Nebraska

David's Grandma Naomi passed away last week, so we travelled back to Nebraska for her funeral. The Lord blessed her with 94 years on this earth before He called her home - but it's still hard to say good bye. Or as the pastor said, "We do not say good bye to Naomi today, but good night, as we will meet her again some day."

We stopped in Denver and stayed overnight with David's Aunt Katie and Uncle Johnny. It is always good to visit with them. There was just one problem with our visit:

I don't think my kids need any encouragement to be race car drivers...

The kids travelled really well, and we didn't hear "are we there yet" every 5 minutes. Thank goodness for movies and DVD players!!

The kids have enjoyed playing with their cousins: Here's just a few pictures of what we've been up to the last few days.

Cousins: Macy, Chase, Chad, Emily, Grace, Tristan, Erik, Emma

(it was impossible to get these 8 adorable children to sit and look at the camera at the same time)

Dancing with Emma

Choo-choo train!

Yesterday we had a high of about 74 degrees - with rain, hail, and a tornado warning (it wouldn't be Spring in Nebraska if we didn't), and today we had 34 degrees and snow...

The kids were terribly disappointed that it didn't stick. I however, am looking forward to tomorrow's high in the 50's!

Family Hike

Grace and I - who normally are pretty busy on Sundays - had an entire Sunday (after church, that is) free, so we actually had some true family time. It was a beautiful day, so we went for a drive in some of the mountains we have nearby. We intended to go over to Parker Canyon Lake, but this is what happened shortly after we got in the car:

After turning off onto a pretty bumpy dirt road, the kids woke up, and we were able to find a really neat area to get out and explore. There was a Boy Scout troop out camping who directed us to this tire swing that the kids really enjoyed.

Then it was off into the wild...

She's getting so independent it's killing us!

Both of the kids had a really good time (as did David and I). They are such troopers - Grace wanted to keep going, but again, this is an area that you don't want to be traipsing around in after dark...

On our drive home, this was some of the scenery:

The kids really got a kick out of the cows and the fact that Daddy could "talk" to them and make them come over to the pickup. They have never been this up close and personal to cattle...

Then, as we got a little further down the path, Tristan yelled out "DEER!!" just about the time David and I saw 3 mule deer on the side of the hill (2 scampered off):

Talk about a proud Daddy who's 2 1/2 year old can spot deer in the distance!

Girl's Day Out

I have been telling Grace for a few weeks that we would have a "girl's day" where she and I would go do something together. She has been wanting some alone time with Mommy - and especially makes her request known when I go anywhere by myself - for some time now.

We went to Taco Bell for lunch (since David hates that place), and then went to a place called That Painting Place. It is a paint your own ceramics shop. Since Grace enjoys doing crafts so much, I thought it would be the perfect place to go. We had a great time, and to my surprise, she did a great job painting her unicorn, and never got bored with it. I really expected her to say that she was done mid-way through the project and want to go home.

She chose her own colors: brown for the body, and black for the mane and tail

Talk about concentration!

The finished project - complete with blue eyes and coral colored spots...

Both of our projects awaiting glazing and firing.

The lady who owns the shop was very nice and helpful. She showed Grace what the next steps would be - dipping them into a glaze, and then showed her the kiln that they would be fired in and explained to her that they would be like glass and would be the colors that we painted the projects, even though the glaze turned them green. Grace had no problem leaving her unicorn behind, but I imagine I'll hear about it until we pick it up next week...

By the way - if anyone wants to leave comments, you should be able to now, even if you don't have a log-in or blogger id. I think I changed my settings so that you can make "Anonymous" posts.

Little Cheeks

Tristan has been fighting me tooth and nail most days lately when it comes to taking a nap. I usually have to go to his room several times and lay down the law. Today was no different... I did hear him get up and go potty, but heard nothing further, so just let him be. Just a little while ago, I noticed that his jeans and underwear were on the floor of the bathroom, so I decided to go check on him...

This is what I found:

I know, I know, I'm a terrible mother and he's gonna hate me for this later, and I'm sure he'll be scarred for life - but I just couldn't resist!

The Baker and the Repairman

Just a few cute moments from the kids...

Grace, with little help from me, made Rice Krispy treats the other day. She started out by counting out all the marshmallows, and did a great job following directions when it came to adding the marshmallows and keeping them stirred. The only time I helped was when it was time to stir in the cereal (as anyone who has ever made these knows that a 4 year old just isn't quite capable of doing that). She had a great time, and was proud to tell her daddy about what she made when he got home.

We had some strawberry marshmallows so we decided to try those, and they turned out much better than we expected.

The best part of making anything...

This is "Spike", my repairman:

After Tristan took a nap today, he took Grace to school:

They did this for a good hour, and then again after supper, all the while taking turns. I love days like this...