Good Job Ryan!

Hard to believe this photo was taken a year ago on Ryan's first day of class!  This past year flew by!  Ryan finished up the class portion of his master's program today!  I am so proud of all of his hard work.  He studied hard and did so well-all A's!  It is not an easy program by any means and we had some added challenges with young children, moving, and job changes to add to the stress.  

Now Ryan has some time off and starts his full time clinicals the 3rd week in August.  It will be another adjustment for our family, but much smaller than the last.   

Ryan and I always said if we made it through this year and still loved each other, we were good to go.  Well, we made it through and love each other more than ever...I guess we truly were meant for each other.  Love you Ryan- I am so proud of all of your accomplishments!

Happy 60th Birthday Gary and Sue!

A surprise 60th birthday party for Gary and Sue (at their own house) was a success!  They are both turning 60 in August, just the reason for a party!  They were surprised and everyone had a great time!  It was fun to spend some time at the farm and the lake with all of the kids and grandkids home!

Just had to put this picture in of Kadence wearing Papa's glasses.  She thought she was pretty cool!  She has an obsession with glasses and loves to wear any kind!We played at the lake for most of the day Saturday which was a blast.  The kids all went tubing, skiing, and wakeboarding.  Landon loves riding on the boat and spent most of the day there!  Kadence mostly stayed on shore and played in the dirt-her favorite thing to do!

Even Landon went tubing!  He loved it, he actually cried when he had to stop!  He is such an adventurous little boy!  

Another busy, fun weekend!

Vacation at Aunty "Tristy's" (Kristy) house in Iowa!

This past weekend we road tripped it with Ryan's mom and dad to Anamosa, Iowa for vacation.  We spent the weekend with all of Ryan's siblings and parents and had a great relaxing time.  The car ride was the usual-Landon did not sleep a wink either way, (a total of just over 12 hours) although it seemed far less painful with Grandma and Grandpa there to entertain.  We had a wonderful time although I didn't take as many pictures as I should have!  I am going to try and get some from some other people and will post more later.  So think of this as a preview.  The kids spent some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa.  As you can see in this picture, Kadence doesn't love the sunlight.  Also, make sure and catch a glimpse of Kristy's beautiful yard, I really should have taken pictures of the entire thing-it is beautiful.  Landon and Elijah sure enjoyed looking for frogs in the pond!  

 Jessie's kitty was most definitely the hit of the weekend with both of our kids.  They had so much fun with him and always wanted to find and play with him.  In this picture, the cat looks pretty happy actually...amazing.
Friday we spent the day at the Jones County Fair with all the kids.  The adults all went back later for the Brooks and Dunn concert which was really fun!  Landon went on a bunch of rides, him and Elijah were definitely fair buddies.  Ryan went with Landon on the things he needed help with.  I think they both had a lot of fun.
Look...Landon chose Mommy's favorite color for his car...haha!
It was pretty cute, Landon and Daddy were on the carousel and Kadence was watching and would wave at them every time they went by...such a doll.
Taking a rest from running around with Aunty Arin.
It was the cutest thing, right when we got to the fair, Kadence plopped down in the middle of all the boys (strangers mostly) in the dirt and started playing cars...it cracks me up.
Some other fun things we did were:  canoeing down a river, played outside a lot, had a little get together with some of Kristy and Jerry's friends/family, and just hung out and enjoyed each other!  The picture below shows the famous "butt-ball" game on the trampoline.  Everyone had a lot of fun...I opted out of that one! Ha!  The kids all had a great time together-and the adults too:)
I took this last picture of the kitty sleeping on Landon's bed when he was asleep.  I wanted to do it so I could show it to him because I knew he would be soooo excited...I woke him up in the process...oh well:)

All good things must come to an end.  Thanks for the great weekend Gary, Sue, Kristy, Jerry, Jessica, Tyler, Arin, Dusty, Holly, Jack, and Elijah!

"Mommy, I yove (love) her!"

Earlier this am I was getting some things done in the kitchen when I realized the kids weren't yelling at each other yet.  Surprised, I went to peek on them and on my way heard lots of giggles.  

They were playing together so well!  There was nothing but giggles from both of them.  

Then, to make it even better, Landon hugged Kadence and said, "Mommy, I yove (love) her!"

I think my heart melted.  What a joy our precious little children are.

**5 minutes later I am sure they were back to fighting:)

Kids grow up way too fast!

Landon Gary:

still loves to run and run and run, is almost completely potty trained, loves his cars, asks to watch Thomas repeatedly, loves to snuggle, is not a morning person, loves chocolate milk and pizza, says his "ca's" like "ta's" and "ga's" like "da's" and "la's" like "ya's," loves being outside, likes to read books, is starting to play more with his sister, says racecar ALOT, only it sounds like "retard," sleeps very well at home, does not sleep in the car at all, loves to wrestle with Daddy, is protective of Emma and Kadence when he's not bullying them, is scared of the petting zoo animals-goats mostly, doesn't like big dogs, could go to the zoo and look at animals every day, is learning to ride his bike, knows that his mom loves toffee (coffee), likes to look at pictures of his family on the computer, is a very picky eater, likes routine, loves to ride in boats, walks on his tippy-toes quite a bit, plays with girls all the time, and is the sweetest boy in the world.
Kadence Jean:

quickly went from walking to running, has the cutest gap between her teeth, smiles all the time, scrunches her nose more than she smiles, is thinning out already, has the biggest brightest blue eyes I've ever seen, loves to push her stroller around, still loves her pink bear, knows she's pretty when I first put a dress on her, loves cars and trains (just because her brother does), says many many words, loves shoes; her new flip-flops from Grandma specifically, is a good eater, likes her sleep, loves books, copies her big-brother, is becoming more outgoing, has fine hair, loves to go outside, likes dogs-big and small, is still my baby, likes to play with sunglasses, loves the water, points to airplanes in the sky when she hears them, wears pink a lot, is obsessed with rocks, answers to Kadence, Kadee, Dee, Tadee, and Chickee Momma, likes to close doors but hasn't figured out how to open them yet, enjoys playing with Mommy's make-up, and is the sweetest girl in the world.

The other morning I was cooking in the kitchen and caught this lovely act.  Landon was reading (making up a story) to Kadence.  Then she was pointing at the pictures and saying what they were and he kept saying "yep...yep..."  It was the cutest thing in this world.  I wish I could have captured a better pic, but the light wasn't working with me and I really didn't want to ruin this precious moment.  

My children bring so much joy to my life.  They are just growing up so fast and I want to treasure and remember every little thing about them...

Happy 3rd Anniversary Honey!

Today is our 3rd Anniversary.  I can not believe how fast these last three years of my life have gone.  

I just want to say thank you Ryan for being such a great husband and wonderful father.  

I love our life together more and more each day.  

Congratulations Sarah!

Ryan and I made a road trip to Manhattan, Kansas this weekend for Sarah's wedding.  We actually left the kids at our house with my mom and dad, so we had some time to ourselves.  Sarah's wedding was an outdoor wedding and was absolutely beautiful as was she!  It was so good to see Sarah and her family.  I have nothing but good memories of all the fun times Sarah and I spent together!  It's such a wonderful feeling to have such a good friend that you can not talk for awhile but pick right back up where you left off...  Congrats Sarah and Bryce!