only 10.

5.  You can dunk basketballs when your 30.

6.  You can beat your husband in a toe touch contest.

7.  You can smile at your husbands effort and encourage him, all while knowing you totally won that round.

8.  You can watch your really cute little brother smile and laugh for hours!

9.  You can watch your husband smile and laugh for hours just like he was your little brother!

10.  You can watch your son smile and laugh for hours :)

11.  You get to watch and laugh at people as they struggle to get out of the foam pit.  (It really is so hard to get out  of)

12.  You get to laugh at cute kids doing cute tricks.

13.  You get to watch more cute kids doing cute tricks all while hoping they don't hit the side of the wall!

14.  You can comfortably lounge in the foam pit while throwing blocks  which makes the kids think your playing with them, when in reality your just relaxing.

15.  You can have a layout contest with your husband

And even though he might have beat you in most categories, he wasn't able to stick the landing and so you get a priceless picture of him flying backwards through the air :)

16.  You get to spend time with 2 smiley boys :)

17.  You can learn tricks from Nate.

18.  You can teach your son how to do backflips.

19.  You get to hear cute things from your kids like "look mom, yellow shorts, yellow shirt, yellow drink, and yellow hair" :)

20.  You can take a family picture with everyone smiling cause they have had such a good time, and not care to much about the fact your hair is crazy and your super sweaty :)

Small towns, good friends, and the 4th of July!

We spent about a week and a half in Artesia with my family which was simply awesome!  Let me count the ways it was awesome  1.  My brother is home from Afghanistan and was in Artesia the same time as us!!!!  2.  We got to spend tons of time with my favorite little little brother Natey Rea (aka Nathaniel Reagan)   3.  We were there for the last year of the famous Dean's Pyro Team firework show  4.  Spent lot's of with family and friends  and 5.  It was just good to be home for a bit.  

From the moments G and Nate were together they were their normal little peas in a pod selves :)  They had so much to catch up on!

A dad and his boys

Showing me his very impressive facial hair :)  Good job little brother, good job

Nate and G photo bombed this picture but still a worthy shot :)

Finally altogether! If only T had made the trip with the kids we would be whole! 

Uncle Bubba earned a bunch of cool uncle points because he shared his love for fireworks with the boys

Lighting up the the sky!

Little G's appreciation of "cool cars" grew even more when Uncle Bubba took him for a ride in the  Corvette

There's probably more reasons it was fun but that just about covers the main points :)  Growing up in a small town it was definitely hard to appreciate everyone knowing everything, the expectations and pressure, the fact there really wasn't much to do, and just all the typical complaints about a small town.  While some of those complaints might have a leg to stand on, there is also a long list of great things about a small town, specifically my small town of Artesia NM.  While it's true everyone might know everything about everyone, what's also true is you will never see another community rally around it's residents like this small town does.  It's quite impressive to see how the local businesses pour resources into the schools, how people get behind causes and people, and to see how the community steps in when help is needed.  It's also quite impressive the amount of community pride there is!  From sports events (specifically football!), to holidays Artesia certainly knows how to rally for the event!  It was really fun to be in Artesia for the 4th of July because this year was the last year the Dean's Pyro Team is putting on their famous fireworks show!  Sad, but fun that we were there.  If you have never seen it before it's seriously one of the best shows you will ever see.

4th of July parade!

Here comes the parade!

Local celebrity Terry Maupin

Probably the coolest ambulance I have ever seen

Glad to see my real home town of Hope represented in the parade.

A Miss America in the making with that little wave :)

What's a parade without horses??

A couple of good looking boys I picked up on the side of the street

Sister, Brother, son/nephew :)

This pretty much sums up Babie and Pops house...shirtless boys, trampolines, and guns :)

We also got to spend time with family which was the most important part of our trip and see many friends, although no matter how hard we tried there just wasn't enough time to see everyone.  I feel like it's always like that when we go home.  Overall we had a good trip home, and before we knew it we were heading to Colorado for our last leg of the trip!  

Just enjoying some ice cream on a wonderful 4th of July!

Of course Jeff has to throw G around...my stomach will never stop getting nervous when he does this!

Nor will it I stop being nervous when he throws other people's children who we have just met that day around...seriously Jeff????

Enjoying the fireworks!

Taking a break from the fireworks to play in the garage