Our Amazing NEBRASKA Trip!

I just have to begin saying that our Nebraska trip was awesome!! It was the perfect vacation! The plan to make a trip out to Nebraska started brewing this last January when Rick was looking to sign up to take the MCAT (Medical College Admissions Test). Even though he was 4 months early to sign up, all the Utah spots on the day Rick wanted to take the test had already been filled up. The only other option was to take it out of state...sooooooo, we decided to make a trip out to Nebraska to visit Dawson and Stacie, Oaklee and Bridger! It was our first time out there to visit them and I hope we get to go back again soon!

Some shots of the pretty clouds (through the car window which is why it's so speckled) on our loooooong drive there. 

Kimbri loves playing with Mommy's sunglasses. Anything
to keep the adorable girl happy on the drive ;)

So we left on Friday, April 27 and Rick took the extremely long test that Saturday, April 28. He doesn't find out his results until May 30, so we're just playing the waiting game now. But after his test we did a TON of relaxing! And it was so perfect and much needed! Just before we got married we started school and we were both in school that fall semester, winter semester, both spring and summer terms (not to mention me being pregnant and having a baby during summer term since Kimbri decided to come early) and we both were in school the following fall semester of 2011 too! I graduated in December but Rick had a crazy semester after that continuing his preparation for medical school applications and preparing to take the MCAT. So it all came down to the end of the semester, finals for Rick, graduation for me and two of my cousins (Janelle and Landon), graduation parties, Nolan getting home from his mission, family pictures, Nolan's homecoming, etc... and then we packed up and headed for Nebraska and I guess what I am getting at is that after Rick finished his test, we finally were able to have a good, nice, wonderful, relaxing, restful incredible fun vacation!!!!! And here are some photos to prove it :)

Oaklee and Bridger finally warmed up to us while we babysat them so that Dawson and Stacie could go to the doctor's office to get an ultrasound to find out what gender their baby will be....and it's a BOY! Congratulations to them! I'm so excited :)

And also, the weather was super nice while we were there!

Getting ready for our trip to take a boat ride on Dawson's boat! 

I love this family! Stacie, Oaklee, Bridger and Dawson

Kimbri sporting her hat so that her nearly bald head won't
get sunburned:)

Rick held Kimbri over the edge of the boat so she could dangle her feet in the water....

and I think she loved it a little too much because when he took her out of the water.....

she did this, and hard too!

But she eventually got over it and had a grand old time taking her first boat ride :)

After the boat rides with the kids the guys, Dawson and Rick, stayed a quite a while and caught a ton of fish! They said they stopped counting at 30 and brought home these beauties.

Kimbri had a bit of a late night due to a later-in-the-evening nap. She was quite entertained by the bunny ears and the fake deer head :)

Kimbri and Oaklee chillin' outside on the front lawn.

Then one day we played in the pool. Kimbri loves the water. And boy am I excited to take her to the water park this summer. She's going to have a blast! And as you can see we don't have a swimming suit for her yet....or little swimmers, so yes, she has a diaper on underneath her onsie and it filled right on up with a TON of water. At least we now know that Pampers can hold a ton of wetness!! Haha :)

                                      

And here is proof about the diaper holding a massive amount of water that I mentioned above:

Chillin' on the back porch. 

On Stacie's birthday Rick and I watched Oaklee and Bridger so that Dawson and Stacie could go out on a date. After Oaklee and Bridger ate dinner, Rick and I sat down to eat and the kids sneakily went off to Oaklee's bedroom. A while later, they came out and she had dressed up Bridger in her princess nightgown! 

And then they wanted to be our puppies so they were the dogs and we played fetch with little sand shovels. Good times, good times! 

One night we sat out on the front porch and watched the most spectacular lightning storm. It was unlike anything I've ever seen! And a camera just does NOT do it justice! 

After much relaxing and just 'hangin out' we decided to take a little trip in to Omaha for part of our last day in Nebraska to see the Omaha temple and tour the Visitors Center at Winter Quarters. It was really fun to see and learn about the pioneers that stayed at Winter Quarters and the Spirit was so strong there, especially when walked through the cemetery across the street next to the temple. It really hit me seeing the names and ages of those who died, the majority of them being young children. Having a little daughter of my own really puts things like that into perspective for what the pioneers had to go through. It makes me so appreciative of the gospel and that we can have forever families! 

Daddy and Kimbri

Mommy and Kimbri

Our little family

The names and ages of those who died at Winter Quarters.

The Omaha temple is so beautiful! I especially loved the bright blue stained glass on the side.

After visiting Winter Quarters we decided to stop somewhere to eat. We decided on Olive Garden, one because we love that place and two, I was having some bad wisdom tooth pain and as part of the appetizers to the meal you can get soup or salad, so I got soup because it's easy to swallow! And this is the only picture we took there, Kimbri eating pieces of Olive Gardens amazing breadsticks!! She loves her food!

We got back to Dawson and Stacie's home and got to visit a little more that night before making the long drive home the next morning. Thanks Dawson and Stacie for letting us come to Nebraska to visit and have such a relaxing vacation!!!

Just for the record....

A couple blog posts back I put up a picture and talked about how Kimbri cried for the first few days after Nolan got home when he tried to hold her.....well, after he fed her tons of puffs, helping her do fun things and playing with her, she has come to love him:)  I just had to post proof that she really does love her Uncle Nolan now! 

Family Pictures

When Nolan got home from his mission, that marked the first time in about 4 years that all of our family had been together! So my mom scheduled us to have family pictures taken that Saturday after he got home, on April 21, 2012. Tom Garzand and his wife took the pictures for us. They are the ones that did our wedding photos. Until we get the cd's of all the pictures they took, here are just a few snapshots that my extremely old camera took....But when I get the professional ones, I will post a lot more :)

Enoch and Oaklee were having fun playing in the water
while we were waiting for the Garzand's to arrive.

 I loved the reflections off the water! 

Here is Daddy and Kimbri and then below that is a picture of Mommy and Kimbri.

Wyatt and Dawson keeping Bridger
entertained by throwing him back and forth.

Janelle's Bridal Shower

On April 21, 2012 my Aunt Margaret put on a way fun bridal shower for my cousin, Janelle. She is getting married May 12, 2012...this Saturday! Since so much family was in town for graduation, Nolan's homecoming, etc.... we all got to get together for a bridal shower that week too! So much went on that week. It was soooo fun! 

Kimbri and I got a ride with Janelle, her fiancee's mom and Catherine. Kimbri had fun playing with toys on the floor while we all got to visit, eat delicious food, watch Janelle open her gifts and hear her tell her love story:)

Kimbri loved those plastic balls! 

We gave her some glass Pyrex bowls with lids
that she had registered for at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Kimbri enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper:)

These pans were so cool! They had her future last
name, 'Nygard' on the bottom of them!

She got a dutch oven too! And lots of other things
that I didn't take pictures of.

It was soooooo fun to be at Janelle's bridal shower! I'm super excited for her that she has found the love of her life and that she's so happy ;) Yay for marriage!!

Graduation Fiesta - April 19, 2012

 So Thursday night after the Convocations for graduation everybody gathered at my parents house for a big dinner, dessert, and a whole lot of fun! It was so fun to get to see everyone, chat and catch up with family I haven't seen in a while and to just be together! It was a fun celebration! 

People that were there (I wasn't able to get a picture of everyone because I forgot to get my camera out for the first half of the night): Doug and Kathy, Janelle, Catherine, Camille; Matt and Dixie; Lincoln, Megan, Baby Bevan; Landon and Rachel; My Parents Lyle and Tammy; Dawson and Stacie, Oaklee, Bridger; Nolan, Zach, Wyatt, Olivia, Enoch; Grandma and Grandpa Haycock, and my wonderful in-laws and most of their family, Mike and Sundee Stone, Jessica, Cosette, Mindy, Levi, Mitch, Wesley, Preston, Nicole, Megan and Cody! We had quite the crowd!! Sorry if I missed anybody... oh and of course my amazing husband and daughter, Rick and Kimbri, were there with us:)

Here are a few snapshots I took to document the fun event:

Nicole LOVING her horse ride!

Cody popping bubbles

Kimbri having some Grandma Haycock time :)

Landon and his wife, Rachel

The dessert was phenomenal! Haha...they got the favorite pies of all the graduates. How nice of them:) There were so many different dessert options! They got banana cream pie in my honor, which was greatly appreciated, but I ended up going with the cheesecake with those delicious-looking berries on top. YUM!!!

Dan, Judd

Ben on the horse and Dawson. Dawson was so nice to give all the little kids horse rides!
 

Mindy pushing Bridger on the mini 4-wheeler

Kimbri wearing her BYU bib in honor of the graduates....haha :)

Olivia holding Bevan (Lincoln and Megan's baby)

Megan riding Blaze, the horse.

Oaklee and her Daddy

Oaklee on the horse

 

I had to beg to get a picture of Mitchell ;)

Kimbri sitting in the princess chair

Rick and his littlest brother, Cody

So when Kimbri first met Nolan, and for several days after, she would burst into tears  and would NOT let him hold her! This is one of many terrified looks when Nolan tried to hold her.  Since then he has given her a lot of food and because of that, she likes him now. HaHa! :)

A beautiful sunset to end the night! I love sunsets!

I'm so happy to be graduated and done with school so I can focus more on my family! Thanks Rick for being such a supportive husband so that I was able to finish school and graduate. I love you!!