Character Awards

I am thankful that both schools we have attended make it a priority to teach character. We had our first assembly at Meadowlark at the end of the first quarter, and both girls were chosen from their class to get the character award. As parents, we are so excited!

And they were excited for each other. It was a sweet assembly where both grandparents, Brandon and Aunt Sarah attended. (Their cousin, A, got an award, too!)

 

 Analise also came home that day with a 2 Liter bottle of Sprite from her teacher for meeting a reading goal. When Analise walked out to the van with that bottle, Sadie thought she was carrying santizer. Hah! We may use a lot of that, but we buy the cute little B&BW bottles...not 2 Liter size!

 

We are so thankful for such a good start to our new school. The girls have made friends, love their teachers, and they seem to be doing well! One of the main reasons we made the switch was to get the girls around other Christian friends. Analise came home sick at lunch one day, and her dear friend just cried because she knew Analise hadn't been feeling well. Analise told me later that the same friend had prayed with her at recess, asking God to let Analise feel better. It's got to be one of the sweetest things I have heard, and it just confirmed our move to Meadowlark. Thank you, Jesus!

Girls and their Dog

Caramel is officially part of the family. Not that it took long. She quickly captured the girls' hearts, and they still love her. They don't mind their responsibilities with her; I don't hear them complain when it's time to play with her or pick up her "gold" in the backyard.

Brandon is so glad to know this. :)

 

 These two probably have the best relationship...but don't tell the other two girls.

Free Yet Fun

Sometimes it's not too hard to please the girls. One simple thing we occasionally do is go to a bridge at the Arch and feed the fish. This time we took stale oyster crackers and had a lot of entertainment. Fun and free!

 

Final Day at the Lake

We took our final boating day at the end of Sept. I am not sure what made this day different from rest of the times we went boating, but it was probably my favorite boating day of the season. Maybe it was the cooler temps; maybe the calm water: maybe the fact that we caught fish. Or maybe I went down with a better attitude. Whatever it was, we all enjoyed it.

 

Brandon let the girls ride in the back of the boat on the way to the ramp. They loved it. (until I combed their hair later.)

 We hit the jackpot on fishing! I drove and fished both so Brandon could enjoy it. Actually, he fishes while helping all his "needy" fishing ladies. We can be high maintenance.

 And then there is Maisie. She's not in to the fishing thing. However, she was happy reading her books. Now that I think about it, I wonder where she gets it.:)

 That is a true, genuine smile.

 After fishing, we took a boat ride across the lake. Brandon did something to make the wake right next to the boat. The girls thought it was cool.

 After we got off the boat, we drove over the dam to meet up with Derek and Braylen who had been 4 wheeling. Each girl took a little ride with him. And each girl loved it. Their Uncle Derek holds a special place in their hearts.

 We really didn't ride like this. :) However, I did take my first 4 wheeler ride. I'm not interested in driving one myself, but I enjoyed my short ride with him.

 And as the sun sets across the lake, out boating season comes to a close.

Go Big Re-ed!

Back in September, Analise had a dream come true. She has known for a few years that when she was eight, she would be able to go to her first Husker football game. Since February, we have heard her talk about it. A lot. What made it more exciting was knowing that her cousin, Aaron, would be going this year, too.

Grandma brought  it up late summer, and the hunt for tickets began. It was going to be difficult finding six seats together. But God is good, and we found some.

The Saturday finally arrived. And what a crew we were. Brandon decided he needed to stay home with the girls, and he was so encouraging about letting me go. Sarah went in his place. Grandma was going to go but came down with a UTI the night before. Kaleb went instead. So, we had two 8 year olds, a 10 year old, a grandpa and two moms. Most importantly, we had a great time!

Look at all the red all "red"y for the game!

Grandpa brought along a red hat for Analise to wear. 

 

The kids with Lil' Red at our parking lot

 

We got there in plenty of time to take some pictures outside the stadium.

Eating lunch in our seats.We were way up high, but they were still good seats. We sat three in one row and three directly behind, so that made it fun.

 

Eating her lunch and holding on to her balloon.

 

Analise loved the fact that when Memorial Stadium is full, it's the third largest city in NE.

 

A panoramic shot

The first time NE scores, everyone lets go of their balloons. We didn't have to wait long this year.

 

 

One of the kids' favorite players - Rex Burkhead

 

And a Kearney kid. We love watching him kick!

 

We figured we would win against Idaho State, but we had no idea it would be a blow out.

We had so much fun.

I love how some of the players pray after every game.

So thankful to have this mother, daughter time.

 

Some things I want to remember:

1. Doing the wave. Oh my goodness - I've never had so much fun or laughed so hard doing the wave. We did it the normal way, then super fast and then super slow. Hilarious.

2. Getting thirsty way up in the stands has its challenges. The water boys seem to run out of water right before our row. After several attempts we got some. At the same moment we got our water, an injured player walked off the field. Naturally, everyone clapped. One of my nephews asked, "Are they clapping because we got our water?"

3. Before the game the cheerleaders ran onto the field. Analise said, "Wow. I  have never seen a cheerleader run before." Cracked me up.

4. Enjoying the girl talk time with Sarah on the drive.

5. Watching Grandpa treasure this time with three of his grand kids. And enjoying time with his daughter in laws, too, where most dads may prefer having their sons go.

6. A loving, sacrificial husband letting me go. He enjoys games, too, but he knows I get almost giddy about going. And as much as he wanted to be there for Analise's first experience, he chose to stay home with the other two so I could go.

7. The weather was perfect. God really smiled upon on family today. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for making it a SUPER day!

 

Oh and dear, feel free to get season tickets whenever you want. :)

Patience

Thank you to everyone for being patient as I (slowly) figure out this private thing. Thanks to a friend in AZ, I have been able to get this converted. Some of you however, received 5+ invites; I am SO sorry! I told my SIL that I was going for more readers than the library has.
As much as a hastle this has been, it's been freeing, too. Now to just get caught up....