Couldn't have had more fun at Fun Plex!

 Our Police Welfare and Benefit Association throws an awesome summer picnic every year at Fun Plex, for Omaha Police families. We took Rylan, Bree, and Elle with us this year, and it was such a blessing to spend a whole day enjoying the one-on-one time with just our oldest kiddos. We ate so many hot dogs, hamburgers, and little bags of chips, we thought we would be sick. You know those little waxy plastic bottles of colored sugar water "juice" with foil on the top? Yeah, they had an endless supply of those...the kids were in heaven.

We spent much of the day hanging out in the lazy river and the wave pool. Didn't feel like risking dropping my phone in the water to get pics of that, but we got a few of the kids enjoying the amusement park part. I think this was the first time they had been somewhere where they could do carnival rides for as long as they wanted.

We spend a lot of nights missing Daddy. God's calling for him requires the kids and I to give up a lot of time with our husband/daddy that other families typically have with theirs. That's okay. We are incredibly proud of how insanely hard Aaron works for us, how he loves us, and who God has called him to be. We believe, as a family, that God created us for this lifestyle, and do our best to walk through it with joy. Obviously, there are hard days. There are tears at night when Daddy is not home.

It brought so much joy to my heart to watch Rylan, Bree, and Elle be free to just have fun - a whole day where we could love on them, and enjoy them. It was nice to be able to tell them that the whole day was to celebrate daddy's hard work, and to say thanks to them for all the things that they give up too. It's good to be able to tell your children that other people also appreciate what their dad does. I'm super grateful for all the hard work that goes into making this special day happen for us and other police  families.

College World Series 2013!

Aaron worked A LOT of hours for the College World Series this year, since he was on Riverfront Patrol. We missed him a lot, but it was only a week and a half, and I'm so glad he got to get in on some of the fun downtown. 

This particular day was the last day of the series. Aaron called me from work - he forgot his bike shirt at home and needed us to run it to town for him. We were happy to oblige. It's always fun for the kiddos to see what Dad is up to when he's at work, and it was a good excuse to see him a bit more that day since we had been missing him all week.

 Here are the guys, Aaron and his partner Ofc. Keenan, at the CWS OPD "headquarters" they had set up at the Century Link Center.

Aaron texted me this pic later that night at the end of the championship game when all the officers were lined up on the field during the award ceremony. So cool.

And here is our text conversation that followed the cool "I'm on the field right now, at the CWS championship game!" pics he texted me. 

(Obviously, me on the right.)

 How sweet is that text from him?? 

Now that is how you make a stay-at-home-mom feel good. 

Love my man.

What??? A blog post??

Yeah, I know. It's been 11 months. I totally fell of the blog wagon. No promises that it won't happen again. I have 6 kids, you know(yeah,*sheepish grin* we had a baby since I last blogged.) But I sure will do my best to post a little, even with life's busy-ness. For now, here's a super sweet photo I snapped of Aaron last Sunday as he was rocking our lovely Nona Joy to sleep.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Why are we having a thanksgiving dinner in September? Because it's always a right and appropriate time to celebrate and give thanks for what God has done! Tonight is Aaron's last night of his mandatory year of the night shift. It hasn't been fun for any of us this last year, being on such opposite schedules, but God knows that fun isn't always for our good. Sometimes, well, a lot of the time, fruit comes through struggle. God is always faithful and we knew that He would bring us through it - stronger than when we started. Thank you Jesus, for protecting Aaron and protecting us at home. Thank you for how You make us stronger and mature us along the journey. Every good gift comes from you!

Psalm 52:9
"I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones."




Sparking grape juice is a REALLY big treat!

The Recent Adventures of Rylan

Rylan with Daddy at AWANA.
Aaron went in uniform to speak for council time at Sparks last week. He did a great job. The kids loved him, and Rylan was pretty proud!


How cute is this?!?! Rylan's first drawing of Batman. I think it's a keeper!

A Summery Summary

Here are a few highlights from our busy and super fun summer!

A visit from cousins Caity and Jackson all the way from Oregon! We spent some time downtown at Spaghetti Works and checked out the sights.

SOTO Festival! Two days of extreme fun at an outreach festival Candlewood put on. Lots of people showed up and got to hear the gospel(YAY), testimonies, and some great music from the worship teams. The kids had a wonderful time. Two bounce houses...need I say more?

The police showed up....

We visited the Hot Shops open house. The kids watched a really cool demonstration on some type of water/oil marbleizing. Really beautiful stuff.

Trever and Aubrie's Wedding!

We headed to Kansas to help Trever and Aubrie celebrate their big day. Aaron sang in the wedding, I accompanied him on the piano, and the kids were ring bearer and flower girl. They took their jobs very seriously :) It was a beautiful wedding and a perfect day.

Here are the proud ring bearer and flower girl. They both did marvelously!

Bree & Cousin Calvin, the other ringbearer

Aunt Karrie!

Aaron and I with the beautiful bride and handsome groom.

Aaron did a little work on the front of the house. We got a little landscaping and a new boardwalk put in!

Our water bill was a little high this summer....I think the hose was out almost every day.

We spent some time at the Lake on various occasions.

Elle at the lake, enjoying either cookies or dirt....

Grant with his homie Naldo

Rylan and Uncle Cole

The lake was really high this year, so no sandy beach :( We had to settle for mud.

Summer showers and winter boots

You know Summer is drawing to a close when the school supplies are on sale!

Here are the kids with their new pencil boxes and crayons.

Tried to get a picture of all four at Becca Whitney's grad party last a few weeks ago. No such luck.

Chalk Artists

We tried out our new kitchen wall chalkboard today! The "kids" were super eager to create some masterpieces :)

Here we have a Grassy Spring Scene.......

....and also, um.....Jesus.