The Aurora Experience

A few weeks ago we all piled up to head out to Aurora, Missouri for Bill's cousin Rob's wedding! Now, I have never been to Missouri before and let me tell ya', it was an experience!

The wedding was held in the backyard of Rob and Tammy's home. It was a really pretty setting~huge yard, mature trees, a sparkling pool, round tables , candles everywhere, lights in the trees and the faint waft of smoked brisket blowing through the air.....

The ceremony was short and sweet (And did I get a good picture of the bride and groom?.....no.) It was the sort of affair where you saw it all.....cowboy boots, flip flops, cocktail dresses, jeans and people lugging in coolers of their own beer for their table. We were unprepared in that department, let me tell ya'! They had brisket and chicken, baked beans, salads, rolls and a keg that dutifully served up cups of sheer foam all night long.

Bill's other cousin Larry and his wife Gitana have a son named Logan who is just a tad bit older than Sawyer! We had never actually met Logan and his little sister Abby before and we were so excited to see how well they all got along! We had a little chat with Sawyer before rolling into town about how Logan was born a little special. Logan was born with two really short stumps and one of them has a little finger on it! He is the most precious little boy and you would be amazed at how he does life with that little finger! He and Sawyer jumped right in and got down to business! Chasing beach balls, picking on the girls.......they loved hanging out together! Oh, and Sawyer calls him 'Yogan'.

After the beach ball had gone over the fence "accidentally" one too many times, Sawyer kept trying to climb over to get it.....we looked over and saw Sawyer picking up Logan to hoist him up since climbing fences with one finger wasn't working out too well :) It was so cute.

We were lucky to have scored rooms at THE Aurora Inn......this was the nice hotel in town.....there was no hot tub or pool and the rooms all had a smoke smell that was masked by thick coating of vanilla potpourri air freshener.......yum. But it did boast a complimentary continental breakfast!

.......and here it is!!! Stale coffee, one orange juice box, and an array of pre-packaged sugary non-breakfast food items...... oatmeal raisin cookies? whoopie pies? and some neon pink fluff ball?....wow. When "Where are the multi grain bagels, fruit salad, make your own waffle bar and Starbucks coffee?" thought went through my head, I realized then and there that I was a spoiled, city-girl snot.

We headed over to Aunt Audrey's house to spend some time together before church, but not without stopping by Walmart for fresh pastries, fruit and juice :) And of course Sawyer and Logan decided to get all sorts of dirty out in the yard before church....

Sawyer's big thing now is climbing trees.....he loves it!

After church we got together for some lunch back over at Rob and Tammy's......and can you guess who fell of the ole "Hey, come over and look at this string in the water" trick?

The kids started out just splashing around and then of course just ended up jumping in clothes and all :) But I do have to admit that having Logan playing so close to the edge really made me nervous....he could just slip right in and not be able to catch himself! But of course they did just fine!

Then cousin George decided that I needed to go for a dip in the pool......but I fought him off :)

All in all, it was a great all -inclusive trip! You got a little taste of everything and we had a blast!

All Decked Out

The deck is done! (Well 99% done...we still need to put the post caps on, but that's it!) We decided to build the deck for evenings just like last night. Have some friends over, eat outside, enjoy the sun set.......aaaaahhhh....it was niiiiiiice! Bill also installed some outdoor speakers yesterday afternoon, which I must admit: I fought him pretty hard on. I didn't think that we really needed them or that we would use them all that much. But as I am sitting here eating my humble pie, I do admit that I LOVE them! I love having soft music in the background~it just adds that extra touch to the evening!

I had made a version of chicken cacciatore with homemade bread sticks and salad. This is the best bread stick recipe that I have come across and for a family that goes through more bread than a fondue restaurant, that's saying a lot!

Phoebi enjoyed lounging around on the couch like a goddess.....

What evening is complete without a nice fire? We have been using the left over bits and pieces of cedar from the deck and it's worked out perfectly! Plus it smells delicious.

Sawyer and Ben eagerly waiting for S'MORE time!

Bill and Steve did SUCH a tremendous job building this deck and we are so excited to start using it! We'll have to hop to it considering summer seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere. So, if you're around, call us up, grab some drinks and come on over! :)

Let's Par-TAY!!!!

A couple of years ago we had the honor and privilege of having a foreign exchange student from Columbia come and live with us for a year! Sandra was such a welcomed addition to our family while she was here. Her other host family was actually her brother's in-laws, Connie and Dan. They are some of the most genuine, kind-hearted, generous people you'll ever meet! While Sandra was still living here, they invited us up to their farm for the day and we had a WONDERFUL day out in the beautiful country side, eating terrific food, hiking and enjoying time together! They were even the sweet souls who invited Phoebi up to stay with them for three weeks while we were in Brazil! (a 150 lb. dog for three weeks in the winter time? Now you KNOW how nice they are :) Well, I could go on and on about how much we love Connie and Dan, but let's get back to last week......Last week they popped in for a quick visit and brought half of a farmer's market with em'!

Can we all just admit right now that those raspberries are just about the prettiest things EVER?!? We've been adding them to just about everything we've eaten since we got them!

Connie & Dan~Thank you SO much for all the yummy things! Also, thank you so much for putting the hair-brained idea in Bill's head that we need a St. Bernard puppy! (Can you hear the sarcasm oozing out of my voice?) and you were so thoughtful to send us the website for the puppies too~you really do just go above and beyond :) I need another enormous dog , like I need another hole in my head......But anyways! You guys are great*

This past Sunday, our church celebrated it's 90th birthday! 90 years of spreading God's word to the people of Omaha and across the globe! The church was decked out in balloons, streamers, there was a jazz band and birthday cake in between services! It was a wonderful celebration Sunday of how far God has brought the congregation, the growth of the ministry and excitement for the years ahead! We had the honor of hearing from five of the former Lead Pastors and their wives as well. After church, they had bouncy castles, dunk tanks (with the pastors inside!), a petting zoo, live music, pizza and snow cones! What a fun afternoon we had!

Needless to say, it was a quiet ride home :)

And That's How We Picnic

My friend Laney is expecting their second baby (Congratz Mommy!) and like me when I was pregnant with Sawyer, she SOOO sick. The morning, noon and night, green at the gills, just shoot me now kind of sick. So we ran over two nights ago to pick up Nolan for a sleep over to give Laney and Brandon a break. Sawyer and Nolan had SUCH a terrific time together! They were like two peas in a pod-just running around like wild little monkeys!

Last night we headed to Lewis & Clark Landing for a picnic with some friends even though the storm clouds were rolling in. But hey, we weren't gonna let a little rain get in the way of our fun.

We also had a new roommate move into the basement this week! Her name is Mary and she is in the specialized accelerated nursing program at Creighton University. She made the LONG drive from Portland, Oregon and we are so very excited to have her with us! (She's the one holding Sawyer)

Who needs grilling tools? A "Y" shaped stick and an ice scraper doused in antibacterial hand sanitizer work just fine!

Nothing like grilling under an umbrella!

Just as the salmon burgers were coming off the grill, the rain started. Just sporadic , large, heavy drops at first.....that quickly turned into a good steady pour......that turned into gusting sheets of rain.....that turned into mad dashes to the cars, heaving everything into trunks, umbrellas turning inside out and lots of runny mascara. It was eventful :)

But nevertheless, we had a great time!

P.S. Sawyer's eyes are doing great! He went to his post-op visit the other day and Dr. Troia said they are looking good! They will be blood shot for a while, but that should go away soon!

Tag-Alongs

A few weekends ago Sawyer and I got to be the lucky tag-alongs to the Kiewit Family picnic! My good friend Rachel has two adorable little boys that Sawyer pretty much worships, and they invited us to go to her company picnic! It was such a wonderful day to spend together!

The picnic was up at Mahoney State Park-which is outside the city and has spectacular views and laundry list of fun things to do!

The kids started out with doing a bunch of carnival type games to win prizes..... although they didn't fare very well in the winning department....they had a good time nonetheless!

They headed over to the face painting station, where we stood in line for about four weeks. This was the first time that Sawyer actually got something painted! Usually we'll get up to the front of the line and he chickens out. It's not like it hurts! I don't know what his deal is.....but this time he got this awesome dragon painted on his leg!

Rachel even got a butterfly on her arm (they got up to the front of the line and one of her sons chickened out too :) That's always fun....not. And what is up with Sawyer's face? :)

The kids fought over the basket of silly band bracelets, took forever to figure out what farm animal they wanted to be and then we were finally able to sit down to a WONDERFUL lunch buffet! They had hamburgers, hot dogs, grilled chicken, brisket, salads, sides and cookies for dessert! D-lish! What good mother lets her child chug down an entire Pepsi? Not me.......(says the mom with shifty eyes and suspicion in her voice.)

(Notice the crossed eye? Yeah, that's why we had surgery yesterday.)

The kids had spotted the cotton candy stand pretty much from the car as we pulled up. "Can we get cotton candy now?" was asked every two minutes practically. When Sawyer finally got that sugary air ball in his fist, he started licking it! I guess he had never eaten it before! Then he asks, "How do I eat THIS?!?!" yeah, it was awesome :)

The kids entertained themselves in this GIGANTIC play zone for over an hour and a half! There was this maze of tunnels, slides, ball pens, foam pits, ect. Rachel and I just sat back and let them run wild! Every once in a while we would see one of them surface and then head right back in for more fun!

After wearing themselves out in the play zone, they needed some more refueling so it was off to the pop corn stand! Sawyer and Nick chowed down on fistfuls of buttery corn and were just giddy with delight!

The mechanical bull had been calling Sawyer's name all day....so up he went! He did pretty well for a while and really enjoyed it!

Yehaaaaw!!!! (is that how you spell that?!)

And yup when he finally fell off, he knocked one of the horns off with him :)

Since we hadn't fed the kids all day.....(says the mom sarcastically) they needed some snow cones to tide them over :) With neon sugar water dripping from their chins and elbows, we headed off to the water park to finish off the day. They splashed themselves into pretty much a state of delirium! It was the perfect day in the minds of these little boys and boy did they sleep good that night! Thank you SO much Rachel for inviting us to join you for this amazing day!