Snow!

Those of you in Western Kansas who are digging out from under several inches of snow this morning will appreciate this - Luke walked slowly out the door to the bus, then came crashing back in yelling "It's snowing!! It's snowing!!"

We had maybe ten of the tiniest flakes you've ever seen.

State Fair 2009

A few pictures from our days at the State Fair this year:
Jackson, terrorizing the other bumper car drivers.

Jackson spent the day with his friend Cody. I ran into them just this one time at the bumper cars, so not many pictures of him!
Aubrey spent the day with her friends also. She is fourth from the right, then her friends Bailee, Megan, and Loreta. I didn't see much of them either!
Luke and his buddy, Mason, had to put up with me for the day. Luke enjoyed every single one of the rides except for the Pirate Boat. He did NOT like that. We let him ride alone on the rides - unlike the rides at the Leoti fair he was very securely fastened in. Nothing made him happier than ditching me so he could just be with his friends :) Below are Luke, Mason, Ashley, and Allie. The girls spent a little time with us too, but most of the time Luke and Mason hooked up with a group of boys from their class. I don't have a picture of that though!
Luke's favorite ride, the Mega Drop:
Jackson and Luke both enjoyed riding the bull VERY MUCH. A little TOO much, if you ask me. I am not encouraging either one of them to become bull riders!
And finally, no trip to the Fair is complete without a ride down the Big Yellow Slide.

Have I mentioned my new camera?

I made Jerry stop along the highway at Modoc so I could snap some pictures of the beautiful western Kansas sunset. The towers are actually just east of Marienthal, so they're zoomed in quite a bit.

I can't even begin to think of a title for this post...

We'll just let this picture speak for itself.

Goings On

We've had a lot going on lately; somehow it seems like we always do. The kids are glad to be back in school, especially Aubrey. She just loves eighth grade. We were chatting last night while biking through the neighborhood, and she was filling me in on her day. It was so fun to hear her spin on teachers and classes and people - she kept referring to the seventh graders as "sevvies." I got a kick out of that!

Luke has started soccer practice somewhat reluctantly. The practice time conflicts with his youth group time at church, so we compromised with the coach and leave part-way through practice. Luke really likes 56 Club - the fifth and sixth grade Wednesday night church group - and he hated to miss any part of it. His big impression after the first soccer practice: "My coach seems like he's a good guy, mom. He has four thumbs!" Yes, he really does have four thumbs. Perfect way to impress eleven year old boys.

Jackson is going to try cub scouts this year. This is something new to us, so we'll see how it goes. He is excited to have an activity that is all his own! I went up to the school yesterday and ate lunch with him; he still holds my hand in the hallways and is proud to have me in his class. I'd better take advantage of that while I can!

We had a fabulous time last weekend partying with Mom and Dad for their fortieth anniversary. We met them along with Gwen, Jason, Paige and Lane and Grandpa and Grandma Lois at the mini-golf/bowling alley in Garden City. It was lots of fun! I have pictures that I need to transfer to the computer when I have a moment. Paige took some great ones also; they're up on Facebook if you want to look. We got some good family pics after church on Sunday, too.

Sunday night was the annual Berning Fantasy Football League draft. We hosted a few Bernings at our house and the rest joined in via computer. As usual the men had a blast and the women stayed out of the way! Kathy and Ed stayed with us for a couple of days, which was nice. We went over to Wichita Monday to visit Dale Biel, who was in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. He looked great and seemed to be recuperating very well. Kathy and I got a bit of shopping done afterwards, of course!

It's almost September, which means State Fair for us. If you'd like to take in the fair this year you have a place to stay at our house!

Fourth Day of School

Aubrey - 8th, Jackson - 2nd, Luke - 6th

I missed taking pictures for the first three days of school... the first day Aubrey didn't have to go 'cause she's a big eighth grader, and the next two mornings it was raining. I wanted an outdoor shot so I waited. It wasn't raining this morning, but I had my jammies on still so I couldn't go outside. Oh well!

2009 Fair

Once again a great time was had by all at the Wichita County Fair. It was a whirlwind, as I'm sure all who were there can attest to!

The parade was led by Grand Marshals Grandpa and Grandma Lois in their Cinderella carriage. I had a hard time getting a good picture of both of them... the carriage was too elaborate! It looked like a fun ride, and Grandma said it was pretty smooth.
Lane rode his bike with the Christ Covenant float, but he took a breather long enough for me to snap his picture:

Our kids look forward to the time spent with cousins more than anything, I think. Here are Michael, Jackson, Noah and Luke waiting in line for their first ride, the Flying Scooters.

Aubrey and Bethany baked some cookies in Grandma Berning's newly renovated kitchen, she even let them use her pristine new oven!
Bethany, Aubrey, and Katie on the tilt-a-whirl:
and on the Merry Mixer. Oops, that's Noah, not Katie!Talia and Luke posing in their prizes from the game booths. Luke won the princess hat for Talia.
I even rode a couple of rides this year. Two. Otherwise known as one too many.
This is turning out to be all out of order. Anyway, here's Dad throwing a pack of gum to his grandkids. We never did see Mom - she said she was working the crowd!


The kids think they're celebrities when Dad drives the train. They get to ride up front with the engineer and toot the air horn. Pretty sure Dad was nearly deaf by the time Lane and Jackson got done with the horn!Lane won a cheeseburger hat at the game booths. Perfect!
Jackson and Lane took turns helping Mom take tickets from train passengers when they weren't riding with Dad.
Aunt Jo, Uncle Dick, Dad, Mom, Grandma Lois and Grandpa Earl. A good looking bunch, I think!