Grandma and Grandpa Elkins

Before our "reunion" started in California we snuck off to Hemet to see Josh's grandparents. 

This was their first time meeting Marissa,

and she loved all the attention!

So did Shane :)  All his grandparents go by "Grandma and Grandpa" so he is learning each of their names now and it is cute to hear.  He knows at any rate that the word Grandma or Grandpa in front of their name means they are easily suckered into reading to him!

We enjoyed just hanging out and chatting, they made a wonderful dinner, and they even got a little pool for the occasion.

Probably my favorite part was seeing how smitten Grandpa was with Marissa.  He is great with all his grandkids but I think there was just something different about a little girl.  She had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew if she whimpered a little bit he would take her outside with him :) 

We are so glad that they live in California so we get to see them more often.  Thanks for having us, we were so happy to see you guys!

An Update

It's been a little while since I've posted!  We just got back from our trip to California and I will be posting a lot in the next few days as I sort through my pictures.  But I thought in the meantime I'd give y'all a little update.  We found out a few weeks ago Josh passed his Step 1 (woohoo!!) and have been waiting for the details of his clinical schedule.  After a bit of an emotional roller coaster we are happy to announce that we are staying in Saginaw for the next year!!!  (Yes you did read that happy part right ha ha).  Saginaw definitely has its downsides, but doesn't every place?  We like it here, we have a great ward, we've heard great things from the students who've done rotations here, there is a constant flow of new/old friends every few months, and the cost of living is very reasonable to mention a few of its upsides. We feel really lucky to have Josh's complete schedule for the next year and that he can get right through his core rotations with just a 3 week gap in there. And we found a cute little house for the same price we're paying for our apartment now that we'll move into next month, and we are really excited about it.  Today we asked  Shane if he liked Michigan and he pointed out the window excitedly and said "You like Michigan!! It's home!"  Guess that settles it then :) 

A Few Reasons Why I Love Shane Lately

(I mean I always love him, but you know what I mean...)

-Because you can't help but have spontaneous dance parties when you are out on the balcony with him.

-Because random phrases from his books pop out all the time, like when he's playing in the sandbox and says "I operate the gears and scoop up the sand!"

-Because whenever I change his sheets he gets so excited about whatever new color is on there that he can't wait to go to bed. (I realize that makes it sound like it's a rarity, but I promise I change them frequently!)

-Because when I spied on him in nursery yesterday while walking the halls with Marissa I could hear him belting out Wheels on the Bus 10 yards down the hall.

-Because he loves his little sister.  Can you tell?

-Because when I take him running in the stroller he tells me "We're racing for the Piston Cup!!"

-Because he wears his excitement on his sleeves- and by that I mean legs :) 

Highlights from Grandma and Grandpa Nebeker's Visit

We had way too much fun with my parents here to go into all the details, so I'll just share the highlights-

checking out Frankenmuth,

the children's museum,

the park,

celebrating the other national holiday (7/11),

John and Pat's house- Marissa and I enjoyed the boat,

Shaners wasn't so sure,

shopping at the mall,

and hitting up Birch Run,

and of course just hanging out ;)

It's a good thing we're going to California on Tuesday because we miss them already!!

Grandma and Grandpa Dettinger Came

Sorry about the scarce posting lately, we have had family at our house for the past 2 weeks and when I have too much to blog about I get overwhelmed and it takes me awhile to sift through the millions of pictures I've taken!! (And I'm sure if you read this post you'll think- that was AFTER the sifting??!!) Josh's parents and Matthew came out the week before Marissa's blessing and we had a blast with them!  This was the first time Josh's dad had met Marissa.  This is his first granddaughter after many grandsons, so he had to see her in person to believe we really had a girl!

 

We went to many parks (Shane was so happy to have Matthew there, can you tell?)

 

(this picture's for you Hannah ;) )

Josh's mom knows I am a sucker for brown :)  I think she looks pretty cute in it.

They were here for the fourth so we found a big grassy area and camped out to watch the fireworks.

It was a pretty good show, but I decided I am the world's worst fireworks photographer.

I thought maybe Shane would be cranky because they didn't start until 10:15, but he loved every minute of it and kept saying "Wanna go IN the fireworks!  Wanna go in the stars!  Wanna go in the moon!"  (Maybe we have an astronaut on our hands?)  Marissa slept through them while Grandma protected her ears (don't worry, we were pretty far away from them).

And we all went to see Cars 2 in the theater.  This was the first time Shane had been to a movie theater, and we had been telling him for awhile that when Matthew got here we would go in the car and go see Lightning.  I'm pretty sure he didn't really know what that meant because he went in Grandma and Grandpa's van and they were watching something on the dvd player in there and when we took him out to go into the theater he started crying because I think he thought that was what we meant by "go in the car to see Lightning".  Funny boy.  Here he is when he was still upset about it

and then when we got in the theater and it came on he started to realize that this was what we were talking about, and he ended up loving the movie.

 

(And I have to include this sidenote- he has some ornery prayers sometimes!  The night before he was upset because he saw a preview for it on tv right before he went to bed and wanted to go in the car right then to see it.  I put him to bed and in his prayer he kept repeating through his sobs, "Dear Heavenly Father- thank you for NOT going in the car!!!")

We went shopping at Birch Run, did some swimming, and the men did some golfing.  When my parents got here the day before the blessing we all went to Frankenmuth,

 and Grandpa quickly learned the way to Shane's heart (fudge). 

 And we just had fun hanging out.  Shane had so much fun and Matthew was so good with him

And Grandma and Grandpa were good sports to read to him so much :)

Thanks for making the long drive out here!  We miss you guys!

Marissa's Blessing

Yesterday Josh blessed Marissa in church.  He did a great job, despite her crying through the whole thing ha ha.  I was thinking she was going to be good because I fed her right before and she was super happy when he walked her up there, but then they laid her down in their arms and she did not like that at all!  Oh well, Shane cried for his too.  Maybe next time we'll bless them before 3 months when they're still a sleepy newborn.  But we were happy we did it now so both of our parents could be here.  And I'm happy I had the foresight to take a couple quick pictures of her in her dress before the blessing,

because right before church ended she christened the dress (you can kind of tell in this picture).  I mean a pretty white dress is just begging to be pooped on I guess.

So we hurried and got a few family pictures,

and one with her and the dad/grandparents who blessed her. 

We love you Marissa! 

Palmyra, NY

After discovering that we were only 5 hours from Niagara Falls we quickly realized that was only 2 hours from Palmyra, NY and that we could totally squeeze in a stop there on our trip.  And I am so glad we did. Palmyra, NY is where Joseph Smith lived with his family as a boy and where the grove of trees is that he went into as a 14 year old boy to pray and ask God for some direction.  We call this the Sacred Grove and it is where Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to him and spoke with him, and was the catalyst for the restoration of the Gospel on the earth.  

We started with a tour of the property but this picture pretty much sums up that part of it- Shane way too interested in the rocks and dirt along the paths to be bothered by a tour and a fussy little girl that couldn't decide whether she wanted to eat or sleep.

So Josh and I took turns wrangling kiddos outside while the other one went into the parts they were touring.  I went into the replica of the Smith family's log house

and was impressed that it was small things like a family reading their scriptures together at the dinner table

or a boy praying by his bedside that really are big things.

The grounds were absolutely beautiful,

and things got much better when we headed into the grove.  Marissa fell asleep, and Shane was just happy to be walking in nature so Josh and I had some good quiet time to spend in there.  The Spirit was very strong there and there was an unmistakable feeling that what Joseph Smith said happened there really happened there.  I had prayed about this many years ago and received confirmation that it did, but being there confirmed that feeling even more.  I am grateful to know that Heavenly Father loves us and still speaks to us today through his prophets.      

After leaving there we made a quick stop at the Hill Cumorah, the spot where the golden plates that were translated into the Book of Mormon were buried.  (It doesn't look like it in the picture but it was huge!)

Shane and I in front of the Statue of Angel Moroni  (he visited Joseph Smith and told him where the plates were buried and what to do with them.)

There were a few other spots that we would have loved to visit but we are realizing that with a 2 1/2 year old and a 2 month old you sometimes have to pick and choose what you can do.  But I think we chose well, and we were happy with what we were able to do.