Jakob's New York "Conference"

 Jakob told me that he had a conference in New York and I didn't even think twice about it. I usually ask if it's about anything exciting but all I knew was that it was a quick trip. Jakob isn't exactly one to give out details without someone asking. It turns out that he was one of Tortoises representatives to ring the Opening Bell. 

He said that a few people were asked to attend, but only a handful were asked to stand on the podium during the bell ringing. It's a lot of big talk for something I don't understand but it was a big deal fro Jakob (and apparently for other people!) so it is a big deal to me!

You ring that bell babe! I am so gosh darn proud of this man and all of the hard work that he does. He is a valued member of his team and it continually shows! Way to go love!

Crescendo

 Jakob was able to get us tickets to the Crescendo Fundraiser this year. This is hands down my favorite event that Tortoise sponsors each year. this year we had dinner first, then we watched the performance, and then we had dessert afterwards. (Missing a few of the crew.)

The performance was amazing as always. It is put on by the UMKC each year and it showcases thier arts program from dancing, to choir, to music. It is incredible! 

Practicing our duck face. 

Jakob and Richards yearly awkward photo that Ben jumped in on!

The desserts were amazing and they had these little cones which made for perfect unicorn horns. There was an older lady sitting next to me and she asked from what company we were from after I took this picture. I  told her and she told me that she was one of the families who offered scholarships to the students!! WE had a great visit and she was giggling away. 

I should have asked her to be a unicorn with me. It was a top notch night! I love the Kauffman Center!

Twisting Lessons

After Duke's birthday party a few months ago our next door neighbor Piper told her Mama that she wanted to be a balloon twister like me when she grew up. She had gotten all of the supplies and started to learn. So I offered to give her a lesson. It was so much fun. It's not very often that someone wants to be like me when they grow up. Most of the time they want to be a doctor, nurse, or teacher. 

Piper was a great student, and she is super talented!

Dodge Ball

Jakob signed up to be a part of Tortoises corporate challenge this year. He was one of the shooters (he came in smack dab in the middle of the pack which was pretty good considering he hadn't gone shooting in almost two years and they didn't even let you have a practice shot.) He was also a part of the dodge ball team. I didn't even know they did these sorts of games for C.C.

It was a lot of fun watching them and they were pretty good!

Hands down they had the nicest shirts too!! Shell YEAH! 

First Day at Work

Jakob is once again a working man! For months we fasted, prayed and prayed some more for Jakob to get a job and here we are. We're in Kansas City and he has landed his dream job. He has worked so hard for this and I could be more proud of him. Way to go husband face!! 

E gave Jakob a hug before he left and she said "Have a good day at school Daddy!" I told her that he was going to work now and that we could visit him at the office for lunch. She was pretty excited about that. I think we'll have to make lunch with Daddy a weekly thing.

Vanderbilt Graduation

I can hardly believe it's graduation?!?! It was a long and busy 9 months but they flew by! I feel as though we just moved here and now it's all over. 

Since the kiddos were going to go to a friends house for the day of graduation (thank you Jami!) I wanted to get a picture of Jakob all dressed up and the kids. 

Chad told me to lift my foot and E comes around looking at the bottom of my heel. It was rather funny. 

Then E wanted to take a shoe photo. 

I loved his bat wings! 

The day of graduation I dropped off the kids, bright and early, and we headed over to the campus for Jakob's ceremony. We had visions of traffic jams and not being able to find any parking but much to our surprise, there was no traffic and plenty of parking. We ended up being the first people in the gym.... almost 2 hours early. Needless to say, we had awesome seats! Here is Jakob's chair. :)

 Jakob's fan section! We were so grateful that his brothers could be there. We missed Kyle dearly but he was there in spirit!

 There he is! This ceremony was much smaller than UNLV's which was nice. They had a big ceremony in the morning where there were some speakers and then all of the different schools (nursing, business ect.) separated to their own ceremony's to walk across the stage. It was much faster and we were nice and close. 

One of the Dean's. 

 Walking across. I can't tell you how proud I am of this man. 

 

 

 Then we took a few photos. 

All of the brothers and Pa. Such handsome men. 

My favorite blooper. Trying to get all of the boys to stop joking around and smile at the camera is quite a challenge. They are always poking, teasing or (in Jakob's case) pinching bums. It is so fun to watch them bond and to see how much fun they have when they are together.

 Jakob's biggest fans!

I love mother son photos. Perhaps it is because I am a Mom but I know how proud Mom's are of their children and this photo makes my heart so happy!

 And that is a wrap! I am so thankful for Jakob and for all of his hard work at school, work and at home. He is always trying to be better, be the best and I know that this program was a lot of work! Then after a full day of school and projects he would come home and take care of the kids trying to make my life easier. He is amazing! I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who works to hard to provide for his family. I am excited for our next chapter in life and I am so excited that Jakob found his dream job. Congratulations babe, you deserve it and I couldn't be more proud of you! I love you forever!