kansas barnstorming tour {2013}

Grayson and Jerry joined three other dads and their sons to go watch the Barnstorming game here in Wichita. If you're not familiar with it, it's where the KU seniors come to town and play against some of the area's high school all-stars. The guys had VIP tickets, so they were able to go to the locker room and meet the players beforehand.

 Grayson, Elliot, Trenton, and Dakota

 the boys in line to get autographs

Withey, Releford, Young, Johnson (r-l)

 Grayson watching Kevin Young sign his Jayhawk painting

 We love KY!! :)

 Chris, Brad, Grayson, Dakota, and Casey

 Jeff Withey, KY, Releford, and Conner Teahan out on the court

Grayson and Trenton -- so excited!!

Kudos to Jerry for taking pics of the night... he did a great job :)

carter's spring concert

Carter's preschool class had their spring concert and it was so cute. What's not to love about a bunch of 4 year olds singing cute songs??

 He was so excited :)

 brothers!

 with his good buddy from his class

 concentrating on the hand motions

 there was a wild kid next to him... you could hear Carter tell him "no" a few times :)

All in all, it was a great program and a fun evening of singing!

the great april ice storm

those words don't seem like they go together... april and ice??

really?!?

yep. it was so icy last week, that grayson's school started 30 minutes late.

good grief! we're ready for spring!

but, there were some beautiful pictures to be had... all the trees looked like they had been crystallized. almost like God had been enjoying His art class that day. :)

(all the pics were taken in our yard)

a tree, a truck, and some testosterone

We have a tall, skinny pine tree that is dead. Needed to come out. It's pretty much brown all over. Thanks to no rain last summer... it bit the dust.

So fast-forward to Sunday afternoon. The boys were thrilled that Jerry was going to pull the tree out with his truck.

They started getting excited and I ran to grab my camera. :)

 Jerry tied a rope around the tree and the attached the rope to his truck.

 And then he started driving forward!

 He needed make sure the roots weren't pulling out sprinkler lines...

Then the tree was totally out!

Nice work, guys!

easter 2013 -- more pics

Here are the boys on Easter morning -- it was absolutely beautiful ALL DAY on Easter... in the 70s, no wind, just perfect.

We made our annual stop at Friends University's Easter Egg Hunt

 a quick chat with the Bunny, himself :)

 And then with Freddy, the Friends Falcon

 Back to Easter morning...

the boys got travel pillows in their baskets for our upcoming summer travels

 their baskets -- I also included Bible storybooks for them and some candy, too!

 I tried something new this year -- instead of making a bunny cake, I made an empty tomb cake. It might become a new tradition... we'll see!

He is risen; He is risen, indeed!

Happy Easter!

easter 2013 -- jerry's fam

We celebrated Easter with Jerry's side of the family on Saturday in Hesston, KS. His sister, Jenny, and her husband, Jon, surprised everyone and drove all the way from North Dakota for the celebration! It was great to see them. Jerry's mom said that it was the first time in more than a year that all FIVE of the siblings were all together.

 l to r: Darren, Jacey, Vonny, Caleb, Joe, Brennan, Nolan, Frank, Caroline, Grayson, Alicia, James, LaJane, Kyler, Jerry, Carter, me, Jon, and Jenny

 Frank and LaJane with all of their grandkids

 Grayson is a pretty good little hula-hooper :)

 Carter... not so much

 the three brothers attempt it

 Hunting for eggs!!

It was a gorgeous afternoon to be outside!

Happy Easter!

spring break {fort worth zoo}

We so enjoyed our afternoon at the Fort Worth Zoo with Dave, Kristen, and Olive!!

 the three amigos with a kangaroo

 Love was definitely in the air... the giraffes were wanting to procreate...

 and the bears were doing their version of a French kiss!

 the lions were growling

 The boys got to pet a corn snake...

 ...and an ARMADILLO!!

 

 We rode the train, which the boys loved!!

 Carter and Grayson sitting on either side of a gigantic Burmese Python!

Dave and Kristen were so kind and let the boys pick out their birthday gifts at the zoo. Grayson chose a rattlesnake and Carter chose a frog umbrella! :)

It was a wonderful, beautiful day at the zoo! Thanks, Dave and Kristen!!