The Eyes Have It!

Messing around on Fall Break.  Thanks to Dad for the title!

Back to School Week

There is always lots going on with back to school activities.  Wolf had a half day for his first day.  He was asked by the teachers to be a 40 Assets Leader - a big deal at his school. (You can always click on the photo for a larger version)

Zach is driving to and from school with Wolf and his friend Mason.  We had to set down a few rules, but I think it is going to be great...until the snow comes...YIKES!

Zach started sparring at karate this week.  Luckily he has a lot of gear to protect him!

Wolf started shaving!  We were watching videos from 2010 and 2011 and he has grown up so much!!

Last night was Open House at Zach's school where we go around and meet all his teachers.  Of course it would NOT have been cool to take a picture of him while we were there.  He has awesome teachers this year and we are looking forward to him excelling!

I had two of my nieces, Ellie and Chloe, spend the night Sunday night.  Air Force One flew into Offutt and we got to see the President!  We couldn't take pictures until after the Secret Service cleared out so here are a few photos from the day!

At Ease Luncheon

Medal of Honor recipient Sal Guinta

Flowers

I have been sick and this is what my wonderful husband brought me!

Alaska!

Florida

Discovery Cove

February 2011

We had a great time on our Stay-Cation in Omaha and were sad to see it come to an end. UNO basketball games and tailgate parties. Mason spent the night. Alaska at the zoo IMAX. Taco Thursday at the GI Forum. Movie: The Dilemma. Rock Band concert at home. Lunch and courthouse jail tour with Uncle Danny. Coco Key!! Buffalo Wild Wings take-out and watching the UNO hockey team beat Wisconsin. Aaron spent the night. High altitude balloon launch. Little King. Durham Museum for Lincoln's birthday. Lancer's game. No snow tubing as too muddy :( Party at Aunt Maggie's. Laser tag!! Mason spends the night again. Allison's baptism. Creighton Bluejays basketball game. Whew!!!

Here are the boys on the courthouse jail tour.  With friend Aaron.

At the Durham Museum.  Grandpa Dan, does this bring back memories???

At the Durham Museum old-time Soda Fountain.

Kayla is / loves Mary Poppins.  After all, she is 'practically perfect in every way!'  She took her Mom and nieces Kaylee, Madalyn, and McKenna to see Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical when it came to Omaha at the Orpheum Theater.  What a great time!

Wolf and cousin Tommy at Alli's Baptism.

Beautiful Allison, Godmother Kayla, and Mom Julie.

Neil Diamond Night!!!  About once a year, my wonderfully crazy family gets together for Neil Diamond Night.   We grew up listening to Neil.  We still go to his concerts and all the kids know the songs as well.  Anything goes on Neil Diamond Night: sequins, wigs, ladies clothing, dressing like figure skaters or Disney Princes and Princesses - anything to get in the spirit of Neil!  Mike's Lounge is Dad's workshop in the basement and the little kids (and the big kids) like to get on top the workbench and sing.  It is always a late night and always a great time!

January 2011

The year didn't get off to a great start.  Zach had a shooting at his school where the principal was shot and critically wounded, and a vice principal was killed.  The troubled student turned the gun on himself after he left the school grounds.  It was a terrifying day as the school remained on lockdown until they could clear the building and let all the students go room by room.  We have a new perspective on troubled kids, school security, and will be forever in debt to Mr. Kelly for allowing Zach to break the rules and text us that he was okay.

A vigil outside the school the day after the shooting.

Our relaxing trip to Vegas turned out to be just that. We arrived at South Point Casino Resort and Spa on Friday evening. Saturday we went to the couples only spa. It is so nice we bought a pass for all three days. We went to Tiffany at the Bellagio so I could exchange one of my Christmas presents, and I think I might be surprised with a Valentine's Day present as well ;-) We had dinner at Bootlegger Bistro which we would highly recommend for anyone coming to Vegas. The outside is very modern and the inside has the traditional old steakhouse feel. The bread (and everything else) is wonderful! We are such party animals that we were in bed by 7:30 pm on a Saturday night! It was so great! Today we are up early and are heading to Red Rock Canyon, the spa, and some outlet shopping. Not the typical Vegas trip, but we are having a blast relaxing and being together :)

Wolf is the Big Silent Auction Winner

He takes home three baskets! A baking basket, a hockey basket, and a basketball basket. Creighton Bluejays here we come!

Pancake Man

LeMay Elementary held the annual Pancake Man dinner and silent auction tonight.

Alli and Girls Night...and Tommy Too!

What a ham!!

Team Puddy

Alli and Girls Night

Met Jen, Beth, and Julie for Girls Night tonight. Playing with Alli and Tommy!

Favorite Aunt?

Allison, Julie, and I had a little shopping and lunch adventure yesterday.  And Aunt Beth came to meet us too.  But who is Alli's favorite aunt?  Just look at that smile on her face!

Allison and Grandma Rie Celebrate Birthdays!

New niece Allison was born 10/27 to Todd and Julie. She is absolutely precious!

Proud Papa!

Welcome to the World!

Zach & Wolf with their newest cousin. Jayson with his new niece.  

Grandma Rie also turned 89 the same day. What a great family get-together we had.

Here is a picture of Allison at 1 week all ready for pictures!

Halloween

Halloween was busy this year. We hosted the annual party and celebrated Wolf's birthday with a sleepover.

We decorated the front yard like a graveyard.  Zach was a zombie.

Tom and friends were from Gilligan's Island.  Showboating in front of Rich, Dan, JoAnn, Margaret, Grandma Millie, and Mom.

Bryan was a donkey cowboy, Gilligan's Island crew, great 70s couple.

Jayson and Wolf with his birthday cake.

MJ and Wolf - both Broncos fans

Wolf and some football team friends.

I thought his face was going in the cake!

Jen was the Statue of Liberty - great costume!  With Kaylee, McKenna, and Chloe.

Pat and Gina were Jayson & Kayla for Halloween.  With Madalyn.

Kayla was Princess Lea.  With Chloe, Madalyn, Noah's little brother, Ellie, Kaylee, Katie, Beth Z, and McKenna.

What are Maggie and Danny doing in my kitchen????  More Post-It notes I imagine.

The boys playing Xbox downstairs.

Jayson & Kayla in front of the house.  Obi Wan Kenobi and Princess Lea.

Zach, Wolf & MJ playing Rock Band.

Zach, Wolf, and MJ trick or treating.

Recap: June 2010

Kayla and Zach ventured to Arizona for Kayla's work conference.  Zach was able to enjoy the HOT weather, see Tombstone, watch the Braves vs. the Diamondbacks, and other fun activities. 

Jayson's luck continued to be on his side when he was nearly killed after a steel disc sliced through his windshield on the interstate. 

New York, New York!  We had a great time taking the boys to NYC.  Much more to come about this wonderful trip!

Michaela went to Beauty and the Beast with the Zinnas.  Katie and Beth loved it!

Took the boys to the last College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium :-(

Recap: May 2010

Zach celebrated his birthday with a party at the Flynn's house. 

Kayla and Jayson went on an adults trip to VEGAS!  What a blast!

Zach attended his 8th Grade Celebration.  Jayson and Kayla served as Chairs for the event.  Thank goodness no one was hurt on the obstacle course.  Zach had a blast running it NUMEROUS times!

Jayson and Kayla sold the Bellevue house!

Now that the snow is finally gone, new sod was laid at the new house.  The house is starting to look GOOD!

Wolf started baseball and Jayson is head coach this year. 

Jayson and Kayla had a nice time celebrating Jayson's Dad's birthday in Omaha with his parents. 

They left on Memorial Day which evidently broke Jayson's heart as he ended up in the hospital that night with chest pains!

Recap: April 2010

Without a doubt, the highlight of the month for Kayla was her lifelong dream to see a shuttle launch!

Michaela also had a nice visit to McCook and Hastings in the central part of the state.  She had some fun with her camera along the way!

Recap: March 2010

Michaela had a work trip to DC in March...twice!

Michaela started development on a new project at work.  Hopefully she will be able to release details on it soon!

Zach signed up for high school classes at Millard South!

Recap: February 2010

UNO hockey game with Beth, Tom, Jill, MJ, Kaylee, and Tierneys.  UNO won it with a shootout at the end to beat Ohio State.

Michaela took Wolf and MJ to the Creighton Prep - Westside basketball game in the new Prep gym.

Kayla had a Women in Aviation Conference at Walt Disney World so Jayson came down for the last couple of days to enjoy some warm weather. 

Recap: January 2010

Denver trip for the boys to see the Chiefs play at Mile High.  The boys loved tailgating with Uncle Mikey!

The Annual Gingerbread House Night at the Molstad's, coupled with family pictures

Martina McBride and Trace Atkins concert with Beth

Cannot remember, but think it was January when we had MJ and Kaylee stay over for a few days during all of the blizzard snow days.  What a great time we all had cooped up inside!

Back at it...

Well, I guess you can say I took the year off.  I am going to try to post at least one blog a month just to keep all our out of town relatives in the know.  So, a lot happened in the rest of 2009 and here is the BRIEF re-cap...
July 2009:  The big Flynn Family trip to Colorado (what a house we rented!) and Broncos training camp.  Michaela had a great work trip to Virginia and North Carolina. 
August 2009:  Moved into our new house and Jayson turned the big 40.  Boys started school.
September 2009:  Flynn wiffle ball tournament!  Michaela's work trip to Reno coincided with the Reno Air Races. Wolf played football. Zach ran cross country.  We hosted a Notre Dame football game at our new house.  Jayson and I visited Soaring Wings Vineyard with other UNO alumni. 
October 2009:  Michaela took Wolf and MJ to the John Elway fundraiser at Creighton Prep and camera was stolen :-(   Michaela attended the PTA State Convention for Lewis & Clark.  Jayson went on the annual Denver trip with the guys to watch the Broncos - Patriots game.  Michaela had a work trip to Seattle and Portland, OR so we turned it into a family trip to see Jayson's sister Jennifer, her husband Matt, and their wonderful kids Fletcher and Georgia. Jayson bought Kayla a new camera for her birthday!!!
November 2009:  The Flynn girls took Mom to see the White Christmas musical at the Orpheum theater in Omaha.  Michaela had a trip to North Carolina and had to evacuate due to Hurricane Isabel / Nor'Easter.  We hosted a birthday party and sleepover for Wolf's birthday.  Zach joined the school basketball team. 
December 2009: We had a great trip to Indiana to see Jayson's parents and take Zach and Wolf to their first NFL game.  The Colts were hosting the Broncos at Lucas Oil Stadium.  It was Zach's first Colts game, and Wolf's first Broncos game.  We celebrated Christmas early with Jayson's parents and Grandpa Dewey.  We flew out of KC to Indianapolis and the drive from KC back to Omaha was in the middle of a terrible ice storm... very scary stuff!  Jayson and Kayla saw Sister Hazel at the casino.  We took the boys on the annual Flynn Christmas Symphony outing.  This has become a favorite tradition with the family every year and the boys really enjoy the sing-along at the end.  Winter break was mostly spent inside as the Christmas Eve and Christmas blizzards gave us more than enough snow.  We wrapped up the year with a New Year's Eve party at Tom and Jill's, then back home to watch the ball drop.  Little did the boys know at the time they would be heading to NYC themselves in June 2010.