Fun, Cots, Brothers, Camping.....

I haven't posted in awhile...my sweet sister, Bethany Allen, reminds me every once in awhile that I need to get in gear and write! I have been thinking of so many things lately. It has been so wonderful having Ryan home. We feel closer to complete. For those of you having children who live far away, you know what I mean.

Case in Point: Ryan and I went to Portland to visit ITT Tech on Wednesday. It was a wonderful day of talking things through, examining his options for school and where he would live. It was such fun. I needed a new, larger coffee pot for camping, since John and I aren't the only ones who drink coffee in our family so I needed a great big one (Matty loves to make cowboy coffee when camping). We stopped at the Sportsmans Warehouse, one of my favorite stores in the whole world, and located the camping section. I love shopping with our kids, they are so funny, you can almost hear their pocketbooks groaning! haha! Anyway, Ryan was looking for a cot to sleep on and when we walked around the corner to the cot section and he spotted a bunk bed cot, I knew he would be buying it!!! He said, enthusiastically, "WOW, I GOTTA have this for Aaron and I, it'll be just like when we were kids!!!" One of the many blessings of being a parent of adult children is to hear them refer to their childhood with fondness and joy, confidence and peace. It was heartwarming. He could barely contain himself when we got home, he made Aaron stay away from the family room while he put it together, and when it was done, Aarons reaction was priceless...he shouted, "COOL!!! it'll be like when we were little!" Ryan was beaming! They quickly got on it, tried it out and had a good time chuckling. Last night, I see Ryan hauling his sleeping bag out, to the cot that remains assembled in our front living room, and soon I see and hear both the boys talking, Aaron gets a sleeping bag and pretty soon, they were laying in their sleeping bags on their bunk beds, laughing and talking....it was 100% precious. I stood in the kitchen, listening to them laugh and reminisce, John was sitting at the bar, apparently doing the same thing, when I began to think about 14 days from now, when our Matty will be home, here with us, laughing with his little brothers, teasing them, giving them noogies, and I sighed, in utter pleasure and anticipation. John looked at me and smiled and said "you know what I love best about Diamond Lake?" no, I replied. "Watching you watch our kids love each other, and hearing you look forward to Matt coming home," he answered me. I choked up, smiled and kept cooking. He's right. I am so full of joy that soon, very soon, I will get to see, touch, smell, watch and hear our oldest. My precious and beautiful, handsome and complicated son. Oh my heart swells with just the thinking of it. I literally cannot wait to see him and have him here with all of us, it will be so awesome. He has grown up so much in the last years, gone through so much and I am so incredibly proud of the choices that he makes in his life. I know Ryan is ready to see him and misses him a lot, as well as Kaylee.

To finish the story: John got the camera out and snapped some pictures, but Aaron, true to himself, insisted he needed his precious gun in bed with him, so once he got the gun and Ryan procured a snorkel for himself (don't ask, it IS Ryan after all) I got to taking some photos...I am attaching them to this post for your viewing enjoyment!

I hope you all have a wonderful vacation time, I am so psyched and ready to "get outta Dodge" so to speak and camp with dear friends and family, laugh, eat, bike, swim, play, relax, read, and just be at our most special place in the world. John and I will be renewing our wedding vows down there to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary with our children (our actual date is the 27th of Aug.)