Labor Day Weekend

     As usual, our church's Family Camp took place from the Thursday through Saturday before Labor Day.  We have such a great, relaxing time there!  We were a little worried about how Nehemiah would do with sleeping in a cabin, and being in a different place, but he did really well for the most part!  The only problem we had was that he did not want to go to sleep at night...he would lay in his bed and kick around and smile really big at us!
     Pastor Neil Hannahs from Aberdeen, SD came to preach.  He had great messages on the family and other things, and the Lord worked on our hearts.  We were also able to do a few fun things during those three days.  There was almost always a game of volleyball going on, and we were able to take part in many of those.  We also took a hike with my good friend Rachel, her sister, and another lady in our church.  The hike we took was around Sylvan Lake, which is a very beautiful lake in Custer State Park.  Another fun part of camp was the late night game times!!  There was always a lot of laughing going on!  It was a great weekend, and we are looking forward to Family Camp next year!
     Since we had to buy a one week pass to go into Custer State Park for our hike, Tyler and I decided to use it and do another hike by ourselves on Labor Day morning.  We got up early, dropped off Nehemiah with his favorite babysitter Madison, and off we went.  We hiked up to Harney Peak, which is the highest point in the Black Hills at 7,242 ft.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours to hike...I WAS NOT IN SHAPE FOR IT!!  I have been trying to get myself back in the swing of things, as far as working out goes, since I had Nehemiah, but I don't think I was quite ready for that hike.  I did finish it, though, and am still pretty sore!  I am very glad I did it, because there was some beautiful views as we hiked.  From the top, you can see four different states!  Part of my hiking adventure was getting stung by a bee at the top!  We spent the evening of Labor Day with a family in our church, and then went home early so that we could iron our uniforms, give Nehemiah a bath, and get ready for our first day of School!!
     It is now the third day of school, and I am already tired!:)  I am enjoying it, though, and am glad to be back on a schedule. My little kiddos have already made me laugh several times by the funny things they have said to me.  I know that time will go by so quickly that before I know it the year will be over!  Next week we get 2 1/2 days off to go to the ACE Christian Educators' Convention in Colorado.  The kids are definitely excited about that!:)  We will try to keep you posted as the school year progresses!

 

At the top of Harney Peak

 

 

If you can see the tiny little tower in the distance, that is where we were hiking to!  It was very discouraging to see that!

 

 A very narrow tunnel that we drove through in Custer State Park.

 

On our Sylvan Lake Hike

 



 

 

Sylvan Lake Hike

 

 

Tyler acting very grown-up

 

Since Nehemiah would not sleep, he got to stay up and play games with me!

 



 

Nehemiah's bed at camp

 

 

The Betz brothers doing a skit...they did a great job!

 

 

Taking a break from volleyball

 

 

Staying with Madison so that Daddy and Mommy can play volleyball

 

 

One of the many volleyball games

 

Nehemiah with his buddy, Bobo the Monkey

Family Pictures

While we were in Indiana on vacation my friend Nicole took family pictures for us. She did an amazing job and I thought I would put up a few of my favorites.  Nehemiah was very sleepy at first and by the end he was pretty crabby!  We had a really good time doing it...well, at least I think most of us did!:)

Family Vacation 2012

 I had to put a picture of Nehemiah in his car seat.  The poor little fella' spent many hours in this position.  We traveled from South Dakota to Indiana, which took 16 hours, and from Indiana to Pennsylvania, which took 11 hours.  He really started to like that little "jitterbug" toy that was always in front of his face! (By the way...the little white thing behind his head is not Dumbo ears, as my brother called it, but a nice little pillow to keep his head straight, which my chiropractor gave me.)

 Once we got to my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania, Grandma pulled out this old baby seat that she had.  Nehemiah loved it and spent a lot of time in it, bouncing up and down.

 He loved talking to Great-grandma!

 I am sure Lorena will be so excited that I put this picture on here!

 I think Nehemiah felt like a king in this bed:)

 One of the places we visited was the Gettysburg Battlefield

 Here we are at the Johnson Family Cabin.  It is a beautiful place, and I have memories there that go back to when I was about 3 years old.  My parents have pictures that go back even further. I think the first time I was there was when I was about 6 months old.  It was fun to be able to go with my son now!

It's always fun to have my goofy brother and his wife along!

 30 years ago my parents spent their honeymoon here!

 Family picture outside the cabin

 A day at the cabin would not be complete without a stop at "Twirly Tops"-- a wonderful ice cream place that was always a wonderful treat for us kids when we were little.

 Another day was spent at Hershey Park.  Thankfully Nehemiah slept most of the day in his stroller!

 I used to be a roller coaster person, but after a back injury I have had to stop riding them.  Lorena has never liked them, so here and I spent most of the day together on the nice little swings, the pirate ship, and other such rides! 

 Inside "Chocolate World" (mmmmmm...smells like yummy chocolate!)

 My cousin had her baby boy about a week before Nehemiah was born.  It was fun to get to see her, her husband, and the little guy!

 We were also able to spend some time with Dustin and Andrea, who are old friends from college, and there son Allen.

Just Relaxin' at Grandma's

We had such a wonderful time, and it was nice to get a break from work!  We took so many pictures, and it would take several posts to show them all, so I thought I would just choose a few.  Nehemiah did a great job on the trip, but now he seems to have flashbacks, because almost every time we get in the car he just screams and screams.  It was quite a trip for such a little guy! Now we are gearing up for school, which starts on September 4th.  We will try to post a little more often than we have been.  Goodbye for now!!

Finally...Pictures!!!

This was after I had been in labor for 23 hrs.or so.  If someone had told me that I had almost 4 more hours to go I probably would not have been smiling! (neither would Tyler probably)  I guess that is why the Lord does not let us know ahead of time what is going to happen!

He finally came!!

A tired Daddy was the first one to hold him

A very, very tired Mommy was relieved to carry him in her arms, as opposed to where she had carried him before!

Content in the Hospital

Ready to go home!!!

First Car Ride

Home from the hospital

His favorite chair

First Doctor Visit--4 days old

First walk...Mommy made a mental note when she got home that it is not a real good idea to go on a long walk that involves hills 4 days after delivering a baby!!!

Ready for a diaper change

Sleeping with Daddy

Grandma got to visit and was a BIG help!

Sleeping

Trying to decide if he likes his crib or not

Not real excited after his FIRST bath

We feel so blessed to have Nehemiah in our lives!  We went to his 2 week checkup and he had already gained 1lb. 4oz.!  The doctor said he was "off the charts" with his growth.  Praise the Lord for His goodness...our cup is overflowing!

Nehemiah Allen

     Although I am sure that most of you who read this already know, I wanted to officially announce that our little boy has arrived!!!  He was born on June 8th--4 days early--at 11:45 p.m.  When he came, there was a huge sigh of relief from both Tyler and myself, seeing that I had been in labor since 9:00 p.m. the night before!  Let me tell you, those were the 26 longest hours of my life, and I am thinking of Tyler's life too!  Nehemiah weighed 8 lbs. 4 1/2 oz. and was 22 in. long. 
     We are so very thankful for the little life that God has given us.  In the early mornings as I took walks with him through the hospital halls I found myself praying over and over that the Lord would lead us as we raise him.  It definitely changes your outlook on life to know that you are fully responsible for the little bundle you are holding in your arms.  We love him dearly, even though he chose to not fall sleep until 4:30 a.m. last night!  I am sure that as the days progress, we will have more stories to tell about him.  We have taken many, many pictures already, and will try to make it a point to post some of them soon!

No More School, No More Books...

     Today was our last day of school!  We ended the year off great with a half-day filled with fun!  I cannot believe that my first year as teacher is over!  It still has not quite sunk in, but I am certainly enjoying the fact that it is 2:20 and I am peacefully sitting in my clean classroom with no students in it.  Everything has been taken off the walls and bulletin boards, desks have been washed, chairs have been stacked, chalkboard erasers have been cleaned, and children have been sent home! 
     The more I think about it, the more it seems like school just started, but in reality it has been 9 months!  I have definitely learned a lot this year!  One major thing I learned was that if I want to be an effective teacher, I have to send up many prayers to the Lord during the day!  There were many times when I did not know what to do in a certain situation, and had to send out a big cry of "HELP!" to the Lord.  I would hate to make a decision on the spur of the moment that would affect a student for later years.  The Lord was definitely good to me this year, and helped me get through those difficult times.  Having 8 students, ranging from 5 to 10 years old was definitely a challenge!  They each came from very different families and backgrounds, and I had to learn what made each of them "tick".  As the year progressed and I prayed for them, the Lord gave me a love for each one of them, and helped me to understand what their specific spiritual and emotional needs were.  I am so thankful for the Lord's leading!
     Last night was our "Closing Program", and my kids all performed beautifully!  There were many things during our practices that happened, which caused me to have some butterflies in my stomach when the time came for the program to start.  I had to wonder, "Will they all do what they are supposed to do?"  Thankfully they all remembered when they were supposed to do what, and what exactly it was they were supposed to say, etc.  I was so pleased with them!  Of course, after the program when I talked to them and told them how well they had done, they wanted to know if they were going to get a special treat for doing a good job.  I guess kids will be kids:)!!
     Even though there were many speed bumps and rough spots along the way, I can look back and say that we had a good year.  I am looking forward to next year, but first: a nice, long summer before me!  Although I am sure that our (hopefully soon) addition to the family will make it a very busy one!

The Power of Post-it® Notes...

         Yesterday, my wife & I went to the graduation of a young man in our church! At least in the United States, it is a tradition at wedding & graduation to "deck out" a person's car with various things, whether it be balloons, silly string, etc. Well, yesterday, I saw a couple of cars "deck out" that caught my attention. The first one was a car that was shrink wrapped all the way around the car. Then after the graduation as I was trying to find my car in the ocean of cars, I saw this car!

      If you are not able to tell, the car is covered with Post-It Notes, even spelling "Class of 2012!" & "Congrats" (first picture). I did not realize until yesterday that Post-It Notes had so much sticky power. If you have ever been to South Dakota for any length of time, you know that we have a lot of high wind, especially on the prairie. Well, this graduation took place at the Ellsworth AFB's High School. It was very windy yesterday, but the "little stickies" held on for dear life! Oh, the Power of Post-It Notes!

"Do NOT under estimate the Power of Post-It Notes!"