Family Pictures

My brother, Collin, took these amazing photos of the entire Nichols family. We weren't missing a single person, which is an awesome feat considering we live in Washington, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado. 

 This is four generations, ranging from 85 years old to 1 years young!

 Grandma and Grandpa Nichols with their three children, Ginger, Doug, and Dallas.

 And their spouses.

(Ginger and Kevin; Doug and Sally; Dallas and Jan)

 All my cousins and spouses

 All the great-grandchildren!

 We have a runner!

 I just adore this picture!

 This is my favorite picture of the day. While we were taking pictures, Grandpa leaned over to kiss Grandma. They couldn't quite reach, so Grandpa got her nose instead. You can see the entire progression of the kiss in the following pictures. 

 What fabulous pictures Collin captured of the entire family. How blessed we are!

(We did take a family picture of my parents, siblings, spouses, and children, but I will save that for a later date since it's our family Christmas photo.)

Family Reunion

In late August, the entire Nichols' clan headed to Cozad, NE for a family reunion and 65th Wedding Anniversary Party for my Grandma Reva and Grandpa Leon Nichols. My cousin from Washington came with his entire family, and we haven't seen him in over five years. My cousin from Wyoming came with his family, and we haven't seen him in years. From near and far, over 50 family members and close friends came to celebrate the weekend. 

My Aunt Jan was in charge of the party planning, and man, can she throw a party!!! Friday night, the entire group went to a Winery where Jan supplied wine and chocolate for over 80 people. There was even a live band! On Saturday, we took family pictures (coming up in my next blog) and then spent the day at Camp Comeca swimming, playing games, shooting archery, and sweating a whole lot! (Have I mentioned it was HOT and HUMID the entire weekend. Josh, who isn't used to the humidity, nearly died).

Saturday night, Jan outdid herself again! She hired a gaming bus to come to Cozad, and cousins young and old enjoyed this fun, fun event. 

Kye and Carson competing against one another. 

Kye is definitely mesmerized.

Case is loving his game!

Corinne is into this game, and even Siahna got involved in the games.

Carson loved playing games with his cousin, Braden.

 

The adults even got into the Dance Party outside the bus (see Josh on the far left?).

 Those Nichols/Anderson girls sure do have the moves!

 Josh became BFF's with my cousin from Washington, Chad. They were inseparable throughout the entire weekend, so much so that they had to have a dance together (this is my favorite picture of the weekend).

 I love this picture so much!

 My cousin Brandee and I were dance partners on this one.

 At the end of the night, Jan had 65 red hot air balloons we attempted to light and set off at 9 p.m., but it was too windy and dangerous. We sent three up in the air, but the wind was whipping them around too much (and there was a flame in the balloon), so we weren't able to set off all 65 of them. It was a great idea, though!

Here are four of my favorite people in the world. On the left and in green are my mom's parents, Grandpa Bill and Grandma Van. They celebrated 69 years of marriage last week. Grandma Reva is in white and Grandpa Leon is in blue. We were in Cozad celebrating their 65th Anniversary. 

Both grandparents are great examples of a godly marriage and both pairs have survived so, so much in 65 years plus, but they are still madly in love. 

It was one of my favorite weekends of the year, and I am so glad Josh and I were able to spend the weekend with my fabulous family. 

Small Font

I was telling my students, "Your short story that you write can only be 2-3 pages. I don't want it any longer than that, so you really need to condense your work if your story is longer. I want to see clear and concise writing."

A student raised her hand. "Ms. Nichols, my story is at 10 pages right now, and I'm only halfway done. Is that okay?"

"No, that's no okay. I want you to edit and cut it down to 3 pages. Please do not turn in a 15 page story."

"Ok, I can do that. I'll just make the font really small so that my story is only 3 pages."

Nope, not even what I meant. Not even a little bit.

Anticipation

I love the anticipation of looking forward to something.

I am like a little kid when it comes to Christmas. I love opening gifts, but I love giving gifts even more. I always want people to open MY gift first because I can hardly stand waiting for them to gasp in surprise and admiration.

I get so excited on Fridays that I can hardly focus on my work because that's the day I get to see Josh.

When my parents come for the weekend (like this weekend), I get so eager for them to arrive that I sometimes can't sleep.

When I think about moving to an apartment or house that will be Josh and my first home, I get goosebumps. I start to dream of decorating and creating the perfect place for just the two of us.

When I think about our honeymoon, I get lost in thought and get butterflies in my tummy. I'm not entirely sure I can wait nine more months to fly to Mexico; I might just burst with excitement before even arriving.

With eight months until my wedding, I have already bought my bridesmaids their gifts, and I honestly don't know if I can keep it a secret. I may or may not have already told one of them what she is getting.... or two of them. But whatever. I can hardly wait.

In order not to fly away into dream world and never come back, I have to make myself NOT think about my upcoming wedding. When I think about it, I become giddy. I lose all focus. I stop working. I squeal in anticipation. I tell anyone and everyone who will listen ALL my plans.

Today as the bell rang and students filed out of my room, I got lost in wedding planning in my head. I was staring off into space thinking about how to make a specific decoration stand up on the table when my friend, Liz walked into my room. I didn't even notice she was present because I was in decoration mode. She thought something was wrong, and I quickly came back to planet teaching earth to tell her I was perfectly fine but was doing some planning my head. That happens a lot.

Eight months is much too far away for me to accomplish anything between now and then. I think I just might burst with excitement before I even make it to June 7.

That is why I try to keep busy, so my mind doesn't wander into wedding and honeymoon thoughts.

In the next eight months, I must:
1. Find an apartment/house for Josh and me to live
2. Pack
3. Move in February (when my lease is up)
4. Coach Lacrosse in March, April, and May
5. Finish planning my wedding
6. Finish all my decorations (homemade, all of them!)
7. Create our songlist for the wedding reception
8. Organize the entire wedding
9. Plan food for 40 people for three days prior to the wedding
10. Plan a wedding reception
11. Sit with Josh and Jeff to plan our wedding ceremony
12. Write the family Christmas letter
13. Move Josh to Denver in June
14. Plan a reception for our friends in Kearney who can't make the wedding
15. Book our honeymoon

And there's more, but those are the major things on my mind. I just might explode.

Can you imagine how I feel today knowing Josh will be at my place in three hours, my parents will be here in 12 hours, I get to hang with Case and Siahna tonight, Kye is coming with my parents for the weekend, mom and I are going veil shopping, and we're celebrating my birthday? That is just too much excitement and anticipation for one girl to handle.

Katie Bee

My very good friend, Katie C., and I go back a long way. I first remember Katie from college, but Katie remembers me from high school youth group.

It wasn't until my senior year of college, however, that Katie and I became good friends. I graduated a year later and moved to Denver, but our friendship was sealed and no distance could break our bond. I visited Kearney regularly to see my girls (Katie, April, Irish, and McGee), and they would come visit me in Denver once a year.

I was thrilled when Katie decided to move to Denver six years ago. In fact, Katie and I lived together for about six months when she first came here before she got her own place, and then we also worked at Enterprise together.

It was in 2002 when Katie and I began our friendship, and I am so blessed to have her in my life 11 years later. She is a person I can talk to about anything. She knows me very well and still loves me!

So I was absolutely thrilled (ecstatic) when she called me a month after I was engaged to tell me SHE was engaged, too! I couldn't have been more happy for a friend and sweet Katie said, "I hope you don't feel like I'm stealing your thunder." Absolutely not! I am so, so excited to plan a wedding alongside Katie.

Katie and Steve are getting married a month after Josh and me. Katie is in my wedding. I am in Katie's wedding. Katie is getting married outside. I am getting married outside.

Those are about the only similarities, though, as Katie and I have very different visions for our weddings, which just makes it that much more special and exciting. Each wedding will be unique. Each wedding will be fun. Each wedding will have our own personal touch. Each wedding is to the man of our dreams.

Yesterday, Katie and I hung out for the afternoon. We got our toes done, we had dinner, and of course, we talked wedding talk. It was such a special moment for me, and I am so excited for my dear friends Katie and Steve, who make a great couple!

I can't wait to help plan two weddings at the same time, one for me, and one for one of my best friends!

Our Lodge

As many of you know, Colorado has flooded. The newscaster last week said the floods are of "Biblical proportions."

Now, I wasn't alive back in the day when Noah built the ark, so I can't exactly say what kind of flooding happened that caused Noah and his family to climb into a boat while it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.

But what I can tell you is that it only rained for five days straight here in Colorado. And we didn't have to climb into a boat.
And while a few people did die during this flood, it didn't quite wipe out the entire population of Colorado.

So I'd venture to say this flood in Colorado wasn't quite of "Biblical proportions," but it DID flood, and several people DID die, and it DID cause quite a bit of damage in our beautiful state.

If you haven't heard the news, check it out. It's quite devastating.

The towns of Lyons, Estes Park, and Allenspark (among many other towns) were completely wiped out. Gone. Underwater. No more roads. No more houses. No more businesses. (So, so sad). They said it might take a year or more to rebuild the roads that connect these towns.

As some of you know, Josh and I are getting married in Allenspark next June. When the rains started, and as they broadcast the complete devastation of the area, I started to have a panic attack. The funny thing is, the panic didn't set in right away. For the first week, I was thinking, "Our lodge sits on top of a mountain. It is totally fine." Then one day last week, it hit me: every single road going to our lodge has probably been completely wiped out. And then the panic set in. I got sick to my stomach. I started to sweat.

I immediately emailed the lodge owners. While I didn't want to sound like I only cared about MY WEDDING, the truth was, I wouldn't be emailing them if it wasn't about MY WEDDING. I politely asked them if they had experienced any damage to their lodge. Their reply was quick and reassuring:

Hello Josh and Shiloh-

Yes, we are fine! Thanks for checking in on us!!
We have been extremely fortunate – no damage to report!!!
Our phone and internet are working and they have opened the road from Estes Park to the Peak to Peak (Hwy 72) to Hwy 119 south to I-70!

We are so blessed!!!!
Cory and Cat

Praise the Lord! Our lodge is fine. Josh and I will be married in June! Our beloved lodge that we have both fallen in love with has survived the flood. (The main highway to get there is currently closed, but hopefully they can get that fixed in the next 8 months).

Please continue to pray for our state, though, as many, many people have lost their homes and belongings.

How To Have a Happy Marriage

From my grandma:

You are in love now! Do you want to stay in love 10 or 100 years? Then today and forever----

1. Be as polite to each other as you are to your friends and others.
2. Tell each other "I love you" several times a day and before you go to sleep at night.
3. Don't be afraid to say "I'm sorry" and "Forgive me" when necessary.
4. Don't ever, ever criticize each other. It hurts! Instead, compliment and build each other up. Very important!
5. Be tender and loving from morning til night.
6. Don't go into a mood. No one likes a moody person. If you have moods, GET OVER IT! It's childish and not very grown up.
7. Keep bodily functions private. There's nothing romantic about it.
8. Go to church regularly. Find a BIBLE believing church and go. Pray together. There's nothing sweeter than to acknowledge and love the Lord together. After all, He brought you two together and gave you life first. He will guide you through life and its storms and happy times. He always hears you when you pray. Pray sincerely and pray, "In the name of Jesus."
9. Read the Bible every day. It is truth and be Blessed. Remember, there's only one way to heaven and that's through Jesus. If you've asked Him to come into your heart and live for him, you will be there some day!
10. Read II Corinthians 13:4-8 now and then, what love should be. If you love that way, the Scripture says, "Love goes on forever." (verse 8).

Perhaps this is how my grandma and grandpa have remained in love for 70 years? I love her words and will hold them dear to my heart and marriage.