Whirlwind

Things have been absolutely crazy lately, but fun at the same time. Gotta tell ya though, I'm pretty darn exhausted.

My sister Cindy flew in from Virgina on Wednesday August 22nd and we've been on the go ever since it seems. I haven't seen her in a year, so I was excited to get to spend a few days with her before she went to go pick up my super studly nephews from being at their dads house all summer.

We were lucky enough to get to spend about three days together before she was off to see a few friends and hang with the parentals. In light of her having recent surgery we didn't do a whole lot, but we are more about hanging out, talking, watching movies or playing games than actually going out and about.

While Cindy was here, we got to take her along to speech therapy so she could see Jocelyn in action, and I even think Jocelyn showed off a little bit for her auntie. That Friday we traveled to Salina to see our beloved physical therapist, Joyce, to cast some new DAFO's since Bobby chewed-up hers and because she has pretty much out-grown the current pair. While we were there, I also got to see my sweetie-pie of a friend, Allison, and she even had time to visit with us for a little while which was so lovely. The trip to Salina seemed long since the weather was terrible and at times the rain was coming down so hard you couldn't even see, but Aunt Cindy got to help pick out Jocelyn's design on her boots so they will be even more special. Who knows, maybe this will be the pair that we'll see big results with?

Of course Aunt Cindy gave Boogie lots of smooches while she was here -- hopefully enough to last another year if need be.

One of the things that Boogie loooooves for Aunt Cindy to do is sing sing SING! Singing is something they do together all the time via Skype, so it comes at no surprise that she'd want it on demand while she was here! Two of Boogies favorite songs are A Poor Old Slave and Gilly Gilly Oseenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea.

Its been several years since my sister and I have had pictures together, so it was nice to snap a few.

After my sister left with my parents and picked up her boys, they came back to our house to finish out her stay. It was so fun getting to see my nephews Donnell and Tristen again. They've grown up overnight it seems (that's always the case) and still can't believe they are 12 and 10 years-old. Time goes too fast!

Donnell is now almost as tall as me and Tristen is still a cute little shrimp, but I know his time is coming soon. The first night the boys were here, Justin helped them set up a tent in our yard (we live in the country so we have a huge yard) so they could camp outside one of the nights and roast marshmallows. That was sort of a failure ... epic failure in fact ... Tristen didn't last 30 minutes and I woke up to Donnell watching TV on the couch at 1:30am. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night for all, but we wanted to try something new with them ... they are boys, don't boys like that kind of stuff?? But anyways, the next day Justin was able to get us into the flight facility at his work to see all the Blackhawk helicopters. The boys had a blast climbing in and out of them, checking out all the equipment and repeatedly would say "I can't believe Uncle Justin flies these big things." It was pretty cute and I had fun getting to see them so excited!

On Saturday September 1st, the family all left early that morning to head back to VA, and Justin, Jocelyn and I headed out for Kearney, Nebraska for a wedding reception. My friend and fellow nursing classmate Mickayla married her sweetheart Michael, and we wanted to be there to celebrate with them.

It took about six hours to get there, but we stopped at an amazing BBQ restaurant along the way in Nebraska City. Mickayla (she was the one that sent me that awesome care package a couple months ago that I blogged about) looked absolutely stunning in her wedding dress, and it was wonderful getting to wrap my arms around her and give her a great big hug! Its been several years since I've gotten to see her. A double score for me was that my other nursing friend Nicole came as well and we all got to hang out for the night. That was the first time I got the chance to meet her little boy Thayer and pictures just didn't do this squishy-faced sweetie justice!

We spent the night talking, laughing, eating and dancing. The night went entirely too fast and Jocelyn loved every minute of it. Between Justin and I, we danced every ounce of energy out of her. I honestly think she laughed from 8pm until 10:30pm ... non-stop ... no joking! I don't know how she laughs so much but we love it!!

I would post pictures of Mickayla, Nicole and I but of course I'm not awesome and didn't take any. :s Somtimes you just have to not worry about pictures and enjoy the moment. Lucky for us though, Nicole did take a few pictures and there was one that was super cute of us three, and then there were some that I seriously looked 6 months pregnant. Say what? How do I go from getting asked "You look amazing, have you been working out?" to "when are you due?" If those pictures ever get posted by Nicole, she better do some cropping that's all I gotta say hahaha. Oh, and just so you know how lovely my husband is, I told him how terrible I looked in the pictures and he says "Well, I told you to wear the other dress ... it was more flattering." Thanks honey ... thanks!

Here is a picture of the three of us from four years ago that will have to do for now. This was when Nicole got married right after nursing school. There is even another friend/classmate in this picture that is also getting married soon. She's the one not wearing green and her name is Jill -- she's a dollface!

After the fun night of celebrating a couples love and seeing my friends, we had to make the long trip back home. On our way back home Justin suggested that we go through Hays, KS which would only add 10 miles to our trip, but also meant that we would get to eat the most delicious burgers from The Q. He had me at burgers, so we headed that way. As expected, the burgers, fries, hot wings, jalapeno poppers and beer were phenomenal (yes, we ate all that ... don't judge ... I'm six months pregnant don't you remember?).

Since we were in Hays anyways and have been looking at vans for months, we decided to stop by Hays AutoWorld. We have bought cars from this place before as they have always had impeccable customer service and wonderful cars. Now, I never thought I would EVER want a van, but Jocelyn has quite a bit of equipment that gets really heavy and I am tried of tearing everything apart just to put it in the car only to have to put things back together when we get somewhere.

AutoWorld had a large selection of Dodge and Chevy vans but we weren't impressed with those whatsoever. Then, to our surprise, we see a 2011 silver Toyota Sienna with only 5,000 miles on it. Our first thought was "hmmmmm, whats wrong with this van?" Come to find out, this van was a repo and nothing was wrong with it other than needing to be in the Powers' garage.

We took the van for a drive (these people don't even ask to see your ID -- a little too trusting maybe?) and we fell in love with it ... or at least I sure did. The sales rep didn't offer what we wanted for a trade in value on my car, but he did offer what we wanted on Justin's car which was back in Tecumseh no less. So what to do? We leave the car dealership, head home, Justin takes a few pictures of his car, emails them, makes a deal and then drives all the way BACK to Hays the very next morning!!! Yes, after all that driving over the weekend, he decides on Labor Day no less, that he would spend his day off and drive over six hours, to get me a much needed van. Needless to say, his lack of compassion regarding me looking pregnant was instantly forgotten.

Here is our amazing van -- or as Justin calls it -- "The Silver Bullet" because shockingly its wicked fast!

This van is a total dream! I truly never thought I would love a vehicle so much. Most of the vans we tried out seemed rickety and cheap, but this one is sleek and comfortable. Look at all that space in the back because of the stow-away seats. What you see in the back is Jocelyn's wheelchair, trike and a few other things and there is so much room for more. Can we say this is a dream? What I love the most is that it is now easy to get Jocelyn in and out of her carseat without nearly breaking my back, and I think she loves having her own air-system because she just giggles and smiles when I kick on the air and it blows in her face -- so cute!

I am feeling amazingly blessed with being able to get this van! Even though I told Justin "NO! We are not getting a van right now" (and I totally meant it), I'm glad he didn't listen to me and did what was best for us as a family. Sometimes I am too stubborn for my own good, but thankful my hubby balances me out.

Once my hubby got back from a second trip to hays in less than 12 hours, we quickly got ready for a BBQ at our house to celebrate labor day (and because we haven't had anyone over since we've moved into our new home). That night we had at least 13 adults and 5 kids at our house and it was a lot of fun. Sometimes I secretly get anxious about having people over because I don't want people to not enjoy themselves, sometimes I can be wrapped up with caring for Jocelyn, and I worry the kids will have a horrible time. It was the exact opposite! The kids loved Jocie's play/therapy room, the toys weren't too baby-ish for them, they had a blast running around outside, and it was all around a wonderful evening getting to chat with our friends. If any of you end up reading this, thank you so much for coming over, chowing down and spending the evening together. Justin and I really enjoyed having you all over!!

Okay, so simply writing this blog might have made me more tired for the fact that I've written way more than should be allowed in any single blog entry, and re-living the past two weeks has made me go "Whoa! That was definitely a whirlwind of fun and laughter, but now I'm oh so tired."