the good life in Nebraska has recently gotten even better! When we bought our house originally, we knew it would need all sorts of updating but the one thing it really needed was a kitchen remodel. Since this was the most expensive project (hopefully) we would do, it took a couple of years to get to the point we had saved up enough. We designed what we thought would work and we did the demolition including taking out a wall, and then hired a general contractor to make it all happen. We crossed our fingers that everything would look good together. And although it was a painful 2 months during the remodel and we would never ever hire the same contractor again, its hard to not be excited about our new kitchen because it is SO much better than the one we upgraded from. Its painful to look at the old pictures now - but i am posting some before and after pics so you can get excited for us too! I left out the in between pictures of our pain and suffering. :)

To the Zoo!

Dane and I went with our friends Addie & Sami to our children's zoo here in Lincoln last week. It is a great zoo for kids - really cool animals but not too big to be overwhelming. Dane had a blast! He especially liked the areas where you could actually touch the animals - the volunteers had a rat and a mouse he petted, and also the goats, and the butterfly pavilion. And we got to see the new penguin exhibit! One more reason to love Lincoln!

Family Vacation~

We had a fabulous time in Florida in July with James' mom and her husband. Some of James' relatives live right on the ocean and they left us their house while they were out of the country. We lived the rich man's life for a week! They have 2 really nice wave runners that we took out almost every day. We went wave running with dolphins! They also have a pool we spent a lot of time in. James and i headed to Orlando and did Islands Of Adventure one day and stayed the night while grandma and grandpa spent some time with Dane. We also hit Clearwater beach and caught a Tampa Rays baseball game. And it wouldn't have been a vacation without some shopping. :) I'm ready to go back! They spoiled us!

Family Photos

Dane Reaches Whole Numbers!

Here are the highlights of Dane's Family Birthday Party~

We played the Korean traditional First Birthday Game because Koreans are really cool (Miriam). My sisters have done an Americanized version where they just put objects that represent different career fields and whatever object he chooses represents his future career path. He first picked the calculator. Next the apple. And finally the spool of thread (which in the Korean version represents a long life)

He got a cool red wagon (pictured) from Auntie M and Thompson Grandparents. He also got lots of other cool gifts from family members..!

And he couldn't get enough of that little cake. At first i think he was surprised that we were just letting him go to town. then he really got in to it - flinging the cake off his fingers all over the room.

Sister Time~

My sister Holly came to visit us in Nebraska this past weekend! So fun! Its not always easy to get visitors when you live in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was a little easier when i lived in Los Angeles! So we really enjoy our visitors out here. We inadvertantly booked the trip over Mother's Day so she missed out on her family spoiling her but i think the neverending pie parade at church almost made up for it... She was without kids so we tried to show her a good time. The fun involved shopping, rollerblading, and a tambourine. Don't ask. Except that a tambourine makes everything more fun. :)

We have a cheesy picture like the one above from many years ago so we tried to re-enact it. Thanks to Holly's awesome husband Mark for holding down the fort back in Boise so she could come play!

Old Pictures~

In December my whole family was together for Christmas in Boise so my dad hired a photographer to get pics of everyone and individual families as well. Well, they just bairly got the images back from the photographer!! Remind us never to hire this guy again. ;)

Kinda cheesy and old but still wanted to post em..