Home is where the heart is

Thanks to my oh-so-generous mamasita and step-dadito, I had another fantastic visit to Colorado over the summer where I got to spend some much needed time with family and friends. Sadly, medical school does not give vacation days liberally, so once again I was forced to leave Ryan (and Misha) behind which always breaks my heart. *sigh* I am so over this whole med school thing.... Next time I go home, Ryan will be coming with me even if I have to drag him out of the hospital kicking and screaming!

My vacation started with Mom, Kira, and Collin picking me up from the airport early Friday afternoon. Shortly after we met up with my Uncle Jason, Nicole and their family for dinner at TGIF. We jetted out of there pretty quickly after dinner, as my mom was anxious to show me the new house they just moved into a few short months ago! The house is enormous compared to our last one and absolutely GORGEOUS. My mom was just beaming as she took me on a tour of the house. I'm so happy that she has finally gotten the dream home that she's always wanted. There's still quite a bit that needs to get one, but my mom has done a great job decorating so far and I can't wait to see the finished product!

On Saturday, my Grandpa Joe, Uncle Jason, Nicole, Presley, Rylan, and Hayden came up for a family BBQ. We ate, listened to Chase sing and play the guitar, took a walk by the river behind my parents' house, played games, and sang some Broadway while Jason played the piano (it's tradition). SO fun!

I was so happy to be able to spend Monday with my mom because it was her birthday!! Unfortunately, she had some work she needed to do in the morning, so she dropped us kids off at a park while she ran her work errands. Chase, Collin, and Kira had a somersault race down a big hill (Collin won), we played a little hacky-sack and a card game called kemps, and we also played on this thing...

In celebration of Mom's birthday, we went and saw Night at the Museum 2 and then played putt-putt golf. The birthday girl got a hole-in-one! Do you like this snap-shot of her hole in one dance? :) My mom is too cute.


Here's Collin, attempting to be as cute as Mom... nice try, bud.




For Mom's birthday dinner, we went to her favorite restaurant, Carino's. Yum, yum! I hope my mamasita had a wonderful birthday! This family of hers sure loves her!

Well, aside from the first couple of days, I admit I have lost track of what happened when, but here are the remaining highlights in no particular order:

-I finally got the chance to meet my adorable new nephew, Landon! He is so stinkin' cute. I also got to play Lego's with Mariah. I can't believe she is actually big enough to build things with Lego's now. So crazy... Anyway, keep the kids coming, Erin. You make the cutest children ever!



-Kira and I have always enjoyed cooking things together. This trip, we decided to make good use out of some dying bananas and made banana bread. YUM!!!

-Christie and Mason joined us for a family BBQ one night. I'm always psyched to see my BFF and her cute little man when I come to town. Christie is such a good mom.


-Me and the fam went to WATERWORLD!!!!!!! Enough said.

-I got to watch my Uncle Jason's band play, not once, but TWICE!!! The first show was at a garlic festival, I think? Here are Mom and Pres getting their groove thang on.



Mario, Erin, and one of my mom and Jason's old HS friends, Donnie, joined us the second time. Minus the ridiculous crowd, I think we all had a pretty good time. We went out to eat before the show and then we burned off all those extra calories we had just consumed by dancing the night away! SO fun!! Gotta love all those 80s hits!

-My long lost elementary school BFF Nancy and I got together for lunch at Chili's. It was so good to see her! An added bonus was that I got to meet her little girl, Tessa. I was a big dummy and forgot to bring my camera. I'm sad that I can't show you how darling she is. Dang it.

- I guess this was the visit of many babies because I also got to see my new canine niece, Freyja. She is the prettiest little Husky puppy I have ever seen and Tara is a good little puppy Mama. I can't wait to get Freyja and Misha together. They are going to love each other.

-One of the main reasons for my trip home was so that I could be there for my friend Kelsey's big day. (We've been besties since 2nd grade!) She and Jarod finally tied the knot! It was a beautiful wedding. The bride was my favorite part. I bawled like a baby.



-Farewell breakfasts at the Cracker Barrel have become sort of a tradition with my family. I like that tradition.

-A week or two before I went out to CO, I called up my Grandma Barbara and asked her to throw me a family BBQ. What a sweet granddaughter I am, eh? Well, being the wonderful woman that she is, she threw me one fantastic BBQ and almost all my dad's side of the family was there. It was great to see everyone (including another new baby that I got to meet for the first time - my cousin Sienna!) as it had been quite a while. Goal accomplished!

As I was busy eating, chatting, and playing with the kids in the backyard, I heard somebody from the back door yell, "Hey! I heard there was a party going on over here!" As fast as lightning, I whipped my head around and saw my Dad standing there. You can imagine my surprise since my Dad now lives in CA. I practically threw baby Sienna off my lap, shouted "DAD!!", ran over, wrapped my arms around his neck, and started sobbing uncontrollably. I actually had go to the bathroom to regain composure. I'm not sure what came over me. I guess I was just shocked and excited to see my old man. I mean, it had been a little over 6 months since I had seen him! Anyway, it turned out that my Grandma was the only one who knew he was coming. (He happened to have a business trip in Denver and was flying in the same day we had planned the BBQ!) She said it was really hard to keep it a secret from me, and then she felt really bad when she saw me crying. Ha ha. I told her it was happy crying and I think that made her feel better. An added perk to my dad coming was the present he brought me - a gorgeous solar-powered watch! What a sweet daddy! Sadly, after only a few short hours of visiting, it was time for me to get to the airport. I was totally bummed that I couldn't spend more time with my dad and the rest of the fam, but was grateful for the time we had together. My dad took me to the airport, and that marked the ending of a wonderfully wonderful trip.

Even though I have hated living so far away from my family and friends for so long, I think it has been good for me. Had I never left, I don't think I would appreciate them as much as I do now. Whenever I visit, I truly cherish every smile, every hug, every laugh, every moment. I have been greatly blessed to have the family and friends that I do. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel in my heart for having them in my life. I love you all!!