First of all, Hayne did an incredible ride across the state of North Carolina. In July of 2011 (I cannot believe it has been a year) a fellow Asheville firefighter, Jeff Bowen, was killed in the line of duty. Hayne and several other firefighters, who call themselves the Carolina Brotherhood, rode from Wilmington to Asheville to raise money for Jeff Bowen's family. Firefighters came from all over the southeast to lend their support. At times, it was a difficult ride. The heat index often rested in the triple digits, and they rode close to 80 miles or more every day. But in the end, the brotherhood's efforts gifted the Bowen family with over $25,000 toward the education of his three kids. I love the way these men and women look out for one another on a daily basis, but especially when things are hard. I am very proud of my firefighter and thankful for his efforts to help others. Here are some photos of Hayne when they arrived in Asheville. Also, you can see pictures from the entire journey at carolinabrotherhood.com
After the ride, we all went up to the great, white, North to spend some time with the Johnson family. In the summer, there is nothing white about Minnesota. It is beautiful, green, and sometimes freaking hot. It is not what one would expect for a place that far north, but none the less, it was one hot summer. In fact it had been a record breaking year for heat in Minneapolis, but of course the heat wave decides to break as soon as we head for a week on the water. However, this did not stop us, especially the kids, from having a fantastic time. We played, ate, swam, roasted marsh mellows, fished, ran out of gas (dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb), and ate some more. The whole family was there, including my cousin Maddie and my brother's dog Wrigley. Even with 10 adults, 6 kids, and 1 dog all under the same roof, it was a total blast. I love being with my family, seeing the cousins play, dance, and swim, and just spending time together. I am already looking forward to next year :):) These pictures are in thanks to my mother, because I hardly took any while we were there.
We also spent some time down at the farm with Hayne's family. The kids love to go there as there are tons of places to run, play and just get totally and completely filthy. This summer we put the kids up on one of the horses. Cody is Cord's favorite horse of the three, and he is great with both of them. He greets them both by nibbling on their heads as they climb the fence to pet him. It's pretty sweet. Papy, Hayne's dad, put the saddle on Cody and took the kids for little rides around the yard. Laela is already asking for permission to let Cody run. It is pretty impressive because she already has great balance and really seems to love it. Cord loves it too but as a two-year-old the balance thing is a bit difficult still. Papy also got Laela up on the four wheeler for the first time ever. I think the noise bothered her but for the most part she had a great time.
Our summer has now come to an end. We are still trying to figure out an earlier bed time and waking up in time for school, but we'll get there. I am already noticing shorter days, and color popping out on the trees. I love the fall, so I don't mind at all, but our summer memories were sweet and I am incredibly thankful for that.
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