Uncle Joshy

Finally, our official "SSG Allen" had a little extra time to return to his Idaho roots and visit family. Of course we drove up to join him. Something about Idaho in August/September never ever gets old. Plus, we have been waiting for a chance to see our long lost brother for a loonng time. It felt so good to all be together again.

Somehow no matter how much time goes by, when we see Josh it feels like he never even left us. He still makes us laugh, he still puts everyone at ease, and he is the perfect brother to balance out 4 sisters. We tried to play night games at the park, but Josh quickly became frustrated with hide and go seek with sisters who could never find him so we moved our games inside. Apparently the army has taught him some good hiding tricks.

Despite the fact that Cooper was 3 weeks old and we were very exhausted we didn't want to miss out on anything. We floated Warm River, went to Bear World, and watched a movie with a projector on the side of our house. It was much more excitement then I would have ideally planned for my little baby, but while we were there I kept telling myself that these days with the whole family together are short lived..so we did the best we could to enjoy it while it lasted. I pretty much felt in a daze the whole time because we would stay up late, and right when I closed my eyes Cooper would wake up for his 3 am feeding..I complained about that just a little bit-and it was still worth it!
Cooper wore Camo to impress his uncle and look tough.

Roasting 'mallows. You would think this boy was born and raised in Idaho or something..he cooked my hot dog to perfection.

Josh's kids, Olivia and Henry are completely darling. Olivia took good care of Cooper, and Sophie followed Olivia's example.

Cooper had to do a lot of sitting back and watching everyone else play

The benefits of waking up at Grandmas..

I have a million more pictures, but not enough time! Josh adds a different dynamic to our family and I am so proud that he is my brother. He loves his job in the army and proudly goes wherever they ask him..I have tried to tell him before to play up a hurt foot or finger or hand to put off his leave to Iraq. He would never dream of it..I am proud to still share his last name, and I love the fact that he represents it so well..Miss you already Uncle Joshy and your entire cute family! We will be hanging on to these good times, until next time...