flat tire and a sunday

i worked a night shift this weekend...and came out to my car to find a flat tire! YUCK. this is the second time this has happened to me recently. praise God for a dad who taught his girls how to change a flat tire. after i got home we got the hole fixed and then scott took ellen out for a lesson in changing a flat tire.


sunday was just a great day of rest for scott and i as we had some good talks together about our upcoming mali trip and the future and just where we're at today. we worked on our mali support letter. brad byrd, recently back from guatemala, came over sunday afternoon and we had a great time talking life and biblical issues. then sunday night we went over to willy and kendra's (willy plays basketball with scott) for some supper and a couple rounds of taboo.

ellen had her 6 month check-up today (slightly early). she's got an ear-infection. no wonder she's been a little out-of-sorts lately. she still such a happy little girl even when she's sick!

tonight scott has a basketball game against calvary about three hours away. ellen and i are sitting this one out from home to recuperate. all three of us are still fighting the sniffles. =)

it's 25 degrees and sunny

ROAD TRIPPIN'

last weekend we were in snowy kansas to play manhattan and then barclay. we had a frustrating loss to manhattan by 6 despite being in the lead until the last 4 minutes of the game. then we won by 13 against barclay. that game we got to see some of the guys who don't usually get much play time show off their stuff, so it was extra fun to watch. here are a few pictures of our weekend. we got stuck in the land of no snow-plows in the middle of a blizzard and had to spend the night in concordia, kansas. we pulled up to a sonic to eat-ordering food there is a whole story in itself. the guys had a big ol' snowball fight and played around in the snow. It was a great weekend

watching the girls game first

ellen helps with warm ups

josh, jason, and mr snowman

mike and willy with their special talents

scott is at practise now, ellen is sleeping ...all three of us are fighting the sniffles. pray for scott as the basketball season road trips are now going full-steam ahead and he is juggling classes, his job and now plans for mali and decisions about after mali. while we are LOVING basketball, we are now starting to feel the most strain on the time we have together and with our other friends we have so little time left with here in omaha. I'm thinking of the old hymn ...

"Day by day, and with each passing moment, strength i find ....trusting in my father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear. He whose heart, is kind beyond all measure, gives unto each day what He deems best..."

its 25 degrees and fair

lazy snow

we had some snow this afternoon and evening. there is about 3 inches on the ground now and we are supposed to get a few more. this evening we took a walk and it was beautiful. there was no wind and the snow was softly drifting down on us . needless to say it was a winter wonderland and ellen seemed to like it from inside her little cocoon. we cut the walk a little short because her nose was getting a little rosy.

its 16 degrees and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

ellen and the couch

ellen just loves to grab things now. anything within three feet of her is fair game. we have had plenty of bowls of cereal, glasses of water and anything else thrown off the table.

she always has to be sitting up or standing on our laps as well. laying down just isn't cutting the mustard any more, too boring i guess.

we have also noticed that she is getting tall or long or something. she is flat out getting too big.

the last advancement of notice is that she can recognize, pick up and put her pacifier in her mouth. on occasion she can hold her bottle in her mouth; but that is pretty hit and miss so far.

anyway, it's 16 degrees with snow flurries possible.

elvis

here she is everybody...the queen of rock and roll.

New Year's Snow

we finally got some real snow on sunday -enough for omaha to postpone the new year's fire works to monday night. we spent most of new years day working on update letters. Scott was also working on a 30 page paper about mali. ellen and i took a break and went outside to play with the snow a little bit. it was such a beautiful sunshiny day. then at 6:30 we all bundled up, grabbed our hot chocolate, and headed downtown to watch the fireworks with some friends/our landlords/prof at grace (the holmes).

unfortunately, ellen was long due for a nap and was so sleepy she only managed a blank stare sometimes in the general direction of the colorful sky. even the loud booms couldn't shake the commited sleepy stare...not a blink.but it was an especially good fireworks year...not too long and especially big in the end. afterward, we headed over the the holmes for some hot drinks and good stories.

this morning scott is off to work, ellen is napping again (just can't shake this cold she's got) and i'm preparing for a good house-cleaning session.

it is 22 degrees and fair (-ly sunny)

ellen's field trip

on the way back from kentucky we stopped at the gateway to the west. it was about half way home and was a good spot to strectch the legs. ellen especially enjoyed the historical significance and the aura surounding the landmark.

it's 39 degrees and drizzling. =(

Christmas in KY

this christmas we traveled to kentucky to be with tessa's family. it has been nice to be off work and relaxing in the bluegrass state. we have done our shoppping and done our opening; now we are going to do our eating. we have a couple more days here and will head back on thursday. ellen has been having fun with her aunt, uncles, and grandparents and really enjoys her new johnny jump up.

happy holidays everyone
it's 38 degrees and cloudy