Ridenour Ranch

Hello 40!

Gil and I turned 40 this year. My birthday just happened to coincide with the date we thought our house might be done (it almost was!) so we had a little shindig in our NEW GARAGE! It was so fun. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! Then the next morning (after hosting all the Ridenour Family in our house!) we got to celebrate Mikey's first communion. He did wonderful and felt very loved. Oh, and there are some Elton John pictures in there too because that was the present we gave each other. #worthit

Taco 'bout a Birthday Girl!

Cora's birthday was another whirlwind. I should just start accepting that that is where we are in life nowadays. There are 15 things in each day and the goal it to complete the mission by some miracle of logistics! Anyway, Cora played 8 softball games on a chilly Saturday. Then we woke up bright and early and went to Raef's baptism in Omaha, had lunch at the Herrick's, and then raced home with Sarai to get ready for six more girls (Skyler, Aybree, Elise, Leah, Kaelyn, and Mackenzie) to join the fun and the boys to head to Jude's baseball game. They had a taco bar (Taco 'Bout a Party!), sang "It's Raining Tacos", jumped on the trampoline, played hide and seek, played Mario Party, and watched a movie on the big screen before all crashing in the guest room. It was so nice to have the basement so the girls could be there and it was off limits to the boys. Cora got some new crocs, a softball bag and bat, and some new jackets and outfits from us, and a bunch of great presents from family and friends including crafting supplies, books, friends legos, orbees, and much more!

Cora LOVES her birthday SOOOO much! She is a delight to have in our family and bring so much humor, joy, curiosity, insight, drama, wit, and more. She completed her 5th grade year where she excelled in the classroom and also participated in band (percussion), volleyball, basketball, spelling bee, science olympiad, visited the NE capital in Lincoln, and much more. Cora you are learning and growing each and every day. It is a joy to watch and to be your mom. Love you!

playing a lot of catcher!

A TEENAGER!

So we have a teenager...Jude turned 13 the day after Easter this year. Man March and April were TOUGH months around here. We worked and worked on the house nonstop. We lived in filth. We painted and stained and shopped for new furniture and ripped out carpet and moved furniture and vacuumed and dusted and wiped and so much more. In addition we decided to add a new puppy to our madness and also went to an Elton John concert (amazing!) besides celebrating Easter and planning our big 40th/House party. AND besides celebrating a fresh new teenager! Gil took him camping for a night up at Weigand. It was cold, but I think they had a good time. Then on his birthday he had his friend Eli come over. We went to Runza and got a DQ birthday cake and they played the new Star Wars Lego Nintendo Switch game most of the afternoon. Jude got his own gun and will be taking hunter safety this fall. Jude I can't believe you're a teenager! You have done an amazing job navigating jr. high and have loved (almost) every minute of it. You played football, basketball, track, did a science fair project, got good grades, were on student council, and were chosen as the student of the year for both social studies and science. You are a willing volunteerer at school and sometimes at home! You love to try new things and are outgoing, smart, kind, thoughtful, full of questions, and interested in all sorts of topics. Your quest for knowledge (and what you know) both amaze me. I can't wait to see all the amazing things you will do in your teenage years! We love you so much!!!