I'm very excited to finally announce that the Romriells officially have a job. Well...we will. And by "We" I mean Skyler, of course. :)

Skyler "officially" signed a contract and will be working in...

KANSAS! 

The sunflower state, the flat lands, tornado alley. 

(as a Dentist...in case you missed the fact that he has been in Dental school the last 4 years).

We have been job hunting for a few months now. Secretly hoping that some incredible opportunity would just magically show up in some beautiful location in the mountains. Surrounded by lots of big giant trees, tons of water, and beautiful fishing rivers. Capped off with an enormous sign in the ground saying THIS....THIS is where you are supposed to be.

But at last, that surprisingly did not happen. ;)

There just wasn't an opportunity out there (that we found) that topped the opportunity in Kansas.

I won't lie. Kansas is no paradise. There are no mountains, or trees...or water. But it's HOME (for me that is).  It's a good place, with good people and we are very excited about it. 

And let's be honest, the thought of living by my family that I have been so far away from for so long, is an incredible thought. Not many things top living by the people you love. 

The only thing that will make this more official is graduation in June. Kind of an important last step, right?

(Don't worry Babe, we have total faith in you)

There aren't many things better than a good lake day.

...am I right or am I right?

We headed out to the lake twice while we were at home this summer. The second time not planned at all. We were all loaded up in the car and ready to leave for Iowa when my family convinced us to stay another day and head to the lake with them....didn't take much convincing. We were in!

Can you tell how excited we all were for our lake day.

Our first trip to the lake was on one of those crazy cold front days. The water was pretty darn cold, and the wind....well, the wind is always crazy in Kansas. So the two combined turned most of us into chickens. Tayler and Preston were the only ones brave enough to have a little fun on the tube that day. I'm always shocked how much Preston loves the tube (he's not the bravest boy you'll ever meet, but I guess the tube doesn't scare him).

Wes usually wants nothing to do with the water and is totally content lounging on the beach spending time with Grandpa.

Preston found a tiny little toad (you can kind of see it in his fingers). The boys thought it was the coolest thing. And if I recall.... pretty sure they named it Uncle Lane.

Because Lane is awesome, and so our toads...I guess :)

The moment we pulled into town the party began. And it never stops. 

WE LOVE IT...who wouldn't?

Here are a few fun things we did while we were back home for summer break.

I remember my Grandpa Grover getting on the tramp and jumping with us when we were little, and we thought he was SO COOL. It made me happy to see my parents get on the tramp with the boys. Such fun memories.  

There is a little pond across the street from my parents that is perfect for taking the little guys fishing. The fish in the pond love hotdogs. You pretty much catch a fish almost every time you cast. It's almost like a little game...who can not catch a dinky little fish. So when you get one bigger then your hand it's a little exciting.

Ryan and Tayler are like rockstars around the neighborhood and with the nephews. Not even joking. We were eating dinner at a restaurant one night and these little 7yr old boys walked up to our table and asked Ryan if he could play when we got home...? There are always little boys knocking on the door asking if Ryan and Tay can play. It's pretty hilarious. They are the sweetest teenage boys you will ever meet. And every little boy wants to be around them. The best part, Ry and Tay don't mind it at all. They are going to be the best Dads ever. So of course Preston and Wes were in heaven having their uncles to play with for weeks.

My little brothers bought ducks a few months ago. As you can tell they are pretty big now and have outgrown my parent's pond in their yard. The ducks now live across the street in a much larger pond. But they still know their home. The ducks walk across the street and come to the yard at 7am and 5pm, for breakfast and dinner. My Dad feeds them and then they walk back to the pond. Preston loved feeding them everyday with Grandpa. He also took on the responsibility of feeding the fish. Every time he walked outside he would throw some food into the pond for the fish. I'm sure he was way overfeeding the fish, but I think it made him feel pretty important. 

Life is good when your with your Grandpa and Grandma.

Had to add these pictures in. Check out how dirty this kid is when he gets home. He works on a farm, mostly on the cattle crew. He always came home with some awesome stories and extra dirt everywhere. But don't let that dirt fool you though, he really is that tan...slightly jealous.

This little guy is 2. I cannot even tell you how absolutely obsessed I am with him. There is just something about Wes that has stolen my heart.

A few weeks ago we were with my family and Jake (my brother) said, "I think you should rent Wes out to people with depression, cause there is noway that anyone could stay sad around him." That pretty much is Wes spot on. Wesley is such a happy boy. He will brighten any room and put a smile on everyones face.  

We spent Wesley's birthday week in Kansas, at my families, which made his birthday so much more fun...of course.

My parents happened to have an Elmo cake pan, one of Wesley's loves right now, perfect right? It was supposed to be Elmo holding an ice cream cone, but I figured Wes would love it ten times more if Elmo was holding a soccer ball, another one of his loves. So my Mom whipped up the cake and a giant cupcake (for the soccer ball) that fit perfectly and I went to town frosting. It was a hit. Wes got to eat the entire soccer ball all to himself. 

A few little things about our sweet Wesley Glen.

> LOVES gum...as you can tell from the above picture.

> Loves Cookie Monster (and Elmo)

> Favorite toys right now are his dirt bike that he won't put down, his motorcycle that he won't get off, and his soccer ball that he never stops kicking.

>Is totally in love with soccer...and is actually really good at it. If you give him a basketball or a baseball he will put them on the floor and kick them.

>Talks SO well. I think it helps having an older brother, because I don't remember Preston talking this much this young.

>Still hates nursery. Mostly because he doesn't like to leave my side...I know, my bad. Wish he didn't love being around me so much...uh? Ok not really. I do love it most of the time.

>Doesn't like to sleep in his own bed anymore...because he thinks it's way cooler to sleep with Preston.

>Still takes naps though. Thankfully.

>Favorite songs are, The Wise Man & The Foolish Man, Happy Birthday, and Twinkle Twinkle.

>Is best buds with Preston

Birthday breakfast pancakes!

The only two things we knew Wes would love were a soccer ball and a hat (he likes hats). Skyler picked him out this really cool looking ball (Hawkeye colors). He was so in love with it. We wish we would have gotten the unwrapping part on tap. Wes was seriously doing a happy dance and screaming with excitement.  The ball ended up being ridiculously hard and large, so we took it back :( But luckily my parents happened to get him a soccer ball that was his size...and soft, so it worked out perfect.  

I made Preston a blanket for his 1st birthday that is his LOVE. So I figured it was time for Wes to fall in love with a blanket too. I bought these fabrics months ago...with very good intentions. But it wasn't until 3 days before his birthday that I decided to get to work. When my Mom saw my fabrics she thought it would be adorable to design a little moose to go on the front, I of course let her work her magic. I sewed the top while she whipped up the moose in no time. Then I let her take over with her mad quilting skills. She put the quilt on her machine and had it quilted within the day.  

I couldn't get it out of my head that I wanted chevron quilting. Well, than that crazy idea turned into herringbone 

...and did my Mom deliver or what?

It looks seriously cool.

On our way home from Kansas we stopped at Skyler's parents. Of course Grandma had made these cute little Cookie Monster cupcakes and had the house all decorated for another little birthday party. Wes was a happy little camper. He is one lucky boy to have so many people that love him.

Wes was the only family member that didn't own a Hawkeye hat. So, we just had to get him one. Now we can all sport our team together.

We love our little Wes and love that he makes us all a little bit happier all the time.

Thanks buddy