Happy Fourth of July!

MC and Nate decorated their bikes and joined the neighborhood in a small parade this morning...




And what 4th celebration would be complete without hot dogs and treats?!?!


We wish everyone a very happy, safe 4th of July, especially Uncle Newman, our favorite marine! And Happy Birthday Aunt Cindy!! Hugs to everyone!

Since Christmas...

Obviously much has occurred since Christmas so here's a synopsis in pictures and videos with a little commentary...

We came home to more snow after Christmas break, and got a little more through January. According to neighbors and other long time Nebraskans this was a winter for the record books. But by the end of February, it had begun to melt...

MC and Nate were glad to see somewhat warmer weather and it shows in their silliness. One of the things I love most about them is their imaginations.

By Easter the weather was considerably warmer, and we began to see small signs that Spring was on it's way. For starters, lighter coats at our Easter egg hunt with the neighbors...



And the Easter bunny stocked Easter baskets with shorts and t-shirts...

We also had a duck come looking for the pond that used to be in the back yard...


In the Spring, Mari Cagle received her First Communion...

And she began another soccer season...

She's learning more and more each season. She especially took to playing goalie this time around.

Nate began his soccer season too. This is the last season at this level and the last season BL will coach his team. They had lots of fun for their last hoorah...

As soccer seasons progressed we started to get really busy with all the activities that come with the end of the school year...

MC celebrated another year of violin lessons with a recital...


Nate's class made a field trip to Pioneers Park. They got to see all the aspects of nature that come alive in Spring. The amazement of Kindergartners can give you great perspective.


May also marked Nate's 6th birthday. We celebrated with his first party with friends. He invited his whole class and we enjoyed games, a magician and of course, cake and ice cream...

In addition to a violin recital, MC also had a dance recital. She did a very cute patriotic tap number...

The last day of school came very quickly. The last day was lots of fun as it was also Field day. You gotta love classic field day games...


Now that summer has officially begun the kids have started swim lessons; they are reading for the summer reading program at the library; Nate absolutely loves playing t-ball; and they just enjoy playing all day...

MC and Nate have also run a 2mile race with their dad this summer. MC ran the whole time and finished in just under 20 minutes!

MC got a real treat...She won a Mother's day coloring contest at Texas Roadhouse and got lots of fun prizes including movie tickets, spa gift certificates and a hat and t-shirt! She was so thrilled and proud of her drawing and story because she used 'details' just like her art and writing teachers taught her. Below she poses with her winning entry which is posted at the restaurant...


So we are really enjoying summer up here. Hope everyone is having a great summer too!

Ho Ho Ho!

Merry Christmas!
God bless us, everyone!

LOTS of Snow

So we had our first snow in October, but this week we have our first BIG snow. It all began Sunday afternoon as we were getting out of church. The snow was beautiful coming down and watching it accumulate throughout the day was pretty special since snow only accumulates over night down south. There wasn't a whole lot to play in on Sunday, but MC and Nate were anxious to get out there and play anyway.

MC glided around and pretended she was ice skating.

Nate just liked leaving footprints. :)

We are much better prepared for the snow this time with snow boots and waterproof jackets and gloves. They keep telling me they need snow pants, so they're going to really appreciate Christmas from Nana and Pa. ;)

Albert was checking it out on a potty break.

But this was only the beginning, by Monday morning I was up early checking to see if school was out as about 3 to 4 inches had accumulated by then. But we're not in the south anymore Toto, school was on. MC and Nate can honestly tell their children and grandchildren that they walked up hill in the snow to school. :) By Tuesday, it was really coming down. I would guess we've gotten another 8 to 10 inches today and it is still coming down. This much snow and blizzard-like winds did warrant the schools to close, so MC and Nate got to play in the snow some more and this time there was plenty of it...

MariCagle tried her hardest to make a snowman, she wants to so badly. But this snow is just too powdery. Snow balls just break apart en route to the target so no snowball fights either.

I didn't really make Nate shovel the driveway and sidewalks, he just wanted a go at it when I was finished. I think I made it look easier than it was. :) He really just liked the 'mountains' on either side of the driveway that the shovel made.

My angel making a snow angel.

Now with Brandon being sick, the shoveling has fallen to me. I can't tell you how much snow there is!! I shoveled the driveway once on Monday afternoon and thought no big deal. It was actually quite picturesque. I even got up early Tuesday morning to shovel it again so Brandon would have a clear path on the way to the doctor. But when I went out with the kids, I had to shovel it a second time and let me tell you that it needs it again already and it's only 1pm!!!! So this picture is of our neighbor across the street with his handy dandy snow blower. A wonderful invention that I am officially putting on my wishlist. :)

And I need to say now, that we have wonderful neighbors. Truly great neighbors. Knowing that we didn't have a snow shovel (I only just bought one Monday morning) and that Brandon was sick, our next door neighbor was kind enough to shovel our sidewalks first thing Monday. And Monday afternoon, as I was shoveling the driveway with our brand new shovel, the neighbor with the handy dandy snow blower was kind enough to do half my work for me. And today on my second go round at shoveling the drive, another neighbor pitched in. That's a lot of neighborly kindness isn't it? We are very thankful and feel very blessed to have found this house. There's nothing like kindness to put you in the Christmas spirit!

A Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2009 was filled with food and family, my two favorite things. Our holiday began with what will soon become the routine flight. This was MC and Nate's first experience with layovers. All in all, they did great. It helped that our layover was in a pretty much empty Milwaukee airport so the kids were able to play with their basketball and had free reign at the kiddie playground.

Ready to go! They enjoyed the airline magazine. :)

Can you tell the kids are excited for Christmas to come? They decorated one of Grammy's trees with buckets, goggles and other swim toys that were available. It's always amazing to witness where their imaginations take them.

The kiddos paired off pretty quickly into boys and girls. MC and Quinn enjoyed girlie play with baby dolls and school time. Nate and Hudson were true boys playing transformers and shooting everyone, which the girls did really not appreciate. As they get older it is so fun watching them play and enjoy each other's company. By next year, Payton will be running around with them too. Good times!

Here's all the rugrats. Aren't they all beautiful!?! Five perfect reasons to be thankful!

Husker Basketball

This weekend we continued to acquaint ourselves with our new 'home town.' We took the kids to see a Husker Basketball game. It began with a walk clear across campus that gave us a chance to check it out. There was a Husker football game later that night, so we got a taste of Husker tailgating too. Nate has been going to a basketball clinic once a week and MariCagle looks forward to playing this winter. So the game was a great chance for them to see exactly what basketball is all about. They really enjoyed it. Basketball games move quickly and are only two hours long so the kids were completely entertained, especially when you add popcorn and sodas. :) Check out our pictures from the day....

Checking out this much of campus was new to Brandon too. It was a bit of an exploratory mission for all of us.

Not sure the story behind this tower, but it's just east of the football stadium so lots of tailgating just behind it.

What hams!

This is Lil' Red, one of the two mascots. There's a cute children's story about him that Nate loves. It is a story of good sportsmanship, something for which Husker fans are known.

MC is over 4' now!!

On the way home, we stopped in at a science museum on campus. They have skeletons of mammoths which were actually found throughout Nebraska, hence the large statue outside. We only had a few minutes before they closed. But Nate and MariCagle really enjoyed their first trip to a museum. It was a great weekend!