Happy Birthday Lawrence!

Some of you may know that Jena has a turtle. More appropriately, Jena's mom now has a turtle and he's actually a Sulcata Tortoise. Jena saw him in a pet store in Lawrence, KS just over 10 years ago and thought she needed the cute little thing. In true Younger fashion, she negotiated a better price and took him home. At the time, she did not realize that this little "turtle" could live up to 80 years and would get big enough to ride some day. Since we never really knew when he was born, Jena decided that Columbus Day would be his birthday each year. As you can imagine, he's seen some interesting times in his 10 years on earth. Here are a few highlights from Larry's life:

• Was small enough to ride in the cupholder of Jena's car when he came home.
• Has lived in Tribune, Garden City, and Goodland...but mostly in Tribune.
  
• Once walked away from Brett and Jill's house in Goodland and was lost for 2 weeks. He was found about 6 miles north of town and made the front page of the newspaper on return.
  
• Can destroy any flower bed or garden in no time at all.
  
• Can eat you out of house and home now and enjoys all the veggies he can get.
  
• Was almost adopted by the Garden City zoo until another turtle in the exhibit was stolen. Jena quickly decided against leaving him there.
  
• Likes to give the grandkids rides...yep, you can ride him!
  
• Has lived about 8 years longer than any vet or tortise expert expected him to live.
  
• Is the main attraction at the turtle race at the Tribune fair.
• Weighed less than a pound when Jena got him and weighs close to 80 pounds today.
  
  

We hope you enjoy the pictures. I had to include the first one above as a nod to Max and the great Polaroid. I'm not sure anyone other than Max still has and uses one of those! Can you even see Larry in the picture? He's pretty small in Jill's hand.

A huge thanks goes to Wayne and Kathy for adopting Larry and giving him a great home. He probably would not have lived nearly this long if it hadn't been for the care he gets in Tribune.

Frustration!!

I tried to help Jena with the blog tonight and killed the whole thing!!! All I wanted to do was updated the background and I lost all the page elements. I think it ties back to the html code from a certain website...no, I'm sure of it. Anyway, I'm done with that website for backgrounds. I think it's mostly fixed now. Maybe it was time to change things up a bit anyway. OK, I'm done ranting...Matt.

Lot's of Fun!!

Joshua and Maddix sure had a lot of fun the other day! They learned it's fun to play with the dishwasher and to play under the sink. They went in and out of the cabinet a hundred times. Josh liked it when Maddix was on the outside of the cabinet and could hand him stuff. It's fun to see them grown up together!

14 months old!!

Wow, Joshua is already 14 months old!! These are some pictures we took when we went to Gunnison to see Grandma and Grandpa McKenzie!! Josh is now walking all over the place and has several words he can say. He is such a fun little man and I'm blessed to get to get to stay at home with him. Enjoy the pictures and we will blog again when we have more time.

The Boys

The Mai boys were in town a couple weekends ago and all the little boys got together. From left to right, it's Logan (Eric and Jordan), Maddix, Joshua, and Tresten (Chad and Gwen). If these boys have half as much fun as their dads had, we're in trouble. They are all about the same age. Logan is the oldest and is a couple weeks older than Josh and Maddix. Tresten is the youngest and is just a few weeks younger than Josh. It was good to see everyone. It's been over a year since the last time we were together and none of these little boys were around yet.

The last picture is just a funny one of Maddix and Josh that we thought we would share. Obviously, they are deep in conversation!

San Diego

Jena and I recently went to San Diego for a few days. I had to be there for a business meeting and Jena was able to come along for an extended weekend. We had a great time and San Diego is a great place to visit in mid-July. Temperatures were in the mid to upper 80's during the day and there was always a cool ocean breeze. The evenings and nights cooled down to the mid 60's. Perfect weather. We stayed in the Manchester Hyatt and had a great bayside view. This first shot is out of our hotel room window. The bridge in the distance is Coronado Bridge and connects San Diego with Coronado Island (in the upper right of the picture). Our first day in San Diedo, we toured the city and took a boat ride through the harbor. This shot is from the boat, looking back at our hotel. The Hyatt is the two towers on the right side of the pictures. We stayed in the tower to the furthest right.

During the city tour, we stopped in Little Italy and got a history lesson about the Italian settlers and tuna fishing. While in Little Italy, we toured this Catholic church that was filled with paintings of biblical scenes.

This shot was taken at Mission Beach. We went to a place called the Wave House where they have wave machines that you can surf on. Being the land-locked flatlanders that we are, we chose to drink a few beers and enjoy the scenery instead. Other activities during the weekend included a trip to Coronado Island, a Padres/Rockies game, and some R & R at the pool.

I also got a chance for a little golf. I played at the Crossings at Carlsbad. It was a challenging course. Most every hole as "hit the fairway, or hit another". I was proud of myself for only losing 6 balls in 18 holes. One of the other guys I played with proudly donated 20 balls to the course. The week was a lot of fun and I would definitely go back to San Diego.

Birthday Cake!

First Birhday Cake!!

First Birthday cakes! Joshy had a little party with Matt and I on his real birthday. Jill and her crew also came over. It was nice to have some family come for his real birthday. But then on the 4th of July we had a big birthday bash! The grandparents made it down and a few other family members and friends came to celebrate also!!

I made his cake on the 25 of June, while we had a good friend Darla make his cake on the fourth. Her cake was much much prettier than mine and tasted a lot better too! I’m still eating cake for breakfast. Only two pieces left,” I better share with Matt.”

Joshua wasn’t sure what to think when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him. He also didn’t like an audience when he tried to dig into his cake. He did much better smashing his cake on the 25th than on the fourth. Darla made him a cute little turtle cake for his big day. So cute I didn’t want him to destroy it! All in all it was a very fun first birthday!!!

First Hair Cut

Joshua has been looking a little long for a little while now. He needed a hair cut about 2 months ago but I really wanted to wait until he was a year! So his big day came on June 27th. After his bath we just sat him down on the kitchen counter and went to town. We cut off a lot in the back and a little bit on top. He did have some hair over his ears but as you can see he still has a small amount of hair. He sat really good for me and only tired a few times to get the clippers. I was surprised he didn't even cry. After his hair cut was done I look at him and thought he sure is growing up not such a baby any more.

Seven Years!!

Happy Anniversary to us!! Wow did seven years already come and go? Of course with this last year having Joshua it went even faster than ever. Matt is a wonderful husband in every way I can think of. He helps me around the house everyday. Ladies I don’t even have to ask he just does it! He provides for our family even if it means missing out on fun stuff sometimes. He never complains about anything he just does what needs to be done and keeps on going. I wish I had as much energy as he does and did it without complaining! He is a great dad to Joshua and a wonderful husband for me! I have loved the last seven years being married to Matt. When I hear people complain about being married I think how sad because I love it. Matt and I are meant to be, he brings the good out in me each and everyday. I probably drive him crazy off and on thru out the week but he never says a word! He is a blast to be with and is my best friend. I can’t wait for the next seven years!!! I realized when doing this blog I need more pictures of just Matt and I. We don’t have a single picture I can find with just us besides our wedding pictures! And if you know the story on that you know we don’t have any that are not blurry!! Oh well the wedding pictures sure don’t make the marriage!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Happy Birthday to our big boy! Wow, this year has went way too fast. I still remember the hospital and all the anticipation to have Joshua just a year ago. I remember the night before being so nervous about the c-section and what to expect. It all went so fast and I’m so thankful I was able to stay at home with him. Matt it such a hard worker and it’s because of him I can see Joshua grown and change everyday. Joshua has changed our lives so much and I’m sure he will continue to make us smile each and every day. Today we are having a small party for him with Jill, Brett, Zekke, Titus and Maddix! But on the Fourth of July he will have a big party with more family and friends! Joshy can do so many new things he is walking better all the time. He has several words he can say. He loves to see ceiling fans and point to them and say round round! He gets excited when he see’s other kids. He is so much fun and I can’t wait to see how he will change in another year.

Sleeping Thru The Night!

We finally are sleeping thru the night!! A weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Krayca’s set it all in motion. For the last 11 months Joshua has been getting up several times a night wanting to nurse. Two weekends ago he went to have his first night away from momma and learned he didn’t need his milk all night. My mom said he didn’t go to bed until midnight the first night. He then got up at 3am and by time she got the bottle ready he was back to sleep. The next night he went to bed late and same thing by time she got the bottle ready he was asleep. So the first night back home he woke up at 3am and no momma came, he went back to sleep within 5 minutes. Last night the little guy didn’t even wake up at all and slept from 8:45 to 6am then drank some milk and went back to sleep until 9am! He does like to sleep in most days and usually gets up somewhere between 8:45 and 9:30am. Hopefully he will keep this up! I have not yet got back to sleeping thru the night but I hope I will soon

11 months old!!

Joshua is now 11 months old! Hard to believe he will be one soon. We spent his big day with Grandma and Grandpa McKenzie and Great Grandma Nina! He also got to see his Aunt Linda earlier that weekend. I guess you can say this is a Memorial Day/11 month old blog.

Josh is growing up so much and is hard to keep up with. Still no walking but he loves for you to hold his hands as he drags you thru the house bent over! It won’t be long and we will have to drag him out of getting into stuff. He seems to say a new word about every two or three weeks right now he likes to say no! Sometimes it sounds like he can say hi or bye but it’s far and few. Last night he bent over in the bath tub and blew bubbles! How he figured that one out I will never know. He also got to go on his first Jeep ride and loved it! For a kid who hates his car seat we got him to stay in it for 30 min while we just cruised the town!!!

Our Memorial weekend was filled with family! We spent our time decorating the graves on Saturday and went to the Memorial Celebration on Monday. Don and Matt spent Saturday and Sunday in projects. I know Matt was happy to have the help! Thank you Don so much for all your help on this remodel!! We had a fun time like always and can’t wait to see them all again. I know Joshy sure loved all the extra attention.

Josh and his first ride in the Jeep!!!

Adam and Josh over Mother's Day! They sure look cute in red.

He loves his new pool we just go in the buff!