What Are You Doing at 8 a.m.?

The heat has finally come to Nebraska. (It was a pretty rainy June...not that I'm complaining---I HATE being hot.) But, the warmer weather has made for some pleasant mornings.

Kari enjoyed breakfast on our porch. Now, it was at least 80 degrees out there, but she didn't seem to mind. She just had a good time eating her pretzels (yes, pretzels for breakfast), toast and juice.



Emily and Christian had other ideas about what to do at eight o-clock in the morning. They got their suits on and took a dip in the pool.

Ah, summer!

A REAL Fun Day

The kids' last day of swim lessons was this past Thursday. It was a HOT day and was the perfect morning for a swim! (A big change from the previous end-of-lessons Fun Day where it was rainy and FREEZING!) The kids both had a lot of fun...

Dunking and sliding...

(On a side note, Emily has "graduated" from having to use a full mask to just plain-old swim goggles! Woohoo!)

Swimming and splashing...

Jumping off of the diving board! Yup, that's my big-boy leaping off of the board to his favorite instructor, Caitlin. He was so brave! And, he had so much fun he jumped off another 5 times after that! It was so exciting to watch.

I could even tell he had to use the, uh, restroom (see below), but he was having too much fun to take a break and held it in until Fun Day was over!

There he goes!!!

Emily also took her turn in giving us a big jump...but only at the end. (She's just not as sold on the whole diving board concept yet!)
And, finally, here are the kiddos with a couple of their many wonderful swim instructors. Miss Caitlin is an "old favorite" (this is her third year w/our kids!), Breanne is "new" and taught Emily last session and Emily is Caitlin's sister and helped w/our Emily's class this session. To the right is Christian's favorite instructor, Amanda, who was Emily's teacher last year!. These ladies all remember the kids from year to year and it just makes going to lessons extra fun for everyone.

Great job, kids, on another wonderful year of swim lessons! You've both come so far and learned so much!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Yesterday we celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday! My mom organized a great party in her honor. My aunt flew in from France and my uncle and his family drove down from Minnesota. Other family and friends also drove and it was a wonderful evening. We all enjoyed celebrating the life of such a fabulous woman.

Here is a picture of my grandma when she was about one. So darling and I think there is a strong resemblance between she and Emily when she was this age.

Here are "the grandkids." Well, I have three other cousins (who are from France) that weren't able to be there. But, my sister put together a darling scrapbook that each of the grandkids contributed their favorite memories and pictures of Grandma Carolyn so the absent cousins were able to share their thoughts and memories w/my grandma on her special day.

Here is Grandma w/her great-grandchildren (plus the two Annas b/c they were part of "the little kid" group). Christian decided to be a little twerp and make scowly-faces. He was all smirky smiles just after the picture was taken!

More on the festivities to come...didn't want one post to become too photo heavy.

Happy 80th Birthday, Grandma! You're the best--we love you!!!

Summer Storm

This is what rolled into our neighborhood this past week! No tornadoes, but the wind was absolutely INCREDIBLE! Our trees stood strong, but others' in our neighborhood were not so lucky. Some big branches came down on the transformer for our street/area and knocked out the power from about 8:30 until midnight. Across the street a huge part of a tree came down (thankfully into the street and not the house nearby). The next street over, one woman's tree got completely uprooted, knocking down their power lines in their front yard while in their back yard, their 100 ft tall maple snapped in half and fell onto their neighbor's new fence. Yikes.

We hung out in the dark for a bit, looking at pictures on the computer. (Christian was the only one awake--he'd taken a nap that day and wasn't quite asleep when all the commotion started.) Around 9:30, we got tired (and bored!) and just went to bed.

Thank goodness everything held strong--it was a crazy storm!

I Love a Parade!

This past weekend was our town's annual carnival and parade. It tends to fall on the stickiest day of the year (it has EVERY year since we've been here)! However, this year, my mom went early and set up our "spot" under a tree. We were set!

The kids were very excited to see everything get underway...it was great to see the parade march right through downtown and under this gigantic American flag. It was also great to see everyone stand as our flag came by to get the parade underway!


Christian was happy to see the mascot from the Storm Chasers and ran over to give him a big hug.

Our biggest highlight of the parade was watching and waiting for Harvey to come through! Harvey is in the musical this summer, "The Music Man!" He is a salesman and a townsperson and got to hand out stickers and candy in the parade. Emily and Christian were so excited when he
came by! Man, I love a parade!

Ready, Set, Swim!

This last week marked the official beginning of summer: swim lessons!

This year, Emily entered level 3...and it was a biiiiigggg step up from level 2! They hold class in the deep end (and only the deep end!). As big of a jump as it was for her, she was up for the challenge! It was incredible to watch her learn her crawl and back strokes, gliding, treading water, and diving.

Yes, diving, folks. Emily has never wanted to even jump off of the board before and by the end, she had learned to dive! (Granted, her off-of-the-board technique still needs some work, but, she'll be starting again on Monday so she'll get plently of practice!)

Christian graduated from Angelfish to Guppy this year. He worked on floating on his back, making big arm movements, and even putting his face in the water! He can also play a mean game of "Mr. Shark, What time is it?" and "Motorboat, motorboat."

On the last day, "fun day" it was rainy and a bit chilly so Christian enjoyed his time playing in the pool up above where the water slides are and then going down the slides with his instructors.

And where was Kari during all this swim fun? Exactly where she wants to be--on the sidelines, with me, as far from the water as she can get. This year, Kari wants NOTHING to do with the water. So, she sits on my lap and waves at her siblings while they swim and she stays nice and dry.

We just love swim lessons and can't wait for more!

The Road to Recovery

So, Kari is reaching for the camera. Big deal, right? But, did you happen to look at her mouth? It's FULL.OF.FOOD! A big moment, indeed. Lately, she seems to gobble up anything her Daddy makes for her. Not sure why, but if Mommy makes it--eh, she really isn't interested. However, if DADDY makes it, look out! She practically inhales it. But hey, I'm not complaining! As long as she's eating (even if it is the most random foods at the most random times), at least she's eating!

Look at this happy little smile! Sure love seeing more of this lately!

Finally, all of this recovery and eating is taking its toll! Today, after swim lessons, I sat Kari down on the couch while I hung up towels and suits. I come back a minute later, and she's completely zonked out on the couch. (And she wasn't even in the water!)

We are all so happy that Kari continues to get stronger (and happier!). Thank you to all who have fasted, prayed, and expressed concern on her behalf.