Garner Strong!

Ron and I both made a trip to Lincoln Nebraska to meet Griffin Garner!

What a sweetie!

He sleeps like his Grandpa!

I love holding a newborn baby.

Heather and Ephraim are doing a great job with their Three boys!

Max and Ezra liked Grandpa's computer.

Life can be very tiring evidently.

We took a trip on Saturday with Ephraim and the boys to the Nebraska State Fair!

Lots of great animals in the petting zoo.

Cheeeeeeese!

The boys loved the straw maze (and it was free)

Being Nebraska, there were lots and lots of animals. We even saw the biggest steer in Nebraska, he would fill several freezers.

Looks like he's got farming in his blood.

Ezra seemed game at first, but before it was over, he just put his head down and waited for it to be over. Max seems pretty fearless.

They were brave and had fun.

Max was the only one willing to ride the camel. He loved it all.

Looking like Lawrence of Arabia

This was the ride that Ezra preferred. Happy boy!

Max rode the big slide all by himself, Ezra rode down with his Dad

They're up there.

Watching Nascar race and chillin with Griffin and Ezra.

He was very happy just hangin (sleeping) with Gma.

Picking books for their nightly story time.

Proud papa.

Ginger loves Daddy too.

Ezra is helping Gpa get it right.

They love story time, Gpa liked it as well.

"I love you Daddy!"

This is the control center of the plant where Eph works. He monitors multiple screens and makes sure nothing blows up. (my own assessment of the job at hand, but it's much more, I'm sure)

Very cool facility, turning atmosphere into separated compressed gases.

Showing his Mom around the plant. Hardhats and protective eyewear required.

He made sure I didn't touch any of the controls.

Where the gas gets separated and compressed (I think)

We had an eventful June this year. Ron was preparing to leave for 2 years to work in Mexico City and we had so many things to do before he left. Since we moved to our new house, we have been making a list of all the things we wanted to do in the yard. The first on the list was to clean up the trees in the front of the house. They were covered in vines and in bad shape. We liked the privacy they gave us, but we also knew how messy they looked. At first Ron and I were going to tackle it ourselves, but we soon realized it would take days or probably weeks to do the job. So we hired a landscaping company to come and do the work. What took them about 4 hours to do, I am positive would have taken us weeks. Once the area was cleaned up it revealed a dilapidated wood fence on the corner and some more areas of barbed wire in a mess. We decided to quickly replace the wood on the corner. What we did looked so great, we then made the decision to make the wood fence go all the way down the front. We took our time completing it. The weather was very hot and humid, so we would work an hour or two in the evening until it was finished. We love it, and now plan to do it around the whole place. Of course it will have to happen a little at a time, and when Ron is around to do the work. It will also require more clearing of old fences and grown over areas. I had a huge "Honey Do" list for Ron, and I believe we nearly accomplished everything on the list.

Ron was pretty sad to leave Ellie and Seth. They have become such a part of our lives. He needed a few pictures taken before he left the next day.

Seth changes so much every week. He will probably be walking when Ron sees him next.

Ellie sure loves her "Pa".

They will always be best buds!

We took a few pictures while they were clearing the vines and the huge mess in front of our house.

It is amazing what a few good men with the right equipment can do!

The dilapidated fence that was under all the vines!

It cleaned up pretty nice!

We built the fence on the corner, and then decided to keep going.

Now you can see the house from the road! Good for curb appeal, but bad for privacy!

These are a couple pictures Hayley took of us doing the work. Or should I say Ron doing the work. I had to laugh when I saw the pictures. Ellie and I are in the very same position. Genetics?

This is the street view from the corner. It was a great accomplishment for us to get it done before Ron left.

I love it!

The day after Ron left, Alex flew in from Korea. Sara, Jensen, and Duke came to Virginia too! They bought a Slip and Slide and Alex was first to show the kids how its done!