Styer Family Reunion

Really Nick should be writing this post since I did not attend the reunion, but since that is not a realistic thought I will try my best at recording it.  The first thing is I don't actually think it was a Styer reunion.  I think it was a Jordan Family Reunion???  Either way, it's that side of the family.  The reunion was in Ohio on August 10-11th and Nick decided that since he was on the east coast and that it would be a short plane ride, it would probably the most feasible year to try to go.  He stayed with his Aunt Laura and Uncle Keith on their farm in Medina the first night.  Nick would spend the summers there as a kid and loved working on their farm.  Their house is practically a museum!!  I can't remember the exact year their house was built, but I think it is over a 100 years old!!  

Who doesn't love bingo at the reunion.  Nick's sister with 3 of her 4 kids.

David and Jo with the grandkids

Nick with his Dad, Aunt Laura, Aunt Leah, Stepmom Jo, sister Amanda, and kids

Nick had a good friend that he would hangout with those summers he spent in Medina, Ohio.  He and Devin met at the LDS church that his Aunt would take him to during his visits with them.  About the time Nick left to serve a two year church mission, Devin joined the Army.  Weeks after finishing basic training he went to Iraq, where just a few months later his convoy was struck by a roadside bombing and he died of injuries.  Every time Nick has been back to the Medina area he has gone and visited his friends grave site, and this time was no exception.  I wish I could have met his friend, Devin and grateful that Nick is the type of man that still honors his friend every chance he gets.

Not your typical day at the office

SKYDIVING

-Yes you read correctly-

When an email went out stating that for the end of the summer intern activity they were going to be skydiving and wanted to see if any full-time employees wanted to go, Nick was one of the first to reply saying he wanted his name on the list!  When he told me this of course, I told him he was crazy!  He reminded me that he has already done this before and why not go again if it is on the company's expense.  I never agreed, but I never said no.  I knew he was going to go, so what was the point in arguing the matter (see I have learned a few things in marriage after all)!

So Friday August 2nd they were off to the Wilmington Airport!

Time to get weighed to make sure Nick doesn't break the cord and/or parachute.

 "oh yay know, just signing my life away..."

 This is Nick's boss.  He is the Project Manager for the jobsite.

 The summer interns with a few employees

 He looks nervous if ya ask me

 Too bad he can hardly fit in the tiny plane

 Down the runway he goes

 It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Domenic Styer!  haha

 I love his face in this picture!

 Coming in for the landing

Glad to see he is still smiling.  I just wish he would get these crazy ideas out of his head!  I think it is fair to say that Nick loves his job.

Washington DC Weekend

Don't get me wrong, DC is a fun place to visit, but that is not why we go.  It is great that both my brother and my sister live there.  Being that it is about 5 and 1/2 hour drive from Wilmington, we decided that we would go for a quick weekend trip to see everyone.  Normally we tend to lay low but this time around we were in full tourist mode!

First on the agenda was a free guided walking tour of the monuments that Katherine had heard was good.  It was so incredibly humid and hot that none of us were prepared for the 3 hour tour to turn into a 5 hour tour!  Regardless Nick, Katherine, Jeff (friend of my sister), and I very much enjoyed all the knowledge the guy had and just accepted the fact that we were disgusting by the end!

Sisters!!

The White House.  All the times I have been to DC, I have never seen this place.  It was okay--way too crowded with foreign tourists for my liking!

 Lincoln Memorial

 Sitting on the back steps of the Lincoln Memorial--such a pretty view of the river from here.

President

Abraham Lincoln himself

 The tour guide told us we had to take a picture like this.  These are the columns at the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

 Washington Monument in the distance from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Pretty neat to see the scaffolding on the Washington Monument that is up as they are trying to repair the damage done from the earthquake that happened a while back.

Vietnam Memorial

Korean War Memorial

 For lunch we met up with this cute little guy and then headed to the Portrait Gallery.  It was a full time job chasing this kid all over the place, but boy oh boy he is sure cute even if he is being naughty!

 Funny story, we were looking at the portrait of Joseph Smith and this big black lady comes walking up and stops and says to the guy she is with, "would ya look at that...it's Joseph freeeeaaaakkkking Smith". We all about died laughing and anytime I have heard his name since I hear this ladies voice in my head. Oh my, so funny!

We were all starving by the end of the day and ate dinner at We, the Pizza.  So delicious!  Nick's favorite food is pizza and he even said it was one of the best pies he has eaten.  This restaurant was right next to the capital so we drove around since we had never seen it before. 

But, what is a vacation with eating way too  much food.  It was onto ice cream next and this little boy could not get enough of it!  It was after 9pm (maybe even 10pm) and the restaurant was playing loud music so here we are all singing and dancing with Henrik as ice cream is pouring down his face and clothes.  I'm sure everyone was thinking that we all had way too much sugar at this point to be so crazy.  This kids certainly does not have to go anywhere to find attention.

 The next day we went to the Natural History Museum along with every other DC tourists---I mean that place was crazy.  None of us felt like fighting the massive crowds so we hit up all the things we wanted to see and were out of there.

 That evening we went to Arlington National Cemetery.  My Grandma Goodrich's brother (my great uncle) is buried there.  He was a pilot in WW2 and his plane was shot down, he survived, and was a POW for 2 years before he was released.   If you have a family member buried in the cemetery you can drive inside the gates to visit the grave.  It was very humbling to see all these 100's of thousands of headstones to remind you that freedom is not free.  

 Just love this little boy

 Planes kept flying over head and Henrik would wave up to the sky every time he saw one.  Too precious.

 And just like that our DC trip was over.  30 hours is not enough time in that place.  The highlight of the trip by far was not any sightseeing but playing Top 40 music charts with the family and Katherine's friend, Jeff, who had the come from behind win.  I cannot remember the last time I laughed so hard.  Such a great trip, that there are rumors of us even going back in September....to be continued :)

Badger Baby/ Dever Trips

By now everyone knows our connection with the Badger's.  Michelle was my roommate and TJ was Nick's roommate-we set them up on a date two weeks after we had started dating and...boom...the four of us got married and despite them moving to Denver after getting married, we have all stayed the best of friends since meeting 7 years ago.  When I called Michelle out and guessed that she was pregnant only about a week after she found out, I was thrilled to be an 'auntie' to this little baby!  Scarlett was born on April 17th, but I had to wait until June to meet her in person (although I did love getting a daily picture text each morning of the little honey, as we like to call her).

One morning we headed to Red Rocks for a little workout.  We thought we would be ambitious and run the steps....whew!!!  Let me tell you that is no joke.  I like to think I am in decent shape these days, but that altitude will mess anyone up!

We started at the bottom....

...and some how after an entire ipod playlist, made it to the top!

 We treated our selves to a pedicure and shopping trip afterwards as our reward!  :)

 A month later it was Nick's turn.  He was in Denver for work training and stayed through the weekend to love on this little girl.  I love how he is holding her like a football!  It is fair to say Nick has a slight phobia of babies because as he says "they break easier"...hahah!  But from what I hear he did great.

Just trying to pump those little legs of hers

The boys were jealous that Michelle and I went and ran Red Rocks, so they decided to have their turn at it.

 So happy for this family!  TJ has two older boys, and it goes without saying that this little girl has melted his heart.  We are excited to see her grow up!