Monday, June 18, 2012

Happy Father's Day

I am writing from Nebraska! The boys and I are here visiting my parents. We have been here 8 days, and in that amount of time Zack has cut in 2 new teeth (bringing his total to 5!), and learned to crawl!! He has been busy growing, and we have been even busier soothing, bouncing, cleaning, feeding, and chasing him. Well, and taking his pictures, too. :)

Here's a sweet picture of Zack with my grandpa.  Check out that Snaggle Tooth! I'm so glad I have a few good pictures of that weird top tooth he's got.
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And here's Zack on his first day of "real" crawling--when he can go forward, and he knows it.

He's got a goofy crawl, so I recorded it for Daddy. Poor Daddy--he's missing all the excitement.
 
The big boys got to come to Nebraska earlier than Zack and I did. My parents had come to visit us for 2(!) weeks, and then took the big boys home with them. They had an adventure-packed trip which included Pirate Mini Golf, among other things... 2012-06-01_15-59-05_655

Zack and I flew up a week and a half later. I fully expected Zack to cry most of the way here, and was overjoyed when he fell asleep on the second flight and I actually got to sit and read! (The first flight went well, too, but was a total workout. He is one busy, and strong, baby!) DSC08807

One highlight of our trip so far was visiting a sod house at the Archway Museum. It was a pretty neat re-make of a sod house, but what set the experience apart was that the pioneer woman in the house invited the kids to touch anything they wanted--open drawers, sit on the bed, taste the butter, and pick up the tools. That was super fun. We all agreed that the rope bed and hay mattress were surprisingly comfortable! DSC08894

Another highlight has been shopping for wedding dresses with my sister. Yes! She is getting married! We are so excited. We were very happy to find a dress on our second day of shopping, and though I would LOVE to show you a pictures, I can't, of course!

 It has been very special to have time with my grandparents...and to have them get to know Zack. DSC08920

Trevor has been keeping in touch with Tim about mushrooms. I think it is safe to say that Trevor is obsessed. :) Who knew mushrooms could be so fascinating?? We had a really interesting one pop up in our yard that has us all intrigued. DSC_0002

Mushroom hunting is rather contagious. I can't believe I feel compelled to show you a sample of what we've found in our yard...but I do. I can't resist. (some pictures are better than others...oh well. Between a 10 year old and a momma with a baby on her hip, what do you expect?? :) DSC08797 DSC_0015 DSC_0071 DSC_0076 DSC_0082
See? Can you believe all that beauty was right there, all along, unnoticed?? Man! God is so amazing and creative. Thank you God for mushrooms!

And Thank You God for Fathers! (*Warning* Mushy Father's Day notes to follow. :)

1)Tim, you are such a blessing to our family. There's not another man I would choose to be the father for our children. Thank you for providing for us, and loving us. You give us the best parts of yourself. You sing and dance.  You make us laugh. You cook us good food. You take us on adventures. You draw us cool pictures. You tell us bland but soothing stories involving characters doing the exact same things we did during the day. And we love you!  We love you, love you, love you!!!

2)Thanks, Dad, for loving me. Thanks for providing for me. You rub my aching shoulders, and pat my back. You tell me you are proud of me. You build things, and fix things. You do puzzles and play games with me.  You are always up for watching a movie.  Dad, I always feel accepted by you. Thank you for supporting me through all my weird stages and crazy choices--like getting engaged after dating Tim for 5 weeks (you have given me away with so much grace!); or deciding to homeschool my kids; or coming to Nebraska with no plans for how I'm going to get back home. I love you, Dad.

3)And Thanks, My-Other-Dad, for loving Tim. Thank you for always being there for Tim...for attending every event and giving him confidence. Thank you for teaching him the things he needed to know to be a good father. And thanks for accepting me into the family so graciously and joyfully. Thanks for doing all the things a dad does, like checking on our house when we are away (including feeding the cat and even scooping the litter box!!), and taking the kids to the pool, and bouncing the baby endlessly. Thanks for supporting us when Tim followed God out of the family business...what an amazing expression of love.  Also, you can make really neat bird call sounds. :)  I love you, Dad!

Okay, and also, Tim has some nice camera skills.  He can take really good pictures in which I am blocked from view by an alpaca.  :)  Gotta love that.

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