Trip to Nebraska!

We had the opportunity to visit our friends, the Escens, in Columbus, NE in February for 5 days.  We had such a great time catching up and just spending time chatting, playing Ticket to Ride, trying out some steak from a gas station...and letting the boys play with one another!!!  The weather was freezing so we spent a lot of time indoors but did make it to Omaha one day to go to the Omaha Zoo!  Apparently, it's rated really high as one of the best zoos in the country and we would agree!  It was awesome!  We are thankful for the Escens and miss them being here in California, but know their work for the Lord in Nebraska is needed and the people love them there.....We are just looking forward to them coming back sometime! =)  Here are some pics from our trip (a lot of the kids and hardly any adults!):

 This is a coffee shop they have in their church.... The boys had yummy hot chocolate and the mommy's had a chai-cider..... I hear the coffee is delish though! =)

 This is the famous steak house from a gas station that the Escen's have been talking about since they got there.....They had good steak...but I was cracking up with the tator tots, salad bar, fake roses on the table and the post it notes for the reservations! =)  We had a fun time though.....

When we get together, we always have to take a picture of the size of our kids....The Escen boys are always significantly bigger than the Ames boys..... =) Will always be that way! This is Jackson and Carter.  Jackson is 7 weeks OLDER than Carter.

This is Jackson and Brady.   Brady turned 1 in November.  Jackson turns 3 in April. =)  

 It's hard to tell how much taller Eli is that Jacob...but he is a good head taller too- but he is a year older than Jacob.... maybe Jacob will catch up to him.  Jacob seems to be the taller kid in our family for sure!

The first morning we woke up to it snowing!  It was enough for the boys to see snowflakes....try and eat snow....and be freezing cold outside but not enough for anything to stick!  Perfect amount! =)

 On Monday, we took a trip to Omaha (1 1/2 hrs away) to the Zoo!  It was 27 degrees outside and a wind chill of who knows how cold....so we were thankful for the big buildings and all the exhibits inside!

 Jackson is mimicking the bird behind him. 

We tried to get one picture of the monkeys outside....but as you can tell, they were freezing and it didn't go so well!!!

Sunday, we had a great day with temps in the 50's!  After an awesome morning at church, we played outside for a good portion of the afternoon!  Baseball, football, soccer and the park!  Enjoying the nice cool weather that's bearable outside!

Every night after the boys all went to bed, we played Ticket to Ride.  It's a super fun game if you've never played it!  Mike and Joy have always been our board game friends....so we continued the tradition!  The girls took most of the wins in the games- although Jeremy did win once so I'll give him credit. =)

After a great time, we had to head back to California!  This is what Jackson did most of the trip..... MOST OF THE TIME.  NO sleeping happened but lots of eating snacks and playing with electronics! Thankful for APPLE products!!! 

Thanks for a great week, Escens!  We look forward to seeing you in March, here in California!