3 Cheers for Auntie Jojo and Michael Phelps!

Chris' sister Joanna, a.k.a. Auntie Jojo, came for a visit last week. She arrived on Monday and we're very proud of her for making the LONG drive all by herself. The kids were ecstatic and we had an awesome, busy, fun week!

I had committed to helping with Vacation Bible School before we knew when she'd be here. Joanna was an awesome help carting Liv to band practice and she even came and helped me at church two days. She is a 4th grade teacher and has a wonderful gift with kids....mainly because she IS a BIG kid herself! :) Tuesday after VBS it was raining so we headed to Omaha to do some shopping. Jojo hit paydirt at Half Price Books and Nobbies (store version of Oriental Trading). She went home with lot's of awesome treasures for her classroom!

Wednesday was HOT so we loaded up and headed to a nearby waterpark. Oh to be 24 and look so good in a bikini.....

Thursday, we took a trip to the zoo. They have a beautiful new Butterfly Pavilion that we hadn't visited yet. Sadly, I forgot my camera....what!? I know, loosing my marbles. I NEVER forget my camera. Sigh. Joanna really loves the Old Market area of downtown Omaha so we headed there after the zoo. Chris met us after work for dinner (he brought the camera). We ate at a neat little place called the Twisted Fork which served a delicious Southwestern fare.

Friday, Jojo and the kids just hung out in Blair. We took her to the local thrift stores where she found MORE books for her classroom. She was glad to learn all of our "book buying" secrets. No more Barnes and Noble for her! :) A HORRIBLE storm blew in just before 5 pm. We experienced nearly 90 mph winds. Jojo was "excited" to experience her first real Nebraska storm. Shortly after I snapped this photo we headed to the basement. We were spared the worst of it (again!) but Omaha was hit really hard. There are some areas STILL without power today (Monday).

One thing the kids and Jojo love to do together is catch fireflies. They managed to get out two nights during her visit and capture some "magic" bugs. Thanks for the visit Jojo. We loved having you here!

Our exciting week didn't end with Joanna's departure. We were able to attend the Olympic Swim Trials on Sunday morning. We received tickets from our neighbor for the first round of preliminary heats. WHAT AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE!!!!!!! Words cannot express the exciting atmosphere of the Qwest Center.

The last time we were in this spot, we watched a hockey game! The pool is unbelievable and we've heard/read that this venue is the BEST swimming has ever had. It was such an awesome thing for all of us to watch world class athletes.

Here you see MICHAEL PHELPS in lane 4. How cool is THAT??? It was so much fun to see an Olympic Champion. We watched the Finals on TV last night and he broke a world record in the Individual Medley. Man, were we wishing we could have been there to see that. It looked nuts!

And they're off! Shortly after I took this photo the announcer reminded everyone NOT to take flash photos until the swimmers were in the water. They use a "flash start" and we "sure wouldn't want to ruin the chance of a swimmer getting into the Olympics by getting them disqualified..." Ouch. Sorry!

This photo above is of the OLDEST swimmer in the Trials. Her same is Susan vonderLippe and she is 42 years old! She is the second from the top in the red swim cap. She has been getting TONS of publicity and it just so happens that her sister was sitting right behind us. In this heat she swam against 3 girls who could be her daughters...she came in 2nd! I guess she is a two time Olympian and trains in Colorado. Again, amazing. Funny story - Chris went to get something to eat and "the sister" sitting behind us tapped me on the shoulder and asked if Chris was "a swimmer." She thought he looked so familiar! Ah, funny. I told her he was an engineer for Cargill that swims at the Y on his lunch break. :) The kids start swim lessons today and going to the trials got them pretty pumped, especially Tony. You never know.....

So that was our week in a nutshell. Wednesday we head out for our first camping trip of the summer. We'll be camping at Niobrara State Park in northeast NE near the SD border. It's supposed to be beautiful up there along the Missouri River. We hope to do some hiking, horseback riding and maybe a trip down the river. We'll return on Sunday so we wish you all a HAPPY and SAFE 4th of JULY!!!!!