Weekend in College Station

EJ and I hopped on a plane to meet Eric and Grandma Carol in College Station for the weekend. It rained most of the weekend which warrented a trip to Target to get EJ some rainboots. I had only brought one pair of shoes for him which would've been ruined in the rain. He LOVES his rainboots and can even put them on himself. There was a huge puddle in the hotel parking lot and he spent lots of time stomping around much to his delight.



We also found a mall with a kids area for EJ to play in while we waited for the rain to stop. EJ was fond of the race car (pictured) and the tree house and slide in play area, not pictured because the mall cop warned us that picture taking was a mall rule violation. I'm not sure who would take covert action based on pictures of the College Station Mall. Seriously.


Nicole came for the game on Saturday. When the rain finally stopped, we were able to find a patch of Bluebonnets to take some pictures in. It was muddy but we managed to get some fun pictures. It was really neat to be back in Texas during the height of Bluebonnet season. They are so beautiful! For years I saw families pulled off the side of the road taking pictures of their kids and I always wondered if I would ever get that chance. Then we moved to a place that doesn't have bluebonnets so I will treasure these pictures forever!







EJ mananged to stay up late for both of the night games which is a first. He slept in my arms for part of the first game but didn't nap at all during the Saturday night game. I was really proud of him because he tends to fall apart by 7 pm most days.




We lost all three games which has been happening a lot lately (we are 17-21) so we are just trying to weather the storm. The draft took all of pitching last year which has made Eric's job really hard this year. We hold firm to the Bible verse (Romans 5) that says, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." So, we are persevering and not giving up hope. God will meet us in all our struggles and make it all good again somehow...even in baseball.

Happy Easter!

We hope you had a nice holiday with those special to you. We were fortunate to have Tricia here for a fun visit. We spent time hanging out with EJ and going to baseball games. A highlight for EJ was "driving" with Trish at Red Robin.



On Saturday we dyed Easter eggs and went to meet the Easter bunny at the outdoor mall near our house. As you can see, EJ did not take too well to the bunny but we warmed up at the end and even waved to him.





On Easter Sunday it was the three of us for a quiet day. After church I made all my mom's holiday recipes and while I still need practice, the boys were very sweet about my efforts. EJ had fun with his Easter basket from Grandma Bobbie and we were all in bed by 8pm!

Our Easter Bunnies

We found baby bunnies in the front yard this week. We've seen the momma run through the backyard a few times but today the babies were out and about. They are about 6 inches in length and they've already shed their first coat of fur. It's almost time for them to leave the "nest" or more correctly, hole in the ground, which we also found on the side of our house! EJ was very intersted in our "guests" and I had to keep him back by telling him the bunnies were sleeping. All day he ran to window and said, "uny nigh-nigh, uny nigh-nigh." It's just about as cute as the bunnies themselves.

First Oreo Cookie

EJ tried his first Oreo and as you can imagine, he loved it! Here's the sequence of events:

The curiosity:



The first taste:


Could this be real???


I'll have more, please:


There is just something special about the good ole Double Stuff Oreo. It's a classic.

We had a very eventful weekend. In addition to three baseball games, we hosted a neighborhood party for our neighbors, the Christiansens who recently adopted little Isabelle from China. We welcomed Isabelle with a BBQ (inside because it was pouring rain with snow flurries!!) and lots of new friends. Isn't she just precious!!



The Clarks live on the other side of us and they have a new addition too! Cluny is a schnauzer and is quite the sweet little puppy!


The Sorenson's were also in town and we had lots of fun with them while we waiting for the snow to pass so I-80 could open again for them to return home. The kids had an Easter egg hunt and Ryan got his first baseball lesson with Eric. EJ didn't quite understand the hunting for Easter Eggs game but he loved following Ryan and Dana around with his basket and egg.

Bring on Spring!

It was so warm today that we were able to go outside right after breakfast. EJ LOVES being outside and asks to go "ow-sigh" multiple times each day. I finally got to say "Yes" today. I hustled to the basement and found his sand and water table, got it set up and we played "ow-sigh" until naptime. Our fun will be short-lived as we are expecting snow tomorrow.

Spring Break in Colorado

EJ and I spent a very fun week in Colorado! There was a lot of fun to be had from playing at Toys-R-Us to practicing baseball and golf swings to seeing friends and family! EJ is getting really good at swinging a bat and it's rare if you ever find him without a bat in his hand! He is intrigued with his new golf clubs but I don't think they will replace the baseball bat anytime soon.




EJ also had fun each night at bathtime with grandma. Of course, he had to take a bat to the bath with him!! He definitely needed a bath after eating grandpa's burritos. My parents discovered EJ's love of guacamole! He got it everywhere...even put chips in his hair. He thought it was so funny!




We ended the week with a fun birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Colorado! EJ did a great job at a nice restaurant!!!

Nate & Anna

Congrats to Nate and Anna who got engaged last night! We hosted their engagement party at our house after Nate popped the question using the "Jumbo-tron" at the baseball field. It was a fun celebration with their friends, family and the coaching staff. Nate was a student of mine at DBU and he played for and coached with Eric at DBU before joining him at Nebraska. Anna is a UNL grad and is a special education teacher in Omaha. She will soon be joining the ranks as a coach's wife! They are a sweet couple and we wish them all the best!

EJ & Ty

EJ and I are spending Spring Break in Colorado and today we visited our friends Danni and Ty. The boys had a great time playing baseball outside in the 70 degree weather. Ty is really good at putting the ball on the "T" and he has a great left-handed swing!!

Texas Trip

We spent the weekend in Huntsville, Texas at Sam Houston State University for a baseball tournament. We got to see Grandpa Michael and Uncle Brian when we got to Austin and then we headed to Huntsville with Grandma Carol.

We were hoping to "warm up" in Texas but the cold Nebraska weather followed us as you can see from the picture with EJ and Grandma. It made for good snuggling, though! Grandma was so sweet to bring treats and toys for EJ and she got up with our early bird each morning and took him to breakfast. She also played with him for hours at the ballpark.





Another highlight of the weekend was seeing the Sheltons. Kaye and Rick's son, Matt, is a pitcher for Sam Houston so they came for the tournament too. Matt didn't pitch against Nebraska but he did get the win against Missouri State and is now 3-0 after getting a win against Rice last night.

Kaye did her best to spoil both me and EJ. She had Chick-fil-a for us when she arrived (we don't have any in Nebraska!) and she had seat cushions, toys, muffins and chocolate for the weekend! She also celebrated my birthday with a fun lunch at the Farmhouse, a cute soda shoppe in Old Town Huntsville. EJ had a great time at the lunch with Rick as he got to explore the restaurant and get Blue Bell ice cream (another thing I miss from Texas!!) while the ladies chatted over lunch and tea. After lunch we went to a park for EJ to feed the ducks. Once he figured it out, EJ was quite good and throwing bread to the ducks.