Weekend At Gma & Gpa Knight's

We all headed to Herington on Thursday, June 19th to celebrate Colgin's birthday. We met at 5:09pm (Colgin's birthtime) to release balloons, say a prayer, and give Colgin our gifts. It's always nice that family continue to join in our celebrating and that after 7 years, we can still do this.

We were able to stay on my mom's & stepdad Butch's house through Sunday. We planned to help Kelly get baby Ryland's room ready, go swimming, and host Kelly's baby shower on Sunday. All went well. The girls and I and Bailey enjoyed time together. Papa Butch helped Kelly and I paint stripes on Ryland's walls, and he did some work on the closet light and clothes bars. Gma took the girls swimming, then they enjoyed a pony ride on Gma's new pony, and then we all enjoyed a nice boat ride in the evening. We finished up Ryland's room & Kelly was able to clean house and get ready for incoming guests from the shower.

The baby shower went great. She had lots of friends and family attend. She received a lot of great much needed gifts. We all had a good laugh at the fun games my mom and I put together. We ate some yummy treats and it was a great day and good visit.

Happy Birthday Colgin!

Happy 7th Birthday Colgin Tanner!

We all love and miss you very much.

The Konza Praire

Chad knows a guy who gives tours at the Konza Prairie, so one evening he took Cooper out to see the Bison. The Konza Prairie is south of Manhattan, close to the interstate and is home to many researchers studying animals, land, flowers, and etc who call the Kansas prairie home. Cooper really enjoyed her time there. She'll tell you there were 400 BISON, she even got bison fur, and they enjoyed some cheese, crackers, and wine on the prairie.

I'm Still Here - Just Barely!

Well this week has been a true test of our strength. Last Wednesday, June 11th our town/neighborhood was hit by an EF4 tornado. To say there is major damage and our neighborhood/drive to work is destroyed is saying it nicely. There are 12 houses on the 2 streets by ours that are completely gone! Thankfully no one was killed. Sadly though, this means many of our friends, playmates, neighbors are gone, moved to other places and no longer part of our neighborhood community. Just as we have settled here and only been here 3 years we feel like the kids could safely play, they had lots of friends, it was a fun, clean, and inviting street to live on and a desirable place to be. Right now I can't say I feel that way. It's depressing to drive by each day, the kids can't play outside that much as there is glass & debris everywhere, it's sad to watch, it's frustrating all the "looky-lou's" driving by staring and taking pictures, more frustrating that our trash hasn't been picked up since Monday, June 9th, and even more maddening is the fact that a very "slug" type builder has managed to buy 2 if not 3 lots right on our street from the owners and is "rebuilding" with leftovers and sorting stuff to keep, etc. It's a disgrace that those type of "ambulance chasers" are allowed out there and do what they do to just make a buck.

Our insurance adjuster came this morning. It went fairly well. We're still waiting. We have to get the roof repaired and re-roofed along with 3 windows replaced (which we were told today would take 3 weeks). And our screened in porch needs all new screen, along with patching, painting, cleaning, carpet cleaning, and repairing etc items around the house. It's not looking like a fun summer.

And if Mother Nature hasn't been mean to us enough already, last night, June 17th, a neighbor just 4 houses away had their house hit by lightening twice, it caught fire, the fire fighters were here at 2am. It was in their attic, but it sustained atleast $50,000 in damage and today they were told they would have to take off the roof and probably the top floor as well. They will be out of their house for 6 months. They have a 3 year old and a 9 month old.

So keep watching, I'll post some more very soon. And hopefully I can find some positive stuff to post also.

Swimming Pool

We went up to the Country Club one night for dinner with friends and enjoyed some pool time. Campbell is coming around, although she really wants to work her way in at her own speed. Cooper is getting more brave, but really at her own will as well. Both are very stubborn!

A Visit to Papa Mike's & Gma Re-Re's House

Chad, Cooper, Campbell and I ventured up to Iowa along with my sister, her hubbie Pat, and their daughter Bailey. The guys golfed Friday & Sunday and us gals shopped on Saturday. All the kids had a great time, as Papa put up the tent and they played outside all day Saturday. We enjoyed good food, lots of laughs, and even some play time in the hot tub.

More Pics of Tornado!

Here are some photos from the next day. Daylight really showed us all just how much damage there really was.



The air conditioner is on the west side of the house and it was blown off the pad.



This stuff in the yard was blown out of our screened in porch.



The screened in porch, doesn't really have any screens left now.



The front area under our dining room windows, so much debris.



Debris left in our yard, obviously it's whatever hit our front eve.



Our west side tree/bush just uprooted.



The roof damage from the back side, before all the tarps.



The screened in porch on the back of the house.



The front of the house, a pic taken from the street looking at our house.

Tornado Damage!

As many of you already know the damage from the tornado was terrible. Here are some photos of our house and things done to it.





Our bedroom window - a tree went through it.



The front porch guttering and eve - hit by someone's roof.



The front porch, debris flown everywhere, jostled our patio set.



Our back screened in porch - all the screens blew out.



The door into our family room from the screened in porch - covered with debris.

An American Girl Doll Arrives!

Cooper gets a "kid pay" day every month where she earns money for 5 different purposes. Wealth = all goes into a savings account, Plan = something that costs a lot and she plans to save and buy later, Learn = money she can use to buy something that helps teach her something like books, etc, Fun = money she can use on whatever she wants, and Angel = money she gives to charity or donation to certain things.

So for her plan money she has saved and saved and finally was able to purchase her American Girl doll. It's a Just Like You doll, with fair skin, red hair, and blue eyes. She also used some other money to buy a sweatshirt & hat for the doll and a matching sweatshirt & hat for herself. She was so excited and proud when it arrived. She tells everyone and shows it off proudly. So cute. I think she has named it Taylor or maybe April.

Bailey's Dance Recital

My niece Bailey, who is 6 1/2, does a dance recital each year. She does tap, ballet, gymnastics, jazz, and this year hip hop. Last year it was a rushed event because we needed to get up to Iowa for my dad's surgery. This year was much more relaxed and she did a fantastic job. Cooper went along this time and loved watching Bailey perform. It was so neat to see all those girls having fun doing something they enjoy.





Bailey in her tap/jazz performance. She is the girl to the right of the girl looking forward.



Bailey in her ballet performance. She is the one on the far right.




Bailey in her hip hop performance. She is the one in the back row that you can see, 2 girls over from the right.