My dash -

2008-09-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma's last Sunday in Houstonia...

In the upper left hand corner of this picture there
are two boots on the wall. They have been there
since I was child. I think it has something to do with
birthdays but I always remembered these being on
the wall there...yes, the weird stuff I remember!

Grandpa serving communion for the last time
in Houstonia. Everything was very emotional.

There was a dinner for Grandpa and Grandma
after church! Gotta love pot lucks!

Ah...

We can't be serious ALL day!

Brian and his sis!

Grandpa and Grandma with all their kids! L to R
Susanne, Grandma, Marilyn, Grandpa, Mom, and Uncle John.

Grandpa and Grandma...hand in hand...

The Varner clan...

Relaxing on a Sunday afternoon on the front porch
Grandpa Grandma and Kayla

Joshua and Brian showing their grills:) I love it
when Joshua makes mean faces!

I remember sleeping on this porch swing one night.
Many hours I can't even begin to fathom were spent out
on their front porch. So sad...so many changes! There
hasn't been a Christmas that I wasn't at Grandpa and
Grandma Smiley's. Many, many Easter's and Homecoming's.

I had to include this picture...only in Houstonia MO!!!
You better STOP cause there's nowhere else! I'm going to
miss this place and certainly Grandpa and Grandma being there!

2008-09-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Community Reception for Grandpa and Grandma Smiley...

There was a reception for my grandparents the weekend
before their last Sunday in Houstonia. I got there
fashionably late but I was still able to see Judy,
who use to work at the Post Office. Grandpa and
Grandma looked great! I can't imagine what it would be
like to leave home after so many years. They gave so much
to the community and it was neat to see the community give
back by attending.

2008-09-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Garage Sale Time!!!

We had quite the collection of crap this year!

Lisa's curtain collection...oh so nicely displayed!

And quite the holiday table I must say!

Oh look! More crap!

2008-09-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Everyone is home!!!

Because of Ryan's graduation, my brother Steve
and his wife and two children were able to come back
to Kansas for a visit. Max and Joshua playing at
Chuck E Cheese! They both did very well at this game!

The "WHAC" game. Max enjoyed this game also!

Have you ever observed two kids that aren't quite sure
what to think...well here you go! Kayla and Max
taking a ride at Chuck Cheese!

Grandpa thought this was a lot more fun then Kayla
did. She was ready to get off the ride before it even started.
Mommy came to the rescue!

I think this earned the "most retarted" prize game at
Chuck E Cheese. Ryan smacked fly after fly and then
after all that hard work it spit out 2 tickets. That sucks!

It is interesting to observe how family outings
change over the years...we all had a good time and
that is all that matters! It really is fun to see the
kids having fun!

2008-09-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Graduation!

Where's Ryan???

Joshua and Autn Bem chilling at Graduation. It
was quite lengthy!

Topeka High Class of 2008!

Getting ready to get his diploma!

Hats off to the Senior Class of 2008! Way to go Ryan!

2008-09-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Graduation Ryan!!!

Slowly but surely I am going to get my blog updated
if it is the last thing I do this week! Ryan and I "getting
things ready" the night before his graduation party.

There were A LOT of visitors and it was a ton
of fun to host the party!

Ryan and his little sis! I am so proud of you!

Ryan, Brian and Me!

Mom and Dad with their last baby to graduate!
Ryan, Congrats Grad 2008!

2008-05-13T22:42:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Baby!!!

Sunday was Stevo's birthday. We went
to Kansas City for the evening/night...
long story but we didn't end up staying there
Look how excited he is to be turning 32!

Steve's parents are in Thailand for
the month so we celebrated at Michelle
and Davon's house with his brother
Clifton and his girlfriend Kailey. Michelle
made a german chocolate cake with coconut
pecan icing and it was really yummy!

Walter loves to smile for me!

Steve eating his "small" piece of cake!

Why is this so cute???

Clifton and Kailey. Her birthday was

on Thursday so we celebrated that too!

Happy birthday baby!

p.s. I hope you like you phone!

2008-05-13T22:36:00.001-07:00

Why being an aunt totally rocks...

I came home from class on Monday
night and I was wondering how all
these sticks found their way back on
my sidewalk since I cleaned it off the
day before. Then I realized there was
a very special message from J and K

Talk about totally making my day!

I love you too Joshua and Kayla!
I am so glad you guys are here! When
are you going to let Joshua spend the
night???

2008-05-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers...

I simiply LOVE this time of year.
Too pretty to not take a picture...

My flowerbed in the front yard...

I was messing around with my camera
and took this cool picture...

2008-05-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Good Morning!!!

This morning when the alarm clock
went off at 5:30 I felt as though I had just
shut my eyes a few minutes prior! This
morning reminded how much I LOVE
to get up early! NOT!!!
I realized how unproductive I am in
the morning even with 44 onuces of
Coke in me! Hats off to all you morning
people...I aspire to be like you someday!

2008-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

An opportunity...

I received a call late last week from
an instructor that I greatly respect.
After doing some reflecting I realized
the handprints she has made in my
life. She extended an opportunity for
me to do an internship with her a couple
years ago and when I wan't looking for
a new job I got a call. She ran across a
job and she said it had my name written
all over it! After looking at the job
description I would have to agree. I am
taking the "go until the door is closed"
approach on this. There are so many things
I love about my current job and I LOVE
getting comfortable and that is exactly
where I am at. I have started my cover
letter about 500 times and can't get it to
the "perfect" stage. So I thought that maybe
if I posted about it I would magically get
inspired to finish it up before I have to be
at work in 6 hours!!!!

2008-04-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Topeka High Prom April 2008

Tonight was Prom and it was fun
helping Tess and Ryan get ready...
Tess had State competiton this
morning and didn't get back until
late so I did her hair when she got
back. She cracks me up. I asked her
what she wanted and she said "a bun"
so I asked her if she wanted a tight
bun, a loose bun, what... She said
kind of tight but loose:) I hope she
liked it!

Redneck gone modern...yep that is
camo! It looked really good and only
special people like Ryan and Tess could
pull this off. Tess put camo tape on
her shoes. She also made a boutonniere
out of camo duck tape. I was VERY impressed!

You have to get a pic in front of your
wheels to prom!

I thought this was a cute pic!

Oh, and this one too!

But this was my FAV!!! Hope you

guys have fun tonight! You both look

great!

2008-04-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

Henderson Birthday Madness...

Last Sunday we celebrated Clifton,
Aunt Marcia, Grandma Henderson
and Big Steve's birthday. They fall
within the same week! Michelle
made a very LARGE cake...when it
requires 4 cake boxes and there
are only 11 people at the party and
another cake was ordered for grandma
something tells me there should be
enough...

Notice the cup next to the cake...it
is a normal size cup:)

Grandma got her own little cake.
She thought it was very special. Steve
gave her a fork and told her to eat up!

We never run short of food when
the family gathers. It drives me nuts
and Steve tells me "it's just how we
do it" 32 pork chops, 10 pounds of
brisket, 2 dishes of cheesy potatoes
and 3 pounds of corn casserole later!

Steve-o and Grandma!

Grandma and me! Funny story...probably

not appropriate but I will still share. Steve's

mom kept talking about pampers and not

wearing them...I thought we were talking

about Walter...NOPE!!!

2008-04-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Our Ski Trip...

We were going to "get up early" on
Thursday morning but rather than
getting a late start we just left when
Steve got home from work! We left
Topeka @ 2:21... And just for the
record I stayed up the ENTIRE way
until we stopped to sleep!

We stayed here for 3 days...it had
a mountain feel about it!

I don't think you could find a Wal-Mart
like this in Kansas...

We got some powder while we were
there. Good thing we took the Durango
because the car doesn't like snow very
much!

We kept our skis and boots from the
first day...which I won't talk about in
too much detail! Short story is
Steve fell a few times and called it quits
and took the snow mobile down. All the
while I thought that it was extremely funny
and was laughing my butt off...Steve didn't
think it anything was very funny!

Day #2 was a success! Taking the lift
up with my hubby! Steve was shocked
that there were not seat belts on the
lift...again something that I found a LOT
of humor in!

I think this was the first time ALL
winter that I was excited to see snow
and it was actually beautiful!

Steve was taking a quick break!

I was SOOOO excited when he made

it down all on his own!

Whatever goes up...must come down!

This was on the last day. Steve was

DONE and I wanted to go up one more

time so he stayed at the bottom and

waited. I was getting VERY frustrated in

this picture because my boot was not

clicking in my ski...this was happening

to Steve a lot and I thought it was funny

until this happened to me:)

Yep, I'm not looking back to see my

hubby take my picture I am looking

back to see who picked up my ski that I lost

when getting on the lift. Have you ever

tried to get off a lift with one ski? Well

you can take a guess how I landed when

getting off!

And I split my pants also! Yes, so

getting back to that last run... There

was a jump that I had taken earlier in

the day but wanted to get even more

air so that is exactly what I did! I landed

the jump but when I went to slow down

my left ski turned but my right didn't and

I totally fell! Like hard core! I sat there for

a bit and then got the courage to ski to the

bottom. I later told Steve that I thought that

I had hurt myself! More on that later...

All we could think about was getting

back to the hotel and getting in the

hot tub.

I LOVE getting in hot tubs when it is

snowing or snow is on the ground...yep

I am smiling but my knee is totally killing

me! So I woke Steve up in the middle of the

night because I was hot, my knee was on

fire. He got some ice for me and then that

leaked and got everywhere. We left at 5:30 in

the morning (holy crap early for me) and headed

back to Kansas so we could get back in time for

the game. We watched the game and then went

to Brian's house and then we decided to go to

the ER. The doctors there told me that I either

sprained or tore my meniscus ligament and to

follow up with the Ortho dr. I saw the ortho

dr. on Tuesday of last week and they are doing

another MRI on Tuesday of this week to see what

the next step is. He determined that there was a slight

tear and so I have a pretty brace to wear for now! Good

times. I was totally expecting this to happen to Steve...

NOT ME! Just in case you were still wondering we had

a great time and hope to go back again soon!

2008-03-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

Sunday we celebrated Easter at Grandpa
and Grandma Smileys. Sunday was also
Grandpa Henderson's birthday. He
passed away last week March 17th.
It was a long week for us and it was great
to see my grandpa and grandma!

Mom and I switched places to get
a quick picture. It was cold on Sunday
so we quickly took some pictures on
the porch.

Ryan, Tess, and Brian on the trip
back home...Singing a song. This picture
was taken before Brian got a black
eye from wrestling with Ryan...

Ryan was trying to appologize to Brian
and you can see how well that was going
for him. We were all dying laughing but
it turned red really quick! It looks like
Brian is/was laughing too... never a dull
moment...

Saturday I realized that these flowers
bloomed. I LOVE this time of year.
I am getting very anxious to get some
plants in the ground. We are working on
some plans for the back yard...there is
going to be a small pond! And no, the
basement is not finished.

I'm not sure what these are but this
was just too pretty to not include.
I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!
We are leaving for Colorado on Thursday
to go skiing...this is a first for Steve so
I am thinking I will have some pretty good
pictures to share when we get back!

2008-03-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

Where's Waldo???

Where is Waldo...same problem at
my house but it's called where's Willow Tree???

Look closely...

Ah, lookie there! I WONDER HOW
THAT GOT THERE???

2008-03-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Excuses...

I am still making excuses for myself and so I thought that I would write about it. Today was a VERY important day for my friend and I promised that I would call her back after I was done Training at 5. Here is where the excuses come in. I didn't leave work until after 7. I am in the middle of 6 different 4 hour IRA classes. I am very encouraged with the feedback that I am getting as I totally changed things up this year. Rather than revamping old material (which is SOOOOO much easier to do) I created a new concept for the IRA class making it hands on. This of course created A LOT more work and creativity on my part, again another excuse! Anyway I am hosting Bunco at my house this weekend on Saturday and I needed to make calls last Sunday but that didn't happen because in the midst of working downstairs I decided that two bedrooms upstairs needed a face lift and so I started painting them on Sunday night! Yes, I have acknowledged that I have an additction to painting/remodeling/changing things up a bit! So when I got home I started making the calls and then I decided to take Ryan out to dinner for his birthday and then plans changed with the cake and then WHAM, it was too late to call my friend back to ask her how her interview went. All of this going back to me promising I would call at 5. Why do I feel like the worst friend in the world??? Because from what I can tell, her interview couldn't have lasted more than 15 minutes MAX and the last text I received was, Hey I have a new job, how r u? So now ALL of these excuses mean NOTHING because it was a priority to call her back and I didn't. So Rhy, I appologize and I promise to not send you any more texts past 11:30 PM signed the worst freind ever.

2008-03-12T21:57:00.001-07:00

Happy 18th B-Day Ryan!!!

Today was Ryan's 18th birthday! Tess
Vito Ryan and I had dinner at Chipotle
and then we changed the plans and
ended up having cake tonight too.
We were going to do it tomorrow but
it ended up working out for tonight. Tess
made a shirt "Happy Birthday Darlin' "
which was WAY TOO cute!

Vito, Tess and Ryan with the cake
from Cold Stone. It was YUMMY!!!

Ryan cut the cake...yes, it was a little
scary for him to have that big of a knife!
Hope you had a special day! It seems
just like yesterday when you were
wearing my old t-shirts to bed, telling
you stories with my Trolls, singing "Kiss
This" at the top of our lungs, watching you
play baseball (because you loved that SOOO
much), making your yellow shirt have a
big pocket on the front... Millons of
stories to tell that is FOR SURE!!! I love you!

2008-03-06T18:51:00.000-08:00

Carpet is in!!!

Only one picture because I have to

put everything away before I show this

part being finished! I LOVE the carpet

and everything looks great. The only

bad thing is the couch...it worked

great at our old house but not so much

for this room. I will share more pictures

as soon as I get everything put in place!

2008-02-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to me...and Walter...

My 21st birthday festivities started
on Friday when I received these
BEAUTIFUL flowers...

I learned that these are wax flowers and
it comes in a variety of colors... I am
not a big fan of baby's breath so I love
getting "different" things as Steve
likes to call it! You did good honey!

Sunday was the official day and Lisa
had lunch after church at her house.
I will probably be able to show you this
card (sorry everyone else that got me a
card) in 20 years. It was from Joshua
and it was SOOOOOOOOOO precious!
How did he know I was 5???? Yes Joshua...
I will take 2 just like you!

Then we headed to Kansas City to
celebrate Walter's birthday. We share
the same date...what are the chances of
that! Here is Walter who just turned 2
and Grandma Henderson.

Clifton says "Turning 21 is SUPER!"

Second cake of the day...mine was

much better...an icecream cake my

FAVORITE!!!

This gives a whole new meaning to

"being green" :) Gotta love green frosting!

We finished the day in Topeka at

Olive Garden. Sean and Rhys came

to Topeka. I was worried that I wouldn't

get to wear a tiara but Rhys pulled through

and bought me a Princess tiara! I had a

WONDERFUL birthday and look forward to

a great year! Thanks to everyone who made

the day special!

2008-02-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Our mess...

Yes, it is starting to grow on me...
living in dust and popcorn ceiling
bedris:)

The ceiling in this room is DONE!!!
Sanding it was a total blast! I think
contractors get a bonus if they finish
a project early...no bonus for this
one!

I have been telling myself all week
that I need to bog because it has
been some time since my last post
but there is nothing to write home
about...I added a few ornaments to
the collection and other than that
nothing new...

2008-01-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

We have a ceiling...

WAHOO! We are still making progress!
Steve is taking off this Friday so we hope to
have the rest of the sheetrock done late
Friday night in this room and in the bedroom!

There was one piece missing on this
wall. The sanding is done...WHAT A MESS!!!
I'm not even going to try to clean the
rest of the house until we are TOTALLY
done with this. I swear the heater is
sucking all this up and spitting it ALL
over the house! Since we had such a
GREAT turnout for the sheetrocking party
last Sunday there will be a sanding party
this Sunday just in case you are interested:)
Hope everyone is having a SUPER week!

2008-01-23T22:06:00.000-08:00

Monkey see Monkey do...

Where in the world to kids get CRAZY
ideas like this??????????? It's like
they have watched someone do this
or something...

Getting his feet adjusted... Sunday
we had dinner at Lisa and Bryan's...
we love getting together to have
Joshua entertain us!

2008-01-23T21:54:00.000-08:00

The ghost at our house...

Take note of this picture...

Ah, something looks a little different...
One week passes and I find what is
missing in the bathroom... that is
weird...

So I find the lost figurine and place
it back where it should be and then
WHAM!!! Something looks a little
different... It HAS to be a ghost!

And look what the "ghost" did at
Lisa and Bryan's... Yep...that would
be 22 bottles of Kool Aid that appeared
in their yard... craziness I tell you!

And some cups and lawn chairs...
DONT MESS WITH A WILLOW TREE
FIGURINE LADY! I hear that she is
CRAZY!!!!!!!

2008-01-07T18:25:00.000-08:00

We are making progress...

The basement project is coming right

along...We are inspiring my sister...

not so much my sister's hubby:) Love

ya Bryan! So this is looking down the

stairs. There use to be a wall here

with a door going into this unfinished

area but the wall is down now. Steve

and his dad were able to move the outlet

that was on this wall and run the rest of

the electrical for Phase 2- HOWEVER phase

one is not done:) Disclaimer! The walls

are NOT blue- the picture makes them

look that way-just wanted you to know because

that would be super pretty!

There is going to be a counter with

bar stools over on this side of the

wall.

And this is the wall of doors:)

The last door (where the chair is at)

is to the storage room. The second door

is to the bathroom Phase 3 (my oh so

favorite part) and the third door is easy

access to the heater/furnace/hot water tank.

Originally the door to this was going to be

in the bathroom but then that would be one

more area to go through in the event it needed

to be replaced. With my luck if I would have

convinced Steve to do it that way the heater would

go out the week after the bathroom was finished and

we would probably have to knock out a wall or something

super fun like that so I think 3 doors will be just fine.

I will put signs above them to direct traffic:)

This is the only area in the basement

that is currently finished. I covered

everything because of the mess...see previous

post to see the dust I created!

This the the 4th bedroom on the

opposite side of the basement. There

are a couple more sheets to do in here

and there will also be a window on that

wall- I know the fabric on the wall is

pretty trendy but it's gotsta goa!

This is the other side of the bedroom

there will be a closet along the wall

that runs underneath the stairs. We

are waiting to sheetrock the ceiling before

we build the frame for the closet. Maybe

next weekend??? So that is what we did

this weekend. Anyone up for a "Remove

popcorn ceiling Party?" Please RSVP to me:) LOL

2008-01-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

Our Family Christmas...

The Saturday after Christmas we
had our family Christmas and that
was a highlight for me! It was SOOOOO
much fun to watch the kids open their
presents. Kayla started opening a gift
before all of the presents were passed out.

Everyone was home this year for
Christmas so there were LOTS of
people...LOTS of people that I am
related to! Freya and Max opening
a gift from Grandma I think... Is
Max trying to read already???

Joshua checking out his new Thomas
the Train DVD's. Lisa this should
keep him busy for about 3 minutes!

There were present everywhere!

This would be my mother opening

a present from her son in law...aka

Bryan Nelson. He put a roll of paper

towels on a saw because mom has a

really fancy paper towel dispenser at

home! She about busted her gut laughing

so hard...that is if you couldn't tell

from the picture!

This was the last present that both

Max and Joshua opened. Brian and

Ryan gave Spiderman ATV's that are

motorized. Kayla was VERY disappointed

to not get a pink Barbie one but she settled

for a ride from Joshua! Again, this lasted

for about 2 seconds!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2008-01-03T22:24:00.000-08:00

Vaccumm Alert...

No, there is NOTHING wrong with
my camera! Vaccumming up joint
compound after sanding isn't such a
great idea:) I didn't realize how bad
it was until I left the room! I was laughing
so hard that I went up to get my camera!

Yep, I'm going to use the good old
broom and dust pan next time!
Brian came over and helped in the
basement last weekend! I am itching
to spend a solid weekend in there...
Good thing we don't have any plans
for this weekend!

2007-12-27T22:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day at the Smiley's...

Kayla and Claudia watching a DVD
and singing along. Claudia is the
sweetest thing. She put her arm
around Kayla and was ready to share
her DVD player so they could both
watch!

Later in the afternoon we opened
gifts. Grandma is opening a gift
from her "favorite grandson" and
I'm pretty sure she didn't know who
that was! Kidding Ryan!

And then we had a visit from Santa
himself. Christian and Sarah put
Ryan up to this and Claudia was the
only kids that absolutely did NOT
like Santa. I was laughing so hard but
it was a lot of fun! HO ho ho!

Santa handed out present to all
the kids and then headed off to the
next house!

Freya and Max opening gifts... Christmas
Day as I know it is spent at Grandpa and
Grandma Smiley's. I remember as a kid
getting our sock out for Santa and then
opening our stocking gifts in the morning.
There would always be walnuts in our socks
and I don't ever remember eating them.

Looky what Santa brought my cousin
David!

Me with Grandma and Grandpa Smiley!
We will finish Christmas with my family
on Saturday and I am looking forward to
that!

One last pict...my brother Ryan
and I! We always have fun together!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

2007-12-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day...

I hope you had a Merry Christmas!
So yes there is some explaining to do...
actually Grandpa didn't want to put his
shirt on so this is how we took pictures!
If it didn't bother him it such as heck wasn't
going to bother me!

Grandpa Henderson, Steve, and Grandma
Henderson. We visited them Christmas
morning. They are in assisted living
and they were glad to see us! Lots of
crazy stories about Grandpa on
Christmas Day. He went to the bathroom
to take a nap in his chair and after 20 minutes
Grandma went in to see if he was ok and he
was totally out of it! You just have to laugh...

Grandma appears to be doing much
better and she was having a good day
so it was great to see her!

Grandma Henderson opening her
present! She really liked it and was
going to wear it to Christmas dinner
later that night. Grandpa was checking
it out to see if it had any pockets. He
really likes to have 2 pockets on ALL
of his shirts which is very entertaining!

2007-12-27T22:18:00.000-08:00

Henderson Christmas in KC...

We had the Henderson Christmas
on Sunday in KC at Stephen's sisters
house. After we got there we realized
that for the second year in a row Clifton
got the very same present that we did
so we took the tricycle back and got
something different. This was the one
thing that I picked up and Steve did not
really like so that was even more of a reason
to buy 100 ball to have to pick up:)

This is how Walter "opened" this
gift... Stephen just dumped all the
ball on him. Then we proceeded to
throw the balls at each other. Again,
100 ball that are not at our house!
The benefits of being an Aunt and Uncle!

Just for fun...

Walter riding his new tricycle...

Safety first! The hard hat was from

another toy set that we picked up

for Walter. Different things that

make LOTS of NOISE!!! We had a

great Christmas with family and I

received more Willow Tree Figurines!

SOOOOOO exciting!

2007-12-27T19:22:00.000-08:00

A night with the kids...

We kept Joshua and Kayla on Saturday
night. Steve got up with Kayla while
Joshua and I were still in bed! He slept
in his own bed until 4:30 and then
he crawled in with us. It is kind of
hard to sleep on the floor when our
two furry children sleep there:)

Have I ever told you that you are TOOOOO
cute! She is so much fun and is growing
up WAY too fast!

Joshua went downstairs to wake
Ryan up and he wanted to play
Guitar HeHo with him so Ryan
did. I made muffins for the rest
of us!

And then I got Kayla dressed for church.
These boots are made for walkin' and
the pig tails were over the top! She
wasn't a fan of it at first but I know
she loves it now!

2007-12-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Rhy's 30th...

My friend Rhys is officially an old
woman! Sean had a surprise 30th
party for her at Old Chicago in
Manhattan. I was talking to her
earlier in the day and told her that
I had a root canal and she almost hung
up on me. Little did she know that
Steve and I were on our way there!

I can't remember if we sang Happy
Birthday old lady or not...hydrocodone
is GREAT! Happy Birthday Rhys!

2007-12-04T21:50:00.000-08:00

Little Joshua turns 3!!!

We had cake later but this picture
was too cute to not post first. Lisa
and Bryan had the fam over for
dinner and cake and icecream!
Joshua was on cloud 9!

Look at all the presents! It was so
fun to watch him open these. I would
love to know what is going on in his
head sometimes...

This was the first present that he
picked to open. It is a nerf football
that makes noise when you throw
it. It was FREEZING outside so
playing with this toy right now is
NOT an option!

I LOVE watching kids open presents.
They are so cute about it.

No one could wait for him to open
this one. We ALL knew what it was.
I was surprised with it being the biggest
present in size that he didn't go for that
one first.

Looky here! He wasn't super excited
about it at first like we all thought
he would be but later he put it on
and started jammin' like his daddy!

I made...yes I MADE this for Joshua
from Steve and I. He loves Thomas
the Train and so when I saw this fabric
I HAD to get it! I don't think that Joshua
was as nearly as excited about this as I
was...

And yes...there is nothing I wouldn't
do for this little boy!

Yep...this boy too:)

And then we all enjoyed cake that

Joshua spit on while blowing out

his candles. Happy 3rd Birthday Joshua!

And one last pic of Joshua and I...

2007-11-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

Henderson Thanksgiving...

Yesterday we had the Henderson
Thanksgiving at our house and I
didn't take pictures until everyone
was about ready to leave...I forgot
to do this twice now! Walter was
sitting on the fireplace and was
putting on a show for us.

Now you know we are watching you...

This was all an act...pretty entertaining...

2007-11-26T20:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So I realized last night when I was

looking through all of my pictures

that I didn't take any on Thanksgiving

so I hope everyone had a Happy

Thanksgiving. We celebreated at my

parents house with my dad's side of

the family. Steve and I went to see

Grandpa and Grandma Smiley on

Saturday with Lisa, Joshua, Kayla and

my mom aka Grandma! It was good to

see them! On the way back from

Grandpa and Grandma's Steve

dropped me off at the Christmas

parade in downtown T-town! This is

the only picture that I got and it is really

blurry. Ryan is in the middle if you

can see that...

2007-11-26T19:47:00.000-08:00

Rock Chalk Jayhawk go KU!!!

Last Wednesday I got two
tickets to the KU game from
a co-worker and I took Joshua.
If I knew it was going to be
SUCH a big deal I would not
have asked but I was glad that
I did because we had a GREAT
time!

We talked the whole way to the game
and he was so good. He was fascinated
with Baby J and kept asking where
Baby J's mommy was! It was SOOOOO
cute. I hope that he is able to remember
this when he gets older...after all he is
almost 3 and is getting SO BIG!!!

I LOVE KU BASKETBALL!!!

We both sported KU red and his

shirt was too cute. On the back it

said beak 'em hawks. A KU fan at

heart! I love it when he says KU-

the "special Joshua way"

We lasted through the entire first

half and then a few minutes into the

second half. Joshua standing in front

of the Pay Heed all who enter, Beware

of the Phog...

Totally fascinated with the Jayhawk

It was fun to watch him run from one

thing to the next. Of course I was

keeping a very close eye on him Lisa!

He looked at the Big Jayhawk and

said baby J's mommy... We talked

about Baby J the first time we

watched a KU basketball game

together and he just can't get over it!

There was just so much to look at.

He fell asleep on the way home and

then woke up for his mom and dad

once I dropped him off!

2007-11-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

Kayla's 1st birthday...

Saturday was Kayla's 1st birthday
but we celebrated it on Sunday night.
Speaking of birthdays, I went to Buttons
and Bows in Manhattan on Saturday and
met up with Rhys and her mom. Her
birthday is on the same day as Kaylas.
Mom got her this balloon and I think
that was her favorite present!

So Joshua was telling everyone that
it was his party. We decided when
we went shopping that he probably
would NOT understand why Kayla
was getting presents and he wasn't
so we got him a play-doh duffle. We
all played with him with it for a bit
and it was actually really neat. There
are lots of tools to use and then it
goes in a cute little bag.

We got Kayla a walking toy and I
think she liked it. The two pieces in
the back push together for later
and then she can ride on it too. It is a
typical Rebecca and Steve present...
Lots of NOISE!!!

And then on the other end of the spectrum
Lisa got Kayla a quiet book:) It was really
cute!

This hat came with the outfit that
mom gave to Kayla along with a Cheerio
book- It was really cute but I didn't know
there was such a thing...so much to know!
The hat lasted for about 2 seconds!

Bryan Nelson, my sisters husband's
parents are in town for a couple of days,
She got a Dairy Queen cake for Kayla.
It was really pretty.

This boy was EXCITED to eat cake.
He sang to Happy Birthday to Kayla
and it was SOOOOOOOOO cute!

He got to help his sister out and blow
out the candle for her! Way to go
Joshua!

Bite number one...she is thinking about
it...

And it appears that she likes it! I
hope her stomach likes it later!

2007-11-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Then to the after party @ Old Chicago...

Then we all went out to eat. Here is
Walter helping mommy play pool. He
was so cute standing on his tippy toes to
see what was going on.

Walter and Rebecca eating some
fruit snacks. Kids are very cooperative
when you give them yummy snacks!

2007-11-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

Grandpa and Grandma Henderson's 65th...

Sunday we celebrated Grandpa and
Grandma Henderson's 65th Anniversary.
We had an early morning. Kayla's baby
dedication was during first service which
is at 8:00- that is REALLY early for me
but we were there. Then we had breakfast
together. Steve wanted to go to Johnnies
and I didn't really want to so we ended
up dining at McDonalds. After a quick nap
we headed to the reception at the retirement
place they live in now.

Grandma was thrilled to see everyone.

Grandpa Henderson noticed the balloons
when he got there. He couldn't decide
what to wear so with a little assistance
he got dressed and arrived shortly after
the party started.

Here was his grand entrance! Steve

Michelle and Clifton all with Grandpa!

Here is Steve's dad Steve and his mom

Amphai.

Picture time! This was one of the VERY

few pictures that grandpa was actually

looking at the camera!

The Henderson family with Grandpa

and Grandma celebrating this special

day!

I don't know how to say this the

politically correct way so I am just

going to say this. Old people crack

me up. Grandpa opend all his cards

tucked them away and he was ready for

the party to be OVER! I had to take a

picture of it because NO ONE believed

me that he put tucked all the cards in

his pants! Happy 65th Grandpa and Grandma!

2007-11-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

The Winter Project...

The winter project was officially
started last weekend. We are going
to finish our basement and it is
divided up into three phases. This would
be phase one. This is the bedroom that
we are finishing downstairs. There
will be a closet and a window will be
added to make it an "official" bedroom.
I am going to blog this project as we go...

Ryan was over for the evening and
so he helped Steve for a while. The
paint on the wall was already there.
They were working on a frame for
this wall.

This is looking at where the closet
will be. The stairs are to the right
and the entire area will be the closet
that will provide lots of storage. I can't
wait to make progress!

2007-11-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

Halloween...

These "before and after" pictures
are very entertaining... Here is Kayla
before we left to go trick-or-treating

Here is Kayla when we are ready to
go trick-or-treating... She feel asleep
shortly after we left. It was a COLD
night to be out. I slammed my finger
in the car door that night and that
felt really nice!

This is Joshua when we were getting
ready to go. Oh yes, he didn't want
to go. The whole "I guess we won't
go didn't bother him"

After a minor surgery was perfomred
to his costume he decided that he did
want to go. Thinking back it was actually
very entertaining! What a cutie! Later
that night I went to Jerry and Mary's
our old neighbors at our other house
to have a late dinner. It was good to see
them! Mary loves Halloween...she is
just like a little kid.

2007-10-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

Trunk or Treat at TBC...

Sunday night TBC had their Halloween
festivities and Steve and I joined Lisa,
Bryan, and the kids. Joshua is fresh
popcorn and he can tell you that he is
fresh popcorn...he couldn't put his candy
in his bucket so I helped him out with
that. I think he was really proud of his
coustume or liked the attention he got
with all of the nice comments!

And here is the little bunny. Steve
holding Kayla with her ears on and they
stayed on ALL night!

Look at all the sugar I am taking home
mom and dad! LUCKY YOU!!!!!
Taking his costume off was a bit
of a challenge...he didn't want it to
come off and there really isn't a good
way to buckle up with it on. Bryan
finally convinced him that he wanted
to take it off. I can't wait to see the
kids on Wednesday night!

2007-10-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Topeka High Senior Night...

Friday night was Senior Night at
Topeka High. This picture is
really dark but Ryan is the middle
snare at the front of the pack.

The drumline lines up at the beginning
of the game and do a kick off beat. It
is kind of fun...

Ryan comes up to see his
fan club and then ignores us!
We love you too!

Since he didn't want to look at me
I thought I would take a picture of
something was more cooperative!
And it turned out pretty neat!

Ryan was giving a pep talk before
half time. It is neat to see all the kids
circle up!

This is what Ryan would call the
"gay" time of the half time show!
Only because it is not featuring the
line!

I wanted to get a picture of Ryan's
friend on the flag team. I'll get a
print to you to give to her!

Ryan and Tess chilling during the
third quarter. It was a cold night!
I can't believe that Ryan is a senior
it was just the other day that I remember
changing your diapers and many other
things that I will not put in this post:)

2007-10-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Mexico 2007...

We went back to the Playa del Carmen
area October 15th-20th. The weather
was beautiful the entire time that
we were there...actually it was hotter
then I was expecting it to be!

The beach was beautiful and it
was not crowded. There were
hundreds of extra chairs!

Every room had a tub...and Steve
wonders why I am anxious to get
started with the bathroom down
stairs... I would live in this if I could!
It's not so much fun when you are
nice and toasty!

This was one of the MANY patio areas
by one of the MANY pools. I think there
were six pools AND the beach at this
resort. It was wonderful. We basically
had the pool all to ourselves.

Look what housekeeping was up to...

We went into town to do some shopping
That was an experience. We signed up
for a shopping trip that was to be from
3:30-8:30...we didn't get there until 5 and
then the tour guy "mexico" that is what
he said his name was told us to meet
at Sr. Frogs at 7:30- I WAS NOT HAPPY
as that seriously cut into my shopping
time. We ended up saying "screw it" to
Mexico and took a cab back to the resort.
That was a fun cab ride experiencing speeds
at over 80+ mph! You have to remember
that it is MEXICO:)

We ate at McDonalds because we
wanted to grab something quick.
Steve was disappointed that they
didn't have the dollar menu in Mexico!
It was the most disgusting cheeseburger
I have ever had and the fries were nice
and cold. And they say that is American
food...

The was the entry at the resort that
we stayed at. It was very massive
and quite impressive. They were
doing some repairs while we were
there and had people painting at the
top of this...that was scary to watch!

There was a look out on the top
of the building in the last picture so
we climbed the stairs to the top to
get this picture! It was so beautiful!

Look at our toes!

Taking a walk on the beach...this

looks like postcard but it's NOT!

It is just that pretty!

There was no one down here at night

so we tried for some time to get

a picture of us using the timer on the

camera... You get the point!

This is the resort at night. Everything

was glowing there...all that water

you are looking at is one of the 6 pools

that I was talking about!

Steve bought some Jolly Ranchers

for me and I thought the price tag

was funny so I took a picture... We

had a great trip and can't wait to go

back!

2007-10-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Where is the time going...

It was SOOOOOOOOOO good to

have Brian and Jennie home to

celebrate Brian's birthday. If I

haven't said it enough I miss you

sooooooooooooooooo much!

Brotherly L-O-V-E :)

This is when everyone else isn't

taking a picture because they will

not be serious. The two little boys

aren't so little anymore!

The three younger kids... how is

it that the midget got stuck in the

middle???

And then almost all of the kids...

we are missing Steve the oldest

brother. They just recently had

their second child...another boy!

Ryan, you know that this picture is

going to show up again sometime

right... This was freaking funny...

dad has some hot glasses!

Watching this little boy play on the

computer is very entertaining...

the best is when his tongue is

sticking out from concentrating sooo

hard! This little boy isn't so little any

more either... That must mean we are

all getting older!

I thought that this picture of Ryan

and Joshua was really cute. Brian,

it was great to have you home last

weekend! Hope you had a Happy

Birthday! We love you!

2007-10-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

Homecoming at Houstonia...

Sunday was Homecoming at my
Grandparents church in Houstonia.
It was SOOOOOOOO good to see
Grandpa and Grandma. Grandma
had a decorative shirt on and I
told her it was hot...mom reminded me
that she wouldn't know what that
actually meant. It made me laugh
as that probably wasn't the best
descriptive word to use...

Here are the mums that were on
Grandpa and Grandma's porch.
They are so beautiful!

2007-09-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

Arts and Craft time...

I absolutely LOVE this time of year!
This weekend kicked off the first of the
arts and craft fairs. It was in Hillsboro
Kansas. Long story short but we added
an additional 80 miles to our trip because
I told Steve the wrong exit. 295 and 259 are
two very different things! This was the find
of the day. We actually found this at
Art in the Park which was in Marion Kansas.
I LOVE THIS!!!

I love this stuff! The lady put it
together and added stars to it. So
creative...why can't I think of things
like this!

I'm really liking the star theme if
you haven't picked up on that yet...
I'm not sure if I am going to keep the
stars here or find a new home for them.

More stuff... We met Sean, Rhys and
Rhys mom there. They got there early
and it was raining really hard so I guess
we timed that about right! It was cold and
60 degrees but we are troopers!

Getting ready for Christmas...The
best part of the day was when we got
home. I have a snowman that lights up
and I was determined to fix it. It didn't
light up anymore. We ended up taking
every single light off the stand of lights
and about half way through I plugged it
in and it didn't work. When Steve put in
the last buld and plugged it in, it glowed.
We were both pretty excited about that!

This little thing has flower pots in
it with 3 stars! How could I pass this
up???

I wasn't sure where I was going to
put this. It was in cream and blue.
Glad that I picked this one because
it is perfect on this wall! Again, I LOVE
this time of year.

Steve was looking for a box to go on
top of the refrigerator and this was
just the one! It will be perfect to put
the bread in.

The old sign above the door had the
same saying but it was green and
I didn't like the "Christmas" look
after I painted the kitchen red. That
was one of the things that I was on a mission
to find! We also went to the French Market
today and it was a total bust. When I leave
an arts and craft fair with ONE thing in
hand it is pretty bad! Next week is Cider
Days and we talked to the window lady (Rhy
I know you know who I am talking about)
and they are going to have a better selection
so I will pick out another window this weekend.
The following weekend is the Pumpkin Patch and
Fall Festival in Overland Park. That will conclude
the festivities for the 2007 year!

2007-09-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day! !!

This was our Labor Day project...
The tree in the front yard needed
some attention so here is the before
and after!

Now it looks all pretty! We are trying
to decide if we should take out two of the
bushes in the front...I have no idea what
they are and they don't look all that
great...maybe next weekend!

2007-08-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

A night with the kids...

The Saturday before last, Joshua and
Kayla spent the night at Aunt Bem and
Steve's house! We had SOOOOO much
fun I can't wait to do it again! We set up
the tent in the basement so we played in
it for a little while that night and then
Joshua and I slept in it later that night!

Joshua checking all the walls out.
He is such a curious and active little
boy. We were ready for bed at 9:30:)

And Kayla had fun too I think...
She was busy climbing all over. She
is so cute and looks like her aunt!

We went to the mall to go to the
cavity/candy store! Joshua took
his sweet little time picking out
"my candy" I didn't take the time
to enroll in "Unfolding a tank of a
stroller" before Lisa and Bryan took
off on their date...so I carried Kayla.
It was a quick trip! Then we got home
and it was bath time...

I made a "big" bath with bubbles for
Joshua and he played in there for
a long time. It was fun to watch him
"swim" and "turn over" and clap the
bubbles out of his hands.

Still playing in the tub! Kayla took
a little and very short bath. She wasn't
in the mood for a bath...and when Kayla
isn't in the mood...it just isn't going to
happen.

ALL DONE! Is this picture totally
cute or what?!?!?!? We had so much
fun. It was my sister Lisa and her husband
Bryan's anniversary. So when would you
like to go out again? They are going to
Wisconsin for the week and I know that
I am going to go through Joshua and Kayla
w/d. I mean Nelson family w/d! Hope
you guys have a great trip!

2007-08-15T21:56:00.001-07:00

Sunday afternoon at the lake...

Sunday afternoon Ryan, Katie, Steve
and I went to the lake. It has been
like 150 degrees outside and it was
even hot on the water if you weren't
constantly getting wet...

Studley Ryan! I like you trunks!

After we finished at the lake we
ate at Subway and Ryan got EXTRA
mayo on his sandwich. The sandwich
artist put half of the bottle on his
sandwich. Ryan thought he did it because
his dad is a cop...

Here is just SOME of the mayo that
Ryan took off his sandwich... Try and
stay cool this week!

2007-08-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

Kenny Chesney Concert...

Last Thursday I went to the Kenny
Chesney concert in Kansas City. Pat Green
opened the concert. It was outside and
it was HOT. Rhys was originally going
to go to the concert but had a conflict so
I was able to go.

Pat Green was great! He was
dying out there with the heat!

Sugarland performed next and I knew
a couple of their songs. I need to listen
to more country music...

And then came the man...Kenny
Chesney. I realized at the concert
that I am an old school Kenny
Chesney fan. There were a lot of
new songs that I did not know. I guess
he has put out a record since "She
thinks my tractors sexy"...

This was the only "good" close up
picutre that I got. We stood the entire
concert. Getting out of the parking
lot was a different story. There was
not a single person directing people
where to go. We ended up going through
private property and merging onto a
road...now that is country!

2007-08-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

Red Hot Varner/Nelson/Henderson Garage Sale...

Oh, look here...the three items that
sat here for 2 days and didn't get
taken to Goodwill! We had a garage
sale on Thursday and Friday and
Thursday was the BIG day. I failed
to take pictures that day so you only
get to see the "treasures" that were
left...

Thursday was Mom's birthday
she was a trooper. I had to work
and was feeling VERY sick so I didn't
get to spend very much time at the
garage sale.

Just for the record...These chairs
did not come from around the
dining table in my house:) Just as
someone bought two of the chairs
a lady wanted to buy all four...so
two chairs found a home at Goodwill!

This was even after extra merchandise
was added to the garage sale! It was
another successful garage sale. It appears
that the rabbit was still up for sale when
I took this picture. Steve was surprised that
no one had bought it so he marked UP
the price and a lady walked in and bought
the stupid thing!

2007-08-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

Jackson County 4-H Fair Parade...

Joshua can't wait for the parade to
begin...

Kayla couldn't wait either...

Now this is what I call a float...
Two old ladies in pink sitting in an
extremly small cart pulled by a trike...

Varco Motors float... and back behind
there was an entry from Varco West.

I was surprised that I wasn't asked
to ride with Ryan... No hard feelings:)

2007-07-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

Float Trip...

And we thought we were going to take
the car... This weekend we went floating
with Sean and Rhys and some other
people that we had the pleasure of meeting.
We floated on the Niangua River and had
a good time. Sean and Rhys saved our
marriage by not allowing us to float in the
same canoe:) BUT before we got there we
had to stop in a peculiar town...

Sweet mother...only in Missouri
will you find a town by the name of
Peculiar. Rhys and I laughed about
this for a LONG time. Long enough for
Steve to put a time limit on when we
could say the word Peculiar:)

Oh, look...it is a peculiar bank:)

We got there right before dark and

started to set up the tents only to

realize that the tent that Sean and

Rhys were going to let us borrow

didn't have the poles with it. Just

a small problem. So into Wal-Mart

we went and now we are the proud

owners of a tent! After all we are the

camping type right?????

Another proud tent owner. It

survived the night but we should

have bought one that had air

conditioning:)

Nothing like eating pickles for

breakfast! We had sandwiches

on the river and they were SOOOO

good. We had a good time and we

look forward to doing this again. In

the mean time if anyone needs to

borrow a tent I know someone that

has one...

2007-07-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Summer Fun...

Tonight we went to DQ with Lisa, Brian,
Joshua and Kayla. This little one doesn't
miss out on too much... Aunt Bem helped
him eat his icecream cone and then he
kissed the door at DQ...you can only imagine
what that looked like!

Lisa gave Kayla a bite of her blizzard
and she made the funniest face. Hope
the peanuts don't bother her too much
tomorrow:)

Steve is Joshua's best friend that has
money. Steve always makes sure to have
some change in his pocket so he can put
it in his piggy bank. I aksed Joshua if he
was going to buy the icecream for us
tonight and he said yes and left his money
at home!

Summer doesn't get any better then
this. Joshua knows where Aunt Bem
works at so I was asking him tonight
where he banks at and he told me
Commerce Bank. Then I asked him who
the best bank in Topeka was and he said
Commerce Bank. I need to do a commercial
and pitch it to Duane Fager. I need to do it
soon because he can't say CoreFirst which is
the new name of our bank effective September
4th. We are expanding into other markets and
in order to do that we have to change our name.
Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

2007-07-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

Derby Night #2...

Tonight I got to drive in the derby...
The only problem was that I could only
go forward...there was no reverse left
in the car. Nobody wanted to hit me.
That was of course after everyone told
me that everyone gangs up on female
drivers...That was the first time that I was
really scared to do this... #311 was smashed
up pretty good so I thought that you would
enjoy seeing how some of the cars were.

While this car didn't earn a trophy
I would give him a trophy for creativity!

Nothing quite like a good old white
trash derby!

#13 had a good year! I think mom
was relieved to know that the car
would not start thus eliminating us
I mean Ryan from doing the roll over

So here is the damage. I was glad
that Ryan drove the second race. It
is always a good time to end when you
are ahead and will be able to walk at
work the next day... I got a new nickname
at work, crash henderson:)

It took quite a beating when it was
all said and done!

That would be a hard front hit!

Here is the damage from the side.

Brian, these pics are for you!

I think this car could use a butt job!

And that's all folks! I was disappointed

that we didn't get a trophy for you mom!

2007-07-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Derby Night #1... and more to come...

Change of plans...Ryan drove tonight
and if he can get the car going again I will
be driving tomorrow night! EXCITING!!!

My little bro in action...

There were about 4 firefighters per
participant...

Ryan gave some good hits. I have it
on DVD and can't wait to share it with you!

It is a bit difficult to run into people
when you can't see where you are going...

It was a total rush and I wasn't even
driving! We are still working on that
trophy for you mom!

It was a good race and he almost
made it to the very end!

This is what you call a messed up
rear!

Still pushing around!

I like the caution that he painted on

the back of the car. He was able to

see it himself!

#13 waiting for the race to end...three

away from qualifying:( We had a lot

of fun there tonight and I am ready

to do it again tomorrow!

2007-07-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Chi-Town...

This picture was on accident because
I am still learning to use my camera but
it turned out really neat I thought... Ryan
and I went to Chicago this last weekend
to see Brian.

Brian took us to his store after we
got to Chicago.

They are in the process of re-shelving
which includes a new look. I was
impressed with how it looked.

Ryan had a good time playing with
the scanner gun:)

This is their training lab...only a trainer
could appreciate this! We called it a
night and went home to get some sleep!

On Saturday we ate at Popeyes and
you can only imagine Ryans comments...
It is not on his top 10 fav places to eat!

Then we hurried to make the train
into Chicago. Taking a train ride with
Brian and Ryan is a real experience!
See below...

We have a little this...

And of course it wouldn't be any

fun if they didn't fight with each other.

The story of our day was "just a little

late..." While we were waiting for the

speed boat ride on Lake Michigan we

went to the "Fun House" And it was SOOO

much fun. Can't you tell???? There were

some kids that were talking about trying to

get out in 30 minutes so we really didn't know

what to expect. 10 minutes later we were out and

that was following the "get lost again" sign:) I am

not kidding...

This was inside the "fun house"

The sports teams of Chicago

I took this picture while we were walking

around on the Navy Pier.

My brothers... They are looking more

and more alike every day!

Ryan was too cool to get in this

picture:)

Looking at the city while out on the lake

This is the other side of the Nave Pier...=

Brian bought tickets for a speedboat

ride and we were expecting just that.

When it was all said and done we called

it the slow boat. I guess if you haven't

ever been on a boat it would seem fast...

We were tired of walking around

all day so we got a cab...again another

experience with Brian and Ryan.

We stopped at ESPN Zone and the

wait to eat was an hour so we took a

pager and walked to NikeTown. The pager

started going off not because our table was

ready but because we were too far away

from ESPN Zone. Brian felt like a theif

so we returned and were seated shortly

after that...

NikeTown...you have to go just to

"experience" it. We decided to hit up

the Nike Outlet the next day.

This was on the floor at NikeTown.

I took this picture from the third

floor so I was just happy that you could

read it!

Anything to make a buck:)

This was on display at ESPN Zone. It

was really cool to see.

Yep that it right...7,801 gum wrappers

to make that!

After we discovered that we would not

be making the 8:00 train we walked all

the way back to the Navy Pier.

Our original plan was to walk back

and rent a 4 person bike and ride

around until 10:45 until our train was

ready to leave. They stopped renting

bikes like 10 minutes before we got there.

So we decided to ride the wheel. Then we

saw the line and decided that we would

miss the 11:15 train if we waited around.

It was crazy.

So instead we went to Millennium Park.

I was having problems with my camera

so it didn't turn out very well. It was

neat to look at after dark!

Ryan was having a great time...can't

you tell?????

And here is the perfect example of

the picture that you don't "work" at

to turn out and it totally does...go figure!

The bean...one of those things you

just have to see...

This water fountain thing was really

cool. It changed colors and looked

like bricks but I sure it wasn't.

This was the other water fountain

that was really neat to see at night!

We were ready to head back at 8:00

so you can only imagine how ready

were were to catch this train at 11:15:)

This boy just doesn't run out of energy!

We laughed SOOOOOOOOOOO much!

This seat was for Ryan...

Brian grilled on Sunday for us. It

was yummy...Ryan was happy that

we didn't go back to Popeyes:)

Ryan was a tired boy. He had some

late nights before we left...

We went to the Premium Outlets

on Sunday and had a good time there.

Ryan especially enjoyed the walking.

We only had two hours so we power

shopped through 120 stores...

And then the weekend was over and

we had to come home:( It was so much

fun to spend time with Brian. I miss you

so much! We hurried to the airport to

almost miss a flight that had been delayed

to hurry up and board to stand in another

LONG line to leave late and get home late and

start the week off on a good note. It was worth

every second of it!

2007-07-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Derby beauty...

Ryan was up until 4 AM last night
working on the car. The paint job
rocks! He did an excellent job! All
he is missing is a swim suit:)

One mean beast. We practiced
driving the car tonight. It was SOOOOO
much fun! I also practiced getting in
the car as Ryan informed me that I was
not doing it the right way...race car style!

The top is painted as well! Watch out
everyone #13 is about to kick butt!

Only two of the four wheels are painted
orange. It was making too much of
a mess! Ryan...get some sleep tonight!
We are leaving tomorrow to spend the
weekend in Chicago with Brian!

2007-07-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

The double R derby team...

This isn't roller derby...this is demolition
derby and we are getting ready! I am devoting
time every day practicing driving in reverse!
We are sporting a Ford Tempo again
this year!

Ryan taking out the back seat of the
car. We are going to use this as "padding"
by the driver seat...safety first!

This is the gas tank...Ryan removed it
from underneath the car and I helped
him put in tonight. The car fired right
up and backfired as well:) If that doesn't
get you going I am not sure what will.

Ryan putting the batteries in the car.
This was quite a procedure but I was really
impressed with how he did it! Oh, for those
of you that don't know...I will be driving this
beast next Wednesday night at the demolition
derby! I am driving the first round and then
Ryan will be taking over from there. We want
to win a trophy for mom!

2007-07-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

And I wonder why I am frustrated??? Today in training I spent over 2 hours focusing on customer service and how important it is in the financial industry. Our products are essentially the same products that any other bank offers so the people that provide the products and service must clearly distinguish us from our competitors through our service. With that being said, as I was balancing the checkbook this evening I noticed a charge from this restaurant was significantly MORE $5.00 to be exact then what I signed on the dotted line for. Giving the restuarant room for error, I called to explain the situation. NO ONE SPOKE ENGLISH OR KNEW WHAT A MANAGER WAS!!!! So I got in the car and drove there. An appology or explanation was NOT given. So they gave me my $5 back and walked away. I proceeded to walk out the door but then I started thinking, what is wrong with this picture??? Solving El Agave's customer service issues will not be on my task list anytime in the near future. Ironically, the original tip was gratuity of 30%. This is coming from over 4 years of serving expereince but what more do you expect??? So I guess this has something to do with the fact of why I am frustrated today:) And by the way, I am NOT recommending you visit El Gave's anytime soon unless you plan on paying with cash!

2007-07-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th officially...

We celebrated the 4th at Lisa and
Bryan's house and had a wonderful
fireworks display. Joshua lined all
of the fireworks up on the driveway
ALL BY HIMSELF!!!

Joshua helping Ryan light his
sparkler bomb...just kidding. Ryan
did that all on his own. He found that
wrapping it in aluminum foil was very
advantageous! Isn't that right Mom???

The night wouldn't be complete
without mom's favorite...a pretty
fountain.

Just having some fun with my camera!

I hope that you had a happy and

safe 4th of July!

2007-07-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Pre 4th of July...

Since we are quite the pyros... we
wanted to help Joshua celebrate
early. Actually Steve had to work
on the 4th so we got some small
fireworks to share with him.

Joshua especially enjoyed the
"bue" smoke bombs. He just liked
lighting them and then was ready to
move on to the next one...quite
humorous!

Oh, another blue smoke bomb:)

Of course they are short and sweet!

And of course it would not be

complete without a chicken laying

an egg...

2007-07-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

A lot of freaking people...

The last week in June, my brother
Steve and his wife Freya spent the
week in Kansas. This is my nephew
Max. He is a tough little cookie. It was
fun to see Max play with Joshua and
how suddenly every toy became "mine".

Going back to my original statement
there were a ton of people...when
you go to a family buffet and take
up two entire tables and look around
to see your immediate siblings and their
kids it can be out of body experience! Of
course it was good to have my brother
Brian home as well. He drove back with
Steve and Freya and flew back on Sunday.

Well, we don't have to wonder if
Kayla has personality now do we???

2007-06-17T23:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day...

In memory of father's day I am
going to make my dad proud of
what I learned today... I bet you
can't wait:) First off, we hinted
at going to the lake today at lunch.
Dad's way of saying no was "we will
get the jet skis ready this week" Here
we are a few hours later!

Ryan out on the water doing some
crazy turns that of course I would
never do... Ok, so lesson #1, when
the jet ski is taking on water that
is normally an indication to get it
off the lake. And that we did...about
30 minutes later!

So Steve and I are working on a
flower box in the back yard and I
want to do a wild flower theme...
Driving home, after strinking out
at the lake we noticed "free" flowers
and they are exactly what I had in mind...

Ryan, don't you know that crack
kills...you will have to enlarge this
one to see what I mean. And he
wasn't doing this on purpose! So
away we went back to Holton to learn
lesson #2 and #3 of the day... Lesson
#2, don't leave a jump box next to
a bunch of white trash fishermen
because when you forget to pick it
up and go back later to get it...it will
be gone! Lesson #3, what we thought
were sunflowers are actually brown
eyed susans...I did not know that. We
got a full lecture on all types of wildflowers
when we went back to the lake to get the
jump box. We also were educated on Red
eyed Rondas...or was that something that
we made up???

Here is my stunt man Ryan- his
tricks are really hot! I could
watch him for hours and have
a big grin on my face the whole
time...I know that you can't imagine
that...

Doing that thing... I wonder if I can
take lessons??? This is right up my
alley

Take note of the number of wheels
that are actually touching the ground...
I couldn't get a shot when it was higher
off the ground. It takes skills to have
4 wheels and only use one of them:)

Ryan taking me for a "slow" ride...
right. There are only two speeds
for him. Fast and I can't close my
mouth because we are going so fast
fast...good times.

On the way home there was a
beautiful rainbow so I jumped in the
back of the car and captured it as
best as I could.

Actually I am just trying to get
some cool pictures like Rhy has...
So as you can see I am more educated
at the end of the day then I was when
I got out of bed. That should make
a dad proud right??? Happy Father's
Day Dad!

2007-06-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

A wild hair...

Most of the projects are as simple
as that. I get a wild hair up you know
where and the kitchen goes from yellow
to red! I was very pleased with how it
turned out.

I saw these mustard stars and the
wheels started turning... Stephen
helped me hang the decor. I made
dad proud and made a guide with
a paint stirrer to get it all even:)

Yep, it is ALL red. I was looking for
something to "pop" and I think I
accomplished that!

2007-06-17T22:30:00.001-07:00

Kristen and Timothy's Wedding...

This weekend my cousin Kristen
got married.

Grandpa and Grandma Varner looked
great with their coordinating attire!

My dad and his brother Robert

Stephen and me...

Ryan and me...never a dull moment

between the two of us:)

My sister Lisa and me- can I say two

hotties...I think I can!

This was someones brilliant idea...

Let's take all the great grandkids that

are overdue for a nap and make them

take a picture with great grandma and

grandpa. Just joking it really is neat

to see all of these kids together.

Emily, my cousin, the beautiful

bride and me. It was so good to

see everyone:) Kristen looked

amazing!

Two tan girlies!

This was too precious to not include...

she is looking more and more like

her aunt everyday...

And here we have the three Stooges...

I would love to spend the day in a

kids head just to see what they are

thinking...

Best of luck to you Kristen and Timothy!

2007-06-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a while...

I could say that I have been lazy
and not updated my blog and I guess
that would be correct. The battery
died in my camera so I have some
catching up to do. This was the Spring
Fling at TBC. Brian was home for the
weekend and so he rode the train with
Joshua. I miss you Brian!!!

Stephen and Joshua chillin' in
the shade

Kayla wearing Aunt Bems "white
girls rag" you look HOT!!!

Kayla in a more age appropriate
hat... I like to have fun:)

This was the Sunday following the
Spring Fling. Steve helped Joshua
fill his pool up. This boy turns red
really quick

2007-05-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day...

One of our Memorial Day
projects... Why this door
was ever painted this color
is beyond me!

Pretty in Cha-koe-lot...the
paint was still wet! Nothing
like a before and after... I
remembered to do it this time!

Stephen and Joshua playing at
mom and dad's. We went there
for Memorial Day!

Joshua and Aunt Bem with a "good"
smile...

Bryan (my bro-in-law) with the
famous Joshua and yes, another
"good" smile! We will work on the
eyes next...

Then to the fun part...how this
doesn't tip over is one of the wonders
of the world...

Um, yea...this one is to make momma
proud! Good thing the grandparents
don't have a computer:)

Andrew came over and was "practicing"
with Ryan:) It appears that it would
be a little difficult to balance this with
both feet in that position!

Ridin' on two...one of Ryan's favorite
things to do in the drive way! I tried
to zoom in and save this pic but it didn't
let me...sorry about that Ryan!

Andrew ridin' on two and standing
up at the same time. Your boots are
really sexy!

Once upon a time Aunt Bem went
for a ride. Please don't get me muddy
was her only reply! Getting muddy
would be the least, how about getting
dumped in a freaking creek!

Once I realized that I was ok, of
course we died laughing!!! Then
Ryan thought it would be nice to
ride on two wheels with me behind
him! Good times:) Hope everyone
had a Happy Memorial Day...back to
work tomorrow, can't wait!

2007-05-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

University of Kansas Graduation...

Brian and Jennie after graduation
Jennie was one tired girl!

That's my Jayhawk!!!

If you look really close you can see
Jennie. She is the one that is talking
on the phone...she was talking to
Brian so we could see her...

Jennie is behind the slap &%*$&
that is taking his own picture:)

It was a really neat ceremony...

for everyone that stayed!

Walking the hill..a KU Tradition!

All of the graduates that stayed

for the ceremony!

The KU Flag and the American Flag...

it gave me goose bumps!

Brian and his sis-nice chins there

Rebecca!

Stephen and Rebecca after graduation

It was a beautiful day. The weather

was just right... I picked out the

WRONG shoes to wear. I failed to

realize that there would be a 10

mile hike to the stadium:) I managed

to make and break a blister in 3 hours

flat! Anyway, Congratulations Jennie!

We are so proud of you!

2007-05-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

Happy (late) Mothers Day!!!

Mom and Kayla at Lisa and Bryan's
celebrating Mother's Day!

Brian and Joshua playing...

It looks like Joshua was throwing
a fit but he was just smiling for me!

Over here Joshua:) Trying oh so
hard to smile.

Brian, Jennie, and me! It was so
good to see Brian again! I miss him
so much!

Brian and Jennie at our house...

My irises finally bloomed!

Brian and his sis...

For mothers day we helped tear

out the bushes in front of the

house. This was plan #1...

Apparentaly you don't get enough

traction sitting on it like a normal

person would... But then again, we

were pulling out bushes...

Joshua and Kayla stayed inside.

Joshua is not a fan of the ATV...

This my friend is true love. You

could not pay me enough money

to stick my head in that bush to

attach a chain. We saw snake skins

and lizards along with 400 balls

that found a home in these bushes.

2007-05-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

Boys will be boys...

Sunday night we went to mom and
dad's. Ryan and Andrew rode ATV's
I went along but did not participate
in the mudd portion...I thought
this picture was really cool. Ryan
was getting ready to go down a
hill that is literally 90 degrees-
that type of riding is not for me!

On his way down...this picture
does not even begin to show how
steep this hill is!

Ryan and Andrew talking about
this next jump...right through mudd
and water!

Ryan made it- he is in the middle
of all that water...

I think he was a little suprised that
he actually made it!

Andrew made it too! These boys
are crazy!

Ops! I couldn't resist capturing
this...Andrew got a little stuck or
should I say upside down:)

Then the boys found a huge snapping
turtle. Andrew picked it up. He
wanted to know if mom knew how
to make turtle stew...

Never a dull moment!

2007-04-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

Henderson Birthday Gathering...

Ryan stopped by to see me today
and made my day! I was hoping
to take pictures of him before
prom but he "forgot"... I love it
when he stops by!

Clifton's birthday was today, Big
Steve's birthday was Thursday,
Grandma's birthday is tomorrow,
and Aunt Marcia's birthday was
earlier in the month so we celebrated
ALL of the birthday's today. Ryan
got there in time to help me sing...
That was fun!

There was a little miscommunication
I was told to order a cake but big
Steve already ordered a cake and
Michelle brought a cake so we had
PLENTY of cake!

I think that Grandma had a special
day. Her life has changed so much
and she forget so much so it is a
blessing to see a smile.

Walter was playing with some
toys this afternoon. He is a cutie!

Look at those eyes and hair!
Happy birthday everyone!!!

2007-04-29T14:41:00.000-07:00

A lesson on Fire Hydrants...

This hydrant is NOT properly
marked...

This hydrant is properly marked
No further explanation necessary...