"You're gonna want this back"

Blogger (the site that hosts this blog) has changed it's photo posting again, and these shots are all out of order (sorry, I know that this impacts your lives a great deal). 

We are home from California, Reno and Kansas. 13 days away from Calgary; and the day we got back it was in the 50's (teens C) overcast. I will admit that I was depressed yesterday. I told RKZ that if he had said (while we were in So Cal) that, "I'm packing everything up and you don't have to come back," I wouldn't have been sad a bit. We returned to news that Buck's best friend and our very close friends are moving away this weekend. We had such a nice vacation - and Life begins anew here in the Great White (Rainy) North. 

 The boys continue to love Grandma and Grandpa Joad's house. They have a lot of riding toys. Thunder has learned how to push Buck around. He is channelling Kevin Federline here :) 

An old shot, but this is also a recap of summer vacation for us. We were able to see almost every single cousin this summer (and will see the G-side again at Cor's wedding next month). 

RKZ and I "escaped" to Wichita for a family wedding. We were on our own for 2 days (sans bebes). Here, RKZ demos his romantic side reading Sports Illustrated and sitting in a rocking chair. Do we know how to party, or what? 

Throughout the rest of the trip (RKZ had to stay home and work), I would email quick pics of the boys to RKZ so he knew we missed him. This room is at Aunt K and Uncle G's house in the OC. 

While visiting my parents in Reno, we spent a day in Lake Tahoe visiting SDJ and Supermodel D. I forgot Lake Tahoe somehow. It was a glorious day and made me wonder why we don't spend summers up there. 

SDJ is 16 now (insane) and these shots are from her iphone. She is very posh. 

The boys in the lake. They are so big now. 

Coming home to daddy. I bought a ticket for Thunder this trip and it SAVED MY LIFE. Note to people planning on becoming parents - always buy a ticket after 16 months. "Free" tickets aren't worth the price. Best money I ever spent was buying a place to strap THunder down.  

The boys and their oldest male cousin, CK. CK is 14 years old and about 6 feet tall (exaggeration, but I'm sure he was taller than 5'8''). He was so good with the boys and completely explained how to choose a personal gaming system for Buck. Hilarious!