Kara is SEVEN!

It's hard to believe it's been seven years since Kara was born. (Notice all the missing teeth?) She certainly came with her own personality and I have enjoyed the challenge of raising her...or being raised by her depending on how you look at it.

Hula hooping is one of Kara's new interests. I am enjoying the time while the kids are young and the things they want for their birthdays and Christmas don't cost much!

After having the pattern and fabric for probably a year, I finally made this dress for Kara. I guess one of the benefits of not being able to be as active as I would like to is that I have time to work on other interests!

The Pumpkin Run

As it turns out, Lincoln is home to the nation's largest kids cross country race--The Pumpkin Run. There were over 2500 kids that ran in the race...well, over 2500 participated. I think some kids thought going a whole mile would kill them, but at least they were out there.

Before the race

Dylan running with Dad

Dylan broke 11 minutes for his mile

Kara checking to see if her 8 month pregnant mom will be able to stay with her...

and then decides to take off.

Just a mile wasn't a long enough run to get Dylan to take a normal looking picture. I guess we'll have to find a longer race next time!

GOAL!!!!!!!

If you look for the bright yellow socks, you'll find Kara in these pictures and videos. This is her second year of soccer, and she is playing like she does everything else: with persistance and determination. It's paying off--she scored twice in her last game and had lots of time in control of the ball. Thank goodness she's more aggresive in sports than I was at her age!

Tri For Fun

On Saturday, Dylan completed his first triathlon. As you can see, he was a very serious competitor. He was the youngest kid that participated but didn't seem phased by that at all. It was so fun to watch him be so excited about doing it--just gives me warm fuzzies having a kid that had so much fun doing what I love to do!

Dylan's prerace stand-up...I mean warm-up routine

Not a great picture of the swim portion...but he completed the length of the pool (25 yards) without stopping. (Maybe for Dylan's next event my brother Garrett will fly out to be the photographer since he photographs sporting events professionally!)

Dylan (in the blue shirt) running with his very pregnant mom. At 7 1/2 months pregnant, the two mile run seemed long enough for me. I guess this was my first run with my two boys!

The two mile bike ride was the final leg...and he was still smiling.




Dylan showing off his medal; he's learning young that the prize bag at any race is really the most exciting part of the whole thing.

First Day of School

I'm a little behind because the first day of school was August 18, but that is just way too early in the summer to start school anyway. (Unfortunately there is no picture of Ted on his first day, but he was excited too.) Dylan was all excitement about starting kindergarten and Kara was mostly excited and a little nervous about her start at a new school. They felt like the first day was pretty long to be away...and a little long for me too. But I have to admit that now I am ready to send them off in the morning and they are excited to go. It's amazing how many things you can do on your own! But it's such a great feeling at the end of the school day to pick them up and have them run out with smiles and hugs and have them back again. And we're all happy when Dad gets home too!

Our Big Trip West

We had a great whirlwind tour of California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Arizona.

In California we got to celebrate birthdays with two great-grandmas,

swim in the ocean (Despite the unusually cold July in San Diego),

and use our free volunteer passes at Disneyland

In Nevada we got to visit some of our favorite beaches around Lake Tahoe.

In Oregon kids had fun with cousins, swam at Cascadia...

and enjoyed the Benton County Fair. It's been years since I've been to a county fair...they are still as interesting as ever. Kara got to be an assistant to Adam the Great...I can't believe you haven't heard of him!

We got to stop briefly in Bryce Canyon in Utah.

Finally on to Arizona for a houseboat adventure on Lake Powell.

There was kayaking,

riding behind the boat,

and lots of swimming and playing in the water.

Now we are back home in Nebraska ready to start the next part of our adventure here. It was fun to see many of you on our trip and hope you can make it out this way!

Summer in Lincoln

We are Cornhuskers now!

Dylan turned FIVE years old on July 1st! He's ready to go to kindergarten in August.

With no job and no school, there's been lots of time to play!

Hello LINCOLN, NEBRASKA!

It was a long journey to get here (we didn't actually come by handcart, but if you come visit us you can pull one yourself at the Winter Quarters visitors center)

We were so happy to move into our new house in the Star City (and I'm not talking about Hollywood).

Moving and settling in wasn't without it's moments of feeling a little tangled and out of sorts,

But for the most part, we feel lucky to be soaring through the adjustments and enjoying the ride.

Life is good in the Breadbasket! We miss the mountains, Lake Tahoe and the good people in Gardnerville. But, we love the lightning bugs (we learned they don't call them fireflies), the green trees everywhere, the lightning rain storms, and so many wonderful people we've met already. Have I sold you on this place? You better come see it for yourselves--we also love our guestroom...I mean guests!

Good-bye Gardnerville...

After eight years of living there, we said good-bye to our house on Falstaff...

Watched Kara graduate from Kindergarten...

Made a few more visits to Lake Tahoe (in June so the water was FREEZING) to hold us over until the end of July...

Happy Mother's Day!

Having a family blog is something I have resisted for years. I guess I didn't feel a need to share our lives with the whole world. But as we prepare to move 1000 miles away from all our family, I felt I owed it to the grandparents of our children to give them an easy way to follow our new life in Lincoln, Nebraska. As for the rest of the world, take it or leave it. So Happy Mother's Day Mom (and Mom-in-law) and here's to adventures to come in our new wide open future!