So we rounded out the end of September with a trip to Nebraska. I love taking small road trips as a family. It gives me an excuse to not have to cook, clean or stay on much of a schedule. The kids did great in the car. We only traveled 3 1/2 hours the first day to Benkelman NE to visit Great Granddad Floyd (still farming at 89 years of age) and Granddad Terry. We had a blast running around with Grandad, playing with tractors and Kellan went shooting with Dad! We love it in Benkelman and look forward to visiting when we can.

After a few days with Great Granddad, we headed for McCook NE to make a small pit stop. The kids wanted to see where Grandma Jeanne grew up so we parked outside Uncle Bob's house and took a few pictures. Grandma Jeanne's family lived in an old Bank that was renovated into a house. It looks pretty neat from the inside, but we could only see the exterior because Uncle Bob was at work.

We arrived in Omaha just in time for one of the worst Thunder storms we have ever encountered. Traffic was stopped on the highway because the rain was coming down in sheets so thick you couldn't see out of the windshield. Luckily, we missed the tornado and the hail that was on either side of us. After nearly an hour of waiting, we made it through and continued on to Aunt Kim, Uncle Steve, Noah and Regan's house.

We had so much fun in Omaha with family. We walked Noah and Regan to school in the morning and Ella, Elias and I went shopping with Aunt Kim while Brian and Kellan headed to the Space Museum.

Aunt Kim and Uncle Steve kept the kiddos for us while we went to see the Dave Mathews Band in down town Omaha. It was quite a show as it always is! After a few days in Omaha, we headed home and on our way, we cracked open our little red book and began jotting down our goals for the next year, five years and ten years. Its become a tradition of ours to do this in the car on the way home from Nebraska. It allows us to review what we've written down, cross off what we've accomplished and write down new dreams that we have. This blows New Year's Resolutions out of the water. I highly recommend it. We even categorize our goals...total nerds, we know.

Kellan and Ella in Granddads Front Yard

Elias on Granddads Front Porch (getting eaten alive by Mosquitoes)

Beautiful Nebraska Sunset