Back to School

Back to School
2nd Grade

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Where did the summer go! School is almost here!

Gosh.. where did the summer go.  We took our annual trip down to Branson, Missouri so that we can visit Silver Dollar City, shop at the area retailers during Missouri's tax free days, and to watch Nathaniel's baseball games at the week long baseball camp he attends each year.  As you can see from the pictures below...Zoe is a ham and loves to get her picture taken.  He brother on the other hand would be well OK if we just took pictures of her.  Unfortunately, I was able to coax him into a few photo's with Zoe. I did not have to bribe him...but would have if need be. Last year, Zoe was quite timid and was reluctant to ride some of the rides where as this year she was much more adventuresome.  She rode the Merry-Go-Round, the Tea Cups, Kids Roller Coaster, the flying bugs, the Bouncing Frogs and the All American Plunge.  She is becoming like her brother and a real dare-devil.  The only issue during the week in Branson was the 7 days of continuous 100 plus degree weather...oh it was hot and muggy. Sonja ran into Carla Pinneo, one of her highschool best buddies at Silver Dollar City. Sonja and Zoe about wore me out...how much shopping can upi do...really! One day..I decided to take a nap while they went out to shop for clothes...Zoe hauled in...I guess it is never too early to leve shoes as I think Sonja bough her at least 5 pairs of shoes...That's three more than I have today!!!

At about the same time we are  getting ready to send Zoe off to Kindergarten.  She has had so much change for a 5 year old.  She will be leaving preschool and is now going to the "Big School".  To get her ready Sonja had to get her caught up on all her required shots.  She had 4 of them.  She told me "Dad, I was a big girl...I got four shots and I did not cry." She is a brave little girl. So, she is all but ready to go to her new school.  We are excited for her, as we are hoping she will start meeting and making loads of school friends.




Nathaniel has had a busy summer. He made the JV Legion baseball team and they had games at minimum 4 days each week.  Nathaniel did very well.  He ended with the highest number of innings pitched, believe he pitched 59.1 innings.  Over 10 innings more than any other pitcher and posted the second lowest era at 3.34. During the district tournament they asked him to pitch against one of the largest schools in Omaha where he threw 102 pitches and shut the team out until the ninth inning.  He had 13 innings of shutout baseball before a run was eventual scored.  He also finished the season with the fourth highest on base average and fifth highest batting average so he held his own. While at the baseball camp for 15-18 years old in Branson, Nathaniel batted .750 (he was 6 for 8 with two walks) and finished with a .800 on-base percentage.  He did well but learned a lot as well. This year he reecived a written report from college coaches on what he needs to work on... they provided alot of suggestions...After the camp..he met up with a friend in Branson who was also vacationing on the lake and they went cliff junping, jet skiing and later going to the park to ride the roller coasters.  Now its on to football, where this week he has started to-a-days JV football practices and also participating in his school's summer band camp. So, like last year, he is going to be busy.

Really, nothing else new and exciting...just wanted to catch-up...

Sonja, Zoe and Nathaniel on the log ride!

Sonja, Zoe and Nathaniel got a little wet!




Zoe and Nathaniel in the tea-cups ride

Nathaniel and Zoe
That's all for now...

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Updated..It is official "Zoe is ours" ....finally

Well it is official, Sonja, Zoe and I went to Sarpy County Court in Nebraska today and we received the Nebraska Decree of Adoption. Which means Zoe will receive a Nebraska Birth Certificate and that her files will be sealed.  This was the last official step of the adoption process.  Although it has been a long process (but not very long compared to many) it has been well worth it.  Both our attorney and the presiding judge were very complimentary of how well organized and thorough the required paperwork was in.  Our adoption agency Holt International (Omaha office) was just fantastic throughout the process.  We cannot say enough good things about both Bonnie and Celeste.  They were awesome (to use the first English word Zoe learned from us).  It was a great day!

A picture from a year ago when we first met Zoe





What a great weekend! On Saturday...I went to watch Zoe play in her second T-ball game.  She went 2 for 2 in batting with 2 rbi's! Game lasted about 45 minutes and the two teams tied 12 to 12.


Her game ended at 9:45 so we hurried into the car and ran to Nathaniel's game which started at 10:00 a.m. They went a full inning before torrential down pour which cancelled the game.  Later I dropped Nathaniel off at the College World Series (CWS) in downtown Omaha to watch the Arkansas Razorbacks (my old school) play Kent State.  The hogs won 8-1.  Sonja, Zoe and I met Nathaniel at the College World Series at 7:00 pm for the South Carolina v. Florida Gators game.  What a nice way to spend an evening.  We did not get home until after midnight. Fun night!!! Nathaniel has already gone to three games and I suspect he will see 7-10 games before it is all said and done. Today we have to root for Stony Brook at the CWS as my cousin Jason went there and they are a Omaha favorite.

Great seats..enjoying the 2012 College World Series

This week is a big week for Zoe and the family.We go to court this coming Tuesday to finalize the adoption in the state of Nebraska.Finally...we hope it goes smoothly...

Also...Sonja and I have taken vacation this week.  We plan to get a lot of errands done around the house. We kind of ignored our house when we were trying to get my folks home ready to be put up for sale. We also plan to conduct a garage sale this upcoming weekend. Now does that sound like fun or what?

We also opened our pool a few weeks back and only Nathaniel and Zoe have braved the cold temps. I wont bother getting in the pool until the July time frame when I know the water is warm.


Well that is all for now. happy Fathers day! Enjoy the summer....