Nebraska Reunion

Our trip to Nebraska continued, Friday afternoon we got into the little town that Jason's grandma lives in.  We spent the day at a state park which was really pretty.

 Jason's grandma reserved a shelter for us and it was right by this merry-go-round.  By the end of the day the kids where covered in dirt and exhausted.  It was great!

 Jason's Aunt put together this quilt for his grandma. I had to make 5 squares for it witch I have to say was not my finest hour.  I do not know how to quilt worth anything. She did a good job though and it turned out beautiful.

 The reunion had a "holiday" theme to it.  So we celebrated Christmas with a gift exchange. 

 All the kids got a gift it was fun. 

 We celebrated all of our birthdays with a pinata and cake. 

 This too was a hit with the kids.

 Jason's grandma even took a turn and was the one who broke it open.

 

 The next morning, Saturday we got up bright and early because Jason's family was participating in a walk/run/5k/10k race.  Dillon and I had decided we would run the 5k too. Neither one of us have ever ran in a race before. 

 I was very proud of Dillon he ran the entire way.

He was disappointed because we didn't make a better time, but I was just happy we ran it all and finished.

 Not to mention it was a tough coarse for us and it was very hot!

 After the race we went and watched a parade.  The kids got even more candy, this is all of Truman's booty including the glasses and sweat band.

 We had and Easter egg hunt for Easter.

 The kids came home with soooo much stuff and candy!

 Jason's grandma was getting rid of most of her beanie baby collection as prizes.  I have so many stuffed animals in my house now. 

Sunday we packed up and drove all the way home.

 It was super sweet of his family to go though all the trouble of having us there.  The food was great and the activities were wonderful.  It was nice to see everyone.  Once again we never did get a picture with us all in it.  Oh well maybe next time.

Nebraska Here We Come

This year Jason's family decided to have a reunion in Nebraska.  Jason could only get 3 days off, so he made it a whirlwind adventure.  We left on a Wednesday and drove 14 hours to Custer, North Dakota.  There is a lot to do in that area.  I swear if I spent a week there I still would not get to all the things. 

 Fist thing Thursday morning we started out at Jewel Cave.

 It is the 3rd largest cave in the world, it was amazing.  Hard to get pictures of because of the low lighting and my skills as a photographer are very limited!

 Over 700 steps, and we only saw a tiny, portion of the miles and miles of cave. 

 They had a Junior Ranger craft that my kids crashed and made animal tracks.  The two extras are my niece and nephew, two of  Jason's brother's kids.

 We then took a drive to visit Mount Rushmore.  Always worth seeing, it was sooo hot though!

 This is my favorite picture.  This lady came and asked us if she took our picture then would I take theirs.  I said sure.  It wasn't until later that I realized this is the picture she took.  Where is Mount Rushmore?  Good question!!

 Thank goodness Jason's brother was willing to save the day and took another for us. This time with the actual monument in the picture too.

 I collect smashed pennies from wherever we go.  The kids are getting into doing it as well.  Beckett had to do it all by himself.

 Next we took a train ride.  It was about an hour each way, and I have to say it was my most favorite part of the day.

 I decided I like trains rides.  The kids thought it was boring, but there was such pretty scenery, and wildlife and some cool historic things too. 

 Jason kept letting Beckett stick his head out, and later got in trouble for it.  It made for a cute picture though.

Beckett liked the ride. 

The next day Friday we headed to a Mammoth dig site.

 The kids got to be "junior excavators" and dig up some bones.

 Dillon got really frustrated at first, because Truman found a bone before he did.

 Soon enough he found one, unfortunately he and Elleree found the same bone.  It was so large that they each found an end.

 Beckett sat on the side and played with a rock.

 I think the kids really enjoyed this part of the museum..

 Then we went on a tour of the actual dig site.  It was pretty cool.

 They have remains for over 60 mammoths.  These are not the Wooly Mammoths we are used to seeing but some sort of ancestor that is larger and has less hair.

 They don't remove any of the bones because they are too heavy and don't want to damage them.  So they just dig around the ones they have found. 

It was seriously just a huge sink hole.  I circled Jason and the kids so you can see the size of just a portion of this site. 

It was a neat little museum.  After that we headed the rest of the way to Nebraska.

July 4th 2013

We had a pretty uneventful 4th of July this year.  We had plans to invite people over, but everyone we invited already had other plans.  We thought we might go somewhere, but never did.  So we hung out with ourselves.  That morning bright and early Jason woke me up to go sking.  We skied and tubed until the afternoon.  We did it just long enough for Dillon to get a sunburn that got blisters and for the other boaters to come out after the parades.  Then we headed home.

That night we had a BBQ and set off some fireworks.

 I don't know about you, but my kids get really excited about the fireworks.  It's like Christmas, almost.  So we have to waste time until it gets dark.  We played with chalk.

 We got the snaps out and played some hop scotch with a little variation on the rules to make it fun with the snaps.

 I had to make Beckett his own little hop scotch.

 This is Trumans master piece don't ask how you are suposed to read it.  It made sense to him.

 We set off some of our own fireworks

 Always an impressive show.

 Dillon was the only one who would let me get a picture with the sparklers.

 We then went to our back porch and watched the show.  You can't really tell from this picture, but we could see like four different people setting them off.  We have a great view. Some time around 10:00pm my parents showed up and got to see the rest of the show.

Then we went and set off some more of our own fireworks.  I would have more pictures, but my camera battery died and so here we are.  The end of the show.

Thanks

A little while ago Jason's mom took our kids for a few days so we could have a little time together. This would have been not such a big deal but she already had Jason's brother's three kids and it was just her.  So she had 7 kid runnig around her house.  She is super awesome and I appreciate her for doing it for us. 

It has been a really long time since Jason and I have gotten away.  We ended up in Lava and stayed at a bed and breakfast there.  We basically just hung out and relaxed.  It was so nice!

We visited my brother and Jason's sister. 

The only picture I got of the whole weekend were these two.

 Anyone recognize this house?  It's a little rough looking now, but it was our first house.  It was tiny, but perfect.  It had less then 500 square feet and was only two blocks from ISU campus.  We lived in it for 3 1/2 years.  Dillon came home to this house and stayed for about 4 months before we decided to buy another place.

I loved this little house and have some very fond memories of living there. 

Anyway it was the best weekend ever! I just wanted to tell Kay thanks for taking the kids!  She ROCKS!

Caught in the Act

Beckett is cracking me up lately. I swear if I had had a blog with Dillon and Truman I would have put pictures of them at this age too.  I did do it for Elleree.  This age is just so funny.  They are becoming so independent.

 

 Beckett has discovered his pockets and likes them.  All my kids I swear have gone through this stage it makes me laugh.  He does everything with one hand in a pocket. 

 He is eating in this picture, with one had in his pocket.  

The other day he had a cut on his finger and comes to me crying.  I asked him if he wanted a band-aid, and said it  would make it feel better.  He said yes.  So I put the band-aid on and and he shows me his finger and says "this not feel better, get it off".  I thought they made everything feel better, apparently not.

He is into his sunglasses too.  He always puts them on upside down, I guess they are more comfortable that way.  

The other three are always trying to get him to say or do something in appropriate.  I swear this kid would have a chance of being a good kid, but he has three older siblings that are making sure that doesn't happen.  Okay maybe a mom too.