Tornado Hits Manhattan

Last night we put the boys to bed as usual, Joel went to bed, and I was finishing the nightly duties I have to do before I go to bed when we heard the sirens go off. Joel said you grab Tyson (who was sound asleep in his bed) and I'll get Charlie (who was also sound asleep in his bed). We went running into our safe room. Because we never believe that this could happen to us we use our safe room as our storage closet. We went running in there with kids in hand grabbing everything we could think of that we might need and threw everything we didn't need out and all sat and waited. Well, it was really hot in there so Joel started sweating, this made Charlie get really hot and start crying and then, because Tyson has a heart of gold and can't handle Charlie crying, he started in. Joel was in panic mode and thought he had to get out now or he was going to freak out and during all of this I had a case of the giggles and could not quit laughing. The tornado never hit our area but it did hit Manhattan very bad. The following pictures are taken it the hardest hit areas.

The above picture was Ace Hardware. As you can see it is completely gone.

All of the pictures below are taken in a new neighborhood in Manhattan called Miller Ranch. My boss lives just houses away from these, luckily his house was not hit at all.

Joel says he wants to know who built this deck. He's hired!!

This is our football team helping out at Miller Ranch. Coach Prince was out there as well!

Soccer Mom

I am officially a soccer mom! Last night Tyson had his first soccer practice. We really had no expectations for him, but to our surprise he did amazing. We were a little worried when Coach Chris asked Tyson if he could write his name and Tyson said "Yes!" and he believed him. He soon learned that Tyson could not even write a T. We go back on Thursday so we will see how he does on Day 2.

Our friends Jason and Dani came to watch, which made Tyson the only kid there with a cheering squad! Thanks guys!

How Many Things Can I Sleep With

Enough said . . .

I Wanna Be Like Joel

It was an absolutely beautiful day in Manhattan on Sunday so it of course was a boat day. Joel's face always burns when he spends the day on the boat so he decided that he should wear a baseball hat. Tyson saw Joel putting on his hat and quietly searched the house high and low until he found one for him to wear. He then came to the conclusion that Charlie also needed a hat. So again he searched until he found one for him. Once he placed all the hats on the appropriate heads it was picture time. As you can see he really hammed it up! And as you can tell Charlie could care less. I thought these pictures were too cute to not share with all of you!

Day of Firsts

So today has been a pretty rough day on me. First, Tyson road the bus home from school. We, of course, videoed him getting off the bus in front of our house. What was even harder for me was watching the bus drive by with my 4 year old looking out the window with his glasses on waving and smiling while went down the street to turn around. I almost lost it!

Next, I come inside to play with Charlie on the floor, which he loves and is part of our everyday routine. As we are playing he decides to roll over! Now I really almost lost it. As you all know, babies grow up way to fast and it absolutely amazes me that my baby is old enough to roll over! Life really needs to slow down!

Memorial Day Weekend at Uncle Rob's

Uncle Rob and Aunt Amy were gracious enough to open their house to all of us over Memorial Day weekend. I am not sure if you all understand what that means. That means 1 Grandma, 4 Aunts, 4 Uncles, and 8 cousins, equaling a grand total of 21 people and 2 dogs (including Uncle Rob's family) in one house! Over the weekend we spent lots of time together as a family doing many fun things. Some of my favorites were jumping on the trampoline, fishing, playing cornhole and roasting marshmellows in the fire. My mom and dad enjoyed the food and drinks. Uncle Rob really knows how to entertain, and my mom says he makes the best drinks (I am not quite sure what she means by this' but she says it a lot!). THANKS UNCLE ROB AND AUNT AMY!

Fishin' at Uncle Rob's by Tyson

Mom and Dad loaded Charlie and I up in the car on Thursday and promised that we were going to see all of our cousins. After many, many hours in the car we finally made it to Minnesota! It sure was a long drive, but it was definitely worth the wait. All the promises came true when all of my cousins showed up! These pictures are of me and my cousins fishing in Uncle Rob's backyard. It was awesome!

My cousin Blake really enjoyed fishing. He was so proud because he used one worm to catch 8 fish!

This is my Uncle Kris taking a big bite!