Best Friends

I feel like I should give more background information.  Not so much more family info as just little things that I want to remember. Since I started this when Jax was almost 5 and Cole is only 11 months, most of the flashback stories will probably be about Jax.  Example: #1-Jackson-it took forever for you to learn the color orange.  We would read the Colors book EVERY NIGHT, and still you could not remember orange.  Of course, we finally got it (months after all of the other colors). #2-When Jackson first learned to count, he would always skip the number 15.  #3-Jackson’s speech has always been flawless.  With about 8 words by his first birthday, and talking in short sentences by his second birthday, we have always said it is like talking to a little adult-too funny.

Good Times-Saturday night, Mom and Dad went out with two of our very best friends, David and Jana Brown.  Get used to those names, boys, because they (along with their children, Lincoln and Emmy) will be a very big part of your lives (as will the Heeren’s, whom I will expand on in a moment).  We went to dinner at 801 Chophouse on the Power and Light District in KC, and then found a place to sit and talk. We always have fun when we are with them, and at one point Saturday night, we were all laughing so hard, there were tears rolling down our cheeks.

Every year, we take a trip to Lake of The Ozarks with the Brown’s and Heeren’s (Matt and Amanda-who have a son named Benson and another baby on the way-due in September).  We have not started including children on our trips yet, but I imagine that is coming in the not-so-distant future.  Jackson already loves the lake and is a great swimmer. I am sure Cole will not be far behind (he will be taking Water Babies at the YWCA in April).

A little history about the Brown’s and Heeren’s.

I met Amanda on my very first day at UMKC (moving into the dorm), and we quickly became best friends, and ended up living together until TJ and I got married.  Once classes got going that first year, we met David Brown, another pharmacy student.  David and TJ became fast friends.  Amanda and David brought Matthew and Jana, respectively, into our lives.  We are like 6 peas in a pod.  Now, we get together as often as we can (which is always less often than we would like), but the more our families grow, the busier we all become.  We make a point to schedule the lake trip every summer, and plan other get-togethers and trips whenever possible (mostly around birthdays and holidays).  We have a Europe trip planned for 2020, kids included, of course.  Now we have to do it, it is in writing.  Jackson is always very excited to see Lincoln and Benson (as I am sure Cole will be soon). 

Another couple I will probably mention frequently is Lacey and Steven.  They are super-fun, and we love hanging out with them.  Lacey is TJ’s best friend from 7th grade through high school.  She has a daughter named Lanie, who Jax loves to play with, and we think her boyfriend of about a year, Steven, is fantastic-even if he is a KU fan.