Proud to be an American

I don't know if I am just more emotional than normal lately or if it's because I have a three really close family members in active duty but I am so grateful this 4th of July to be an American. First I want to start by thanking my Heavenly Father for being born into this great nation where I am free to believe what I want and I don't have to worry about the safety of my family. I had a cancer patient that was from Iraq and told me that him coming to America to receive treatment for cancer put his family at great risk. He cannot talk to his mother or siblings in Iraq because his family will probably be killed for talking to him. He can never return to Iraq or he will be killed. He also had a scar on his face that he got from some invasion that happened in the middle of the night. He said he didn't even know what was happening but all the sudden his dad started yelling for everyone to get out of the house and run. They didn't even have time to put their shoes on. I don't know much about the mission or what is happening in Iraq but for people like my little friend from Iraq I think it brings hope.

Second I want to thank some close people in my life that have either served or will serve in the near future for our country- First I want to thank Brandon- Spencer's brother who has left a wife and four kids for 15 months to serve in Iraq. I also want to tell Tina how amazing I think she is for being a supportive wife of a soldier. I have never heard her make a single complaint about Brandon serving. I have learned that behind most of the people I know who have served in the armed forces have a very supportive wife/ mother and family behind them. Brandon thanks for all you are doing for this country we love you and miss you.

Then there is Nick my brother-in-law who for his career is in the Army. I really look up to anyone who can commit their lives to serving our country- what a selfless guy. He is currently in training to fly helicopters for the army. Thanks Nick you are an amazing person. Lisa I think you are a pretty special lady to support Nick knowing that he will be gone alot and taking big risks. (P.S. thanks Nick's dad who has given multipul years to the service)

Third I want to thank my Brother-in-law Brett who is in the Navy. He is moving to Florida in 2 mo. to train to be a flight surgeon. I heard the navy is one of the hardest groups to be in. I don't want to get anything wrong but I think my sister-in-law Kami told me he for sure will be going to Iraq eventually so I want to say thanks in advance and that I am pretty sure that you probably not even mutter one complaint about the job at hand you are such a hard working amazing guy. Kami you are amazing for finding the positive in hard situations- I just think you are a great example.

(sorry I don't have an army picture Scott)

Fourth I want to thank our good friend Scott Lee who has a purple heart from serving in Iraq. He had shrapnel go through different parts of his body when a rocket propelled grenade hit his area. Thanks Scott- I feel privileged to be your friend. Mel you are one amazing women to have gone through everything you have.

One final thanks to some of our dental friends who are currently in the Air force and are in Alabama as we speak for officer training. Thanks Richard and Ryan for serving our country(hopefully by the time you are done the war is over). Thanks to everyone else who I didn't mention for serving this great country.

Happy fourth of July and I hope everyone is grateful to be a part of this great country that I believe was founded by divine inspiration so we could all find our religion to help us get back to god. God bless America.

Update

I know our lives have kind of been lived one month at a time lately so we will update you with our newest evolvments. We finally found a house to rent, Spencer started ortho school today and I have a 2 day a week job at an orthopedic surgery center that I will probably start the end of this month. Our condo still hasn't been sold so right now is up for rent or sale what ever happens first. I feel like we have really been blessed with finding a house and work- thanks for everyone's concern with phone calls and prayers we will let you know if anything happens with our condo.

Good bye Ohio- Hello Oklahoma

Well we took a leap of faith leaving our unsold condo and said goodbye to Ohio. Sofie was like an angel in the car. I was suprised since usually she cries the whole way to the grocery store. Plus Spencer and I drove both the cars so I didn't have an extra body to help with her. There was a bridge that got washed out in Indiana and traffic had to be re-routed. Yea, it took us 4 hours to go ten miles. Luckily Sofie can watch little mermaid and peter pan over and over without getting tired of them.

So I have to say that I have met some of the greatest life long friends over the years, one of them being my really great friend Jess. Since our friendship really bloomed in our pop filling class we had in High school (yea I know you are jealous we had a period where we filled the pop machines at Rigby High school. Since that only took like 30 min we spent the rest of the time meandering around visiting friends and bascially doing whatever we wanted- and we got credit for it.) It was only fitting that four years after our last visit we reunited at "Pops" a gas station dedicated to pop from all around the world. Anyways if it wasn't for Jess we would probaly be living out of our cars right now. Jess is here in Oklahoma and she went home for a month and so we have taken over her house. I have to say she has the cutest house. She also has a trampoline and we put the sprinkler under it like the good old days and Sofie was having the time of her life. Also she has some pretty fun friends/ family out here that have taken us in and made us feel so comfortable here. Thanks Jess and Kolby

We feel pretty lucky to be here in Oklahoma because not only is my friend Jess out here but our friends the Sautters are here in Oral Surgery (old undergrad friends). So it has really helped us with the transition leaving some really great friends in Ohio. Sofie already has so many friends out here but she hasn't forgotten her friends in Ohio. We have been trying to soak up all the time we can with Spencer before he has to go back to the grind that's where some of the other random pictures come into play.

Dr. Johnson

The later part of our week ended up making the first part of the week bearable (refer to the wreck post). Friday Spencer's family flew in from Idaho and Utah and it was party till the cows come home. We had so much fun with everyone here. Sat. we had a really fun time at Hocking hills state park with a hike and a picnic. Then it was off to a BBQ and sand volleyball. Sunday was the main event with Spencer graduating. I know I probably shouldn't brag but I'm just so darn proud and I figure it's a once in a life time thing but Spencer graduated with magna cum lada, omicron kappa upsilon (Some dental honor) and an award for the National part II boards. Anyways Sunday night was a celebration party with games and pizza. Of coarse Spencer's siblings still living the college life stayed up till 3:00 everynight watching movies. Monday came too fast and Spencer's family had to leave. And now it is back to reality. We are moving to Oklahoma on Saturday. We are excited to see our friends down there, sad to leave our friends here behind, and stressed about leaving our house unsold.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Herring and all the Johnson's for making it out to Spencer's graduation. We already miss you all.

The wreck

Well funny how things go because our lives up until two weeks ago was pretty uneventful, easy going, etc. (except I was still stressed about not selling our house). Well the last two weeks here in Ohio have been some of the busiest, craziest weeks of our whole stay (at least for me- Spencer might disagree) It started with two weekends ago, Spencer had signed up for another bike race, my sister was going to come into town, we had plans to meet our friends for a memorial day picnic at one of our favorite hang out places when Sofie spiked a fever and became really sick. Spencer still bound and determined to do the race left with out his cheerleaders. It was about time for the race to get over when I got a call from Spencer saying he was almost home and didn't finish the race- he continued on telling me how he got in a wreck during the race. Another rider clipped his front wheel going 30 miles an hour. Spencers bike is in ruins, he whacked his head so hard his helmet cracked all the way through, he got a concusion and some really bad road rash down the left side of his body. To add to it he had just bought a new special bike seat the day before the race an now it is all torn up. I was just so glad he when he made it home considering that the race was an hour away and when he came in the house he was shaking so bad he couldn't hardley open a bottle of I-bprofen. Shortly after he started throwing up and it took him about a week to be able to sleep through the night because of the road rash. The next day we ended up having to take Sofie to the Urgent care because she hadn't slept or eaten all day was soo fussy and Spencer saw white patches on her throat. Sure enough she had Strept throat. So Monday was a day of me trying to nurse the sick back to health. By Wed. though we were all feeling better and ready to get out an about so we went camping with some of our great friends one last time in Ohio. In order to not bore everyone to death I am breaking our adventures up into two posts. I don't have any pictures of Spencer's wounds or his bike but I am sure you can imagine.