While it's still my turn....

Dearest G man:

Just thinking about how big you are tonight and how quickly time has gone since you arrived. Do you know how thankful I am that for this brief moment on earth, and even briefer time you will spend under my roof, that it is my house...life...and heart God choose for you. I knew that after I spent 26 hours trying to introduce you to the world, weighing as much as a whale who just won a pie eating contest, pumped full of drugs, with staples in my belly, and freshly relived of a catheter which I was having an allergic reaction to and dad pushed me down to meet you in my wheelchair and all I could feel holding you was complete bliss...that I was made for that moment and for you, that I was entering a new realm of living.

I do however realize that my time with you in this intimate and sweet setting is ticking away faster than I would like or could possibly imagine so I want you to know that....

while it's still my turn

i want to snuggle you as much as possible

feel your sweet head nestled right in the crook of my arm

embrace you and your adorable smile multiple times everyday

hold your hand when you reach for mine

and when you are kicking me in the back while you sleep in our bed, treasure that you are there

while it's still my turn

i want to create a family with you

where we have happy memories

and hard times we make it through because we love God and each other

where we celebrate when JOY comes our way

and pray each other through suffering

and create traditions that are silly but we wouldn't be the same with out them

while it's still my turn

i have so much to teach you

i want you to love the Lord and chase after him with all your heart and soul even though it's really hard sometimes

i want you to love and cherish your weird and wacky family

i want you to love others because that's what God calls us to do and because you feel he's calling you to that

i want you to love art, and things that aren't mainstream, and things that are beautiful and pure and worth being passionate about

while it's still my turn

i want to learn all that God has for me from you

(know that it's part of his plan for my heart to be transformed by you)

i NEED to be more patient

i NEED to always put you first even when I am sick and tired and frustrated

i NEED to love you with reckless abandon

i NEED this because I get that much closer to understanding God's great love for his children by loving you

while it's still my turn

i want to savor these moments

cherish the way you say things

adore the way you have serious bed head in the morning

remember how it feels to be the one you reach for first

carry with me the feeling i get every time you say "love you"

and never forget your sticky, slobbery kisses

while it's still my turn

i want to be constantly thankful

for you

your dad, who i adore

for the family that we have become

for the hardest times that have been and certainly will come because we will learn and grow

that i get to be your mom, you make my life, getting to do childhood again through you seems sweeter the second time around...through you everything is new and magical again

Thank you God it is still my turn

Soon enough there will be kindergarten, and friends

homework and sports

high school and college

work, a wife, and a family of your own

and i will love you the same through all of that

But I am sure loving my turn and i promise you that i am trying (and praying) to make the most of it.

I love you Griffin Andrew, my sweet sweet (and crazily wild) boy!

The woman who is blessed beyond belief to be your mom

Whoops Mom, I couldn't wait......

So while I was drying my hair today, thinking that my little sweet pea was playing tenderly with his toys and watching Little Einsteins, he happened to be doing something else. I came down to find this......

Nothing but a sea of polka dotted tissue paper and a small boy shouting, "mommy, BUS and a toc toll (his word for truck)!" He was absolutely thrilled and so was I that he loved them...until it occurred to me that it is not yet Christmas and we were minus one Dad to see the joy of the opening. Ha...oh well....I think he'll be just as excited in a few days!

On a side note, I sure wish I could effectively communicate with Griffin about Santa, because then when nap time came around I could say, "let's stay in bed or Santa might not make it!" Ha ha! Instead I sit outside his door half falling asleep, saying Griffin....GET BACK IN BED! That boy is stubborn as a bull....I wonder where he gets that from??!!??

I took a few pics of our decor I'll post here too...Merry Christmas! Hope you all are enjoying the season even if your kiddos open their presents early!

It's raining....BOYS!!!

Eight....count em! Charlie, Joe, Trevor, Griffin, Elliot, Gavin, George & Micha...oh, and baby Clark makes nine but was too small to be subjected to this picture:)!

On Sunday we had all these boys over to our house to make ginger bread (ok graham cracker) houses! The boys (& mommies) are all friends from our great church, The Orchard. We've been getting together since the boys were little peanuts just sleeping quietly in their seats while us moms chatted about diaper brands and how the midnight feeding was going. I can tell you for sure that at this meeting there was no quiet and the chat time was in between herds of boys running by with bowls full of cheese balls and then you would have to re-gather your thoughts to finish your conversation about how to get a toddler to stay in their big boy bed or what kind of time out is working at your house! My how things have changed!

All in all the boys, moms & dads had a great time celebrating with each other and piles of candy to make some very colorful and interestingly constructed houses! We are so blessed to have such great friends and Griffin couldn't be more pleased when they are all at our house. For days now he has been saying "BOYS, BOYS!"! It's quite the disappointment when he wakes up and heads downstairs and they aren't all sitting at the table to join him for breakfast!

How the family keeps going....

Last Christmas all together 2006

Richard grandkids minus Robbie

Three and a half years ago my Grandpa Richard died. Besides losing one amazing, funny and full of life man from our lives we also in a way lost our grandma who quickly started having major memory issues and moved into an Alzheimer's unit. So, it seemed in a matter of days we lost what seemed to hold our family together. It's hard to realize and accept these things, especially when those holidays come around and the little things just aren't there. At the Richard house it was always about the food. Ask any of the kids and grand kids, what holidays meant was AMAZING food (I am worried about what my grand kids will say about me...haha)! Grandma always made sure she had your specific favorite and every body's favorite her homemade dinner rolls (i know, sounds strange but they are SO DELICIOUS!!). Plus, she made a cookie plate that puts Martha Stewart to shame and I am sure she and grandpa started working on it well before Thanksgiving. Food was their thing, my grandpa had some health problems so he sat in the kitchen helping her prep the food, make lists and shop. It was one of the ways they built the family whether they knew it or not and now it's those tastes that bring me right back to them, tucked in safe and sound right in their little yellow house in the middle of Ashland, Ne. Sometimes it seems tragic to me how quickly all of that was tugged out from under us, especially since there was no time to make sure we could continue those things with out them.

The other day though, I found a sweet little something tucked into one of my cookbooks as I was trying to find a recipe to make cookies for a cookie exchange. It's just as if grandma knew I would need something deliciously easy to make! It was a recipe for these peanut butter dipped cookies that were always on her cookie tray at Christmas. Griff & I made them that night and as he helped me spread the peanut butter, dip the cookies and sample the product I couldn't help but picture grandpa at the table spreading the peanut butter and grandma dipping them and how big of a kick they would get out of watching their great grandchild make their cookies.

It helps to ease the big hole that they left when I can share some of their life with Griffin, it seems like they just keep going. It's such a small little thing...a cookie (and sad for me to admit, it's the easiest thing in the world to make:)!)...but such a big life...big love...big traditions that make a family and live on in those still here. So blessed to have a little reminder of them this Christmas. Love them both so much!

i love you!

Couldn't resist putting this video up either!  I have been singing G this song forever and he finally started to participate!  I can't resist him when he does it!  

Halloweeny Happenings....Part 2

Here's a little slide show from all the happenings in our house this fall!  There are pics from our trip to the animal farm, pumpkin carving, Griffin's little buddy Micha's 2 year old birthday party at the Naperville Children's Museum, some random happenings around the house, trick or treating & some fun with friends!  Enjoy the start to your holidays and I will hopefully be better about updating through them!  Happy Fall!

Halloweeny Happenings....

To all that have been awaiting Halloween pics, I am so sorry this stuff is just being added now...but I finally got a new card reader so I  can get em all posted.  Enjoy our little dragon!  It was a really fun night and although he LOVED getting the candy he loved passing it out to the people at our door even more!  This is one of the best things about being parents!  XOXO

a different kind of thankful...

In October of 2001 I got some news that definetly changed my life....type 1 diabetes.  At the time I was really only worried about whether or not I could still have kids (and the crazy 2 year old currently ripping apart my house proves that worry null & void:)!!).  This October was my 8 year annivarsery...too ironic of an event to make a cake for, ha!  

Being diabetic has it's down sides, that is for sure!  There have been times where I just felt too depressed and overwhelmed with everything to ever thrive in this...and if I am being honest some of those times were as recent as last week:)!  There's the high blood sugars that are high for no reason and won't come back down...the lows in the middle of night...the finger pokes 10 times a day...shots...figuring out how to pump...blood draws...counting how many carbs EVERYTHING I eat will add up to be...remembering a juice box & trying to find "diet"everywhere I go...watching my dad and Ryan look at me with that look when I tell them I forgot something that should be like breathing to me (my test kit & insulin)...revamping my lifestyle...having a polkadotted stomach from my pump sites...and I won't even tell you about being pregnant.  Since I have graduated college and Ry & I got married I have experience the burden of this disease in a whole new way...financially!  We have both spent hours on the phone trying to figure out how to work our benefits, having doctors sign forms and write letters and staring at our bank accounts wondering how in the world we will pay for another set of supplies.  This is sometimes the hardest part for me because I hate that I am always making it hard for us just to stay afloat!

ALL that being said, last night I got set up on a new pumping system called Omni Pod, you can check it out at www.myomnipod.com!  I have been feeling a little anxiety at a change in my diabetic routine (if there's something you don't do to a diabetic it's mess with their routine:)!).  That coupled with the fact that the last time I got on a pump it was hours of work and when I came home with it my mom pointed out that I had a tick on head...cue hysteria and water works!  My dear friend Woot took photos of that monumentous occasion and in them I am still tearing up a la combo tick removal and new "tail" that I would now have with me everywhere.  Not my best day!  This experience happened to run much smoother!  And as I sat there being trained this time I just kept thinking how thankful I am as opposed to feeling like a victim.  Tears were stinging the corners of my eyes, but they weren't sad ones.  I was thinking about how amazing it is that I have a Husband who was willing to sit through the training with me and enagage in all of it so he knows how to work it too...he gets up in the middle of the night to get me a snack...and he tolerates my having to pee all the time on road trips, although he is not thrilled when I can't wait till the next exit and I have to go in his empty diet coke cup(ha ha!).  I have friends who bring me a splenda for my coffee without even asking...family memebers who always make sugar free jello on the holidays...parents who are always willing to help out with finances when I feel like  I am drowning...and people who are more than willing to come to my aid in a moment of distress!  There are doctors & scientists working around the clock in this country and world wide to find a cure and things to help the diabetic lifestyle, my doctor & her nurse are helpful when I have a problem I can't solve on my own, and people are spending their every waking minute fundraising to find solutions.  I live in a place where I can get to a doctor in a matter of minutes and they are familiar with what is going on inside of me.  There are places in this country where people don't have the reasources to get to good doctors and get help, and there are places across the world where diabetes would be a death sentence.  The monthly fees for this device are equivalent to about $450 per month.  We are going to find a way to swing it though.  Not eveyone who has diabetes can.  I AM blessed.

Looking back on that day 8 years ago when I found out about diabetes sometimes seems like the first step into a big black hole of issues.  But over the last few years I have learned to see it as a beautiful look at God's hand in my life.  He has used it to shape me and call me to the person he knows I can be.  He has been with me since that moment and provided for me in ways I never knew were possible without this struggle in my life.  Look at how he has carried me in 8 years.  I graduated college with no interruptions, got married to someone who encourages me in this area, was able to get a job and work for 2 years before having a healthy little boy and becoming a mom.  If that isn't God taking care of me, than I can't tell you what is.  Now I have an opportunity to have the latest technology to help me stay healthy...and most importantly I have the same pump as NICK JONAS:)!  I have been sustained, provided for, carried, loved and helped along the way by the ultimate physician and father.  SO BLESSED, and thankful to that he is that faithful in my life.  Thanks diabetes!

This is what the pod looks like & I control it with a PDM which is basically like a remote!  I did great last night and woke up at 123 this morning!  WOW!  Now just pray I don't lose the PDM:)!

working the night shift

Over the years Ryan & I have been together I have gotten many interesting wake up calls in the middle of the night, and I can assure you I am not referring to breakfast in bed.  There was the time when we were first married and still sleeping on a mattress on the floor when I awoke to Ryan screaming, "don't let Maci on the bed, she's covered in rabbit poop" as she simultaneously jumped onto the bed (don't ask, I still have no idea how it happened) or when we brought Griffin home from the hospital and I woke up to Ry tucking Maci into Griffin's bassinet instead of Griffin.  That one still throws me into a fit of laughter, we were SO tired!  My latest wake up call happened at about 2am.  I was being stirred out of sleep by a strange hacking noise.  I no more than opened my eyes when I heard a gag and then my back was all wet.  I immediately realized Griffin was in bed with us and he had just leaned over and puked directly on my back.  When I started screaming for help, Ry rolled over and said, "sweetie, you're dreaming....go back to bed!"  Then he heard the second round coming up and jumped out of bed to our rescue!  Thankfully folks, we have a guest room.  So we got all the puke sheets off our bed, got G in the bath, and got tucked right into a new bed.  He seemed to be fine after that!  Ryan and I sat up for a while recalling sick stories from our childhood...we were appreciating now all the nights up with us our parents spent.  Ahhh, the joys of being a parent.  We realized laying there in the guest room that this is only the first chapter of our up in the night with the kids, pets, ect.  It just made us laugh.  Neither of us do very well in the middle of the night, but with the common goal of getting back in bed and to sleep as soon as possible, we have figured out how to work well together!  

Dever, CO '09

Here are some pics from our much needed "adult get away to act like kids with our friends" trip to Denver!  Every once in a while you just need one of these little getaways to refresh and relax.  There was food, a Nebraska game, excessive amounts of laughter and some tears too, food, a trip to the mountains, shopping (to Ryan's dismay), crafting, sight seeing, a purchased pair of the most amazing black & white striped cherry mittens that I have ever laid eyes on, and most importantly...time to soak up our friends who we would consider more like family, oh and more food (sounds for the most part exactly like what we did in college, some things never change)!  We did miss Griffy like crazy and Casey & Zach probably thought we were nuts when we'd break into little bouts of things he says like, "ca cooooowww" or "momma, hi"!  The time away couldn't have been sweeter, and neither could the little face we came home to!  Love you

 Z & C, thanks for the great weekend!

The WONDERFUL world of WHEELS

Here's some pics of yet another adventure with Charlie & Micha!  This was a free event in Naperville where they literally pulled up a bunch of trucks, cars, vans, a bus, a limo and more and then invited every toddler within a 100 mile radius.  You better believe they all came too...trust me, moms with little boy toddlers have no way of saying no to FREE and TRUCKS!  It was so crowded Erin, MaryBeth & I would probably have had to fight off other crazed parents just to get close to most of the "wheels" but we did find our way over to the front of the fire truck for a quick photo opp!  They loved at least getting to look at them all up close, run around the moving van & take a spin on the hay ride!  

Gotta love that pic of G...he seems to be right at home on "woooooohoooooo, wooooohoooooooo"!

Judges Score: Perfect 10:)

This fall G started gymnastics.  It's his first class that I don't go in with him.  All the moms sit with each other behind a window over looking the gym and gawk over how cute a bunch of 2 year olds attempting to stretch and tumble are.  He absolutely loves the physical part of it (not surprising!) but I am also thrilled to see him wanting to be pat of the group and following directions.  I won't say he doesn't have his moments, but he is doing a great job!  We're already signed up for next session and Ryan even agreed that we should just keep enrolling him until he gets to an advanced enough level that he would need to wear a uni-tard.  Then he's pulling the plug, sorry Griffy!:)

lounging around durning free play

Mastering the bars with his teacher

Everyone's favorite part: the long trampoline into the foam pit!

Finally the seasons have changed full swing from summer to fall (and weather wise it's been a little quicker than most around here would have liked :)!) but like it or not, seasons change.  This year I was absolutely begging them to, but I think it was more in the sense of the season my life has been in.  I have been somewhat stuck in a season that has just worn on me and instead of letting up, it just seems to grind a little harder.  Without rehashing the details, let's just say I am more than ready for my NEW season.  I catch myself thinking, "anytime GOD, I am here, I am ready....bring on the new season...", as if hitting a new stride was just that simple of a request.  I guess in some ways, it is and I do believe that God can change things with the snap of a finger but this time, I am thinking(shoot, and deep down I know) that there is something to be gained from the journey and that seems to be where I am at.

Thankfully, all gray clouds, as they say, really do have a silver lining and I have had many.  Friends to encourage and support me, lots of God moments along the way, an amazing family to love on me and of coarse this little face...

he can drive me crazy but nothing gives me more joy!  

On Thursday we were getting absolutely STIR crazy because we had been couped up and snuggled in from the cold.  I finally decided that the cold, wind and rain were not going to keep us in a moment longer when Griffin and I got done playing with an empty paper towel tube for the 3rd time that morning....dude, we have to get out:)!  So we bundled up and went to the park, which of coarse was freezing, wet and a fine drizzle started just as we pulled in.  I debated turning around but remembered the paper towel tube and put the car in park.  I figured we'd stay a few minuets and then he'd be ready to leave.

I have to say that besides the cold, G and I had the best time at the park....sliding down wet slides, pants soaked, shoes muddy, just the two of us running around the playground like old friends.  It wasn't cold, or wet, or windy...it was just fun.  I was sitting at the top of this giant green slide and looking down at my son in soggy clothes yelling for me to come down and meet him and it hit me why God asks us to have faith like a child.  None of these rainy details once made a difference to G.  The kid could have played all all afternoon and never even paused to notice the outside conditions.  The focus was never once on what wasn't going right, it was just happy to be alive, outside, living in the moment, enjoying the day....all the cliche things that we as adults have to print on cute signs and hang in our office to remind us to CARPE DEIM!  I have a living, breathing, beautiful seize the day sign all of my own who daily reminds me (if I look) that I GET today...to be alive and happy and find the time to play outside even when it's freezing.  

Thank you God for knowing that I need not just a poster or adorable sign with an encouraging quote....but a small little curly haired boy is just the thing to remind me that there's hope and joy even in the seasons of life that we are more than happy to leave behind and that each season does have a sweet spot.  God in his great & infinite knowledge knows just the sweet spot that would spur us on to the rest of the great plans he has for our lives.  Going forward, I am going to try and savor even the smallest of things...like a good ole fashion "JUMP JUMP" on the bed!

"A glad heart is good medicine"

Proverbs 17:22

 My little smile....

who do you think he takes after??:)

Hey guys....I hadn't posted anything about Evie since she was born because I knew most of you probably checked Lindsey's blog and read that she is doing great!  I was hoping to have my own picture of her because we were supposed to go to Nebraska but our family got hit with some sickness and we weren't able to go.  This is a pic Linds put on facebook, but I had to copy it and put it up here!  The girls are such little angels!  Lindsey and John have been such an inspiration to me about being faithful to God and seeing things through with him.  When I get discouraged about a situation there are people from the bible I think about and then there will be this story, a modern day little miracle.  So amazing to have been able to witness it!  Keep praying for sweet baby Evie and the family as they now transition into life at home together.  Thanks Linds & John for reminding us that God works for the good of those who love him.  XOXO

Evie

Hey friends...

Just wanted to ask that you all pray for our friends Lindsey & John as they were induced this morning and baby Evie is on her way.  We don't know exactly what will happen, to expect, or how things will go but we do know that God is with them every step of the way.  They are in our hearts this morning!

Thanks!

1 Peter 4:10 & 11

 Each one should use the whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms.  If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking in the very words of God.  If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.  To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever.  AMEN.

This seems pretty direct...black & white...serve others=glorify God.

How come it seems so hard sometimes to do?  Especially when most of my time is spend now at home changing diapers??!!?  Maybe it's an attitude and maybe it's a state of heart that just makes it easier to embrace those opportunities as a lifestyle.  Doesn't it totally encourage you that it says,"whatever gift" making it seem that even the daily diaper change could be done in a way that would be glorifying.  I gotta get moving towards a new state...

Thanks God!!

I have to write a little bit today, because I want to make sure that I can come back to this feeling whenever I need to, maybe remind my self daily, of what happened to me today.  I have been feeling so anxious lately.  I won't go into great detail but it has been the most terrible feeling I have really ever experienced.  I am praying that it leaves me ASAP:)!  I have been looking to and wondering about what God's plans are for me, my family, this world....deep I know, perhaps too deep but alas these thoughts have been running through me like crazy.  I think I just went through a few days, combined with a few other circumstances , that actually had me doubting and stumbling over who is in charge of this world.  I haven't had a moment like that in a long time, and maybe not like this ever.  I have to tell you though, that if that is what I feel like without Jesus, I NEVER EVER what to be in that place again.  Thank God he has plans, purpose, and a future for me.  He reminded me of that today, it was the craziest thing....how could I not expect that my God would/could do this?  Isn't it amazing to feel pursued in such a personal way, and yet know that he loves everyone in this intimate and amazing way as well.

When I woke up this morning I was coming off a bad nights sleep, tossing, turning, and wondering.  I was hopeful that meeting our dear friends at church this morning and getting some worship in would feed my soul a little but God knew I needed more than that.  The sermon today was talking about an event that had happened at our church last weekend called Barbecue and Baptism, which is our church's yearly event to Baptize and celebrate with members of our church and community.  We weren't able to be there because we were at the lake house with my family.  It was moving and comforting to hear people talk about how God was moving in their lives but I was starting to feel pretty anxious at church anyways.  Then at the end of the service our pastor said he just felt lead to baptise more people this weekend who may not have been able to last weekend.  He called it an impromptu baptism, they way it was done back in the book of Acts.  He went out, bought a pool, and clothes for people and he invited who ever felt lead to do so.  He even said, "I have all the things you need to do the baptism today, you have no excuse, even if your parents are in Omaha (which mine were!!!), because we have a camera right here and they can see it later!"!  I just felt so moved to go, so I hugged Ryan and walked to the back of the church.  

I got baptised this morning (again) and it felt really freeing.  I was baptised by my parents as a babe, but that was there way of giving my life and their parenting over to the Lord...and I have to say guys you surely did raise me to know and love God, job well done!  This morning I knew I was at kind of a cross roads if you will.  I could go on fighting these thoughts pretty faithless (as I have been feeling) or I could decide to go at them with God at my side believing that this world and everything in it is his and is happening under his watch.  He can make changes in one snap to any circumstance, as he did when he got up on that cross and died so that we could even be here today finding hope in a world that seems full to the brim with problems.  I can't say that my anxiety has just magically gone away, but I can say that I am now awear of whose team I am on.  This morning was a very important reminder of that.  I am so blessed that God reached down and met me where I needed him to.  I am sure the others that were baptised felt the same.  He is amazing guys, I am serious:)! 

Thanks to the awesome leadership team at our church who made this possible!  I am just so thankful for the reminder that God is in charge, and hopefully this has reminded some of you! God is SO GOOD!  

Oh, and thanks Erin for the pics:)!  You're the best!

This is how we do it in "God's Country"!

Our travels this summer included a trip to none other than (I'm sure you guessed it), NEBRASKA!  While there we had the awesome experience of being involved in the Ashland Stir Up days.  For those of you who don't know, Ashland is a small town between Omaha & Lincoln where my family is from.  My great grandparents on the Richard side went to school in Ashland, both sets of my grandparents lived there while raising their kids, my Grandma Richard taught at the elementary, my parents started dating in Jr. High at AGPS, and I had the great privilege of teaching 2nd grade there for 2 years.  I loved being part of this community which has meant so much to my family.  It is such a cool thing for me to now bring my son to be a part of the yearly celebration in the town.   

Great Grandpa Sapp is now the proud owner of 6 antique tractors.  He gathered up some boys in the family to drive them in the Stir Up Days parade Saturday morning.  Here's us with Ry as he came by.  It was a stick, but he did really great...only killed it once:)!

This is at Great Aunt Mary's farm in Ashland.  We're smiling with one of her Goats, who G was pretty terrified of.  I thought they were adorable, but once again, Ryan said we can't have any goats at our house...what a fun hater:)!

Posing on Uncle Kevin's tractor!  It was huge and really amazing!  We'd love to go back during harvest and see it in action!

Griff & Cousin Austin walking around the Zig's shop!  There was so much to look at, climb on, and ride.  We gotta get him back there!

Whoa!  It's Captain Max & 1st Mate Griffin!  These pirates are adorable!  They rode so great in this little peach of a pirate ship Suz & I created the morning before(ha!!)!  You never know what project you are going to tackle when you get to Granmee and Grandpa's!  We were in this kiddie parade when we were kids...most famously as Snow White & the 7 dwarfs, and I got to be Snow White!!

Best part of the parade....CANDY!  Griff is going to have Halloween down this year!

Hi Grandpa Wayne!  You look good up there!

Cousin Love

So as you can see a great time was had by all in "God's Country"!  We're always excited getting back to our roots, seeing family and friends, and just being back in a place we know and love!  It's refreshing to be in a small town in the Midwest that still operates that way, there aren't too many left and it's really sweet!  We're blessed to have the history and connection there.  Other highlights from our trip included lots of good down time with Ry's family, a beach day with my family, & a visit with Lindsey and Lyla (see below)!   This visit has us saying, as always...

There is no place like

 NEBRASKA