Halloween 2009

This year for Halloween we showed our Irish support. Kyler was a wrestler and Madeline was a cheerleader. The weather was beautiful for trick-or-treating. Both kids came home with an overflowing pumpkin bucket of candy.




Madeline chose a Spongebob pumpkin carving for Travis this year. He is quite good at carving. Each year Madeline tries to challenge him more!

Fall Fun

The best part of fall are the leaves turning beautiful colors and football! We have had plenty of both in our household.


Kyler enjoys assisting daddy in collecting the leaves. Daddy gets to use the leaf blower and Kyler uses the rake. Sometimes Kyler's raking creates more leaf blowing for Travis!




We have enjoyed going to football games to watch our nephew play for the Smith Center Redmen. Kyler really looks up to him.

Volleyball

Madeline participated in 3rd Grade YMCA volleyball this year. I volunteered to coach the six girls. We had six compeititions and the girls did really well. They were excited at the end to receive a volleyball medal.

Monster Trucks

Kyler is a big fan of Monster Trucks. A car dealership in Salina had Monstrer Trucks on display. Rides on a Monster Truck were also available. Kyler was so excited, but thought the ride was bumpy! Madeline thought it was pretty cool as well.

Texas Vacation - Houston

This year we decided to head to Texas for a family vacation. We have several family and friends in Texas and thought this would be a great opportunity to see them. This was Kyler's first vacation and the first vacation we have taken as a family by car. The kids did great with all the driving. The first day we traveled through Oklahoma stopping at various sites. We made it to Denton, Texas (just north of Dallas). The following day we ate lunch with Travis's cousin April who lives just south of Dallas.



We then traveled on to Houston. We stayed with our good friends Ryan and Aggie. We went to the NASA Space Center and actually had a backlot tour of the NASA airplanes! Another friend, Brad, knew a mechanic at NASA and he took us on a tour. Kyler loved getting to see the airplanes up close. The rest of us thought it was pretty cool as well.

The following day we headed to Galveston. Much of the tourist areas have recovered from the hurricane, but you can see there are areas that need lots of work still. We went to a great aquarium and then spent the afternoon at the beach. Madeline loved being at a "warm" beach. The only beach she had been to was in Ireland and it was so cold you didn't want to swim in it. Kyler was unsure at the beginning but once Travis got him out in the waves, he didn't want to leave. We had a fabulous time in Houston. We also got to see Travis's other cousin Andrew and spend time with Brad's family as well.

Texas Vacation - San Antonio

From Houston we traveled to San Antonio. We enjoyed San Antonio. We stayed just minutes from downtown. We toured the Alamo and walked along the Riverwalk, which I thought was beautiful. We were able to meet up with Travis's uncle Al for supper. We then took a boat to tour the Riverwalk area.



The next day we spent at Sea World. The kids enjoyed the shows and Madeline loved the rides. Unfortunately Kyler was too little to do much of any rides there. The highlight of Sea World for Travis and Madeline was the penguin exhibit. We made a special reservation for them to go on a penguin encounter. They got to touch a penguin and see how they are cared for. They even got to feel their environment by going inside the public exhibit.





The following day we went to Six Flags Fiesta. Madeline and Travis hit the water park portion of the park while Kyler and I rode several rides. Kyler loved every ride but didn't enjoy waiting in line much. Luckily we didn't have long lines and he made sure to tell the people politely in front of us to move forward! We left San Antonio later then we hoped and didn't arrive back to Denton until 1 am. We headed home the next day. It was a great trip full of wonderful memories.

Texas Vacation - Big 12 Tour

Since we were going to be going by several Big 12 colleges, we decided to do a tour of the campuses. We were able to see Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas and Baylor. We wanted to go to Texas A&M but it would be 80 miles out of the way. The Texas Longhorns had a beautiful and huge football stadium. Baylor's campus in Waco was gorgeous. Madeline didn't understand why we were going to all these football stadiums.


University of Oklahoma - We couldn't find a schooner to take a picture with.

Oklahoma State University


Baylor University


University of Texas - In the spirit we even did the Hook Em' Horns!



While at OSU, we stumbled on to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Unfortunately it was closed but looked like a neat museum. There was also a OSU wrestling camp going on and Travis saw two coaches he knew and visited with. One was the current head coach of OSU and the other was an assistant who used to coach at Nebraska when Travis was there.

Harvest Time

Lucky for us this is a farming community. I made a call to a friend of ours who has a farm south of town to see if Kyler could come out and watch them cut wheat. Not only did he get to watch them cut, but he got to ride in the combine! He was so excited to cut the wheat and put it in the grain truck. He was quite the farmer. He talked about it for the rest of the day!!!! Sissy also got to ride in the combine and she was quite impressed as well.

Softball

This year Madeline decided she didn't want to play coach-pitch softball but wanted to play the "real" thing. She has found it is a lot of standing around as mostly there are lots of walks and strike-outs and very few hits. We are all adjusting to the longer season and going two nights a week to the ballfield rather than just one. We also have to travel to other towns to play games. So far she hasn't gotten a hit yet and has made it all the way around to home plate one time. She mostly plays centerfield as she is one of the youngest on the team.

Spring Recital

Madeline completed her fifth year of ballet this year. Following the spring recital she received a Five Year Trophy. She was very excited to get it. This year she performed in four numbers. She was in the opening number and the finale, as well as her own dance class and a duet with a boy from her class at school. It was a very hectic weekend as it was the same weekend as state track. Dad and grandmas had to get all the costumes around and do hair and make-up. Mom made it just in time to watch her first number!!!!

Late Snow

March 28 brought a late snowstorm. We enjoyed the day sledding and building a snowman. The kids even helped dad shovel the driveway! Of course, the snow quickly disappeared with the spring weather, but we enjoyed the day of snow filled activities.

Farewell to Cassie

On May 2, we said good-bye to our dear family dog, Cassie. She had just turned 11. For those who knew Cassie, she always struggled with weight. Recently she had lost several pounds (around 30) and wasn't eating very well. She spent most of the day laying around. It was very tough and we miss her a lot. We couldn't have asked for a more wonderful dog.

Mr. Councilman

Travis has joined the political world. He decided to run for city council and was elected in early April. He will be sworn in at the May meeting and will serve a two year term. His campaigning consisted of participating in the St. Patrick's Day parade and a few newspaper ads. Next stop ... the White House!!

Nebraska Spring Game

On April 18 we attended the Nebraska Spring Game in Lincoln. It was a beautiful day for a football game. Both kids enjoyed the atmosphere. During halftime Travis took the kids out on the football field. They got to stand on the "N". The kids also enjoyed spending the night and swimming. We enjoyed the family time!

This was strictly for the kids. Seriously it was!


Future Herbie Husker


Loved Herbie!!!


Kyler was intrigued by Lil' Red. Aren't we all!!


Kyler enjoyed watching his DVD's like his big sister.