READ THIS FIRST

OK, so aaron spent a LONG time updating our blog, and I don't want anyone to miss out on anything, but it is posted kinda backwards. So, before you read any further scroll way down to the pics of VaTech. Then start reading and keep going up. The end is at the top. Hope you enjoy!

I'm plum blogged out but one more NJ style

So last but not least and not really last since my newest blog is posted first... sonya and I went to New Jersey to visit my sister and brother in law, Sarah and Martin. We left Thursday afternoon and got there thursday night to hear Martin teach the college and career about the superfluidity of naughtiness, it doesn't sound right now that i say it out loud but anyway we had a lot of fun including going to Ocean City, New Jersey on friday to hang out on the beach. Yes that is a jacket you see on sonya, the only reason you see it is because we were able to get the 2 towels/blankets off of her for the picture. It was pretty chilly, like low 60's with an ocean breeze but some how i managed to burn my legs. it was all about the company though and the memories.
So we ate some pizza on the boardwalk, well not ON the boardwalk, we actually had a table and plates to eat on. Yes we ate that whole thing. It takes a lot of energy to stay so warm while at the same time having your legs fried in the sunless UV rays. We also have proof that martin is part amphibian due to his hypoglossal/genioglossal muscle you see protruding in the picture!
Well we also watched martin play soccer friday night, while they didn't win they looked really good while losing. then martin had to work saturday and sonya and sarah went garage selling or shopping rather, and I got a new weedeater (new to me). I studied for my national board exam which was equally fun to me as the idea of going to garage sales. then we met martin in cherry hill to eat at the CHEESECAKE FACTORY. Oh it was a glorious time... over 30 types of cheesecake. sarah doesn't like cheesecake so she got some chocolate cake and it was like Mana from heaven, about the size of a small 9x9 birthday cake. I had dutch apple walnut strusel cheesecake and it was like a party in my mouth with each bite. Then we played some games at their new home which is pictured above.
Sunday we went to their church Fellowship Bible Church. It was a really good sermon on striving to be holy before God without excuses. It took us about 1 and 1/2 hours longer to get home because of stupid toll booths but thank the Lord we made it home safely. Thanks for having us Sarah and Martin we loved seeing you both and getting to hang out. Their house is fantastic. My favorite part about the house is the superfly appliances and the floors and the extra large "comfort" tolet that martin installed himself. Ok all of it was my favorite part.

well that about sums up the last 2 months. I have 1 and 1/2 weeks of school left for this block then a 3 week block then I'm done July 20th with class and then it's nonstop studying for my board exam. Sonya is starting the summer program with her work next week so it will be a busy 8 weeks for her. please pray for her! And pray for us a car. and keep your eyes peeled for a good deal for us. thanks for reading! always feel free to comment!

Family Time

Sonya was on a WELL deserved vacation last week and her mom, Carla, Colton and Jackson came to visit aunt sonya and uncle Aaron. We had so much fun. Sonya had bought this frog pool from the dollar store for Colton to play in and he wasn't sure what to think about it at first but give that kid some toys and he's all over it. even if he didn't enjoy it too much, i know i sure did.
WE LOVE having family come visit so come on up. We now have a pool! (sort of!!!) That is one good looking Aunt!
Here's Jackson giving us his best "serious" face. But you can tell he wants to laugh. He is a cute fella.
Colton likes to give baby brother sugar but Jackson is realizing that he can't focus on objects as close as 2cm. colton usually tries to love on baby brother when he is sleeping. I think it is a ploy to wake up Jackson but he just makes it look like he's being sweet!
I just had to add this picture because Colton's face is SOOOO funny. he's looking at the frog pool like "what did you just say to me". So thanks for coming up everyone, and don't worry about my studying, I told Mary Alice and Carla that it's nice having people around because it's not as quiet when I study and I meant it. I had a test on Thursday and made a 51/50 thanks to them coming up (with a lot of prayer, and help from the Divine, and bonus points). So come one, come all.

Weekend Fun!

So we have waited 2 years of living here before we started doing fun stuff on the weekends, well at least stuff we have wanted to do. We hiked up to Dragon's Tooth on the Appalachian Trail a few weekends ago and had a great time. It was a 5 mile hike and the last mile and a half had some pretty technical climbs (especially for 2 new virginia hikers). but we reached the top and had a fun time doing it. I was so proud of Sonya. She's not what I would call a "daredevil" but she was all over those rocks, despite the 2 snakes we saw!

A few weeks earlier we went looking for dragon's tooth but couldn't find it so we hike about 3 miles on the AT toward McAfee's Knob but it was a 7 mile hike and we hadn't planned on going that far, so we'll save it for another weekend.
Here we are at the top basically flossing the dragon's tooth!
And here's a another view! it was a bit cloudy but we could still see really far. it was really a great day for a hike.








I nearly lost my life but in the meantime sonya wanted a picture so she could commerate the moment she nearly cashed in on my large life insurance policy.


And finally, we had heard of a little place in Floyd, VA called the Floyd Country Store. It's 3 bucks for a cover charge and every friday night for a long time they have and have had Bluegrass music from all over play there. It was jam packed and then out of no where people would go up front and start clogging. I had brought my dancin' shoes but sonya didn't and the problem is that she has rhythm and I don't but God made up for my lack of rhythm by giving me heavenly dance moves and a personality that just doesn't care.


It was really impressive how on beat everyone would dance in their cloggin' shoes. at one point there were probably 50 people on the dance floor from age 3 to 80. I was glad to see some EMT's there because some of those old folks were really going to town. We ate dinner there and spent the whole night. it was about 30 min. away and only cost $20 for a night of fun. Just like the good ol' days. if anyone wants to come with us just let us know and come and visit on a friday night and we'll head on down to floyd virginia.

Oh Where to Begin

Aaron here,
We'll begin with another picture of our new nephew Jackson and his big brother Colton. This was taken around mother's day I think.

Anyway we have been traveling a lot lately. I'm not sure why other than we just like to get away every now and then and since I'm tired of studying most weekends we just travel. We saw my family over mother's day weekend but poor mom was sick and couldn't even get out of bed. but she's better now. Then we went to Elkmont in the Smoky Mountains over Memorial Day weekend with Sonya's family.
Everyone was there and it was baby Jackson's first camping trip. A good time was had by all. It consisted of the usual. Sleeping, eating, talking, walking, and holding a baby. Here's a picture of me showing off my nephew and my HUGE forehead (my grandmother said it is a sign of intelligence, I think I agree!!). So we were there Saturday through Monday afternoon.

well more to come later! Time for dinner!