My Pride and Joy

With Father's day on its way I have been reflecting on what makes my life so awesome! I have so much because of my husband and I've been emotional thinking about how much he does for me, his family, and those around him. 

I see his ingenuity in our daughter, Katie as she comes up with novel ways to do things:

I see his sense of humor and adventure in the faces of my children everyday: 

 I tells me that I am the reason they are so great, but I know better, without him...I wouldn't be in our own home, enjoying every minute of their extremely short childhood! 

Thank you Daddy! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

Camping Fun

Twice now, we have spent a Thursday at the camper while BJ works, and has been a blast! We fish, explore, watch Rose be crazy, play games, watch movies, play video games, read, and wait for BJ to get back:)

Katie wasn't a big fan of Daddy's plan, she showed excitement when it was time to pull back in!

BJ tried standing up, but, decided this pose was the best:

As much fun as being at Mark Twain is, we have had some pretty crazy adventures. BJ, dropped his phone in the gravel and we ran over it with the boat trailer. I've "crashed" to boat twice....let me explain. The first time was helping BJ anchor us under a bridge to fish on a very windy day, and the second time the controls failed while I was pulling it onto the trailer. Luckily,  we could get phone and boat repaired quickly and relatively cheaply. That was nothing compared to just this last weekend:

Yes, that is a large German Shepard! This angel of a dog came right up us Saturday morning in great need of food and a bath. BJ first got her checked out at a vet and then one thing lead to another...She came home with us, met the neighbors, and now has a home with an uncle of one them! The kids called her first Stray, Shay, Wolf, then Wolfie...we truly wish her the best and are happy she can get the love and attention she deserves. 

Copus Family Reunion

In Utah we stayed in a fancy Westgate Resort! Ray loved the indoor/outdoor swimming pool so much that every chance he got we were swimming!

Ray with his cousin Ashly:

Katie with her Uncle Matt (my brother) and Ashley:

Grandpa (my Dad) waving, with Jared (my brother-in-law who is married to Camille), and Camille (my youngest sister) holding my niece (Matt's girl) Bella: 

Grandma (my Mom) and Bella:

Bella and her Daddy, Matt: 

Bella and Katie:

Bella and Ray: 

My goodness is Bella just about the calmest little baby I have ever been with! She was so sweet! Here Katie and Ashly posed in the matching dresses Grandma made them:

Katie loved dancing in her dress and I couldn't get her to wear anything else!

This was from our balcony:

This is Hazly, Matt's awesome wife with their girls Ashly and Bella:

The girls let me do Elsa Breads in their hair! 

Grandma and Katie going to the car:

Ashly and Katie got along really well!

Ray seemed to have a good time too:

Awesome Ironman Kite Grandpa and Grandma got him:

Grandpa and Ray exploring:

Then we drove back home...

Trip to Utah

Our trip to Utah was the first week of June and BJ's brilliant plan to stop and stay the night at Emily's home in Omaha made the 20+ hour drive very doable. However, anticipation was too much for Katie and she had a difficult time falling asleep the night before. So, BJ's idea was to let her hang out in my spot and "read" my book till I finished some packing. This is how I found her just moments later: 

I picked BJ up from work and we had lunch at a place called Woods that he talks about all the time. I got a chicken sandwich and the chicken breast was the biggest I have ever seen! It was a great way to start the trip:) We had to drive pass Mark Twain Lake, but it was just a few short hours to Emily's that night. BJ met their new cat Pepper, who absolutely loved him! My niece Lindsay in in the background too:

We left Omaha about mid morning and set out on our full day of driving.

Words don't capture the joy we felt when we finally got to Utah: