Arizona or BUST!

So last Sunday, September 5th, we said goodbye to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and niece (Mike's brother Ryan, his wife Laurel and their 7 week-old baby Kaylee) as they drove off to begin their new life in Tuba City, Arizona.Laurel just finished her pediatric residency here in Indy. In med school she got a government grant that requires her to work in an "under-served" population to "pay back" the government after completing residency. She'll be working in a clinic on a Navajo reservation. It's pretty remote... the closest Wal-Mart is over an hour away! But she called the other day and said that they have a Sonic Drive-In! Ha!

Anyway, they left last Sunday, and the Sunday before that we hosted a going away party for them. It was the first party we've hosted in the new house and it was a success. We packed probably close to 40 people in our house! Wow! It was so much fun, and Mike's mom did an amazing job planning it and getting all the food together. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Look at all that food!

good friends, good fun

Laurel, Kaylee, and Aunt Dean (Mike's dad's aunt)

Kaylee and Aunt Rachel

And my favorite picture of the day: Mike holding Kaylee in church. He carried her from the parking lot and sat down in church, and she laid on his chest for almost the whole service! She loves her Uncle Mike!

So they packed up their Honda Civic and took a few days to drive out to AZ, stopping every 3 hours to feed the baby. Whew! We will truly miss Ryan & Laurel, for so many years they've been our go-to couple. If we were going somewhere and wanted to invite people, they were usually the first ones we would call. They are such precious people, and I'm jealous of the people in Tuba City! Even though we'll miss them terribly, we are so excited for this journey they've begun and look forward to visiting them!

The Emerson Sisters do INDY!

The 2nd week in August my sisters came to town! Holly came from Corpus on a jet plane and Melissa was kind enough to bring her sweet Jake, as they drove all the way from Savannah, GA! It was our first opportunity to host overnight guests in the new house and it worked out beautifully!

Friday we went to get groceries and cooked up a delicious meal for the men... while they cooked steaks on the grill. :) We ate dinner and had a great time taking pictures and swapping stories... I think we went out for a walk that night too... it all sort of runs together now!

Saturday we slept in (ahhhh...) and spent the afternoon at the Indianapolis Zoo. We felt like kids again as we saw the dolphin show, looked at the fish and other animals, and actually pet the little sharks in the pool! We even paid a dollar to feed a giraffe a slice of sweet potato.

After the zoo we went over to Riley Hospital, and I showed Holly (the Child Life Specialist) around. That night all of us went to the tennis courts and laughed a LOT as we just lobbed the ball over the net. Boys against girls wasn't as advantageous to us as we thought it would be.... after the tennis we came back to the house and opened up birthday presents for Melissa and Holly!

Sunday we went to church and then the Indians game. We happened to go on Souvenir Sunday and all walked away with our very own red Indians cereal bowls! Score! We had nice seats in the shade, which made it even more fun. AND Holly caught a soft baseball that gave her a FREE $5 footlong at a Subway restaurant all the way in Corpus! After the game we went to Ryan & Laurel's to see them and of course sweet baby Kaylee.

All in all, it was an amazing weekend. We had so much fun cooking together and just hanging out and talking. We hadn't seen Jake & Melissa since their wedding last September, and Holly since Christmas! And we had never even spent much time with Jake b/c the first time I met him was the weekend of their wedding when everyone was going in different directions. We all got along so well, and I was especially pleased to see Mike and Jake fitting in so well with us. It bodes well if he plans on spending Christmas with the Emersons too....

I love my sisters very much and hope this can be some sort of annual thing! We'd love to travel to Savannah or even meet up in Charleston, or Corpus on the beach!

Sorry there are no pictures on my computer to upload! However, if you want to look at ones that I took, you can visit my facebook page at www.facebook.com/rachelcouts and check them out!

Falling behind again....

I am finally catching up! Look out!