Updates

It's been a while since we let you know what's going on in our lives, so we thought we'd make up for it. What can we say? We've been BUSY!

Amy is settling in to her new schools and enjoys being within the city of Grand Island for work now. She serves Gates and Knickrehm--two elementary schools. Gates is only a hop, skip and a jump away from the house here and the other one is clear on the northeast corner of town.

Fortunately, Jack has been sleeping through the night since the beginning of September, so we are able to catch some Zzz's. It's hard to believe some parents can even function when they work all day and have to get up in the night. Not that we're bragging. We just realize how fortunate we are.

I know we're biased as heck, but this little guy is really something special. He's got personality galore and can brighten any room. Between his long eyelashes, baby blues and that million-dollar smile of his, we're always getting swarmed every time we go out. Daddy, of course, gets a little protective of his little dude--especially when folks get all up in his grill!

But Jack's certainly not afraid of folks at all. It seems like whenever he sees a face he's not familiar with, he smiles as if to say, "wow, look at that, another person I can get to know!"

We really think this kid is the bee's knees, and we're so thankful God gave us this beautiful gift.

Okay, I'm getting a little sappy. He's just a dang good kid and we are certainly smitten.

We had investigated moving back to the homeland, but discovered that it wasn't a possibility. Jobs are scarce there, and after two searches, we've given up on that idea. We also have incredible friends here, a good house in a great neighborhood, and great jobs, so we're staying put.

Speaking of friends and moving, we will be saying goodbye to Craig and Rebecca here soon, as they are moving to Lincoln for Craig's new job. He's been traveling back and forth everyday, so we're happy they'll all be together again soon and not so stressed out. We've enjoyed getting to know them and will keep in touch so Dax and Jack don't forget each other. And Dave will definitely miss talking politics with Craig!

Speaking of which, if this election isn't over soon, I'm gonna throw up! If I see Pete Ricketts' smug, arrogant mug one more time, I'm gonna put my foot through the TV. It would have been a novel idea for him to sink those millions of dollars of his into schools or charities or something useful instead of making himself a household name across the state as 'that psycho rich dude'. Pompous a**.

Enough of that. Make sure you all get out and vote tomorrow. Uncle Jake didn't serve in Iraq so you could sit on your duff eating bon-bons and drinking Yoo-Hoo on election day! And make sure you vote against Amendment 423 or Jack's mommy will whup ya!

Back to real life: Amy and Dave are still battling the bulge, but will get there eventually. We're doing Weight Watchers and it's going well, but as you know, it's a constant struggle. It will be very difficult during the holidays, but we really want to be known as those people who lost weight over the holidays. It would be great. We'll see what we can do.

As we settle into this parenting thing, exercise is getting easier to implement into our lives. It's not easy, but it's easier. Get it? No? Tough. Dave's been playing volleyball again, but hasn't yet found his groove. It's not easy when you're only playing once a week. It's getting better though.

Dave spent time over the weekend installing storm doors on the house, hanging shelves in the utility area, putting plastic on the windows and being a busy daddy. It all went pretty well. Next week, he will be putting in ... LAMINATE FLOORING! Wish us luck on that one. And after Thanksgiving, Gramps Jerry promised to help us wire some recessed lighting in our dungeon of a living room.

Other updates:

• Jack is about 1/4 millimeter away from rolling all over the house. He has the technique and muscle for it, but insists on keeping his elbows out. Unless he learns how to dislocate and relocate his shoulder, that's not gonna work.
• The president was here in the little burg of GI on Sunday stumping for his party. He has a lot of time on his hands lately, huh? Good thing there's not a war going on. Oh, SNAP! Oh no I di-in't! (Yeah, I did. Couldn't resist. You know me...)
• We may or may not make it to little Peyton's second birthday party this weekend. We have a lot of travel coming up, so have to choose our trips carefully now. Which is not to say she's not important; we've just done WAY too much traveling lately and Jack doesn't deal with it as well as he used to. Plus, we're old and tired. We love you though, Peytie!
• Dave turns 30 in April. Be prepared for quite a bit of sulking.
• Tori turned 15 the other day and Uncle Dave was barely able to remember when she was born. (He was 14.) She's now older than he was when she was born. It's that whole alternate universe thing I talked about a few months ago when she entered HIGH SCHOOL. Dave talked to her on her birthday and she definitely sounds 15 now. (That is not a joke. She really does.)
• "Heroes" is an awesome TV show.
• For Jack's birthday in June, we are planning an all-out bash. We feel like the shindig should be here since it's central to everyone (and we live here), but we don't have room for both sides of the family IN the house, so here's what we have planned...so far. We are planning the biggest campout anyone's ever seen. Since we have a 1/2 acre lot, we want everyone to take part in a weekend of camping and fun. The kids can go to the waterpark, we can have bonfires and barbecue, the grandparents can relax inside and sleep there too, and we're even thinking of having a band one of the nights. Probably U2. Just kidding. They are the No-Named and the drummer is the son of Lori Ziska, a chick I work with. I just thought I'd let everyone know now so there's no backing out at the last minute. Consider yourself informed. If you miss it, I'll hurt you. It'll be great timing for a campout and when else can we get everyone together? Huh? Tell me.
• We have the Magic Bullet blender and it is the coolest kitchen gadget EVER. We've made the best salsa ever (which took five minutes) and omelets made with it are tastier than ever (because the veggie juices stay IN the omelet is Dave's theory) and Amy makes a mean daiquiri in it too!
• We are going to start going to a Methodist Church here in GI. We've been here for four years now and talk about the need to go all the time, so we're making the leap this week. We still want Rev. Judy in Palisade to baptize our little angel.

Well, thanks for checking up on us. We're happy to share photos and stories with you!