Somebody's Growing Up Fast (and Other Happenings This July)

It's hard to believe that Gavin is 7 months already! The summer has flown by, and so have many of his milestones. The little booger is a real mover and shaker. He began army crawling in June, a week before he turned 6 months old, and honed his skills on our trip to New Jersey. Now he's more than mobile, crawling all over the place and trying constantly to keep up with his brothers. A couple of things that he's doing amaze us: he will stand flat-footed at the train table and play with/suck on trains while not holding on at all (see below). He also crawls to the bottom step and pulls himself up to standing, pulls himself up to standing when he's on our laps by using our shirts as a hand hold, and will take steps when we stand him up and hold his hands. Some people say he's going to be an early walker. We'll have to see!



Last weekend we went to my hometown - Gering, NE - to celebrate Oregon Trail Days. Since my entire family went (Mom, Dad, sisters and their families, aunt and uncle) we got a lot of quality time with family and friends. The Kirbys no longer have a home in Gering, which is hard for me still, but we stayed with the parents of my dear friend from growing up, The Parrs. What made it even more fun was that Allyson and here family were there too, as well as our friend Julie and her family. We got to have a fun evening of catching up at Jadie's house, where I was reminded that not only am I blessed to have my dear college friends, but also to have these five amazing women, who shared my growing up years, still in my life.



The five grandsons posed (if you can call it that) for a photo op with their Grandpa, a task which felt an awful lot like herding cats.



And finally, a picture of the countryside where I grew up. Some people think that the panhandle of Nebraska is flat, hot, brown, and...well, flat. Those of us who love the land in that part of the country are drawn to it's wide open spaces and humongous horizon broken only by sandstone bluffs that look so different depending on how the sun is rising or setting, how the lightning is striking the sky, how the snow is falling, and even how the fog has settled. As Allyson and I drove into town one morning to get some donuts from the world-famous Gering Bakery, I couldn't help stopping the car to snap the picture below. Being "home", though the home of my childhood is no longer there, fills my heart with peace. As my uncle says, "Life just slows down here". Yes, it does, and I love it!

Scottsbluff National Monument