BVW Cheer senior night!

Derek's little sister, Whitney, got recognized last night at the Blue Valley West basketball game. At halftime, each senior cheerleader was announced along with their involvements and activities throughout high school.

Here she is (second from the left) at one of her final games she'll cheer at -

And here'a video of her sideline cheer -


Like father like sons -

We're so proud of our little cheer captain and all of her accomplishments.

Book Review - Lovely Bones

Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, is a crime thriller set in the early 70's involving a young girl telling her story from heaven. It combines violence, passion and the agony of grief that ultimately becomes reconciliation. Although this book is a difficult read at first, it's a great story and is told in an unusual vantage point that makes it hard to put down, especially in the second half. Overall, I'd give this book about a B+ as it does start a bit slow. I might, however, be interested in the movie when that comes out this December!

Raise the Roof

We officially have a new roof! Thanks to some heavy wind damage, we were able to get an entirely new roof courtesy of our insurance. (Minus the deductible of course!).

On Friday morning at 8am sharp, our house was taken over like ants on a bread crumb. There were about 15 people crawling all over the place and yes, the girls were CRAZY! Bailey was shaking so bad I thought her hair would fall out. Lacy, on the other hand, had her deep man-bark going off whenever she saw any of them. If anyone needs a referral though, I'd be happy to recommend Elite Roofing. They were clean and speedy and did a great job.... or at least I hope so as I really have no clue if they did or not!

This is just one reminder that sometimes things happen for a reason. Our roof was about 12 years old and thanks to the crazy wind-storm, insurance bought us a new one!

Cancun = One FantaSICK Vacation

No, we didn't drink the water and no, none of us got sick from alcohol. We all had something different for about 24 hours throughout the trip. From frequent toilet trips, to nausea, to stomach pains, all 4 of us felt unbearable for at least one day down there. Fortunately, the 'bugs' were only 24 hours (for the most part), and fortunately it was a relaxing trip and we didn't have much scheduled to do each day! But the best part you ask? The hotel was equipped with TONS of very-easy-to-get-to toilets.

Overall, however, it was a great time and so much fun to have our friends with us while sipping cocktails by the pool. Here are a few things we learned while on our vacation!

- Cars DO last forever in Mexico as we learned when looking at our cabs odometer of 495,000 miles.

- The saying "anything goes" definitely applies in Cancun as displayed by the 400 pound women wearing string bikini's and thongs.

- You can buy cocaine and weed at the same stand you can buy cute little magnet souvenirs.

- Derek likes his fruity drinks as noted when he started the trip off by saying "I need a freaking fruity drink!"

- 1100 Canadian 18-year olds at one time in a crazy night club = disaster waiting to happen.

- Jenny can read a book faster than Angelina Jolie can expand her family.

- Room service at 3am is actually surprisingly speedy.... and delicious.

- All-inclusive drinks are much more stronger than normal.... which, of course, is a great thing.

- When you get the guys on the topic of professional baseball players, it's over. There's no chance of ever seeing them again.

- We didn't see a single dog down there. Needless to say, we didn't eat the beef that often.

More to come as I think of them!Drinks at dinner:Mexican dinner night:And of course the cheesy pose:
Coco Bongo nightclub: Coco Bongo Nightclub craziness!:

Ames, Iowa = Coldest Place on Earth!

Well, not really obviously. But when we traveled there 2 weekends ago with our good friends, The Baadte's, it was so cold that even hitchhikers were holding up pictures of thumbs! We would step outside and our fingers would freeze. We would get in the car to drive somewhere and by the time the car got warm, we were there and had to get out.

Overall, it was a fun, short trip! We got to see KU beat Iowa, experience nightlife in a whole new town and get carded by a cop trying to bust people in the bars. But more than anything, we were just happy to have made it there alive. On the way up, our friend, Mike, apparently didn't like using the metal ugly thing sticking out on the side of his car. (Those things are what we call "side view mirrors").

In the end, it was a fun, short road trip and we had a blast. Here are a couple of pictures...
And we had to take a red shot in honor of Matt...

Super Bowl Fun!

So I think everyone is already aware that I abolutely love to host parties. It's such a good feeling to have all of our good friends and family around eating, drinking and having a good time. That being said, super bowl party 2009 was a success last night! We had a basement full of people that we love spending time with, enough food and drinks to feed a small country and even a fun betting game that our friends emailed us to set up... which our friend Jenny won!

A few things I learned from last night...

#1. Bruce Springstein has an iron crotch as he so visibly showed off running into the camera with a smile on his face.

#2. If you make dips too pretty, no one will eat them.

#3. Sushi is the most random food to bring to a football party, but was the BEST idea ever. (thanks Legenza's!)

#4. Everyone loves eating chicken wing balls, but actually like saying "balls" more.

#5. Our dogs love having babies around.... but they love more to sniff the diaper bags and try to take ownership of their toys.

And, of course, my favorite commercial - watch here!