More Basketball shots

Our whole lives seem to revolve around basketball right now. Here's some more pictures of the boys in action....

Our Snowy Weekend

Last Sunday we got about 7 inches of snow. Churches cancelled all their services as most of us spent our morning digging out ourselves and our neighbors. Still not good snowman snow...but still a lot of fun!

Nebraska message to troops

The view downrange...

The view as you come to land...

This is something I wanted to show you all for awhile....funny enough, I received these pictures from a French friend in Norway. :o) She is married to a man from the Omaha area. Her mother-in-law sent it to her. She forwarded the pictures to me to ask me if I knew about it. Of course I did! I drive by this field everyday. It is less than 2 years from my house. :o) Now that Rich is flying again, he flies over this field all the time on his final approach to Offutt AFB. This Nebraska farmer puts this message in his field every fall after he harvests this field. This is just a wonderful thing. The troops here deploy often and for long periods of time. It must be wonderful to see this as they are coming home for a landing. Nebraska is very supportive of the military and have a long history of how they have gone about it. Rich was out to lunch with a group of pilots last fall and someone anonymously picked up the tab for all 8 of them. Almost every business has a military discount of some kind. It is really been a wonderful place to live so far!

Snow days.....

It started snowing on Saturday night...and it just kept on going until late Monday night. There was no school on Monday or Tuesday. Wednesday (today) brought frigid temperatures. It is definitely winter now in Nebraska! Our 13 year old snow blower is working well and the boys have been clearing the driveways of some of our older neighbors the last few days. Pro bono. No complaints thus far. :o) We ended up with about 8 inches. The pictures of Lily and Rich sledding were from Monday, when we only had about 4 inches of powder. We had a good time but the powder wasn't very good for sledding. Tim was a little upset about having a game cancelled...but I assume he'll get over it since he got to sleep in two extra days!

A Night Out with Tim

Last night Tim and I went to see our first (of hopefully many) men's Creighton basketball game. Some friends of ours got two free tickets and asked if we wanted them. Turn down a college game? Pah! Creighton is actually a pretty well-known college team that does very well. Tim got to workout with one of their star players, Josh Jones, at a local basketball camp he took late last summer. There is also a big Bellevue West stand out that plays there as well. The head basketball coach at BWHS, Doug Woodard, (who the boys have been training under since day one in Nebraska - okay, actually day two) has a daughter who is the star of their women's team, which is also outstanding. Creighton is a Catholic university that is about 20 minutes from our house. It is very well known for it's medical program and health care studies. Tim is toying with the idea of going there....:o)

Happy 6th Birthday Lily!

Lily requested a husky cake this year. Rich stepped up and volunteered to make it for her. I had my doubts, but he managed to do it! It was all kept a secret until she saw it. In fact, he told her the cake broke in half and we'd just have to try again next year. :o) When she saw it, she said, "That's not a husky cake! That's a wolf!" :o) She enjoyed the cake...even if she was unable to blow out the trick candles (that was really fun to watch!). It was especially nice to have her grandparents there to share her special event with her. When you are a military family, those times can be few and far between. I think we had a little celebration for her with my parents when she turned two...that was just a few months after we got her. We've lived overseas for the last 5+ years, so birthdays with family is a rarity. She had a great time!

Fun at Bounce U

Lily was introduced to Bounce U at a squadron Christmas party. She fell in love with it and so for her birthday, we took her to an "open bounce" on Monday afternoon. Tim was game to get right in there with her and they had a great time together!

Time with Grandma & Grandpa Neitzke

Rich works on Joe's car while Joe and Dad watch. They are trying to make it look less like a cop car....


Lily Su Grace....in her favorite pair of glasses that are perhaps a decade old and have been through several little girls! :o)


Grandpa Neitzke gets a lesson on playing house with Lily. He was pretty fascinated to find out that her family's car had seat belts in it!


Joe (16), Tim (14) and Lily (6) with their grandparents, Walt and Karen Neitzke

Three generations....My parents, my children, and me.

My parents arrived December 29th and left January 4th. They drove down from Michigan with their two Min Pins, Katie and Luther (although my brother calls him Lucifer which is a more appropriate name for him at times). They were able to make it to one of Joe's basketball games and celebrate New Year's with us. We celebrated Lily's birthday the night before they left so they could be a part of that as well. They put their lives in Joe's hands and let him drive them around. :o) They attended Mass with us on Sunday and had a lively talk with our parish priest, Fr. Jose. We went to Bounce U to let Lily and Tim romp around one day and they were game enough to go and watch them literally bounce off the walls for over an hour. Best of all, my Dad and I reigned supreme with our pairs cribbage record as undefeated! :o)

Some T-bird Basketball shots

If you know our family at all, you know that from the beginning of November to the end of February, our life totally revolves around the boys' basketball schedules. Here's what we've been doing during the Christmas break, inbetween Christmas and New Year's.... Tim was in a 2 day freshman tournament at Millard South and Joe was in a 3 day reserve team tournament at Bryan. There were one day where we were at both schools watching both boys play. :o) Lily is always along for the ride with her pink Nike bag full of art supplies, snacks and her new Leapster to play games on.


Joe takes a shot


Tim looks for the good pass


Joe puts on some pressure to Central Omaha's point guard


Joe puts up a jumper


Tim playing defense against Millard South in the Freshman Tournament over Christmas break.


Lily brings a "bag of tricks" to keep her busy during her hours in the basketball stands.

Lily loves to cheer on her boys! (especially if popcorn and a drink are included!) :o)