Madelyns turns 7!

Madelyn Lilly Eidsness born on 9/19/05 in Omaha NE at Methodist Hospital.  She is all girl!  She loves to wear dresses.  She enjoys ballet class, dolls and barbies.  Here she is dressed and ready for school.  She helped me make her birthday treats which were chocolate dipped pretzels rolled in heath bar and sprinkles.

 This pictures says it all!  This is Madelyn on her 3rd birthday.  She received this shirt as a gift and its so true!  She loves to talk and has always been our "Little Miss Chatterbox"! 


 

Owen's first day of Preschool

Owen started his second year of preschool today.  He goes on M-W-F from 8:30-11:15am

1st day of school 2012

Lauren- 5th grade.  Mrs. Roth

Jillian-3rd grade.  Mrs. Fitzsimmons

Madelyn-1st grade.  Mrs. Hacecky

Lincoln school.... Here we come!

Summer 2012

July 4th celebration at Grandpa Cliff's farm. 

 

 Madelyn played softball for team "First Dakota"

Will was her coach

Jillian played softball for the" Fury" 

Lauren played for the "Shamrocks".  This was her first year on a traveling team.

Owen completed "Safety Town"

We all spent lots of time spraying weeds and watering!

The summer went way too fast but we sure enjoyed it!  We had record breaking heat this summer so it was a great summer to have a pool.  We loved following the kids softball games, playing "hot box" in the front yard, going out for ice cream, riding our bikes and so much more!  We ended our last day of summer with our annual "Back to School Supper"  We enjoyed a great supper and set our goals for the school year.  We always look forward to this tradition.

 

Our guiding verse for the school year:

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  2 Samuel 16:7

Looking forward to the first day of school tomorrow morning!

Black Hills 2012

We just returned from a great trip to the Beautiful Black Hills.  This year we went with both sets of parents as well.  We stayed at the Pulmer Gulch KOA/logdge.  Its a campground and Hotel with lots of great amenities.  My parents set up their camper and the rest of us stayed up at the hotel.  We had a great week!  Here are just a few of the highlights. 

The kids and the grandpas enjoyed a few games of softball.  I wish I could have got a picture of Grandpa Paul's diving and rolling catch he performed!

Here are the cowboys and cowgirls sizing up their horses before a trail ride at the Circle B Ranch.

                                                   All saddled up and ready to ride!

                 Owen wasn't old enough for the trail ride but enjoyed his time on Buckshot the pony.

                                                       My mom panning for gold

Old fashioned Chuck wagon dinner and entertainment.

Will gave me these flowers in celebration of our 14 year anniversary while on the trip.  We came across a wood carver that made these out of wood shavings.  My kind of flowers.... the kind I can't kill!  

This is the hunting cabin in the Hills you sometimes hear me referring to.  As you can see its not much to look at, but the view is spectacular!  I hear the hunting is pretty good as well.

The view from the porch.  On a side note, this is the area where Will and I were engaged while on a hike 15 years ago.

We have a great swimming hole we love to visit called "Cascade Falls".  The shallow areas are crystal clear and it has little water falls and great areas to jump in as seen here.

Not bad for a bunch of old guys :)

Grandma Darlene with the girls while looking for pretty rocks to take home as souvenirs. 

After all the fun we had, the grandpas needed a little nap by the camp site.  I Wish I had more pictures of the campsite.  My parents were wonderful camping hosts.  We had great food and smores by the campfire at night.  It was a great little vacation!  We are so blessed to have both set of parents able and willing to take vacations with us.  We made lots of memories!

Mom's Last Day!

Today marks the last day of my mom working for the American Cancer Society.  Notice I did not refer to this as her "Retirement Day" .  If you know my mom she prefers to look at it a bit differently.  She is not sure what she wants to do in this next phase of her life, but I can assure you she will keep busy :)  My brother and I did buy her a Kindle just in case she wants to take a few minutes to relax and enjoy! 

My mom has always given 110% to whatever she does. Before this job, she was a Nursing Home Administrator and worked at Avera Brady Memorial Home for many years.   She then decided to switch gears and has since worked for the American Cancer Society in community relations and fundraising for over 10 years. If you have been to a Relay for Life event in her area or bought a bouquet of daffodils then she probably had a lot to do with it.   She is very humble, so I am not sure of how many awards she has earned or what they even mean,  but her office shelves are full.  She is a Registered Nurse and has her Masters Degree so who knows where her next adventure will take her. 

Here we are at her party celebrating her years of service at the American Cancer Society offices in Sioux Falls.  My brother could not make it home from Kansas City so he sent her the flowers she is holding. 

Omaha Visit

Here I am with my dear friend Jill Christo during a recent visit to Omaha.  As most of you know we spent 4 years in Omaha while Will completed his Radiology Residency at UNMC.  Will and I can both say it was some of the best years of our life.
 I knew if I was going to be a stay at home mom with very young children and have a husband that worked very long hours that I would need a good friend.  God put Jill right across the street from me.  We met out on my front porch and became instant friends.  She had 6 month old twins and I had 18 month old Lauren.  By the time we left Omaha we each had 3 children under the age of 5.  1 year later we would each add another baby to the mix.
 We spent almost every week day together.  Most of our time was spent in our drive ways watching our kids on their ride on toys or at the neighborhood park.  We went through tons of blow up pools trying to keep cool in the summers. 
Life was simple back then.  We didn't have calendars we followed other then maybe an occasional outing to the zoo or children's museum.  If Will was home on a Saturday we would load up the kids in the double stroller and head to Panera bread for our favorite "Cinnamon Crunch" bagels and a coffee.  If Will had a day off you would find him playing with the kids or sitting on the deck reading from his text books.(He ALWAYS had a book!) I don't miss that at all :)   
We still strive to live a simple life, but times are much different now with kids in activities and various other commitments.  We wouldn't change a thing of course, but we are so grateful for our time in Omaha and the wonderful friendships we made and still have!

 14614 Grand Ave, Omaha NE.  We lived in Northwest Omaha at approx 144th and Maple.  It was a great little house. 

L to R  Courtney, Madelyn, Jillian, Owen, Drew, Ian, Lauren and Sydney.  Enjoying some time at the old neighborhood park.

Red Robin has a special place in our hearts.  It happened to be near our house and we found ourselves eating there quite often.  They always gave you a free burger and ice cream sundae on your birthday so we literally celebrated every single persons birthday at this restaurant for 4 straight years.  We even had the grandparents on the mailing list so they could enjoy a free burger on their birthday as well.  

Cheers to wonderful friends and priceless memories.