Kansas Week 4

The final few days of our trip was pretty busy as well. We started off Sunday getting ready for Patti's sister's family coming over for Sunday lunch. It was definitely a full house by the time we got both of Bill and Connie's kids families over as well as Kevin's cousin Vince from the Kent side. We ate Italian food to our hearts content. It was a blast being able to visit and see how much all the kids had grown. It was my first time getting to see Jamie and Tony's new baby Derek so I was is baby heaven!

After everyone left Kevin and I took a spin around Lake Shawnee on James' moped. That thing was pretty awesome and it was perfect for taking in all the scenery. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with Kevin's brothers and enjoying our last bit of time together.


Monday was mostly spent running last minute errands around town. Kevin stopped by my parents house to say goodbye to the kids since his flight was leaving earlier than mine the next day. Afterward we headed back to the Kent's to enjoy one last dinner. Naturally there was ping pong to follow (the table was a gift for Kevin's Dad's birthday) and card games. I eventually left to head back to my parents house since I was staying the night over there. I still had a lot of my stuff from the last couple of weeks over there and I wanted to take the kids to Laura's in the morning so I could say goodbye to Laura.

Hailie ended up being sick and stayed home from school Tuesday which I must admit I sort of enjoyed. She hung out in my room watching t.v. while I packed and we got to talk. We picked up Seth a little early from school and once Mom got home from work we were pretty much ready to head to the airport. We did take a few last minute pictures.

This one is a favorite of mine. There is a short story behind the stuffed animals so I will fill you in quickly. I am holding Puffy which is my Puffalump that I got when I was 4 years old. She was my favorite stuffed animal and I slept with her every night. Wanting to find a Puffalump for Hailie I searched ebay for awhile until I found a pink version in perfect condition. I immediately bought her and gave her to Hailie my first night in town. She named her Sophy and now loves her also. Seth thought that was pretty cool and in talking to Mom we remembered that Cheryl used to have a Puffalump named Michael and we were pretty sure he was in the basement somewhere. She never took to Michael the way I did Puffy so he was in pretty good shape too. Once we found him, Seth fell in love with him so now we all had Puffalumps. They pretty much slept with them every single night.


Here are Seth's Chuck Taylors which he is obcessed with. He wanted to take a picture of them and I thought it was pretty adorable.


It was hard saying goodble to everyone especially after having been around for so long. It was time though and I will never forget the weeks I got to spend with our families.

Kansas Week 3 part 2

After getting back from Scott City Tuesday night, I headed off to KC with Amy to do a little shopping. We spent the day at Legends and ate there also. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but you have to love outlet stores!

That evening, Kara drove in from Emporia and we all met at Heather's house. We all ate out at the Brick Oven and had such a great time catching up. I hadn't heard from Lindsey in over a year since the last time we were all together a year ago May. It was way overdue. We talked and laughed like teenagers for hours. After dinner we headed over to Heather's parents house to take a couple of group shots. Below is me, Kara, Lindsey, and Heather for those that don't know them.


Heather is currently expecting a baby so we thought we should get a fun photo of us "talking" to the baby. We decided it should be tradition from now on becuase we couldn't stop laughing. Heather just found out a couple of days ago that they are having a little girl!! I'm so excited for her and I can't wait till next year so I can meet her! Congrats Heather!


After catching up with the girls it was back to Kansas City to pick up Kevin from the airport. I was so happy to see him after have been away for so long. Thursday we picked the kids up from school and they were so excited to see Kevin. Not to mention the fact that they were "picked up" which apparantly is a big deal to kindergarden and first graders. We hung out for a little while before heading off to the Auburn Fair.

Seth LOVES the fair and has been talking about all week since he saw them setting up. It was so fun hanging out with them. It is amazing how something as simple as the Auburn Fair can entertain for hours!



Kevin and I left early from the fair to go and have dinner with Kevin's family at Outback. Only Scott was missing since he had to work. Friday was spent hanging out at the Kent's new house and grocery shopping for weekend events with friends and family. On Friday night we enjoyed "Make your own pizza night" with family friends (The Watkins and Brandy). We had a blast looking at all of the creations and tasting different pizza's. Brandy was the winner with her simple pepperoni and beef pizza. (Her presentation was excellent so she earned creative points as well)


After dinner we played guesstures and some other games and had a blast. I laughed so hard that day that I think my sides hurt by the end of the evening.
Saturday we headed to Garnett for a Kent Family Reunion. We chatted with family and ate lunch and I gave myself a sugar overload with desserts. Between homemade ice cream, homemade root beer, cookies, brownies, and more I didn't think I'd eat anything sweet for ages. Kevin, a couple of his brothers, and their cousin Mark enjoyed a game a football while I took a spin on the merry-go-round. Overall it was a fun day.

After getting back from Garnett, we headed over to the Copp house for dinner. We played marbles (aka aggravation), ate sherbet, and played with the kids for hours. I think we exhausted the kids since we kept them up way past their bedtime...but it was worth the late night.


I'm kind of exhausted just by posting this half of the week. It was insane but so much fun!

Kansas Week 3 part 1

This third week was so busy that I've decided to split it up. It started out Sunday with Seth's favorite place....Gage Park. We had promised him we'd go and it was finally time. He was so excited he could hardly contain himself.

First stop was the mini train. We took a ride around the park and then just hung out by the playground next to the train for awhile. Next, we headed over to the carousel on the other side of the park.




I loved every minute I got to spend with the kids. They are constantly making me laugh and being able to spend so much time with them was truly a blessing.


After mom got off of work on Sunday we headed to Scott City to visit Grandma and Grandpa Koch. I hadn't seen them in about 3 years and I hadn't been out to Scott in about 10 years. It was definitely time. We were stayed the night at their house Sunday night and picked them up Monday morning from the nursing home to spend the day at their house. They were so surprised and happy to see us and to get to go home for a bit. They stayed until after dinner until we finally had to take them back for their evening meds. Mom and I then enjoyed a little girl time by eating popcorn and watching a movie. A great day.



Tuesday we went to say goodbye to grandma and grandpa before packing up our stuff to head back home. We had a little adventure in that our tire was flat and we had to get it replaced before leaving town. We were just grateful that we took care of it before getting on the road and being stranded!! Overall it was a short but absolutely wonderful trip. It was a priority for me to get out there while I was home and I am so happy I made it happen. It will be a trip I will remember for a very long time.

We even managed to stop and get some Pat's Beef Jerky on the way home. For those of you who don't know about this, it is the most amazing beef jerky I have ever had in my entire life. When I finally took a bite it did not disappoint. My only grievance occurred when I left my jerky back in Topeka after returning home. It is okay though, mom is going to send it to me soon!!!

Kansas Week 2

My second week back home also started off as a busy one. First thing was church Sunday morning where I got to see Hailie sing. It was perfect timing. She almost wouldn't go up there, but in the end she did and it was fun. She knew all the words and was really singing out.

After church it was off to Uncle Mark and Aunt Laura's for a family gathering! I felt so lucky to get to see so much of my family while I was there. We had pizza, cake, and ice cream. What more can you ask for? Here is my favorite picture from the afternoon... It is amazing that they can sleep that way!


Since the garage sale had come to an end, it was time for Mom and I to get started on the fun stuff which included decorating Hailie and Seth's rooms. We did a lot of painting, gluing, and shopping and while we didn't completely finish, the rooms are really looking great. It was a blast pulling up old furniture from the basement and being creative in how we incorporated it into the room. We also managed to stop by the office supply store and buy a few things for ourselves. Label makers, multi-colored thin sharpie's, and highlighters. We were in heaven! (If you hadn't already guessed we are a couple of nerds!!)


Mom and I also got a fair amount of walking in while I was there. We would have like to have done more, but between new blinds going in the house, kid activities, and home decor, we quickly found ourselves running short on time.

Although I was having a blast being home with my family and friends, one major thing was missing...Kevin. Hailie and I both wrote notes to Kevin and mailed them so he would know we hadn't forgot about him. Kevin later told me that we laughed and smiled when he got his letter so our plan worked!!

Kansas Week 1

My first week in Kansas (like most of them) was extremely busy. I started off the week by taking the kids to Laura's Monday morning for school. I not only got to see the kids all get on the bus (I can't believe they are all three in school now!), but I got to visit with Aunt Laura for awhile and even Uncle Mark for a little bit.


Then it was time for Mom and I to get started on our garage sale. We had a ton of stuff to go through in the basement and managed to throw away a bunch of stuff too. I did take a little time out from sale duty to have lunch with my friend Amy. We ate at On the Border, she took me to the Capital Journal (she had an internship there this summer) where I got to meet a good friend, and we had coffee with her friend Reese (he's 93 and adorable).


Here is Hailie on "Black Day" at school. I wanted to take her picture and she immediately started posing for me. This was my favorite of the bunch.

Here is a shot of just a portion of the stuff that went into our garage sale. We got so busy that I failed to take a before and after picture of the basement...but we were pretty proud of our progress. The garage sale in our minds was a success. It was a great day for the sale considering the week before it was pouring rain during the neighborhood sale. We sold quite a bit of stuff and whatever didn't go we put at the end of the driveway with a free sign. It is amazing what people will take for free! We were just happy to have it not going back into the garage. Aunt Laura also came to help out and it was great having here there. She got us lunch and kept us company. She also was a huge help later in the day when I needed to go because Amy had an extra ticket to the KU game (Sorry folks...I mostly just went to hang out with my friend.)


I felt pretty bad about going until my dad was invited to go to the game also with a free extra ticket. Amy made me wear one of her shirts...but dad stood true and didn't wear blue. (Although some KU fans pointed out that yellow was the beak color). We only stayed for the first half of the game and took off afterward. It was just fun being at a game with a close friend.


Even though we were exhausted by the end of the week, the kids and I still managed to get some reading in. I loved being able to hang out with them and tickle and kiss and hug them. It was an awesome first week and I could hardly believe how quickly it went by.

Pedicures

My hiatus from posting is now over! I have finally uploaded my pictures onto my computer and I am going to attempt to overview the last month. I will do it over numerous posts and eventually I think I can catch you up on our lives!

Right before I left for Kansas last month, James flew in for a long weekend. I think I mentioned previously that Kevin and James went to S.F. for a cool beer festival on board an old WWII ship, but I think I left out something very important. Somehow it came to be that the three of us went and got pedicures!! I wont go into detail about how this happened...all you need to know is that it did. Here are a few pictures proving the event. (Seems to me that they may actually be enjoying this.)


Here are James and my lovely feet upon completion of our little adventure.


James also experimented with a recipe that he thought of himself. They were hamburgers with the toppings inside! We had four different kinds and they were delicious! I think we were all completely stuffed afterward, but it was worth it.

It's been awhile

I know I have been terrible about posting over the last few weeks. I've been extremely busy here in Kansas. Kevin gets in tomorrow and I know we will be busy until we leave next week. I promise to eventually load up all my pictures and update my posts, but it probably wont be until next week after we get back to California!