Year 2

Mr S and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary last week by going to dinner at Bonefish Grill again - we LOVE that place. It was a pretty toned down event, mostly because we're just SO busy, maybe next year we'll be able to invest some time to take a trip or something.
We've had our ups and downs, but it's been a good year and I can't wait to see what Year 3 has in store....

Update #6 - Summer from Hell

Like I said before, this summer has been NUTS. A few of the good, the bad and the ugly updates:

Day-to Day: Work has been NUTS. Mr S and I are so busy - it's a good thing, but it's exhausting too. The other bad thing about being so busy, is not being able to take a little time off and actually take a real vacation. Oh, well...always next year, right?

Flood Fighting: This has got to be the most covered up National Disaster ever. Since the end of May, the whole Missouri River area has been in a flood fight. And why is it covered up? BILLIONS of dollars in lost crops/income, damaged homes/farms, destroyed infrastructure and where places weren't damaged - MILLIONS were spent fighting the flood with new berms/levees, sand bags, pumps, assessment teams and so many other things. Our family was directly affected in many ways including: longer commutes to work since I-29 and I-680 were inundated (and subsequently obliterated) - now instead of getting to work in 40-45 mins - it takes Mr S and I at least an hour to get to Omaha (if we're lucky - it's more like 1.25 hrs or more); I was put on flood watch at work and was required to go to Council Bluffs DAILY at 5:15 AM to track levee assessments/incidents - it was really tough, but as of last Friday, I'm done - I'm SO NOT seeing 4:30 am again for a VERY LONG time. I'm also working on another flood fighting project at our nuclear station - it's really interesting, but I hope not ever have to do this in our area ever again (if I have to travel somewhere else because I now have that experience, fine, but I'll be part of the mob that goes after the COE if they ever flood us again; we were also told that Mr. S's house in the Valley "might" flood, in fact the stupid Army Corps of Engineer's predicted that we would have 4-8 ft of water there! So our stupid renter moved out and left us a HUGE mess and we couldn't get another in with that kind of forecast. What a mess...Probably the only good thing that came out of it was seeing how resilient and how self-sacrificing so many people were. As sucky as it was to work so early in the morning, I was blown away daily by the employees with the City of Council Bluffs at their dedication to their citizens and humbleness to help out how ever they all could.

So sad - so environmentalists, should the stupid birds have their nests (because it's not like they can't adapt or anything) or people lose more homes?

Update #5 - Happy B-day Mr S and Twin Snowflakes!

This year we FINALLY made it to a pro football game with the kids. For Mr S's and the twin's B-day, we went on a road trip down to KC. Mr S and the boys have been life-long Chief's fans, so this was extra special - especially for the twins since they had never been before.

We packed up Friday morning and headed down for the first pre-season game against the Tampa Bay Buccaners. When we got down (after our LONG detour around the flood), we headed straight to the stadium to start tailgating.

Update #4 - Great Grandma

The low point of the summer I guess is my great grandmother passing away. She was almost 89 years old!

Such a cute lady!

She was a really special lady and had so many great stories. She was a fabulous organ and accordian player - I know, sounds dorky, but she was great.

 

Sadly, this is our last 5 generations picture. I'm so, SO glad I went out in July so we could see her one last time. She even kept saying she was going to go strong until the Lord took her, I guess He finally felt she had fought the good fight and brought her home to Him.

(Song I suggested and was played at the funeral)

She will be missed, but we all know she is home.

Update #3 - Back to school

I just really can't believe this is the LAST year of elementary school for the Jr's. :( In addition to that LMS and the Twins are in third and second grade. Where does time go? I don't have any babies anymore :( I guess that's a good thing and a sad thing...

Update #2 - Kids activities this summer

Besides Vacation Bible School and some other small things, the kids were very active in sports this summer. Mr. S and I strongly believe that the kids need to stay active in some way - even if they don't love the sport they're doing, they should do something to keep things limber for a sport they do love.

Jr. Mr. S: Instead of baseball this year, JrMrS joined swim team with JrMsS. For not being a great swimmer at the beginning of summer and for it being his first year - he did really well. I think he really enjoyed doing it too. Now, he's moved onto football/ We've been somewhat disappointed in the club this year (mostly the coaching), but at least he loves doing it and that's all that matters.

Update #1 - Cali Vacation

The last time I was in California, LMS was 2 1/2 months old! Crazy that we went back almost exactly 8 years later. I can't believe it's been 8 years since I've seen my extended family and it was the first time I meet my aunt and cousin. It's been 4 years since I've seen my grandma, and that was the occasion we went out for this time - her 80th b-day! Longevity must run on my moms side, because another major highlight of our trip was going to see my great grandma. Unfourtunately because the boys mom "just couldn't go so long with out them", Mr S and the boys stayed in IA. He was also annoyed that we took such a long trip, but since this was my first trip since our honeymoon and the fact that I probably wouldn't be out to CA for another 8 years (I hope not), I decided to make the most of it. The girls and I had a great trip and it was good to have the mommy/daughter time.

Day 1: Travel - Traveling so far always sucks just because it seems like 1 whole day of your trip is traveling. It wasn't too bad though and we made it to San Francisco about lunch time (for us - it was still breakfast out there). Once we found my sister and got the rental car, we headed to Woodland where my grandmother lives. For the most part, we just hung out and visited, took the girls to the pool, took a walk, etc.

Day 2: Great Grandma and the Mountains - In the morning we went to visit my great grandma. She is (was) such an interesting lady. She played the organ and the accordian for the girls, we looked at pictures and chatted. We were suppossed to go to lunch, but my grandma said she must have forgotten because she fed us ice cream and cookies at about 10:30 in the morning. :)

There are SO many pictures of me and my sister in the exact same spot.

5 generations of beautiful women

The hat LMS "aquired" at my great grandma's house