A Great Thanksgiving Weekend!

As the days and years slip by it is wonderful to be able to look back with fond memories on many cherished days. I look forward so much to the time we are able to spend with our children and their little families. This time is so dear to us. Nothing in life is more precious than those minutes and hours.

Thanksgiving gave us some of those precious moments...Matthew and Katie came to visit and we were able to spend time with them and their little guys, Carter and Keegan and also being able to enjoy Jason and Lacey and their family here too made some great family memories! Our Thanksgiving dinner was a yummy one. Katie made some delicious new dishes...sweet potato gnocchi, apple turnovers with caramel, potato casserole made with cream and cheese, and a tasty dressing. It was fun to cook with her in the kitchen and learn some new, fun ideas for cooking!
We went to the Western Heritage Museum so the boys could see the trains. They were fascinated with the large scale electric train sets. The old fashion soda fountain was a great end to the visit. That night we had a pizza night with Jason and Lacey and their children coming over. We also ventured up to the Gingerbread display at the Mormon trail center on Sunday afternoon. All in all it was a wonderful weekend!

I now have proof!

I now have proof that Rick loved our kitty besides what he said or says....Here's the proof! (I found this picture this past week! It's cute...isn't it!)

October Fun!

Stephanie and her boys, Noah and Cooper, were able to come visit the middle of October. We had so much fun with them! We made sure to go see the zoo, Vala's, and Nebraska City

Arbor Day Treehouse Trail.

I never get tired of having my children come with their children to visit. Sometimes (alot of days) it gets very lonely.

Although Rick and I have work to keep us busy...it's family that makes life worth living. We have joined and adjusted to the empty nesters but I remember the joy that my mom had each time her children and grandchildren came to visit whether it be from out of town or those living nearby...it was always such a welcome happiness. I now know how she felt and why!

Family is what life is all about nothing else matters....no blessing in our life is greater and it doesn't change when you are an empty nester....you will always love having your children around you. We want all our children and grandchildren to know how important you are in our lives. We love you all very much!

Nebraska City Arbor Day Treehouse Trail!!!

Playing the wooden xylophones!
There was so much for kids to do from swinging bridges, treehouses, guessing game of animal footprints, logs to climb through, building games, etc. Stephanie's boys had a great time discovering everything!

Our trip to the Zoo

Jason, Lacey and their family (even little Kael) joined Stephanie and her boys and us for a afternoon at the Zoo. We all had a fun time and wish it could have been longer.

Running through the tree roots in the Rain Forest!!! I loved watching my grandkids chase through here. They don't get to spend much time with each other and to see them interact was really fun!

The Gorillas were the hit of the day....but my were they rather scary. One had a staredown with Cooper!








Kaiden's Soccer Game

Jason and Lacey invited us to watch Kaiden's last soccer game of the season. It was fun to see him in his uniform and to see him be such a great little player!






Vala's Pumpkin Patch

I have always loved going to Vala's Pumpkin Patch but haven't been for quite a while....It has changed alot and many, many more people! I think we just picked the busiest day but we did have fun and were able to do alot of fun things.





The Boys loved climbing on the tractors (above), dressing the scarecrows (below) and going down the huge slide that goes down the side of a barn. We fed goats, rode a train, saw a puppet show and had hot funnel cakes (yummmm!) Not too good for the diet but ahh who cares when you are having fun!










Rick, Stephanie and the boys riding the little train. I opted only for the big one!



Riding the big TraiWe love you, Stephanie, Noah and Cooper and are so glad you came...we missed you, Brett! Hopefully, you will be able to come next year! Not the same without you!

Happy Birthday, Katie!

Today is Katie, our daughter-in-law's birthday! We are so happy that she is in our family! She is a great wife to Matthew and a wonderful mother to Carter and Keegan. They are very blessed to have Katie as their mother. We appreciate her kindness and love towards us and others in the family. She is very giving and would do anything for others. She is also a very good cook (I love the cinnamon rolls and the fun dishes that she makes whenever we visit).

We love you, Katie, and hope you have a great day.

Happy Birthday!

P.S. Thank you for the Halloween goodies. So yummy!

Meeting Little Kael!

We are so excited for the arrival of our #10 grandchild....Jason and Lacey had a little boy on October 2nd...Kael Reed was 7 lbs. and 13 ounces! He is such a beautiful baby! It is such a wonderful experience to hold these little ones in your arms...to know that they just came from their Heavenly Father and are such choice spirits. The awe of seeing my son or daughter having a new little one of their own never stops amazing me.

Congratulations to Jason and Lacey and their family!

White Coat and Birthdays!

I finally am catching up on posting....The end of September is already here. September brought a fun trip to West Virginia to Eric's White Coat Ceremony. It was fun not to have to be tired from traveling and driving and to just enjoy! The ceremony was very nice and it was great that Joy's brother-in-law, Mike, was able to come and present Eric his white coat. It is hard to imagine my baby being in the next segment of his life. Wow! We also enjoyed going and seeing the Greenbrier (a hotel/resort built in the 1790's). It was easy to feel the ambiance of the place. We were treated with some special dinners made by Joy and a morning to a museum. Thanks Eric and Joy for the wonderful time.

We also had fun in September going out to eat for our grandkids, Maddie and Kaiden. It was fun to see their faces as they opened gifts and to celebrate with them. Thanks for inviting us!

Waiting for ceremony to begin!

Seats for the med students!

Eric's brother-in-law, Mike, putting on Eric's white coat!



Afterwards in the quad area. We were able to go see inside the buildings and to visit the anatomy lab with Eric and.....that was....very interesting! Actually it was pretty amazing!





Aren't these two pictures below so alike? I think they are pretty cute!

The Visit to the Greenbrier....What a great place! It's hard to believe it was built in the 1790's.



The pictures below don't really do it justice...It was awesome! It had shops below to browse in and then we found out later that they also have an area out back with working crafters that you can watch!

Olivia and seeing the horses!




What a Cutie!!!









We had fun going out to eat with Jason, Lacey and family for Maddie's Birthday and then for Kaiden's birthday. It was fun to see their excited expressions as they opened their gifts from us and to wish them Happy Birthday! They are both such cute grandkids!





Maddie opening up her gifts!

Kaiden opening up his gifts!



Kaitlyn

Grandpa and Kenzie!