Sunday

Sunday mornings start early at our house. This Sunday was no exception.

I was tickled to get to watch the sun come up since I am usually in school before that happens...


And the car ride is great bonding time.


After both services we went to a little park to enjoy the lovely afternoon. The boys demonstrated 'walking with caution' as pioneered by Daniel Gardener.


The little people played on the merry-go-round and slides while being supervised by the guys. Take a look at the ever shrinking height gap in this picture...


In the mean time, I decided to use the day of rest for what it was made for... resting.


Apparently I rested a little too deeply. Take warning, this is what can happen if you fall asleep on a picnic table and your family gets a hold of your camera.


The boys also demonstrated how to do off-kilter push-ups on a picnic table...


Becca. She was not feeling well for a while, but recovered in time to enjoy some sun with the rest of us.

After a long day of resting and playing, the best thing you can do is take a little nap in the car on the way home while Leah and Emily do a little shopping. While Sundays won't be quite the same after I move, I am looking forward to seeing what new adventures we can cook up together!

The Windmill Fan

Sometime this spring the windmill did the equivalent of 'throwing a rod' and broke. With a submersible pump, a generator, and Benjamin's responsibility, we have had water just fine, but the head needs to be taken down and shipped off to be repaired. Before the head can be taken down the fan had to be taken off, which is exactly what Dad and Benjy did this Saturday.

The tower is 40 feet tall and the fan is about another 10 feet diameter, so Dad was pretty far up there...


He took the fan apart one piece at a time and lowered them down to Benjy who was waiting for them.

We girls went down to watch and encourage our guys along...


Just to give you a bigger picture of what we are talking about here...

Once he got the fan off, Dad climbed up a little bit higher to assess the actual damage to the head. It was not as bad as he had thought which is encouraging!

You know you have a good right hand man when you can count on him to bring you tools, even 40 feet up.

John came down on his tractor to check out the action. He informed me he was ready to upgrade to a bigger tractor now. I think he is envisioning one with an engine this time... :)

I have always wanted to climb the windmill tower and check out the view. With that many people around as spotters, this was the perfect opportunity. The view? Well, it was just about as awesome as I always imagined, and on a lovely clear day as well. :D

Afternoon with Katie

Katie was in town for a short weekend and we decided to make the most of our time together.

We picked up right where we left off, touring Saint Cecilia's Cathedral. It is incredible inside but unfortunately too dark for good pictures. Just to give you an idea of the size we are talking about here...

Let's just say it was rather windy... :D

We also stopped by Jocelyn Castle in hopes of getting a tour, but it was closed. The roses were still blooming however so we took a little time to smell them.

We went to Heartland of America Park to stretch our legs. I found this in the grass... Apparently someone thought it was more fit for me than for them.. :D

The boat ride season is over, but that does not mean we can't still follow directions...

Katie wanted to know what the big rocks were for. Since we did not know we decided to invent our own use. In which Katie leaps through the air with the agility of a howler monkey...


In which Emily leaps through the air with a frightening resemblance to a ninja...

In which both looks are combined and the other people in the park all stare, trying to figure out what those crazy girls are doing...

Thanks so much for a wonderful afternoon, Katie! I love you and am already counting the days until I see you in November!!

A Few More Random Pictures

Once again, a few random shots from the last week. Enjoy!!

John saw me stretching out from my run and was very excited to show me a new exercise. When he started doing this I had a hard time convincing him there was nothing new about sit-ups, except that he can do them!


School is in full swing at home as well. Timothy working away at his grammar...


Leah, aka Miss Peanut Butter, doing school and keeping records.

We had the unfortunate honor of attending the funeral of a good friend who was killed in action in Afghanistan. After the incredible service, which was so respectful and honoring of the life and sacrifice of this Navy SEAL and God, we spent a little time catching up with Michael, Sarah, and of course Caroline.


And there you have it folks, a far too brief picture update. With only three weeks left in student teaching and a moving date set it has been hard to get pictures, but I will try to get some more next week. Thanks for reading!

John's Birthday

John's birthday was yesterday, but the celebration started a day early with the construction of his present from Dad.

His very own tree house, just his size and easy for a five year old to climb into. Added perk, it is in one of my favorite trees in the orchard that I have always loved to climb up and sit in. The tradition continues...


He was quite pleased...

On his real birthday he opened the rest of his presents, played with all his presents, asked which I liked best of all his presents, and pretty much soaked up being five.


Grandpa and Bubbie gave him a pizza party for his birthday dinner. As is evidenced by how much is on his face, it was delicious.

And the grand finale, the birthday cake made by Becca and expertly frosted with whipped cream just like John asked for by Leah. Not to worry, although it was offered we did not use Timo's throwing knife to cut it. Probably the last thing that cut was a dead gopher... Happy Birthday to my best little man! I love you infinity and beyond!

A Few Random Pictures

The random camera strikes again!! You never know what you might see out here...

You might see the ultimate chicken race showdown. Wanna guess who won? ;)


You might see Trina and I going out for a run...

You might come home from a long day at school and be greeted with this cheerful grin...


You might walk into the house and discover Rosie reading. That one sounds pretty obvious but you never know...


You might go into the kitchen and find Leah and Becca cooking up a storm, or a scheme, or supper...

You might find yours truly, grading papers in the great outdoors...

You might find an experiment taking place in an attempt to determine how many people and dogs you can fit on a mini trampoline....


You might find people hugging each other...

But chances are you will find something and it might be a little on the crazy side. If you found that, you are more than likely getting close to here, so swing by and say hi!!

Step Into Village One ( A Week Late)

This post is a week late in two ways. Step Into Village One was supposed to be two weeks ago, but it was rained out and postponed a week. Then, the week following the event was so crazy busy that it has taken me until now to blog about it. Okay, maybe this should say a week and a half late, at least when referring to the blogging part...

Christ Community Church partnered with several ministries in North Omaha including Compass Ministries (where I will be working in 5 weeks!! :D) and Bridge Church. I had driven past Bridge Church every day I went to Compass this summer and was very excited to be a part of the huge crew that descended on the parking lot to give the building a fresh coat of paint.


When we got there, Josh the pastor, asked us if we felt comfortable with heights. Hehehe... Needless to say most of us ended up on the scaffolding.


Or ladders. I had no idea how many people were actually working on painting. I thought I had seen everyone and suddenly a whole group of people came from behind the back! It was phenomenal to see people pull together and get it painted in just over 2 hours.


The younger set worked on painting under our scaffolds. I wish I could say that was how they got all the paint on them... :D They had a blast making new friends and painting everything they could get their brushes on. Well, mostly on the building...

When we were finished we made a little assembly line to clean brushes. As one of the neighborhood kids pointed out, we made quite an interesting attraction for everyone passing by. :D It was so exciting to be a part of the workday and to get to meet some more people and see what God is doing in the neighborhood where I will soon be working. Just ramped up my excitement about 10 notches... :D