Wii Extravaganza

My nephews got a Wii for Christmas and the entire family got in on the act. This is Max demonstrating his bowling form. Nick shows off.

And this is Ethan's special winning "technique."

Here's Tom.
And golf was Dad's game...

Things I'm Thankful For...

Watching football with Grandpa...

One of My Favorite Places on Earth

I got to go to the NU-ISU game today.

I spent the first half sitting with Max:
And the second half with Ethan:

Nothing is quite the same as the first look at the field after you walk up from under the stands into the light of day. Everything is brighter and just more RED. :)

After the last second ticked off the clock:
A win, BTW, 35-17, but the experience of a Husker game is about so much more than the scoreboard.
Until the next game:

Turning 96...

My grandmother turned 96 last week. We had a party this past weekend, which included the *whole* family--which doesn't happen very often any more. (One of the reasons I wanted to move closer was so that I could make these semi-spontaneous little family gatherings.) Above, my grandmother and the three boys. They're actually posing for Tom who is to my left.

Here's the one I took:
And here's another one of E, "Aunt Jenny, take a picture of me acting crazy!"

Supercalifragilistic Cool!

Max explains the Jurassic period...

Took the nephews to T-Rex. Most of the pics didn't turn out well, but... I feel totally successful, I opened the door and Max and E stopped still in the doorway with their mouths open.

"Max, what do you think?" "Supercalifragilistic Cool!" Plus, I also go down the water slide with them (it's a little like doing windows). I get the coolest aunt award...

Sharing My Woods

Today I got to take Max and Ethan to the woods on the farm. We had great fun. I mentioned the fossils that I used to find there, and a few feet farther Max said, "I think I found one!" And he had. I really enjoyed sharing it with them.

A couple of other random images of where I grew up:

And, of course, the sunset over Topeka (be sure and check out Khaentlahn's version, too). . .

Make My Day

Personalized Valentines from my nephews arrived today and immediately went up on my bulletin board next to my computer. I started to crop out the photos on my desk, then realized the boys were in them. So, this one gets to pretty much represent "family." :) Ethan's is the far left (he's 5), Max's is in the middle (7), and Nick's on the right (3). The photo in the center is one of my favorites--I took it of Max and E with the elephants at the zoo. :) The photo on the left is at Tom's wedding. The three boys are in the center front.

Update: Called to tell them thank you--Max wants to know "Why are little brothers *so* annoying? Tell me, what's good about little brothers?" (I told him that I wouldn't have gotten to spend time with *him* if I hadn't had little brothers.) Ethan went to a "Valentimes party" and got *two* suckers--"Almost all the other cards had Skittles in them, Aunt Jenny, how did they *know* that suckers were my favorite?" And Nick, well, Nick got a *red* sucker, and that was really great! :o)

And, it's snowing. Beautiful heavy flakes of perfect snowball snow (so perfect that I had to throw one while I was cleaning off my car to come home). One of the best parts about snow is how quiet it is while it's snowing. It makes you feel kind of wrapped up in a cocoon of white.