He Did It!

This young man continues to amaze me!

He made a goal last year to read the entire Bible in 2019!

He did it!

You will grow in godly wisdom, Joshua, as you continue to study God's Word

and follow Him in all you do!

Christmas 2019 - in Nebraska!

No white Christmas here for us!  It was 52* and sunny - an absolutely

beautiful Christmas Day!!

Isaac and Joshua were up promptly at 6:00 am, just like their older siblings

were years before.  So......our day started EARLY!!

The boys are at that stage where they are each beyond excited to give gifts and are thrilled

when they are received with much excitement!!

They each knew just what I wanted - new knives and a new church notebook!

Thanks, guys!!

Seriously low carb, almost no sugar dark chocolate for Joe........

He likes it, but the rest of us will all pass!

Low carb honey mustard and hand sanitizer!

Enjoy the rest of the pictures!

Other than a mishap on Isaac's finger, we had a great day and cooked hamburgers

out on the grill.

In the afternoon, our friends Alan and Tammy Kaiser came over and joined us

for dessert and great fellowship!

The guys all enjoyed playing the boys' new games  - Rush Hour, and 

Race Across the USA!

We had a wonderful day remembering the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Cristo Rey Nativity

We learned about a Hispanic Catholic church here in town that displays a very large (28 foot) indoor

nativity scene each Christmas season.  They add to it every year and the detail that

has been put into the different scenes was amazing!

We stopped by Sunday afternoon and took our leisure in studying all the amazing detail!

A donation box is at the end of the display and all of the proceeds go to an orphanage in

Nyumbani.  It was well worth the visit!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

A white Christmas?  Maybe!

The boys enjoyed going out into the cold to do some shoveling!

I think my parents got this tree when I was in high school, so it is,,,,,,,

ancient!  It has seen better days, for sure, but Isaac and Joshua were insistent that

we get at least one more year out of it!

Of course, I gave in.....

Joshua must be tolerating the cold pretty well, because after the shoveling was done,

he decided to play basketball .  The temperature was 21*!

Didn't seem to faze him!

They Passed!

Another round of swimming lessons, and they passed with flying colors!!

Isaac is the blur in the foreground.......

Joshua is the blur by the side of the pool......

So proud of these boys and their hard work!

On to Level 4!!

The Omaha Zoo!

When our older children were much younger, Joe's dad always gifted us with a family

pass to the zoo, so we naturally made many trips there.

The tradition continues, and we spent a nice long day there the Monday after Thanksgiving.

It was practically deserted with kids back in school and adults back at work.

It was the perfect time to go!!

We went to the IMAX first thing, while we waited for it to warm up a bit, and saw a show about

sea turtles.  Then we headed straight to the Tropical Rain Forest.

The real elephants were way out in the field and too hard to really see, so we had 

to make do with this one!

The lions were sacked out in the warm sunshine!

Isaac and Joshua had great fun in the African Safari with this helicopter and the safari jeep.

We ended the day with another IMAX show - Hero Dogs.  It was fantastic!!

We all got more than our 10,000 steps for the day!

We got treated to a beautiful sunset on the way back home!

Courtney's Thanksgiving Visit!

Oh how we've missed this daughter of ours!  We all went to the Lincoln Airport

to greet her - dressed in our Nebraska attire, as you can see!

Lots of talking, catching up , and eating our traditional foods!

Courtney was in charge of the mashed potatoes, as usual!

After a good mid-day meal, we all went for a walk down the country road!

We took Courtney to her favorite restaurants from her childhood!

First up was Valentino's Super Buffet......and she was amazed at the amount of food

these boys could put away!!

We also went to Runza - the best ever.

On Sunday, after church, we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, La Paz.

The boys finished off their large plates, and then finished off Courtney's too!

Next up.........the Oamaha Zoo!!!!!