Our little spooks

This year, we had two cute spooks in our house.  Yes, I realize that I'm not supposed to call boys cute, but it is hard when that is what they are.

We were a bit traditionalist in our choice of costumes.  Mason was a Husker football player and Sam was a skeleton.

Yes, this is as good as a picture of him in his costume as I could get...

However in true Mason fashion, he was not Taylor Martinez or Rex Burkhead (those are current Husker favorites for those of you who ***gasp*** don't keep up on the day to day of the greatest team in college football.)  No, Mason decided that he wanted to be Johnny "the Jet" Rodgers.

Thank goodness for customizable jerseys!

Not to be outdone, Sam decided to improvise his costume and use Mason's helmet and football.  I guess this made him a Husker Blackshirt??  (again, sorry for the Nebraska football reference for those of you who don't follow it)

Tough guy

Give me my ball back!!! Maybe we should have had 2 football players...

We trick-or-treated around town and had a great dinner at the Banner County Fireman's dinner.  The boys enjoyed all of the treats that they gathered through the night. 

Yum!

Ha!  I got it open!

Earlier in the month, we had some fun carving pumpkins.  Here are some pictures of that fun: 

Summer Vacation

Yes, I realize that it is now November and I am JUST getting to writing about our vacation this summer.  One day I will be timely with these posts.  That would be the day you wonder who has taken over this blog!!!

As you might know (if you follow either of us on Facebook) Mason is a bit "into" presidents and presidential knowledge.  You might even have been one of the lucky few who has heard him recite the presidents along with some facts about them. So, when we were debating where we wanted to go this year, Mason thought that Washington D.C. sounded like the logical best place to go.  After some convincing, he decided that he could settle for South Dakota and Mount Rushmore.  So, we packed up and drove north.

Yup, if you decide bring one harmonica, you had better bring two!

If it has been a while since you've been to Rapid City, they now have statutes of all of the presidents gracing the corners of their downtown area.  Mason was able to name them and facts about most of them entertaining fellow tourists.

A handshake from John Adams

Directing with General Eisenhauer

Our great first president

High fives for Jimmy Carter

Listening to Abe's story

Going on adventure with Teddy Roosevelt

Taking a break with Martin Van Buren

Trying to hit Taft's fastball

Mason with his favorite, Andrew Jackson

 (yes, I had to have Mason help me remember who all of those were)

We finally made it to Keystone and Mount Rushmore

The future of America

We've arrived!!

We found the Nebraska pilar

The boys

Beautiful at night

We stayed for the ranger talk and lighting of the monument. Before they light it up, the park ranger wanders around and asks questions of the crowd.  Guess who could answer almost all of the questions...if you guessed Laura, thanks for the compliment, but guess again. He even got called on to answer the question "Which President was born on the the 4th of July?" Do you know?  Mason did.  I'll include the answer at the end of this blog.

We spent the next morning at Bear Country USA.  The boys (all 3 of them) loved seeing all of the animals.

Yes, they have bears at Bear Country

Wolves taunting the mountain lion.  Scary to think that there are reports of both of these not far from home!

Sam decided that since we were going very slowly he would help out as a driver. 

We decided that we hadn't had quite enough so we returned to Mount Rushmore for one more visit before we left.  

After a fun weekend away, it was time to head home.

Two worn out guys!

We had a great time.  It is a great time and we will probably be back.  With the presidential election right around the corner, we have had lots of discussions about presidents.  Who knows you might know the president of 2048!!!

Did I mention that he knows all of the presidents in order?  If you don't believe me, or would like to see it, check this out: 

***The answer to the presidential trivia question was Calvin Coolidge.

What did I get myself into????

Do you ever have one of those mornings when you wake up and wonder, what the heck did I get myself into?  I had one of those on Saturday as I prepared to run in the Inaugural Monument 1/2 Marathon.

The morning regret was actually the culmination of second guessing my sanity. I started to question it when I received these lovely gifts: 

Were they trying to butter me up to make sure they were in my will?

Second-guessing and all I made it out the door.

My speedy sisters-in-law

Yes, that is our hair blowing in the wind...to the tune of 30 mph gusts.  Welcome to Western Nebraska!!!

My awesome co-workers.  Go Team ESU 13.1

As someone pointed out to me...good thing we aren't ESU 26!!

And the race started.  Honestly, at this point, I can't tell you if it was a bang, someone waving a flag or some other creative way of getting 300 people to move.  I just remember following the crowd. 

The view from about 1 minute into the run and about 15 minutes from  the start of  the first rain storm.

 I can honestly say that I was NOT excited about having people I know cheering us on.  I really didn't want them to see me looking like a sweaty mess who was close to death.  However, once I was actually running and they were there to cheer us on, I was wishing they lined the whole race!!  Thanks to all who came out in the "beautiful" weather!

Love my ESU 13 friends!

Mason's sign

My cute cheering section having a donut break...if I would have known, I would have made them bring me one!!

The beautiful view along the canal roads

Water, please!!!! A MUCH needed aid station.

Headed to the finish line after the ????th rain storm.  We had an escort.

We survived!!  Rachel was wisely staying warm in the car with the kids at this point.

I've been told that if all it took to get it to rain was to have the marathon, then we should have one every weekend.  So, I guess all of us running yesterday deserve a little pat on the back or even a small commission for helping end the drought in Western Nebraska.  OK, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but who knows!?!?! It might be the beginning of a good thing.  

When I told people that I was going to do this, I wasn't even sure that I was going to be able to do it.  I got lots of "I didn't know you were a runner" (I wasn't one and I'm not sure I can be qualified as that.)  I also got several "You??"s.  Yup.  I'm a sucker for punishment!!  Now that I have done it, the next question is will I do another?  Hmm....not sure.  It was a great accomplishment and I'm glad I did it.  We will see what the future holds.  

Have a great day!

Elsie's 125th

We loaded up and headed Southeast for some fun in a little town you might have heard of...Elsie, NE.  I'm sure those of you reading this know where Elsie is, because this isn't really a blog that makes it to the masses, but for those of you who don't know, google it.  It is worth knowing where it is, after all, some of the greatest people I know have been a part of the community.  My family has been around for a long time-6 generations to be exact. My brother and his family live in the house where my grandfather was born.  Enough of a history lesson.  Here are some highlights from the day:

5k run/walk/1mi walk

My sister-in-law Rachel is making sure everyone knows what to do

We did the 1 mile walk

The starting line...those white dots are some of the really fast kids. :)

Kiddie Parade 

Rachel's super cute idea for the kids

The Hanson Cousins 

Our little railroad guy

 The Big Parade

Appropriately, the shirts say "It Runs in the Family" 

Grandma Lorraine, Grandpa Max and Nick 

Our Float

The Big Guys!

Happy Birthday Elsie!!!

 Kid games and races

The sprinkler was a BIG hit with the little ones

Trying to get Uncle Nick 

Max got him!

Historical Presentations

Grandpa John and Grandma Joan Osler performing after he talked about some of the history of Perkins County.

Street Dance

Great end to the night

The blazing heat and HOT temperatures didn't deter anyone from having fun. It was a great time.