Our new nephew AUSTIN and our time in OHIO!

Okay here we go. I've got a bout 9 bajillion pics uploaded and I'm ready to pump out a BUNCH of posts. Half of those pics might be in this post.... but what are you going to do when you meet your first nephew!? 

I have been DYING to be an aunt for years. I have a 17 year old step-sister. Adam has ONE brother. That's it for us. After 7 years of marriage, I thought it was way past time for said brother {Alex} & his wife {Amanda} to hurry up and have a baby!

And then in April, Austin Alexander Strouth was born! 

They lived in Chile. We live in Asia. We figured out that we were 1 longitudinal line from being on complete opposite sides of the world. SO we met Austin via skype, and patiently waited to meet him in person. 

At the end of July, we all went to Ohio to visit Adam's fam, and we FINALLY got to meet our darling nephew. 

We spent about 10 days in Ohio, mostly visiting with family and passing the baby around. 

Here are some LOTS of pics from our time there.

Adam is still quite satisfied with a dog in his lap. 

We spent lots of time enjoying each others company at home & at fun places like the Dublin Irish festival.

The day after we got there, Adam turned: 

Yay happy birthday to my love! 

Grandma finally got to meet her first great-grandchild! 

We went on lots of walks...

I think we might need to get a moby-wrap for Lucy....

Gave Austin lots of baths

Hello little peanut. 

You can't use your sleeping baby for a pillow BUT you can use your sleeping dog. Reason #419 that Adam is content with a dog. {read: ADAM is content with just a dog...}

We spent lots of time with their Grandama, Aunt {Ardie} & Uncle {Dave} & cousins {Ashley & Andrea}. 

I think Adam was trying to prove a point with his desired stage in life......

But is more than happy to play with his nephew & make him smile...

as long as he gets to give him back when he starts crying. 

This is maybe one of my favorite pics of Lucy. How funny is this? 

Handsome Strouth men...

Austin rockin his "sun suit".... 

After church on Sunday, we went back down to Grove City to spend more time with the family. Uncle Dave asked if we wanted to go down to..... {I keep calling it Commerce Junction}.... Commercial Point... to watch the go-cart races. Um heck yes. 

What's not to love about going to a small town where they shut everything down to make a go-cart course through the town? 

I mean its no nascar, but it was entertaining enough! 

Austin, however, did not like the noise so much. 

So we headed back to their house to play some wiffel ball. 

I knocked a few out of the park. 

And then the boys got a little more intense with baseball....

so I just practiced taking some action shots. 

The night before we headed home we drove down to Cincinnati to go to a RED's game! 

Austin had a fantastic time. 

But then these started looming overhead....

and they entered a rain delay. So we moved to higher grounds and waited the rain out. 

An hour and a half or so later, the game continued.... 

and we were sure that Austin would zonk in no time. 

But nope. He was having too much fun watching the game.

And flirting with his Aunt Haley. 

We had a great time, despite the rain .

And just before mid-night, we made our way back towards our favorite bridge....

....over the Ohio river to the Kentucky side that Adam and I walked over numerous times when we had Bengals season tickets for a few years. 

We got home at 2:30ish {am that is...}, got up the next morning, packed, hit the road (the same one we drove down and back on the night before), made a quick stop by Grandma's to say bye to her and Aunt Ardie.....

And we were on our way home! 

We made a pit-stop in Louisville to see my friend Lesli {I mentioned their parenting story here & here} and met BOTH of her new babies! Greer came home from Ethiopia in March and little Charlotte was born in May! They've had their hands full. Charlotte fell asleep before we could get a pic with her, but we snagged one with sweet Greer. He is the cutest! 

So that was our trip to Ohio in way too many pictures. 

It was one of my favorite trips to Ohio. We weren't rushed, had lots of free time, and spent most of it with family. It was a good does of quality time that will hopefully hold us over for the next year! 

We miss you guys already! 

Joyfully Loving our Nephew,

More Highlights From Our Time in America

We made it back to EA safe and sound last Sunday and have been getting settled in since then... and Adam has been sick since then and now I feel like I'm fighting it too. Other than that, it feels good to be back- out of a state of limbo, back into a routine, and back into living in this little community we love. I finally got everything switched over to my new computer, and so I can get back to updating on our time in the states. 

We loved our time in America, not necessarily because of the food or the luxury of living in our house there {as wonderful as both were} but because of the relationships we have there. "Living" everyday life here isn't that hard. Sometimes I appreciate the lack of convenience that we have here in comparison to instant, convenient America. But being away from the people that we love is the hard part. So I tried my hardest to cherish the time that I had with people. 

Here are more highlights from our time in the states {minus Ohio- that'll be the next post with our new nephew!} 

I spent as much time with this little chunk of love as I could. His aunt Hay couldn't get enough kisses in to last the next year. 

.....and cherished spending time with his sweet mama too. She's a good one at that :) 

Time with my cousins {not enough though!} 

Watching So You Think You Can Dance with Erica & then reminiscing about dance class in 4th grade when we convinced everyone we were sisters. 

for all of you who danced in the 90's.... "lyndie and back step"

Time with my sweet Thomas boys! 

Ty was a BABY when we left. Now he's a little blonde curly headed toddler with quite the funny personality

and their sweet mama Betsy too!

I enjoyed time with my Nashville friends 

Aubs & me {fail on getting pics with other people on my part} 

I spent the better part of a week with my Twinks! 

Catherine flew in from Dallas to spend 4 or 5 days with us which was WONDERFUL after 14 months apart. 

We shed a few tears at the airport

We enjoyed some cooking together

We had a nice cookout and time with some of our fave Vandy alum

John caught all of this fish and it was delicious!

Lucy wanted some too

It was a blessing to be able to spend quality time with Catherine. She came back to Nashville to move into her new apartment a week and a half before we left, and was such a big help in getting everything together to leave. 

After Catherine left in July, my dear friend Brookie stopped through for a quick visit with her sweet puppy Bella.....

and little Finn who's still cooking in the oven {not for much longer though!} 

It was definitely not enough to satisfy the time we've been apart, but I was thankful for some great time together. 

We were honored to be invited to the Vandy team's "kick off the year" dinner, and loved spending time with these dear friends. 

Adam enjoyed some good man time with some of his favorite guys 

We ran back up to Johnson City for a weekend to go to a big Whitson family reunion at my dad's house...

with lots of 2nd, 3rd, once removed and such cousins, most who I haven't seen in quite a while

...and their cute kids.

my daddy and 2 of his cousins

cousin Tam

aunt Louvella

cousin Jessica

I'm so glad I went up to see everyone. It had been years since I'd seen most of them. 

While in JC I also got to do some shopping with mom, and see a few other special people like my dear friend Jami....

......and 1/2 of the LeClair fam. They truly were my 2nd family throughout high school, and I was so bummed to miss them during our first visit to JC. 

Barbra is one special mama. I LOVED getting to catch up with her. I'm pretty sure we could have spent another 12 hours talking non-stop. 

....and we got to hang out with the soon-to-be-wed Chris & Emily! Chris was my baby bro & now he's getting married! I kinda can't handle it. 

I love the Leclairs and was glad to see at least 1/2 of them. 

Then back to Nashville for some quick good-byes

.....with wonderful people like my beautiful Grandmama

.....and {SNIFF} my sweet puppy :( 

She is now happily residing with my dad in East TN. 

 There are so many people that I'm so bummed I didn't get to see. Next summer, it WILL happen. 

I'm also bummed I didn't get pictures with more people.... like my MOM! Seriously, we were having too much fun together to think about taking a picture. I guess she'll just have to come visit again this year :) 

Okay, 2 more {at most} updates like this and it'll be back to regular posting of mostly funny life things here and craftiness {got some some fun ones on deck}. And you should see the amount of crafting & sewing supplies I brought back with me. I have recently delved into the world of embroidery and along the same lines, even have 2 needlepoint canvases that I started when I was 9 that I'm just dying to share. Hope you're looking for a laugh. Get excited. 

Joyfully Surrounded,