The Life of Mark and Jana: A Blogging Adventure

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

Oh how we love Vala's! It's been a family tradition since Kesa was one.

Our beautiful children in the GIANT chair

Taking a break from finding our way out of the corn maze

Waiting for the tractor ride to start

Eating our favorite Kettle corn

We ended the night with the love birds in the chair.

Homecoming

2010-10-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

Kesa and her friend, Alexi decided to attend homecoming. Here they are looking beautiful.

Funky clouds

2010-10-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Living in Nebraska gives you the opportunity for some funky clouds every now and then.

Kimmell Orchard and Indian Cave State Park

2010-10-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

It's our favorite time of year when we head to Kimmell Orchard and Indian Cave State Park.

We started off getting our apple spice doughnuts and caramel apples.

As you can see......three kids. Where's the fourth?

Oh, here he is. Assuming his usual position

Our cool cat Kesa

The boys amongst the pumpkins

Here we are at Indian Cave

Mark is playing Super Man

Love the look on Kassie's face

Oh my.....what a scary creature!

Posing Kassie

Taking a picture with the scary gorilla

On the teeter totter

Sitting in the car waiting for the boys

You're never too old to spider swing.

You're never to old to goof off

You're never too old to take a risk of falling on your face.

Just hanging around

New Kitchen Floor

2010-10-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

For years we have said we needed a new kitchen floor and this year it actually happened. Mark worked his tail end off for two weeks. He did an amazing job and I'm very proud of him!!!

Show Choir Time

2010-04-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Kesa loves her Show Choir!

Mormon Prom

2010-04-28T17:51:00.001-07:00

Kesa invited her friend, Erin to go to Mormon Prom. Don't they look beautiful? After taking Kesa to a "million" stores and trying on a "million" dresses we finally found one that would work if Mama added some length to it. She did an AWESOME job and you can't even tell. Thank you Mama we LOVE you!

Kesa also invited her friend from birth, Tyler Kortus

Totally Kesa

She looks so pretty!

Beautiful girl!!!!

Don't messa with the Kesa!

Some of the crew

Christmas Snow Storm

2009-12-26T22:22:00.000-08:00

Precipitation of every single kind has been falling for 5 solid days now. Rain, freezing rain, sleet, ice, snow. Add in cold and wind and you get a white Christmas. Then comes the magical time when you get to dig your property out of the putrid white mess that mother nature left behind.

View to the North of our house.

After shoveling on Friday and Saturday I ended up with 2 piles this big at the end of the driveway.

After 2.5 hours of work to clear the snow I couldn't let it sit there and have no one play on it so I grabbed the CS-35 (see x-mas video far below) and imagined I was taking Bunker Hill, Hamburger Hill, Fighting the Battle of the Bulge, and singlehandedly having France surrender to me all at once. Its Nerf or nothing!

It's a major award!

2009-12-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

Because Mama and Papa couldn't make it Christmas morning they came the day after. As you can see from their faces (especially Mama's) they were quite excited about their present. :) For those of you who don't know anything about the movie, "The Christmas Story", the Dad receives a major award which is a leg lamp. We thought that Papa deserved a major award for being such a wonderful man. SORRY Mama!

They really couldn't believe their eyes!

This picture is priceless!!

Poor, poor Mama!

I think she might be crying. :)

Papa's new hat

The beautiful leg lamp

Merry Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was wonderful once again, but we had a few changes because of the weather. We went over to Mama and Papa's house around noon for a big lunch instead of going over for dinner. It was supposed to start snowing in the afternoon and get pretty bad by evening so we started early.

After having a WONDERFUL lunch we each took part in the Christmas program. It was fun listening to the kids do their parts and Papa bore a sweet testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. After the program we sang songs, ate junk food, watched videos, opened are yearly pajamas, and played games.

After arriving home that evening we set to work preparing for Santa. All the kids sat down and told Kesa what to write for our Santa letter and then they put out a banana and roll. Santa gets too many cookies on Christmas Eve so we do fruit. After the kids ran around outside in the snow and cold putting reindeer food on the lawn we all sat down and watched "Mr. Kruger's Christmas"......such a beautiful show!!!!

Christmas morning we were awakened at 5:00am by Mr. Kaden. We told him it wasn't quite time to get up and that he needed to go back to bed. The next think I knew it was 7:30am. The gifts were a hit as you'll see from the pictures.

Christmas Eve Day

Me and my Kesa Lynn

Singing with Mama

Getting ready to open p.j.'s

The new p.j.'s

Sasha even got into the spirit

Me and my honey posing in our p.j.'s

Mark received a special gift from me......a new ring. He was very touched.

Mark's reaction to his present

The girls got IPOD touches this year and as you can see they were more than excited.

Kassie's throat hurt after all the screaming she did

This look says it all

Kaden and his martian making kit

An excited little boy

Kaden thought he needed to take this picture

Enjoy these silly videos

Family Pictures 2009

2009-10-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for family pictures.
Our photographer took 300 pictures so this is just a sample. Enjoy!

Kassie's 12 year old pictures

2009-09-03T17:17:00.000-07:00

She's really growing up!

Kaleb's 5 year pictures

2009-08-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

My adorable little man

Idaho Trip: The rest of the story

2009-08-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

The night before I left

This is my brother's precious truck named, "THUNDER". This truck is very very scary to ride in because it has no floor boards, no muffler, no dashboard, no nothing.

This is how I felt about riding in THUNDER. SCARED out of my mind!!!!

When we get together the brothers always have to wrestle and this time I joined in.

I learned how to play disc golf. I also learned that I'm not very good at it.

Having fun on the trampoline with my mom

Giving my mom a double bounce

Chris giving me a hip bump

Work it......work it!

Idaho Trip: Bowling

2009-07-30T17:57:00.001-07:00

Bowling was always one of the highlights of going to see Grandma and Grandpa Marsh when we were growing up. Grandma thought it would be fun to go while I was there. For just once I hoped I would score higher than her. Do you think it happened? Heck no! Grandma's good!

Don't turn your wrist mom!

The pro bowler

As you can see, Chris is busy talking instead of bowling. Good ol Chris.

I mean business!

STRIKE!!!!!

Idaho Trip: My Crazy Sisters!

2009-07-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

How I LOVE my sisters! We have the best time when we get together. When we get together we turn into crazy women! We become very spazy and pretty much out of control. Wait.....that's how we always are. :)

Picking me up at the airport

Peace, Love, and Carrots baby

On the drive home we had to stop and get gas and you would have thought that Christina had never put gas in her car before. She tried 4-5 times to get the pump to work. After actually reading the sign on the pump she realized that they don't take debit cards, only credit. Duh!

Chris, me and my wonderful mom taking pictures after church.

Silly girls

When I come into town we always have to go shopping. What do you think of the shirts we chose? Just joking.....well.....I am

Idaho Trip: Twilight

2009-07-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Megan and I LOVE Twilight and our sister, Christina does not. Hear we are trying to prove to Chris and all the others out there that we could totally be in the movies. :)

Attacking my victim

Going in for the bite.

Megan turned vampire

After acting it out we thought it would be a good idea to watch the real thing. Oh, how we LOVE Edward!

Idaho Trip: The Hike

2009-07-27T18:13:00.000-07:00

Going to Idaho by myself is one of the highlights of my year. It's a time for me to rest, recoup, visit family, and party with my sisters. On this trip we decided we would try to hike Table Rock, (one of my favorite hikes ever). As you can see from the pictures there was a lot of snow and so the trail was hard to follow. On this hike we had to cross raging creeks, get carried across raging creeks, get dropped in raging creeks, and make bridges across those raging creeks. We hiked and fell and tripped, but didn't die. :) Thank you Keith, James, John, and Megan for this WONDERFUL adventure!

This first picture shows you where we were trying to go. Unfortunately this picture was taken from the point where we had to stop because we couldn't find the trail.

Megan, John Boy and Me

Me, James and Keith

Here we have Keith putting his pants back on and the rest of us getting ready to put our shoes on. Keith and John tried to carry Megan and I across on their backs. John succeeded because he left his shoes on. Keith did not because he took his shoes off. That was painfully cold water!

We didn't want to walk through another raging creek so the three men pushed this poor tree in a direction it didn't want to go to try to make a bridge. Megan and I are thankful to be alive. :)

Using their muscles to finish our little bridge.

Keith and John trying it out for us.

Lunch time with my little bro.

One of the many beautiful scenes we saw. We were actually supposed to go up that mountain and along the ridge, but as you can see....too much snow.

Attempting to climb

Climbing in the snow is no easy task!

James and Megan

The little love birds

Since this was as high as we could get, we called this rock our Table Rock. We made it!

Me and Meggy Moo

On the way down, we fell over and over and over again.
Enjoy our videos!

My baby boy turns 5

2009-07-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a month late in posting this, but Happy 5th birthday my little sugar booger.

June 10, 2004, Kaleb Marsh was born into our family. He has brought so much joy and love into our family. We love you Kaleb!

Kaleb was named after my WONDERFUL grandpa. Here he is on Kaleb's blessing day.

Can he be any cuter? I don't think so.

My little man

Oh to be a kid

Kaleb's 2nd birthday

3rd birthday

Climbing trees

Okay, this is pretty darn CUTE!

5th birthday
Kaleb LOVES trains so Kesa drew this Thomas the Train for one of the games.

Kaleb also loves pirate ships, hence the pirate ship pinata

Star Wars dudes

Kaleb knew that Kassie had a cookie monster cake when she was little so he wanted us to make him one too.

A day of trians

2009-07-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Mark and the kids joined LeAnna's family for a day of trains in downtown Omaha. They all had a great time.

Mark the Engineer

This just shows you how big these trains really are!

Trying out the bed

Kassie and her dad

The girls met some new hot guy.....okay..maybe not that hot.

Taking a ride on a mini train

Annual picture taking

2009-07-12T19:31:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again when Mark's sister, Krissy & family come to town. When that happens the camera comes out and everyone says, "CHEESE".

Here are just a few pictures that we took of our little family.

It's a little blurry, but here is the whole family

The DUDES!

2009-07-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

One night the boys thought it would be fun to act cool.
Here they are.....The Cool dudes.

Honors Night

2009-05-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

Kesa has been on the honor roll all year and we are very proud of her. She works very hard for her grades. Great job Kesa!

Kesa with her friends

Kaleb For SALE!

2009-05-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

My little boy has turned into a monster!!!! He likes to spit, yell, and cry all the time. Oh yeah, did I mention he thinks he can talk back and not listen. We are having a very hard time with him. I'm hoping I'll have enough strength and patience to make it through the summer. :(

Kesa or Alice? You decide.

2009-05-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

I took Kesa and the boys to get their haircut the other day. Kesa was just supposed to get her bangs trimmed and as you can see from the pictures, that's not what happened. She's been wanting to get her hair cut like Alice from Twilight. I swear she things she is Alice. :) Anyway, she absolutely loves it!

Kids say the darndest things!

2009-05-06T18:52:00.001-07:00

I was awakened the other night by Kaden saying he had a bad dream. After calming him down and making sure he was okay I went back to sleep. In the morning I went to wake up the boys only to find them already awake and talking. When Kaleb saw me he wanted to tell me about his dream. As he started to tell me Kaden interrupted and said, "Oh yeah.....I had a dream that I was being chased by Hobos." I looked at him and asked if he knew what a Hobo was. His response was, "They are people who can't afford cable." I about died laughing! His bad dream was about being chased by people who can't afford cable. I finally explained to him just what a Hobo was. Oh to live in Kaden's mind. :)

Kaleb said to Mark the other day, "Dad, I'm really tired so I think you need to get me some caffeine so I can stay awake." Apparently he's heard me say something to that effect before.

Kesa the pirate

2009-05-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

Middle School has been so good for Kesa. This is her 2nd year and 2nd play she's been in. Even though she had to get up early for play practice, she never really complained and she had a great time. This year they did the play Pirates of Penzance. She's already looking forward to next year's play.

Kesa's good friend Megan, brought her flowers

Piano recital

2009-03-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

The girls waiting for the recital to start

Despite Kassie being very nervous, she did great!

She did a wonderful job!

The girls with their piano teacher

Tornado

2009-03-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

Monday night was a little exciting when the sirens went off letting us know we were in a tornado warning. We had lots of hail and strong winds. What was even freakier was the rotation of the clouds over our front yard. I've never seen anything like it. We are very thankful we were kept safe and sound. Unfortunately not everyone was so lucky. There were some homes that were destroyed.

Pinewood Derby

2009-03-27T18:56:00.001-07:00

Kaden has been excited for weeks to participate in his first Pinewood Derby. Papa helped Kaden cut out his car since Mark and I were gone on our cruise. When we got home, Kaden and Mark got to work putting the car together and decorating it. Kaden was so proud of it! Now for those of you who know Kaden, know that he can be very sensitive about almost everything. He kept saying that he hoped he would win and we kept telling him it wasn't about the winning. We knew that if his car didn't do well we were going to have a train wreck of a child. When it was Kaden's turn to race for the first time, all we prayed for was that his car wouldn't come in last. Low and behold it came in second. We were so relieved! Every time his car had to race we just prayed that it wouldn't come in last. It came in first from then on. It was sooo exciting! It was fun to watch him and his friend cheer for the other cars in their troop. We combined with another ward and so for the results Kaden came in 2nd. He was 1st in our ward. It was truly an exciting day for our Kaden and a huge relief for his parents.

Getting ready to race.

Yeah Baby!

1st place

Getting his medal

The car

Kaden with his troop

A happy Kaden and his Dad

The Cruise

2009-03-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Mark and I decided it was time to spend some some quality time together, so we went on a cruise. We took a 5 day cruise on the Navigator Of The Seas through Royal Caribbean and had the time of our lives. There was so much to see and so much to do that when we got home we felt like we needed a vacation to recoup from our vacation.

Here we are waiting at the Tri-Rail station. We took an hour long train ride to Fort Lauderdale where we caught our ship.

Waiting some more

While we were waiting, an Amtrak train passed us

Mark looking out over Fort Lauderdale

The first night we were there they had a Set Sail parade on the Promenade

We played golf the first day we were there.

We took this picture from the helicopter pad

I'm on top of the world!

Mark looks like he's praying to some ocean God

Our beautiful dining room. It was hard to believe we were actually on a ship!

Formal night was so much fun. It was nice being able to dress up and to see what others were wearing. This staircase was a popular place to take pictures.

Out on the pool deck

Having fun on the pool deck

Still having fun

Every night our room attendate would make an animal out of towels.

Our favorite day was spent at a place call Playa Uvas.

This is what you call paradise!

The pavilion where we ate lunch.

We went snorkeling which was a fun experience. We saw a sting ray, barracuda, lots of Dori fish and Mark even saw an octopus.

I called this the mushroom tree

Trying to climb a tree to pick a coconut. :)

The view to the entrance of Playa Uvas

Our beautiful cruise ship

You don't really realize how big your boat is until you are standing next to it. It's totally amazing!

Leaving the port in Cozumel

More pictures of the port in Cozumel

The elephant

Our next stop was in Belize. Here we went to see the Mayan Ruins.

Here is a tree that grows a certain kind of nuts that the Mayans used.

A very long walk up to the top

One of the temples

A view from one of the temples

The sting-ray

We loved walking along the Promenade

Looking down on the Metropolis theater. Every night there was a show to attend.

This picture gives you an idea of how many decks there are. It's taken from the Promenade. Keep in mind there are many more decks than this picture shows.

The curtain in the Metropolis Theater

Waiting for one of the shows

The hallway leading to our room

Our stateroom - Deck 9

The swan

We were getting ready to participate in a game show.

Here is Mark coming back from turning in our answer to the game question.

The last night there they had a farewell parade.

Taken on the Promenade after the parade

Having a little fun in the gift shop

Mark and the invisible pitchfork

We had so much fun on our cruise but as you can see we got worn out. Here we are sitting in the airport waiting to go home.

Three little cousins

2009-02-22T20:01:00.001-08:00

These three little boys have a lot of fun when they get together. Sometimes they are just like three peas in a pod. They bring a lot of joy to our family!

Could they be any cuter?!

My two little boys

One of my favorites

Kesa

2009-02-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to posting Kesa's 13 year old pictures. While I was going through the pictures I couldn't resist comparing them to two years ago. My baby girl is growing up.

Two Brothers and a Sister

2009-01-24T08:35:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago two of my brothers came for a visit. Keith, who was on his way back to some army base in Georgia, stopped by on his way through. Clay, who wanted to see Keith before he left, flew to Omaha so he could visit with him and of course my family. It was so good to see the two of them and to spend time with them. I love these guys!

Clay and I enjoying our breakfast

I'm letting Keith know that I'm #1 in leg wrestling. He of course thinks I'm going to lose.

Do you see Keith holding up the #2? That's right, he lost.

If you look closely you can see Keith going over. You can also see him stepping on my hair.

Trying to WWF wrestle. I lost that one.

Trying to get Keith to smile is a joke so enjoy the next few pictures.

Friends for Life

2009-01-23T11:43:00.001-08:00

A long time ago in a Ghetto far far away, the Ludlow and the Kortus kids became neighbors. Little did they know that 5 years in the Ghetto would bring them much happiness and adventure. Even though they are no longer neighbors and they can't get together very often they have discovered they will be friends for life.

Kesa, Kassie, Tyler, and Trent getting ready to play Twister

Just beginning

I love this shot!

Trent didn't last too long

Playing Disney Scene It

Going for a little car ride

Playing Rock Band

Sing Kaden sing

The Nativity

2009-01-02T11:16:00.001-08:00

Kaleb's pre-school gets to act out the Nativity and this year Kaleb was a shepherd. As you can see he's really into his role.

My little shepherd boy
Kaleb and his daddy

Kaleb and his mommy

Kaden's Baptism

2008-11-16T09:25:00.001-08:00

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-09T19:58:00.001-07:00

Could it possibly be that time of year again! Our family loves the month of October because of all the fun traditions we do. One of them is of course Vala's Pumpkin Patch. Here is what we did...

Kids sat in the GIANT rocking chair

We posed by our favorite pirate

Kaleb got a sticker stuck on is bum

LeAnna and Austin rode the tractor ride

Kaden got in trouble

Kesa fell in love

Mark discovered a new land

Kaden danced like a pirate

Kaden was a pig leader

Kaden's pig won the pig race and this was his prize

Kesa has been pig leader for at least 9 out of the 12 years that we've gone.

Mark went down the big red slide

Jana decided to go down on her stomach....stupid Jana (blow up picture to see her face)

LeAnna forgetting how to use a slide.....poor Austin!

Kassie did tricks on the jumping pillows

Mark and Kaleb played together

Mark had to take extreme measures to make Kesa happy

Jana let her true self show

After a fun and busy night the two love birds took a break

Family get together

2008-08-19T09:55:00.000-07:00

Every year the whole family gets together and you know what that means.....picture time!

Here are the grandkids

The whole family

The siblings with their spouses

Our little family

My new hair cut

2008-08-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I finally did. I chopped off my hair. I've been saying I was going to do it for quite a few months now and today just happened to be the day. It is very different for me, but I think I kind of like it. What does everyone think?

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

2008-08-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

I awoke on August 13th with a sense of excitement. Not only was it our 15th wedding anniversary, but it was the first day of school. I hate to admit this, but I think I was more excited about it being the first day of school. :)

After walking the kids over to the school it was all I could do to not run, skip, and jump back to my car. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids, but after the last two weeks it was definitely time to go back to school.

Kassie the 5th grader

Kaden the 2nd grader

Waiting in the line

Kaden with his prized possession....his rolling backpack

Kesa the 7th grader (can't believe it's possible)

She didn't even look back

The night of the Vampires

2008-08-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Friday morning I arrived at Barnes & Noble around 7:30 so I could be the first in line to receive my wristband. Crazy I know. I felt kind of weird being the oldest one standing in line, but with my competitive immature nature, I was proud to be the first and oldest one. :) The lower left picture shows how excited I am.

Around 9:15pm or so the girls and I arrived at LeAnna's so we could get dressed for the big event. Here we are dressed up as vampires going to a wedding. Kesa is dressed up as Bella (one of the main characters) I was Rosalie, LeAnna was Jane (Volturi) and Kassie was a human friend of Bella. Here we are looking suductive.

Longing for my vampire Edward

LeAnna and I decided we didn't like the smoothies

The girls having a snack

LeAnna guessing how many blood drops (jellybeans) are in the jar.

What a scratch!

They handed out vampire tattoos and werewolf scratches. Here we are showing them off.

These are the boxes that held our special books :)

LeAnna making out with the werewolf

Looking a little frightened aren't we Kassie!

YIKES!!!

First in line!

Paying for the books

Yahoo!!! We finally have our books

When we got home I thought I would goof off and take some pictures for Mark. Just because I'm 34 doesn't mean I have to act like it. :)

Mark's sexy woman!

The perfect way to spend the day

2008-07-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

One of our families favorite activities during the summer is jet-skiing. Here we are ready for a fun filled day!

The boys going for a ride with Aunt LeAnna

Austin enjoyed playing in the sand with Mama

This picture is of Kesa getting back from her ride with LeAnna. As you can see from her face she looks a little......relieved?

Here is Papa looking a little "Green" after blowing up the tube. Thank you Papa!

Kassie wanted me to be the watcher for her

Proof that Mama can still get down and have some fun.

Playing in the rain

2008-07-28T09:53:00.001-07:00

The kids were bored one day so I told them to go play in the rain. You should have seen the looks on their faces when I told them that. As you can see they had quite the time.

Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a regular at our house.

Toward the end Kaleb had stripped down to his underwear.

New SpringWidget

2008-07-28T09:46:00.001-07:00

Get this widget!

4th of July

2008-07-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

We went to Denver for the 4th of July to visit my brother, Chet and his family. Other members of the family showed up also so we ended up having quite the time. While we were there we rode their new 4-wheeler, swam, went down water slides, hiked and ran from fireworks. The latter was quite the experience.

Kesa's holding on for dear life!

The State Park we went to.

CRAZY Weather

2008-06-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

We've had such crazy weather this Summer. I'm beginning to feel like I live in Seattle because of all the rain we've received. Today the sirens went off, not because there was a tornado, but because of the high winds and hail. There was a lot of damage ranging from roofs being torn off, to very old trees being uprooted. I also just found out that there has been two deaths from the storm. Very tragic! I guess quite a few areas are still without power. I'm very thankful our family was once again protected from the storms.

The week without Mark

2008-06-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, Mark has been out of town for 8 days on a High Adventure Trip with the scouts. This was an adventure for me since this is the first time that Mark has ever left for such a long period of time. We've been apart for this long before, but it's usually me who leaves to go visit my family. This time I was the one to stay behind with the kids to act as mom/dad. I have to admit it's easier to be the one who leaves. :)

We've had a wonderful week, but it's definitely had it's moments. The day Mark left I found out my sister was getting a divorce. I was depressed for a couple of days and even got sick. I'm thankful for my sister-in-law and her husband for having our little family over for dinner on Sunday. On Tuesday night LeAnna helped out by playing racquetball with me and then going to TCBY for a little treat. On Thursday night they invited us once again to join them for pizza and games at their house. I'm thankful for their friendship, love, and support. We love you guys!

Our little family has had fun swimming, playing with friends, having a sleep over with Mama and Papa, and a sleep over at Jim and LeAnna's. We've been shopping, we've watched movies, and we've stayed up late. Over all it's been a good week, but we are looking forward to seeing Mark tomorrow afternoon.

I thought it would be fun to post the many faces and emotions of Jana during the week of Mark's absence. :)

The happy face

The sad/depressed face

The pulling out my hair face

Yeah! Mark's home!!!! face

Kaleb's 4

2008-06-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

My baby is four! It seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. Out of all my children, his baby years went by the fastest which makes me sad. The youngest should go by the slowest. Even though Kaleb has been up for sale the good majority of his life :), he still brings a lot of joy into our home.

Happy Birthday Kaleb!

For Kaleb's birthday he received a tool kit

His favorite present was his DS. Now he can play with Kaden.

Kaleb the tool man.

The Sink Hole

2008-06-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

After living in our house for 7 years, our front yard decided to acquire a sink hole.
Jim and LeAnna happened to be landscaping at the same time, so they gave us some of their dirt to help in our sink hole project.

Here's Mark standing in just a small portion of the hole.

Kaden helping us out.

Kaleb helping us out.

Some of our handiwork

Our beautiful roses!

Princess Jana

2008-06-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

You Are Aurora! (A.K.A. Sleeping Beauty.)

Thoughtful and loving. Authority figures probably have been sheltering you all of your life. Thankfully you're a very tranquil person who is content with what life has given you, but secretly you want to know how the outside world works.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Of course I'm the most beautiful princess there is. :) After reading all the results about each princess I think I have some Ariel in me. Fun and silly quiz!

Ahhh Utah!

2008-06-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I was afforded the opportunity to travel to Salt Lake City, Utah to lay to rest Grandma Grace. LeAnna has posted some fantastic pictures and chronicled the event quite well in her blog so I will direct you there for that.

The part of the trip that only I could put a face on was the unique landscape of Salt Lake City itself.

Being a reasonably active, meeting going member of the LDS church, and a closet apologetic that has not grown up or lived in Utah, I find parts of Salt Lake City odd. It looks strange to me that there is a LDS meetinghouse on nearly every street in this valley. I remember a street between Bountiful and Ogden where there are 2 chapels on opposite sides of the street. (There are more LDS meetinghouses then 7-11s in SLC anymore!). I aslo find it odd (yet understandable) that a large % of people walking around downtown are dressed to the nines and carrying a small suitcase. But I find it equally odd when non-church related business in town uses the churchs name as well. Here is my case in point.

Points of interest:
"This is the Place"
It is not open on Sunday? Jack Mormon indeed!

Salt Lake City is a place that we wanted to move to for the recreation and proximity to family. Upon returning home the words of a familiar cliche' ring true

"Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home"

Mother's Day

2008-06-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day was such a wonderful day. It started off with Kaden demanding I have breakfast in bed. The only problem was that we were having brunch that day and I didn't want to stay in bed that long. I appeased him though and stayed in my room until brunch was made. They made me eggs and little orange muffins. YUMMY!!!! Thank you Mark!

I love going to Church on Mother's Day because we have Relief Society for two hours with refreshments in between. Mark says that it isn't fair because on Father's Day they don't get anything like that.

Kaden bringing me breakfast and his Mother's Day card.

The girls and I happened to match so we had to take a picture

For dinner we went over to Leanna and Jim's for a barbecue. Here is a picture of the all the mother's. The one on the left is my WONDERFUL grandma.

Trip to Idaho

2008-05-26T17:10:00.001-07:00

Kaleb and I just came back from Idaho so let me tell you of our adventure:

Uncle Jacob letting Kaleb drive the riding lawnmower
Kaleb was pretty proud of himself.

Kaleb had fun being chased my Uncle Mark

We visited Bear World

This was probably the coolest part

Kaleb's favorite part was riding all the rides!

For those who know Kaleb, you know how much he LOVES trains!

I love his face in this picture

Me and Jacob having some fun. Kaleb refused to ride this.

Feeding the deer

Getting to pet a deer

We saw this shirt in the gift shop and I just had to take a picture.

Kaleb loved playing with cousin Abby

My happy boy

Abby taught Kaleb how to jump off the trampoline.

Bathtub buddies

You can guess who won :)

I always have a wonderful time when I'm with my family and I can't wait to do it again.

Attack of the Ants

2008-05-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Every Spring we have these guests who like to visit. Little do they know, their visit is not appreciated so we give them a little treat and send them on their way.

See you next Spring!

Cinderella

2008-04-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

For a few months now, Kesa has been practicing really hard for her parts in the Russell Middle School performance of Cinderella. She got to be a towns person and had to have two different costumes. Even though it took a lot of early morning practices, she enjoyed it and can't wait for next years play.

Getting ready for the big show.

Kesa with her friend, Jenna

Kaden giving Kesa flowers after the performance.

The ball gown look.

A new blanket

2008-04-14T16:36:00.001-07:00

A few months ago Kaden realized his baby blanket, made with love by Mama, didn't completely cover his body anymore. He was becoming quite upset by it so he decided to ask Mama to make him another one. After much stress and many tears (for those who know Kaden, you'll know what I mean) he picked out a pattern and yarn for his blanket to be. Now all he had to do was wait and waiting is no easy task for a 7 year old boy. Mama worked tirelessly to finish the blanket in a timely manner because she knew how hard it was for Kaden to wait. Finally the day arrived and as you can see from the pictures he's a happy little boy. Thank you Mama for the blanket! I love you!

If you look you can see both of his special blankets. The big colorful one and his white baby blanket next to his face.

One happy little boy!

A visit from Grandpa Hayes

2008-04-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

We were all shocked when we got the call but very excited to know that Grandpa Hayes was coming to visit. His last visit was 10 years ago so this was a big event for us. We had seen him during the 10 years, it's just that he hadn't been to Omaha for that long.

Kaleb and Grandpa got along really well. I was shocked to come downstairs one morning to find Kaleb sitting very comfortably on Grandpa's lap. I thought it would take him awhile to warm up, but I was mistaken.

Kaleb got very frustrated when he tried to go through Grandpa's legs because Grandpa would close them just enough that Kaleb couldn't go through.

We went to the Western Heritage Museum which Kaleb really enjoyed. He LOVES trains and while we were there got to go through a few train cars.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kaleb someday became a train conductor.

Cabella's is one of my Dad's favorite places to shop for fishing stuff so of course we had to stop in and look around. There is a shooting range inside which we all took advantage of.

Kaden could barley lift the gun.

Grandpa had to show us how it was done.

Another place we visited was the SAC Museum. This was my favorite plane.

Daddy and Kaleb in the cockpit

Kaleb didn't want to share one of the exhibits with other kids so as you can see he threw himself on the floor and had a fit.

Whenever someone comes to visit Kassie likes to take them for a walk for a little alone time. She must have been feeling nice because this time she invited Kaden and Kesa to join them. They walked to the park and wore Grandpa out.

For Family Home Evening we thought it would be fun to play laser tag. Mark and I have been a few times, but this was the kids and Grandpa's first time. After Kaden got over his fear of playing in the dark we all had a wonderful time. Mark creamed us all!

Nerd Day

2008-03-20T14:17:00.001-07:00

For a week all Kaden could talk about was the upcoming Nerd Day at school. The day of he awoke and dressed with excitement . He was determined to win so he could get a bunch of nerds. Unfortunately he didn't win, but was able to buy two boxes of nerds for .50 cents. What a deal!

What I thought was interesting was the fact that the principal of the school said they could no longer have pajama day or crazy hair day because it didn't show respect. Where is the respect in making fun of nerds? Don't quite understand that one.

More Cool Moves

2008-03-19T16:48:00.001-07:00

Don't send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Cool Dance Moves

2008-03-19T16:33:00.001-07:00

Don't send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

This can only end in tears

2008-03-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your stuck inside because Winter never ends? You run around in circles until someone gets hurt, and believe me someone always gets hurt. It has been soooo cold and there really has been nothing to do. You can only do so much here in Omaha in the middle of Winter. We are all anxiously waiting the arrival of Spring.

All about my Husband

2008-03-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

What is his name? Mark Edmund Ludlow

How long have you been married? 15 years this coming August

How long did you date? Let's see.....we hung out together for a few months and then decided to become more serious 2-3 weeks before he was to go back to Omaha.

How old is he? He is 37

Who said "I love you first?" He told me one night when I was having a hard time. I remember
calling my mom and flipping out that he said it. :)

Who is taller? He is thank goodness. I'm 5'8" and he's 6' or 6'1". Can't remember.

Who eats more sweets? There is no competition there. I'm a junk food junky

Who can sing better? Mark does. I think he has a very nice voice.

Who is smarter? Mark is by far....even ask my children. He's the homework helper.

Who does the laundry? I DO. Mark is not allowed to touch the laundry for fear he might shrink one of my shirts again. He is allowed to wash the towels and his gym clothes.

Who pays the bills? I do.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do and even though it's on the far side the kids still come to me in the middle of the night.

Who mows the lawn? Mark does and once in a blue moon I will.

Who cooks dinner? Mark. Why cook when my husband makes such wonderful food. :) Actually we both cook, Mark a little more than me.

Who drives? Mark

Who is more stubborn? I have to admit that I am. I'm the high maintenance one in the family

Who kissed who first? He kissed me first and then I went into my apt. and cried. Apparently it freaked me out or something.

Who asked who out first? He did

Who proposed? Now this is a question that I would love to answer. I proposed. It was late one night during the month of June and I was living at Rick's College and he was back home in Omaha. He had just gotten back from a date (that he asked my permission to go on) and I said to him, "Why are we waiting?" We were both miserable and we just wanted to be together. We were tired of our long distance relationship. So again instead of a romantic proposal I say again, I Proposed.

Who has more siblings? I do by far. I have 11 and he has 4

Okay, I tag Wendy, Ellisa, Melinda, LeAnna, and Krissy
Just copy and paste and then change the answers to be about your hunny...have fun!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-02-27T18:59:00.001-08:00

Donatello joins the family

2008-02-18T17:22:00.001-08:00

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Donatello joined us for a trip in the van the other day. You can't see it but he even had his Quarterstaff hidden in his pants.

What a rough job

2008-02-09T08:39:00.001-08:00

Thanks to the generosity and blessings of others we have new toys and furnishings at our house. On a very cold day the family needed Mark to come and work from home for the remainder of the day. This is a great benefit to have but as you can tell, it is suddenly far more comfortable to work at home than at the office. The new recliner and laptop allow him to work (yes, he is actually working) with his feet up and under a blanket on a cold day.

Austins 1st Birthday

2008-02-09T08:32:00.000-08:00

Our Nephew/Cousin Austin still spends plenty of time with us and he is a family favorite. Kaden especially loves him and asks if he is at home everyday when we pick him up from school. He is our little buddy.

On his 1st birthday LeAnna came to pick him up and we had a cupcake and the birthday song just for him.

A trip to see the Big Man

2008-01-30T11:05:00.001-08:00

Time to back track to the month of December

On the way to see Santa, Kesa informed us that she wasn't going to sit on his lap. We then proceeded to inform her that if she didn't sit on his lap and ask him for something, then he wouldn't be getting her anything. As you can see from the picture, both she and Kassie enjoyed their visit with Santa Clause.

The boys were a little more subdued than the girls and very quietly told Santa what they wanted. Kaleb was pretty proud of himself.

Kaden gets brand new glasses

2008-01-24T16:40:00.000-08:00

Kaden has squinted and blinked more than his fair share for awhile now so we decided to take the plunge and take him to the eye doctor and sure enough, he needs glasses! 2 days after the order here they are. A boy with his first pair of glasses.

"AAAARGH, thats a beauty set of specs says I" -Eisenbart

I sense a disturbance in the force!

2008-01-22T11:49:00.000-08:00

Kesa decided it would be fun to make Kaleb into a train. As you can see from his face it is a bright blue just like Thomas The Tank Engine. The most disturbing part was the nail polish on his fingers. Yikes!

ETA: Actually the most painful part was attempting to remove the caked on gunk from places on his face that little boys don't like scrubbed with soap and washcloths...yes washclothS. It took 2 of them to get all of it off. I told Kesa to please NEVER do that again.

At least we have memories.

Kaleb doesn't watch t.v. like a normal kid. He has a unique style all his own.

Kaleb displays the chocolate monster in all of us

2008-01-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

The girls new hair cuts

2008-01-16T11:14:00.001-08:00

Kesa has been wanting to do Locks for Love for quite some time now, so one afternoon I decided to take all four kids to get there hair cut. Here is their experience.

Kesa looked a little apprehensive at the beginning

When the lady started cutting I started to panic

Here is the 10 inches of hair that was cut off

Kesa getting her hair washed

A smiling and very happy Kesa after it was all done. She couldn't stop flipping it around and being amazed that it still looked the same after being messed up a bit.

The back view

A few days after the cut

Kassie and her very long hair

Kassie getting her hair washed

Kassie didn't want to go as short as Kesa so she didn't do Locks for Love.
Here is the final look after her cut.

My two beautiful girls

Our new furniture

2008-01-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

We were very blessed this year so we thought we would treat ourselves to some new furniture. We bought a beautiful brown couch, two oversized lazy boy recliners and some art work for the wall. Oh, and we also bought three bookshelves for the dining room that is no longer a dining room. We'll show those pictures when we actually put the shelves together.

Kesa's Show Choir Performance

2008-01-16T10:49:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since we've updated our blog so bare with us as we backtrack to November.

Kesa made show choir this year and has enjoyed it immensely! Here she is in her pink poodle skirt twirling her hair and singing 50's music.

Isn't she cute!

The good thing about show choir is dancing with a boy. :)
Here she is with her partner Jacob Pfifer

Happy Halloween

2007-11-04T17:55:00.000-08:00

Who says trick or treating is just for the kids. Our crazy family, plus LeAnna and Austin, getting ready for the big night.

Mark, The Reflective Warlock

Who says I have to act my age.

Kesa and I decided to dress up the same this year. We tried to talk Kassie into it but she decided on something else.

Kaleb our little purple dragon......and no he's not Barney!

Kassie the Geisha Girl

Kaden our Ninja Warrior

SUPER BOWL 41 1/2

2007-11-04T17:18:00.000-08:00

Today was the day that the Patriots versed the Colts. For those who don't know, Jim and LeAnna are HUGE Patriot fans!!!!! As you can tell they have coeursed their son, Austin, and our two girls into becoming Patriot fans also.

This picture was taken at the beginning of the game. Notice they are smiling.

The smiles are gone....could that be a look of concern?

"Come on!" shouts LeAnna. "The refs are making horrible calls."

I guess this is Kesa pretending to be concerned.

After all the concern and bad calls made by the refs, the family was able to enjoy a victory dance. Notice Mark and I didn't join in.....we were rooting for Manning's team.

YAHOO!

Austin showing his excitement for the win.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-07T18:33:00.001-07:00

For the last 12 years our family has enjoyed going to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. Every year we brave the haunted house (Kesa conquered her fear this year and ventured inside), brave the somewhat haunted mine, ride the train, ride the bikes, figure out how to get through the maze, and many more fun activities. We love to buy our favorite kettle corn and all sorts of yummy treats. One of our favorite things to do is to watch the pig races. Every year one or all of our children have been picked to be a pig leader. This year was a sad year for one and all because no one got the job of pig leader. If you're a pig leader and your pig wins the race then you win a pig nose. It's a fun event to behold. As always we had a great time and can't wait to go back next year.

Waiting for the pumpkin cannon to shoot a pumpkin

Mark helping the boys cook their smores

Our annual picture with Eisenbart the Pirate

One of the new attractions this year was a big jumping pillow. Here Mark and the kids are running from one end to the other.

Kaleb showing he can land on his bum.

I thought it would be fun to play super heroes. I probably embarrassed my kids.

The girls giving Kaleb a ride.

Mark and I did all the work while Kaden sat in the front seat enjoying himself.

LeAnna and Austin joined us this year. This picture was taken inside the storybook barn.

Ahoy there Mateys.....Kaden and Kaleb hanging on for dear life.

The girls found their true loves.

Here Kaden is dancing up on stage to pirate music. I wish this picture could move because it was a funny site. He makes a great pirate dancer.

The four beauty queens

Mark and Kaleb going down the big red slide.

Jana falling on her bottom

Watching Kaden go down the slide.

This picture really needs to be turned the other way so it looks like Mark is flying behind the pig. It's a pretty cute sign.

A very happy Kaleb riding the Barnyard Adventure tractor

The annual hay rack ride

Kaleb is trying to figure out what's going on

Kesa's new glasses

2007-10-07T18:28:00.000-07:00

Last December we took Kesa to the eye doctor for a checkup. We found that she just barely needs glasses. I was told that I wouldn't be a bad mother if I didn't get them right away, but if she started complaining that she couldn't see, then I needed to get them for her. She came home about a month ago saying she was having a hard time seeing the board, so off we went to get her glasses. She has adjusted quite well to them.

Looking pretty cute there Miss Kesa Lynn

Flag Football

2007-10-07T18:18:00.001-07:00

Kaden decided he wanted to try flag football for his sport this Fall. He started off enjoying going to practice and his games. His first game he even completed a pass (truly a miracle). As time went by we figured out why he wanted to play football. He's only playing so he can get a trophy. He has a soccer trophy, a baseball trophy and next week he'll get his football trophy. After that he wants to play basketball and get a trophy and then he wants to take up fishing. So he won't be the next star on the Nebraska football team, but at least he's enjoying a wide variety of sports.

Kaden on the right getting ready to swipe a flag

Hiking the ball

Trying a new sport

2007-09-14T11:07:00.001-07:00

Kesa decided she wanted to try out Volleyball, so here are a few pictures of her in action. Go Kesa!

Here it comes

MINE!

Our Happy Kesa

We watch Austin 2 days a week. Our family loves and enjoys him. We decided it was time he learned to drive so here he is with his first driving lesson.

Look Mom and Dad, no hands

Kaleb goes to Pre-school

2007-09-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

Today was an exciting day for Kaleb.... It was the day he started pre-school. He had a hard time watching the other kids go to school because all he wanted was to be a big kid too. Today his dream came true. Mom's dream also came true today. She gets 2 1/2 hours of alone time.

Kaleb with his bear, Boona

A very excited little boy!

Waiting to go into the school

Kaleb showing me his cubby. He gets the blue triangle for his shape.

Of course he went straight for the trains. In fact he took the train from the little boy you see in the picture.

Ludlow Family Picture

2007-08-20T05:59:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile the Ludlow clan gets together. To mark such a great occasion lots of pictures are taken. Here is the latest family picture.

Kassie's 10th birthday

2007-08-16T07:23:00.001-07:00

August 15th was the day that Kassie turned 10. She got to start her day off by giving donuts to her class. She then had the nice surprise of eating lunch with mom and Kaleb. After school she got to go swimming at mama and papa's house. Mom and Dad took her to The Olive Garden for dinner which she loved. She then got to end her day with presents, cake and ice cream. She had a GREAT day!

New clothes

Donuts for her class at school

A game she's been wanting

Cool Sassy Kassie

She's just discovering her new bike

The bike is a little big, but she'll grow into it

Jumping for joy at the site of her fish

Kassie with her new fish, "Bubbles"

Carrot cake....YUMMY!

Kesa's newly painted room

2007-08-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's only been six years, but Kesa finally got her room painted.
She LOVES it!

A most GLORIOUS day!

2007-08-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to celebrate. Not only was it the first day of school, it was also our 14th wedding anniversary. After getting some excited kids off to school, Mark, Kaleb and myself went to Fremont to go jet skiing. We had a wonderful day playing in the sun, sand, and water. That night we went to dinner with Mark's sister, Krissy and her husband Jeff. We ended up at Famous Dave's (my favorite place to eat). It was one spectacular day!

A VERY excited Kesa on the 1st day of school

All grown up

She only looked back once

Our Kassie Kay

Showing off her new clothes

Kaden the big 1st grader

Our handsome boy

Me with my Hot Monkey Lover (an inside joke of 14 years)

After all these years Mark can still sweep me off my feet.

The Long Awaited Post

2007-08-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

In July our family took a 15 day vacation. We went to Utah, Idaho and South Dakota. Besides driving, driving, and driving some more, here are a FEW other things we did.

We went to Temple Square

The cousins bonded

We saw the beautiful Salt Lake Temple

We played pool

We had water fights

Kesa became a pro at the water fights

Kaden fantisized about being a Husker someday

Went fishing with Grandpa Hayes (didn't catch anything)

Played in the mud within the garden

Saw Mark and Nicole get married

Looked pretty at the reception

Watched my crazy brothers stand in line

Took pictures of Kaleb

Climbed trees

Tried out for cheerleading

Played on the slip and slide

Kaleb ate Cheetos with Abby and Grandma Karen

Slides were climbed

Poses were struck

3 Generation picture was taken

Kissing was done on the temple grounds in Idaho Falls

We attempted a hike...which Kaleb hated

Had fun soaking our feet in the COLD stream

Had a relaxing picnic

The girls had a contest to see who could stay in the water the longest. Kesa won.

Got spanked from mom because Megan and I jumped off the shed onto the trampoline.

We attempted to fly

We rode on logs in the Rigby Lake

We played in the sand

We discovered 2 1/2" hail 10,000 feet up on a mountain

We slid down the alpine slide in South Dakota

Kesa ran for President

The kids became photographers

The kids actually got along

Mark and Kesa fell asleep on the tram

Mark decided his new job was being a "Female Body Inspector"

We saw Mount Rushmore

Kaleb became Daniel Boon

It was an eventfull trip full of fun and many good memories.

A perfect way to spend the day!

2007-07-02T05:29:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago we went on a family outing to Fremont Lake. What a BLAST!!!!! I have to admit that jet skiing is a fun way to spend the day. We even got Kassie to take a ride this year. A few years ago she fell off the jet ski and hasn't wanted to to get back on since. Yeah! Kassie.

The Girl's 1st swim meet

2007-06-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor came over a few weeks ago to ask if the girls would be interested in joining the Omaha Public Pool swim team. Of course they wanted to hang out with their new friend, Paige, so they agreed. After the first day they both wanted to quit because it turned out to be challenging. Being the good parents we are, we didn't let them quit and had them go the next day. When they came home they had a completely different attitude and wanted to continue. Now they LOVE it and are mad they will miss two weeks while we are on vacation.

Kesa getting ready for 1st race

Kesa doing the backstroke
almost there
A classic nose holding dive by Kassie
Kassie doing the backstroke
Looking a little nervous
Doing the breaststroke

Dancing Boys

2007-06-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

I know it may be hard to tell, but the boys really are dancing in these pictures. They just have a unique style all their own.

Our little Pirate

What a dance move

Shake, Rattle, and Roll
1,2,3 JUMP

The newest dance move around

Jana's 5k race

2007-06-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

Jana has decided it would be fun to get into running, so here she is running her 2nd 5k race. She thought she would give up during the first 2 min. but ended up sticking it out and taking 3 min. off her time. She finished in 29:44.