Taya turns 3!

Continuing from the previous post...Taya was very excited to have party hats but they didn't get passed out to the guests so she decided to play with them.

A little excitement, both bad and good

For our 6th anniversary, Grammy got Ethan and me Brad Paisley tickets. We have been pretty excited since they were great seats. It was also the day after Taya's birthday so Grammy was here to babysit too!

Unfortunately on the way to the concert we were involved in a car accident.

The Scion from 2 lanes over that side-swiped us (not his fault).

We caused quite the slow-down on northbound I-71...

Missed the other opening acts but we made it to our front-row seats in time for Blake Shelton!

Here we go, Brad Paisley!

A few shots of our injured minivan. We are currently driving a little red Nissan Versa. The gas mileage is nice but it's not nearly as comfortable as the Odyssey...I can't wait to get it back from the body shop.

We thank God for our safety and the fact that nobody was injured in the accident. It was a "hit and skip" so both the police and insurance had to track the lady down that caused the accident.

2011 Dayton Airshow

Taya and Dad went with our friend Chris Jones to the Dayton Airshow this Saturday. It was 94 degrees and extremely humid. Luckily we had some cloudiness at times and a few rain drops occasionally to cool us off. Initially Taya was scared of the F-16's but she eventually was cheering like the rest of us (the ear muffs helped!)

We also saw several static aircraft big and small as well as an F/A-18 Superhonet demonstration that was very impressive. Apparently we just missed the B-1B and B-2 flyovers that happened before we arrived. Luckily after the show we saw a B-1B maneuvering above us.

Thunderbirds!

Nebraska--trip #1

June 8-14 we found ourselves back in the west. I will try to give a brief rundown by day.

Day 1 (June 8)

-Rory's first airplane ride. Both he and Taya did awesome (as usual).

-We met up with Grammy at DIA; she flew in from Connecticut a few hours before us.

-We parted ways with Ethan at the airport. He was headed to Estes Park for a conference. He and 2 of his co-workers toured the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins on the way.

-My Auntie Jen and Grandma Cena picked the rest of us up at the airport.

-Rory met Uncle Wade and Aunt Jillian for the first time. Uncle Wade already has him laughing, or does he have Uncle Wade laughing??

-It didn't take Taya and cousin Jayden very long to warm up to each other. Taya though she was 6 years old the whole weekend.

Day 2 (June 9)

-Lots of playig and visiting with family.

-Doughnuts!

Day 3 (June 10)

-More playing and visiting.

-The girls got the Play-Doh out and had a blast (and made a mess).

-The girls got to help Grammy in the kitchen!

Rory loved Grandma Cena and I'm glad they got some time together.

The girls both had "big ponies" in so Jayden thought they should have pictures.

-First time meeting Aunt Becky

Day 4 (June 11)

-A very busy day!

-Went to my Uncle Mike's ranch. He gave the girls a ride on the "Mule".

-My 10 year class reunion in Mullen.

-Visited my Grandma Hazelle (she met Taya and Rory for the first time).

-Dinner and play-time at the White's.

With Uncle Mike

MHS Class of 2001: Carrie (Phillips) Plummer, Andrea (Deibler) Newman, Phil Munn, Erica Livesay, me

Day 5 (June 12)

Another busy day.

-Ethan met us in Ogallala.

-Ryan, Emily, Eli, and Conner Banks met us and so did Kellie and Kendal Dodge. It was great to see our old friends!

-The boys golfed while we girls watched the kids.

Emily and her youngest, Conner.

Conner and Rory

Kellie, me, Emily

Ethan, Ryan, Kendal

Day 6 (June 13)

-More visiting with family.

-"Tuesday lunch", moved to Monday for us, at The Sandwich Shoppe.

-Packing

Day 7 (June 14)

-Travel day.

We felt very blessed to spend the time with some of our Nebraska friends and family. It had been almost a year (11 months) since we had seen many of them and that was WAY too long. Actually as I finally finish this post, we were blessed enough to go to Nebraska for a 2nd time this summer (another post to come).