Grandpa Bill

As many of you know, the bond that I share with my grandparents has always been very special to me. I have always felt very blessed to have had the opportunity to grow up with both my Grandpa and Grandma Smith and Grandpa and Grandma Lininger so close to me and for them to be such an important part of my life. It has been especially wonderful to see the relationships that they have formed with Caden and Kinsie and the joy that they have all brought to each other's lives (as you will see below, all of the photos that we have of my Grandpa Bill are of him looking at his great-grandchildren and smiling!). Sadly, we lost our Grandpa Bill on Thursday. There are not enough words to describe how much we love our grandpa and just how much we are going to miss him. He was an amazing father, grandfather and friend and has had such a positive impact on our lives. We take comfort in knowing that he is no longer in pain and that we were able to share so many wonderful memories with him. We love you Grandpa!

Kansas City Getaway

We recently took a mini family vacation to Kansas City. Last Thursday morning we left for KC and spent the day at the zoo. The zoo is uniquely organized by continents and we enjoyed seeing all of the animals. We had a perfect day and I think this is the first time that we have been at the KC zoo and it hasn't been miserably hot!

Caden spotting the monkeys.

Taking a ride on the hippo!

Taking in a view of the lake.Caden taking a ride on a kangaroo courtesy of the carousel!

Hey Mr. Elephant, how you doing?

After a day at the zoo, we checked in to our hotel in Lee's Summit, MO, which is a suburb of Kansas City. We lived in Lee's Summit for five years so it was a lot of fun to explore the city and see what has changed. We also drove through our old neighborhood and showed Caden the house that we used to live in. He was only 7 months old when we moved to Iowa, so he had a lot of questions about the house that he used to live in! We also ate dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and then enjoyed an evening of swimming at the hotel.

On Friday we enjoyed a lazy morning at our hotel swimming and then we traveled to Overland Park, KS to visit our dear friends Justin, Lisa and Jackson Janeway. That evening we attended a Royals baseball game at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium. The kids were very anxious to move around, so we only sat for the first five innings in our seats and then we explored the new kidzone located in the outfield. Following the end of the game we enjoyed watching the fantastic fireworks display!

Jackson and Kinsie taking in the game from the outfield view!

Cass and Caden watching the fireworks!

For Father's Day, Caden, Kinsie and I treated Cass to a BBQ class in KC. While Daddy was off learning some new techniques we spent a great day at the Janeway's playing outside and enjoying our time together.

Build-a-Bear

For Christmas Caden and Kinsie received Build-a-Bear gift cards from Grandma Kathi. So yesterday evening we had an outing with her at the store located at Jordan Creek Mall. This was their first experience with Build-a-Bear and they both had a great time! Caden chose a puppy for his animal and Kinsie chose a lamb.

Caden stuffing his puppy...

then after making a wish Caden placed the puppy's heart inside.

Caden assisted Kinsie with the pedal used to stuff her lamb...

and then Kinsie rubbed the lamb's heart between her hands

before placing it inside the lamb.

Caden had a lot of fun giving his puppy a bath at the wash station!

Caden selected overalls, boots and a cowboy hat to dress his puppy,

who he named Ruff!

With a little help Kinsie named her lamb "Lambie"! She was not too interested in choosing clothes for Lambie, but fell in love with the pink stroller to push her in!