Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

It was a special blessing for me to be with my family at Thanksgiving this year. Tyler came home from California and got to spend lots of time with us. Peyton loved playing with his "Uncie Tyler". We all went to Melissa and Todd's for Thanksgiving dinner. It was fun to be with lots of family and children. On Saturday, we took an outing to Schnepf Farms for the train ride, carousel ride and fun in the play area. I got some great fall pictures!


Climbng through the barrel of the wooden train. What a cutie!

Peyton loved ringing the bell.

Grandma didn't duck down far enough!! It's hard to duck very low while holding up a two year old.

Lot's of smiles as the train pulled out.

This was the best of the pictures of all of us. It's hard to get kids and adults smiling and looking in the same direction at the same time! It was a fun day for all of us.

Thirty One Years

Thirty one years ago yesterday, at 7pm in the evening, in Hillcrest Covenant Church, Bruce and I were married. We had been on our first date exactly 5 months earlier and after 6 weeks of dating decided to get engaged (yes EVERYONE thought we were nuts)! It's funny to see how young we were.

And now, 31 years, 2 children, 1 grandchild, 4 houses, 4 dogs, 2 cats, 1 bunny and untold gerbils later, we are still standing. We both believed in the covenant we made that day, and through God's grace still love and appeciate each other. I'm so blessed and thankful for my husband.

Who would have thought that 31 years later those two cuckoo kids from Kansas would still be having adventures together? It just keeps getting better!

That's MY Boy

26 years ago today, my 8#14oz baby boy, Tyler, was born. He's a great son, a good man and I'm proud to be his mother. Happy Birthday, Tyler!! I didn't have any recent pics of Tyler alone, so I chose two of my favorites. This first one is T and the friends he's had since grade school. They're still close after all these years. Left to right is Charlie, Derek, Ryan and Tyler.

I love this picture of Tyler and I. Maybe that's because it was taken in Lawrence....

Love you, Tyler, Happy Birthday!!!!!

I Love Elephants

After we finished our time in Ghana, Bruce and I went on a photo safari to Zimbabwe. My favorite animal has always been the elephant. We were so blessed to see large numbers of elephants on a daily basis. They would quietly show up (yep, elephants are very quiet when the walk!) in the evening. They come in large families. Keep reading, there's a reason I'm bringing this up now........

My favorite was to see the little elephants with their mothers...

And last night, for Halloween, I saw my very little elephant ever with his mother!

While we were in Zimbabwe, Bruce and I were carried on an afternoon safari by Lindy....

And last night we had a chance to go on a "candy safari" with our favorite elephant, Peyton, from house to house for "Trick or Treat".

Is it any wonder I Love Elephants!