Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything! Cruz & I have been home in Nebraska for almost 3 weeks and time has just flown by! We celebrated Grandpa Aufenkamp's birthday at Twin Rivers while Jake was here. Heather & Mick stayed in one of the cabooses there so we got a family shot behind the caboose. Then that same weekend we celebrated my niece, Makenna's, birthday at the bowling alley so I have a few shots of Cruz trying to bowl. Other then that Cruz has just been enjoying being around all our family and friends. He's used to be so shy and afraid of everyone and after being here for just a few weeks he's not like that at all any more. He pretty much warms right up to anyone now. It's so much fun to see him interact with his cousins and all the other kids around here! I start coaching volleyball this week so someone will be watching him everyday while I'm at practice so I think that will help him come out of his shell even more. Jake was here again for a short weekend visit this weekend, it was great to have him here, he'll be home for good on Sept. 15th. Then we close on our house on Sept. 16th so things will be crazy for us with buying a house, me coaching, and Jake starting a new job! Hope everyone had a great weekend and hopefully I won't go so long between posts next time!




Uncle Josh & Cruz







Uncle Josh giving Cruz his first taste of licorice.







The Aufenkamp Family








Cruz bowling






Megan & the birthday girl, Makenna




















Grandpa & Grandma Walkenhorst with Makenna & Cruz








Aunt Katie showing Cruz how to bowl

First Haircut

Well we finally broke down and cut all of Cruz's curls off.:) We actually were waiting till we were in Nebraska to do it so Cruz could get his first haircut where Jake got his first hair cut at. Cruz did very well for the most part. He's not a big fan of men he doesn't know so when we first went in he started crying because the male barber (Keil) started talking kinda loud to us. Well we got Cruz calmed down and the lady started cutting his hair while he sat in the chair all by himself. Well she needed help catching his little curls in an envelope for us to keep so Keil came over to help hold the envelope and Cruz started crying again. We finally got him calmed down again and he sat fine the rest of the time in my lap. He looks so much older now! There's some photos below...

Cruz & I made it to Nebraska on Tuesday and Jake made it here on Wednesday after a long 24 hour drive. It's so great to be back! Most of our time so far has been spent hanging out with family but we did look at some houses yesterday and we're looking at more today and tomorrow. Hopefully we can find something we like and we can get an offer in on one of them! Jake had an job interview with Woodhouse yesterday and he got offered a job as a Service Adviser so he'll be starting that in September when he moves back. I will start coaching volleyball in a few weeks and I'm definitely looking forward to that. Tonight we are celebrating Grandpa Aufenkamp's birthday at Two Rivers and then Sunday we are celebrating my neice, Makenna's, birthday so I'll have to post pictures next week! Hope everyone has a great weekend and hope everyone here in Nebraska enjoys the heat! (I think Jake & I brought the North Carolina heat back with us, sorry!!!)

Last Playgroup

We met one last time with our play group today. The kids played at the park and then we went to the Cow Cafe for lunch and ice cream. It was a good time and it was sad to say goodbye. At one time there were 9 or 10 military wives in our group but everyone has moved away recently and now that we're moving it's just gonna be the two of them left. Here's a quick picture we snapped today...



Megan & Cruz, Sue & Liam and Nina, Elsa & Destin

Well our flight leaves at 6:50 a.m. tomorrow so less then 24 hours to go! I really can't believe we've been living in North Carolina for 3 years but I'm definitely ready to get home to family and friends in Nebraska. We've met some great people out here and had a lot of fun. We're definitely gonna miss the weather here and living so close to the ocean. Hopefully someday we can come back and visit! Well I had two things on my list of things to do before we leave, go to the ocean and eat at El Cerros (the best mexican restaurant ever in my opinion) Well Saturday morning Cruz woke up at 6am for some reason so we decided to get ready and head to the beach. We were there by 7:30 and stayed for a couple of hours. Then that day we had lunch at El Cerros. Jake doesn't know this yet but we might have to have El Cerros one last time for supper tonight:) Anyways I didn't take my camera to the beach with me on Saturday morning but we did go down to the beach last weekend one night after supper and I got a few shots then. Cruz loved the water, we couln't keep him out of it. We'd bring him up on the sand and the next thing we knew he was running towards the water again. I'll post some pictures below. Well time to start doing some final packing... hope to see everyone real soon!!!