My 40th birthday

 

My 40th birthday was on Good Friday, so we didn't have school.  The day before my birthday, my room was decked out in birthday decorations.  My friend Danielle had come to Hastings and decorated it the evening before.  She went crazy with balloons, posters, banners, confetti, etc.  My students and colleagues also did a great job making me feel celebrated.

The next day, on my birthday, I got to enjoy a day off of school.  I went to lunch with Amy, opened gifts that afternoon, and went to dinner as a family.

The kids got me some of my favorite snacks, the boys got me candles, Monroe got me jewelry, and Zach got me a massage. 

The next day we had made plans with a few couples to go out to dinner. I knew we were going out of town, but that's all I knew.

As we stood outside, Monroe and Zach both started recording me.  I looked down the street to see a party bus pulling up.  I was so surprised! (Zach had even made jello shots earlier in the day and that hadn't tipped me off to something more going on.)

Fongs, Rippes, Sloans, Zachs, Lairds, and Hemjes all celebrated with us!

Zach's jello shots were amazing!

The ladies minus one

The party bus took us to Fyre in Kearney.  It was delicious!

my dessert options 

(a very important part for me)

40 more balloons

Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my first 40 years.  It was a great few days!

Mother Son event

 

Lochland hosted a mother son cooking event.  

We got to spend the evening with friends

We had demonstrations and instructions from Chef Alex and then we went back to try what he taught.

these knives were quite sharp

We made homemade pico for starters and quesadillas for the main meal.  Then, we had sopapillas with lots of toppings for dessert.

The boys enjoyed this even more than I expected.  Both have asked to help me make meals since, and they thought it was so cool that they got to take home their knives, cutting boards, and aprons.

Club Volleyball

 

Monroe played club volleyball again this year.  She played setter again, which she continues to enjoy.   

We finished the year on a high note with a fun tournament and a 2nd place finish.

Spring Break

 Since moving to Hastings, we have not had a week-long spring break.  We have had days off spread across a few weeks in March.  This year we had a week off for the first time.  

Monroe had a Lincoln volleyball tournament the first weekend.  Every one of my family members came to watch her since it was our first time playing in Lincoln.  We stayed with my parents Sunday night.

We got Huxley the first day of spring break, so pretty much every picture I took was of him.

Monroe changed our letter board sign

Everyone wants to take Huxley for a walk

We went to the park multiple days.  Hux loves to lay in the sun.

One day we went to the new playground in GI.  It was really cool.

Hux had his first pup cup

We're told he's 2.5 years old, but he sure acts like an old man.  He loves a nap in the sunshine.