Santa Visits Over The Years

Every year my work has a holiday party with all kinds of breakfast treats.  Mr. & Mrs. Claus are there and then we get to go to a movie.  One of my favorite parts of the morning is the picture with Mr. & Mrs. Claus.  I work with Mrs. Claus and its so fun to see every year how Ian and now both boys change!  Here the pictures are over the last couple of years!  And for some reason we did not get a picture when Borne was a baby - darn it.  But fun to see the growth!  Man they are getting big - this little girl growing in me better be ready to handle these two!! :)

2011

Ian (6 1/2 years old) & Borne (2 years old)

2010

Ian (5 1/2 years old) & Borne (1 year old)

2008

Ian (3 1/2 years old)

2007

Ian (2 1/2 years old)

Being Silly

A couple of weeks ago Borne and I went to the mall to get a few things.  A trip that could have took 10 minutes with just me turned into about an hour adventure.  But he was all about wanting to go into the photo booth and me loving them growing up said why not.  So the above shots are what we got.  I think they are so fun and now I want to go to the mall with Ian and take more.  Although next time I might have to get the black and white so they are more "vintage."

Fright Night at the Museum

The week before Halloween we went Fright Night at Morrill Hall on UNL campus.  It was quite crazy - there were a lot of people but I think the kids had fun and I do love supporting the Morrill Hall - it's something very neat to have in town.

Our GI Joe Ninja - this is the only picture we have of Ian wearing the mask - he hated it.

The little kids.  Griffin, Kael and Borne.

Our little vampire loved the tunnel in the play room.

This is one of the last games the kids played (minus Borne - he was ready to leave before this point!).  So they were off to get a little more candy!

It was a fun night for the kids and a great way to start our Halloween week!

Pumpkin Run

In the middle of October Ian decided he wanted to run the Pumpkin Run.  We were all pretty excited about it because this would be his second race - he ran the Mayors run last May.  The week before the run Ian's knee started to really hurt him.  We had no idea why - we went to the doctor and did blood work and everything was fine.  So the day of the race we were a little worried because he was really not even completely walking on it but he wanted to do it so we figured it would be a good teaching moment. 

So we arrived and found Ryder (Ian's cousin) right away!

Then shortly Brandon (Ian's friend) showed up.  Look at those three - they are going to break some hearts in the future - such cute kids!

Then daddy and Ian got ready at the starting line.

And they are off!

This is one of the final turns where Borne and I sat watching.  I think the look on Ian's face says it all.  Chris said he was getting really tired and just wanted to stop but Chris pushed him a little bit and he was able to run the entire race.  Although Chris was probably dragging him at times!

I was able to catch Ryder at the finish line - Brandon was too fast so I missed him. 

Then Ian came in.  We did not pay attention to the time too much at the Mayor's Run but we are pretty sure he beat his time even with the hurt knee.  So it was a good morning!

This event was very well organized and I have to say a great event.  I think there was just under 3,000 kids that ran it and they expect even more next year.  We'll be back!  And I know Borne was itching to get out there so in two more years he'll probably see him blazing a trail.

Borne Turns 2

On October 13th our crazy little monkey turned 2.  We had quite a few exciting plans for his birthday and I think he enjoyed them all.

First his actual birthday:
The night before I had Chris pick up 15 balloons (Borne LOVES balloons!) and we put them right outside of his door hanging from the ceiling.  I forgot to take pictures but it was pretty cute to see his door open that morning and he got all excited and happy.  He had fun that day with his daycare friends.  That night I brought home a cookie for us all to enjoy.

Then the next weekend we celebrated his birthday with family and friends at our house.  I decided a couple of weeks before that I was going to make his birthday cake.  So the night before his party I got busy.

This is after all the different colors were made and a layer of frosting between each!

This is the birthday boy and the final product. 

I was a little worried about the icing but it turned out pretty good and I think everyone like it.  I was pretty proud of myself and really it was quite easy - If I can do it - most likely anyone else could do it!

A couple of pictures after we cut into the cake and served it with ice cream!  Yum makes me hungry for cake and ice cream.

Borne had fun playing with friends and opening presents after cake and ice cream!  I'd say overall Borne's 2nd birthday was a success!

Our 8th Anniversary

On October 11th Chris and I celebrated 8 years of marriage.  In some ways it seems like yesterday when we got married but then other times it seems like forever ago.  In the last 8 years alot has changed.

-We have moved two times and purchased two different houses!
-We've had two babies and now celebrate the birth of our third!
-We've been on numerious vacations - I started counting but there are too many.
-We've done so many renovations to both of our houses it's scary - but every one of them have made our homes into what we wanted them to be!
-We've been through I think 6 or 7 cars - this is mainly Chris!

Those are just a few of the things I could think of off the top of my head.  We've been together for a total of 15 1/2 years - married for 8 of them!  We've been through a lot in all of those years - I'd say in general many more wonderful things than hard or sad.  This last year has thrown us a few harder than normal but I really think because of the wonderful man I come home to every night I can get through just about anything and I hope he feels the same.

And for as much crap as he gives me and the show he puts on in front of others I know he loves me with everything he has (just look at what he did last year for me!).  This year he surprised me with a dozen red roses.  This is the first time he's sent flowers since our 1st anniversary.  They were beautiful and I cried - actually multiple times (must be the baby hormones!).  But I loved them and love him for sending them to me.

Can't wait to see what the next 8 years will be like and what our list of "stuff" will include.  I'm sure it will be fun, exciting, boring, normal, crazy, funny, sad, and everything inbetween.  I don't think I'd want it any other way!

Omaha Zoo

In the middle of October we took a quick trip to the Omaha Zoo after we picked the boys up from a sleepover at Grandma Kershaw's house.  We were a little worried because we were there during Borne's nap but he did pretty good for a couple of hours but then we knew it was time to get on the road and get a nap in!

This trip to the Omaha Zoo was fun because Borne is just so much more involved in the entire experience.  I swear the entire time we were there he was pointing and saying something.  He was so excited about everything!!  It was fun to see.

 The boys checking out the tapirs!

 Borne had to sit on the tree swing when he saw it.  It was quite crazy to see the difference in the size of the boys when Ian sat down!

 Borne was trying to catch water from the waterfall.

 I love this picture because Ian is hiding and wants to jump out and scare us.  Borne and I have no idea.  I just love how Ian is using every possible way to stay quite!  He did not give himself away!

 The monkeys and gorillas are always a hit and all the boys had fun climbing on the statues!

On the way out we had to get a snack and they do have wonderful ice cream!