They are here!

Josh with oldest son Tyler

Tyler: "Do you have a real dog that goes bark, bark?"

Not sure I can tell you how excited I am to see Josh and Sarah. Josh is my cousin. He is the son of my dad's brother Bob (who, side note, had a double wedding with my parents back in 1975.) Josh has two brothers: Jason and Justin (all three of which you can find in my blog links to the side). I actually have 15 cousins on my dad's side (13 of which are boys), but for some reason I have gotten especially close to these three. I'm not sure why. :)

No, but really, back in about 2000, Josh and Sarah, married only a year, decided to move to the Nashville, TN area. Josh is very involved in Christian music (check out his myspace for more info), and they wanted to get closer to Nashville. We were, at the time, living in Franklin, KY, which is only about 45 minutes south of Nashville, and incredibly cheaper in terms of cost of living. (We were renting a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, brand new duplex for a mere $450 a month!)

So, Josh and Sarah ended up renting a duplex right across the street from us. Originally, they were going to get one around the block, when, at the last minute, the guy who lived across the street from us was evicted, and they moved in. This was an amazingly fun two years. Two young couples with no children and lots of freedom living right smack across the street from each other. In the beginning, Josh and Sarah didn't have a TV or a washer and dryer so they were over at our house a lot. It was great fun! Years later Sarah would send me a card reading: Remember the good ol' days when all we had to worry about was 'what is JB going to cook on Friday night?' Aaaaaahhh ....

I remember two moments in Kentucky pretty vividly. The first was the night that Josh and Sarah told us they were expecting Tyler. We celebrated that night! These were our bosom buddies going to be parents! The second was the night we told them that JB had gotten into Mayo. I remember Sarah screaming incredibly loudly. They were so excited for us, and yet I know they were also incredibly sad. (I mean, c'mon -- who wouldn't be?!)

The bad news? We were moving in May, just a few months before Tyler was born. In May of 2003, we relocated to Minnesota, and Josh and Sarah decided to return to Chicago where Josh had been offered a job as a youth pastor. However, today, they are back in Nashville, Josh a youth pastor for another church there. They have another son now, Jordan.

Anyways, so they got in last night at 5pm. They are staying a a hotel on base because Sarah is allergic to dogs. They did come over for dinner last night, and Sarah did pretty well, but we'll avoid hanging out at our house too much more after last night. Originally, I was upset that they got put in a hotel on the other side of base. But, it turns out, they are right on the water and right near a little beach. The boys also have a room with bunk beds, and they are thrilled with this.

John should get off at noon today so he is going to take them to Destin. I'll hopefully follow shortly thereafter, but with the grant, can't take any real time off.

So excited to have them here! (If you can't tell!)

P.S. Joia, I think spellchecker is working again.