More Wedding Fun!

So, I already wrote a ton of great stuff about the wedding, but it all disappeared! In a nutshell, I married my sun and stars on March 20, 2011. It was the happiest day I have had in a long time. Special thanks to our friends and family for making the day extra special, and to Randy and Melodie for making it all possible!

Our Wedding...

The best day ever!!!!

How times flies...

I think it has almost been a YEAR since the last time I posted--an entire year! So much as happened. I started-and finished-my first year of teaching second grade. I'll try to post some pictures from this school year later. Logan and Tyler had a phenomenal year, as well. I cannot believe Logan is starting middle school next year! I can still see his sweet little 2-year old face smiling at me. And Tyler-what a mess he is! He always has something going on in his head. He actually reminds me so much of Greg. They both earned excellent grades, and Tyler won the Accelerate Reader award for all of second grade 3 out of 4 times this year. We are very proud of both of them. These are their school pictures.

I am so blessed to have such sweet little boys to call my own. And-we are so lucky to have Ed in our lives to fill the void that was left when Greg died. I am so happy to he was willing to take on such an enormous responsibility-one that a lot of men would have turn their back on. We love him so much.

Well, I'm really going to try to catch up on what's been going on around here. I have pictures from Logan's graduation, Tyler's soccer, some trips, and other things that I would love to share!

4th of July

Sure, it's now how we expected to end our 4th of July holiday...but we still had fun! Even though we weren't able to shoot off all our fireworks, we still had a great day. We slept in late, which is always a treat. I braved the crowds at Walmart to do some grocery shopping since our pantry has been pretty bare since we got back from vacation. Ed and the boys worked in the yard pulling weeds and making the pond nice and pretty again. Tyler was a bit grumpy working in the sun, so he was banished to the kitchen with me. It was like having my own little personal assistant all day!

Drew, Shelly, the girls, and baby Xander came over to eat dinner with us. We always love it when they come over. Xander is getting so big. I just love his chubby cheeks! And you know I never compain when there ar elittle girls running around! I wish we could've shot off more fireworks, but the weather was just not cooperating. Logan and Tyler ended up cuddled up on the porch in their snuggies watching fireworks around the neighborhood. After about 15 minutes, they came in because it was too cold and windy. They ended up just sitting in my office and watching out the windows.

Not exactly what we planned, but I still love speinging time with my three favorite guys. Hopefully the weather is better tomorrow!

Logan and Tyler "chilling" on the proch watching fireworks.
Tyler with the one sparkler he did before it started raining.

Aurora looking so cute!

Kiera doing her best Airbender impersonation.

Logan eating a yummy dinner.

Tyler helping me puree watermelon for slushies.

Prince Charming and Logan working hard on the yard.

Shucking corn for dinner.

Estes Park

What a beautiful place we decided to visit! The mountains literally surround us. Estes Park is nestled in a valley in the Rocky Mountain National Park. So, not matter which way you look, all you see is mountains. This is one of the many reasons why I love living in Colorado. You cannot beat the view! I went on a short run this morning--I think it was about 3 miles--on Estes Trail. The trail ran along Estes Lake, and it was absolutely amazing. This was only my second run since I started running again. I had been out of the game since May 1st due to my hamstring tear. But it was so great! I have a lot of catching up to do if I am going to be ready for the Nike Women's Marathon in October!

We took the boys to Lake Estes today to do a little bit of fishing. Logan and Ed had a blast! Tyler...well, let's just say that fishing requires patience. This is something Tyler definitely doesn't have. However, he did make a friend with a worm that he saved from becoming bait. I can't remember what he named the worm, but I do know that he was administering major resuscitation efforts once the worm became listless in his hand. He would not give up. His final technique was to drown the worm in a container of water (can you drown once you're dead?). The method to his madness was that the worm was drying up in the sun. Therefore, if he inundated with water, it would come back to life. Poor Tyler...poor worm. When he came back to check on his patient, I told him that the dog had knocked over the container, and the worm escaped. Tyler was upset at first, but he got over it. Poor worm. Ed and Logan got a few bites, but they didn't catch anything. We're thinking of going back tomorrow to try again.

For dinner this evening, we decided to cook hotdogs over the fire. It was so much fun! Of course, impatience overtook Tyler once again, and we had to cook his for him. We went back a little later and made smores. Now we're settling down to watch Alice in Wonderland--the perfect ending to a perfect day!

Our summer...so far!

We have had a busy summer so far. In just 3 short weeks, we have been to South Dakota, where we were able to see the Crazy Horse memorial and Mount Rushmore. What an amazing adventure! Our hotel was conveniently located right across the street from Bedrock City...home of the Flintstones! The kids had a blast playing their way through the small amusement park. We were a bit concerned when the storm sirens went off while we were in the giftshop. The clerks told us not to worry--they went off ALL the time! But we decided to run as fast as we could back to the hotel before it started raining on us. Turns out we were under a tornado warning during the time we were at the park! Sometime after we got back to the hotel, a tornado actually touched down just 3 miles away! Go figure! After the warning was dropped, we decided to brave the hail and rain to go get pizza. Just another normal vacation for us.

Now we are in Estes Park, Colorado. I came here when I was in high school on a mission trip with my church. We just bought an RV, and we wanted to take it on a short trip first...kind of to break it in. Estes Park seemed like a great location since it's only about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Falcon. Not too close, but not too far. This place is so beautiful! I cannot think of a better way to spend time with my three favorite guys (and the puppies, too!). Tomorrow we are heading to a fishing derby at Lake Estes, which is conveniently located right across from the campground. We promised the boys hotdogs grilled over the fire, too. Not sure what the afternoon holds, but I am sure we will be making some great memories.

SSG Greg McCoy

As Memorial Day arrives, I find myself thinking more often of Greg. I still love him, and I miss him every single day. I was so blessed to have him in my life-and I am so thankful that we had Logan and Tyler. Because of them, I am able to see a little bit of Greg each and every day. I love noticing their little habits that remind me so much of Greg. Of course, some are not as lovely as others! Nonetheless, I hold onto any little piece of Greg I can find.

While I miss Greg, what hurts the most in knowing that the boys will never really get to know their father. He loved our boys intensely, and while I know he missed me when he was gone, I know it killed him to be away from his boys. Logan, though he was only 6 when Greg died, still understood the magnitude of his dad's death. To this day, he still has moments when he longs for his father. He cries...and of course, I cry too. Tyler, on the other hand, does not have a solid memory of Greg. He only spent about 2 years of his life with Greg; he was 6 months old when he first deployed, then 18 months when he returned. He was just over 2 1/2 when Greg left the last time. That was not a very long time to get to know your father. However, we-myself, Ed, and Logan-take every chance to share our memories of Greg with Tyler in an attempt to allow him to learn more about his father. It saddens me immensely that Tyler has to depend on us for his memories of Greg, but I am so honored to be one of the people to share with him.

This year will mark the 4th anniversary of Greg's death in Iraq. We still acknowledge our momentous occasions with him...his birthday, Father's Day, our anniversary, Veteren's Day, and, of course, Memorial Day. These are very special moments for our family, and I cherish each one of them. As our lives move forward, we will never forget the sacrifice Greg made for all of us. While we take this time to remember him and the short time we were blessed to have with him, we also want to recognize those soldiers who went before him and have gone since him. We are grateful for your service and sacrifice to our country.