Veteran's Day

I can't say enough about how much this man means to me. Knowing what he gave up and left behind to serve his country. Knowing that he wasn't a Marine. He IS a Marine. Love you, Dad!

God's Plan for His Daughters

Dayna and I enjoyed a two-day retreat at a church in Omaha. They have a great family series that goes throughout a child's life called the "Faith Legacy." You can read a little about their event for fifth and sixth grade girls and their moms here.

This retreat involved a lot of talk with our girls about the changes they will be experiencing, including a panel with a doctor and older girls who answer anonymous questions from the younger girls. We laughed, we ate, we discovered that mom has weird stuff in her purse and her antiquated flip phone was good for some more laughs.

The highlight of the weekend was ending with a trust walk. All of the girls were blindfolded while the moms surrounded them. All at once, we started calling our daughters' names. This led to a 15-20 minute walk through the church. The girls had to shut out the other voices and listen to ours. Sometimes we were easy to hear, and sometimes much more difficult. Our girls walked in circles, ran into a few obstacles, and were quite scared at times while walking in the dark. But at the end, the moms led their daughters one by one to the foot of the cross.

I hope this lesson stays with Dayna as the voices of the world will compete with the values her dad and I are trying to teach her. That sometimes God's voice is hard to hear, but He will never leave her side. And that my job as her mom is to always lead her back to the cross.

Fifth Grade Biography

One of the fifth grade big projects is to do a biography. The students had to pick an historic person, do the research, make a poster, and present to the class. Dayna chose Jesus. We talked and struggled some with Dayna portraying herself as Jesus, so she went with portraying Him through the names He is called in the Bible. I'm so proud of her for standing strong in her faith and proclaiming her love for Jesus to her entire class.

Fall Preservation

After a long (and wonderful) six weeks of subbing full-time, November came in with a rather quiet few days. Annie and I welcomed these "lazy" days with some scrumptious smells as we made our annual batch of applesauce (20 lbs.) and pumpkin puree (14+ cups.) All of this work (and a little inspiration from my latest BBC weakness, "The Great British Baking Show") led me to tackle my first ever pumpkin roll. It was so good, I might have made two!

2015 Family Pictures, Part 2

Who doesn't love a good romp through the leaves?

2015 Family Pictures, Part 1

Every fall, we visit the orchards in Nebraska City and take some family photos. After about 15 years of fighting the shadows and lighting, we found a new spot for the family picture. I must say - these may be some of our favorites yet.

Part of Your World

If a certain little princess in our house isn't obsessing about Elsa, you'll probably find her talking about Ariel. Dressed like Ariel. Singing like Ariel.

Our local theater chain has been showing classic Disney films this month, so we took advantage of seeing "The Little Mermaid" on the big screen with our own little mermaid and her tiny friend.