Sondag Family Reunion

This past weekend Caden and I drove up to ND for the annual Sondag Family Reunion in Sykeston, ND. Dylan's allstar tournament was going on, so it was just the two of us. I think Caden loved it since he smiled non-stop for the first 2 hours of our trip! He never gets to do anything without his big brother, and I think that made him love this trip all the more. We had a great time visiting with family. Dan and his new fiancee Heather came too! There was Bingo and karaoke hosted by Dakota Dean. Becky, Dan, Heather, and I sang "Build Me up Buttercup". It was a blast! After that, Mom, Becky, and I got lost on some ND gravel roads so it took us 1.5 hours to get home from Carrington! Yes, I guess it is possible to get lost in North Dakota. We went back Sunday afternoon for a while before heading back to Omaha. It was a great reunion!

Caden with Uncle Dennis

Kiddos

Monkeyin' around

Adababy

Cool truck we spotted on our walk

So cool

Serious girl with Uncle Dan

BINGO!

Caden's Birthday Week

Caden had the most unbelievable birthday week, kicked off by a visit from Grandma Joanie, Auntie Becky, Katie, Nola, and Addie. Caden's 6th birthday party was at the Omaha Storm Chasers game. We were joined by Piper, Josh, Westyn, Coltyn, Noelle, Angie, Rusty, and little Rusty. We had lots of snacks, opened presents, and played in the kids area. The Storm Chasers came away with a win!

Caden summed up the day by journaling that "This was the best day ov mi life!"

We had a great visit to the zoo and ate at the world famous burger joint, Stella's. We were so sad to see them go, but all good things must come to an end.

Birthday guests

Piper and Noelle

Having a blast in the kids zone

Nola getting her hair and makeup done by Auntie Marni

It's Summertime!

We are having the best summer! There is so much going on and the summer is going by too fast. I taught summer school in June so the boys got to spend lots of time at Wendy's and they went to Grow With Me for a week while Wendy was on vacation and I was in Denver for a coaching conference. I really enjoyed Denver and was super excited that my brother Rodney picked me up and took me out to dinner.

Baseball is what has really kept us busy...3-4 games a week and we loved watching the boys improve. Dylan had his first over-the-fence homerun and started pitching as well. Dad helped coach the Hurricanes. They won the regular season and the 7-year old tournament. Dylan made the All Stars, which Ray coached and had a great time. Grandpa Ron even came to watch the tournament. They won their first game, but then lost the next 2 and were out of the tournament. It was tough because they played against 8 year old teams. Caden was a Tiger and had lots of fun in coach pitch this year. His coach requested that Caden play on their fall team, so he's looking forward to that. Dylan tried out for select baseball and made it! He will be playing for Tagge Rutherford in 2013. Next up...football! I can't wait!

Dylan Pitching

Caden's Swing

Caden loves basketball!

Dylan's first homerun ball.

Dylan showing off his league champion medal.

Caden's Coach-Pitch trophy.

The Tigers

Caden and I went to the Olympic Swim Trials!

The Hurricanes

Spring Break

Spring break has come and gone, and I am behind as usual! We left for my dad's right after school on Friday since we can never seem to wait for vacation for even one more day. We made the whole trek in just over 5 1/2 hours and didn't stop once! Might sound crazy but that's how I roll. When we got there, dad surprised the boys with hatching chicks! We stayed up until nearly 2am listening to chicks peep and watching them hatch. It took just a day or 2 and there were 24 I believe. We had a great visit with lots of excitement. We went to the livestock auction, went to the movies and watched John Carter, flew kites, played some baseball and basketball, and I got to do some shopping.

Dylan spent hours like this!

We drove home Wednesday through lots of rain to make it to Dylan's first baseball practice and Caden's Ju jitsu....we didn't go to either! Baseball was rained out and Caden has decided that he needs a break from ju jitsu. So, we will focus on baseball and then get back to it in the fall most likely.

Dylan's Team

Grandma came to practice

Grandma Shirley arrived on Thursday. I made a nice dinner and we just relaxed. On Friday, she watched the boys and Ray and I had a "Date Day"! It was great to go out for the day. We did some shopping, looked at trees and landscaping stuff at Mulhall's. Then we went to the Hunger Games! It was sooooo good. I had read the first few chapters of the book, but it was better than I expected. I will have to start on the next books now since I have so much some free time now that I am finished with all of my grad work. We finished the night with dinner at Red Lobster and played some Keno. I even won $.50. We'll forget about the $20 it cost to play. Better than the casino though!

We spent the rest of the weekend with mom and had fun playing pinochle and relaxing. She bought the boys great Easter presents. She got Caden some new rollerblades and Dylan got a rip stick! He got the hang of it quickly, but it's now a week later and his shoulder is completely torn up!  He rides it every day and isn't scared of anything. The elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist pads are great, but I may need to put his football pads on him too!

 Grandma and the boys!!! So thankful for their gifts for once!

Monday found us all back at work and school. Back to life as usual...baseball 3-4 days a week now and 2 demanding children keeping us busy. The weather is beautiful though and we are loving it!!!

Ju Jitsu Grading

Caden has been in Ju Jitsu since last summer and he loves it! He just had his first grading and is now officially a white belt with one yellow stripe!

Caden with Sensei Abdul

Coby!

Well...after lots of begging, I finally gave in and we got a dog. Ray and the boys drove a few hours away to pick up this hairy mess of a pup! He was living with a military family and they had to go live on base and give the dog away. His name was Cody, but we changed it to Coby. So anyway, he is an 11 month old party colored cocker spaniel. He is full of energy, but a great dog. Dylan is being very responsible with him and has the job of cleaning up his poo, taking him for walks, and getting him into his kennel before we leave in the morning. Caden likes to play with him, but isn't big on clean up duty. No surprise to this momma!

Coby

The boys on their first walk with Coby

My Brother Steve is Married!

My brother Steve married his beautiful wife Amy on January 28, 2012. It was a perfect day in Oregon at Beckinridge Vineyard. We had THE BEST trip. Dylan and Caden got to fly for the first time and the greatest part was that the family was all together. I got to do some shopping, enjoyed a few Jamba Juices, and had a blast at the wedding. It is so great to have a new sister-in-law and the boys have a new auntie!

Caden and Nola

The ring bearer and flower girl with Shadow

Our entire family

The groom with his sisters

Dancing the night away

Dancing with my dad