Mom & Dad Schleicher (Cross Country) Visit

The weekend after Easter, Jon's parents came to visit Nebraska for parts of three days.  They left Michigan after church on Easter to drive to Minnesota to see Jon's grandma and sister.  Then, on Monday they drove to Montana to see Jon's brother and sister-in-law and the twins.  After being in Montana for a few days, they stopped through Nebraska on their way down to Texas to see Jon's other brother and sister-in-law and two more nephews.  Quite the trip, but it was worth it for them to see almost everyone and for Dad to only miss one Sunday at church!  

Shortly after they made it to Lincoln, Dad Schleicher decided
to go for a run (go figure) :) and volunteer to take Ace with.
Ace loved the jog even though he didn't make it easy for
Dad to run in a straight line.

(Sorry for the blinding light)
Saturday evening, Mom & Dad took us out to Red Robin for
dinner and we forgot to take a photo there so we took one
eating ice cream at home.  We enjoyed watching Louisville
beat Wichita State while at Red Robin and then we hurried
home to watch the Michigan game.  Mom even wore her
Michigan fleece!  Go Blue.

Watching the game.  Michigan won to make it to the
National Championship game which they sadly lost against
Louisville.  However, with Louisville's victory, Jon won all
four of the March Madness brackets pools he entered. 

Sunday afternoon following church, Chelsea made meat toss.
(Thanks for coming to worship with us too!  We love having
family with us in the pew.  There are so many families at 
Christ that get to worship together and we look forward to 
that whenever possible. Sorry we again forgot to take a photo.) 

Following lunch we played, of course, some Stone Age.

Jon ended up winning and Dad tried using a new strategy
of not feeding his people and taking the 10 point penalty
but it didn't work as well this time.  He was a good sport
about going back a few times though.  Good job Mom on
getting 2nd!

Ace got another walk from Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday.

On Sunday night, we played a few hands of pinochle before
Chelsea had to go to bed for school in the morning.

On Monday morning, Mom and Dad left to begin their trek down to Texas.  Thanks for a short but quality visit and we are excited to host you again sometime soon!

Easter with the Vaudt Side of the Family

This Easter, we stayed in Lincoln and worshipped at our church with a few friends who also stayed in town.  

Easter Photo 2013.

Easter 2012.

Look at the pictures from the last two years.  Jon wore the same suit in both pictures and you can see the 20 pounds he's lost and he looks great!

After church, we headed up to Omaha to Chelsea's Aunt and Uncle's house to enjoy a large Easter feast prepared by Dena and Jay.  Thanks for hosting all of us and we loved spending some time with you too!

Following the huge feast, we went outside for our usual photo shoot.

Sister shot in birth order.
Heidea, Kailea, Lindsea, Ashlea and Chelsea

Add the husbands.
Heidea, Kailea, Lindsea, Ashlea, Ben, Chelsea and Jon

The whole gang.
Add Mom and Dad on the ends.

Jon's idea for a unique photo arrangement.

Chels had a really hard time opening her eyes
looking at the sun.  Here is a classic.  :)

Finally after 15 tries, we got a good one. 

Once we were satisfied with how the pictures turned out, we headed inside for some games.  Jon taught everyone how to play Careers, a classic that our Bible study loves to play but credit goes to the Donkersloot/Kraay families in Michigan for teaching Jon the game.  The best part was when any one of the sisters wrote something very scientific because then everyone else assumed either Jay, Ben or Jon had written that career.  Following several rounds of Careers, we played Psychiatrist, a game that is often played at Trinity Camp in the summers.

Dad, Mom and Ben trying to figure out what
career everyone wrote down.

Later Sunday evening, Lindsea and Kailea came back to stay with us in Lincoln.  It was Kailea's first time being at our house and we loved having her!  That night we watched a movie on Netflix and ate some popcorn.

On Monday, the rest of the family, except Ben who had to work in the morning back in Sioux City, came to Lincoln.  Jon took Dad, Kailea and Lindsea to the Racquet Club to play some tennis while Chelsea, Mom, Ashlea and Heidea held down the fort.

We spent some time playing games like WhooNu?

While the guys played Cribbage.

Following a mexican lasagna feast that Chelsea made for her family, we played some eight-handed Pinochle.

Playing Pinochle.  Heidea did well as she is continuing to
master the family card game.

Then, to end the night we watched Castle as a family on Monday night.

Watching Castle.
Heidea was scared, Ashlea was on her phone,
and Chelsea was sleeping.   :)

The main reason why the family came to Nebraska on their Spring Break was for Kailea to go on three college visits.  On Tuesday, Kailea had a long but busy day at Concordia University where she is being recruited to play tennis.  Then, on Wednesday, Kailea visited Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa and got to play with their volleyball team.  Finally, on Thursday, Kailea spent the day at Jamestown College in Jamestown, ND and also played with their volleyball team.  We are praying for Kailea as she is making a decision on where she will be next year.  Thanks for the great visit everyone and next time we hope you are able to stay with us for a longer time!  :)  It always feels too short when we are together.

Recent Young Roads Happenings

Sorry it has been a while since our last posting but wanted to catch up on several recent events in our life this Spring.

Young Roads Serves at People's City Mission

On Saturday, Feb. 24, seven friends from our Bible study volunteered to serve lunch at the People's City Mission downtown Lincoln.  We all had a lot of fun and the people were all really thankful for the free meal they received.  Thanks to all our friends who were able to make it and we can't wait to do it again in May.

Kyle and Ian all ready to go.

Ashley, Bre, Nathan and Jen getting their aprons and hair nets on.

Part of the group in our serving line positions.

Full group shot.
From L to R: Nathan, Bre, Ashley, Angela, Jen, Kyle and Ian.

Church League Lincoln Volleyball Tournament

This past winter (Jan.-March) 10 members of Young Roads put together a volleyball team.  Games were played on Sunday afternoons at Lincoln Lutheran High School.  During the regular season, YR went 5-3 and earned the 5th Overall seed in the Gold Tournament.  The Gold Tournament featured the Top 5 teams while the Silver Tournament featured the Bottom 6.  YR barely made the Gold Tournament and started the tourney with nothing to lose.  

Young Roads played well in the tournament and avenged a loss against a really good Our Saviors team in the first round of the tournament.  After the conclusion of the double elimination tourney, Young Roads finished 3rd overall!  It was a great season and we can't wait for next year to try and win it all.

Some members of the team.
From L to R Front Row: Jen, Michelle and Bre
Back Row: Valerie, Chelsea, Jon, Bryan and Ryan.
Not pictured: Aaron and Kyle

Young Roads Presence at Running Down GBS 5K

On Saturday, March 30, four Young Road-ians took part in the Running Down GBS 5K.  GBS stands for Guillain-Barre Syndrome and affects the body by starting in the toes and produces paralysis and moves up the and throughout the body.  Then after some time (sometimes up to a year) the paralysis leaves the body slowly from the head and finishes out the toes.  A young man from Christ Lutheran is currently dealing with this scary disease and the 5K was to benefit him.  In total, the run and walk raised $13,000!

It was a great day for a run even though the morning started off rainy and cloudy.  Our friend, Zach, ended up being the top Young Roads finisher when he finished as the 10th male and 11th overall.  Zach also ran with his Alaskan husky dog and she was the top "dog"!  :)

Chelsea finished 21st overall and was the 4th woman to cross the finish line.  She ran well and could have probably gone a little faster in hindsight as she wasn't very tired at the end.

From L to R: Jessica (Jen's sister from Aberdeen, SD), Jen,
Dustin, Chelsea and Zach 

At the starting area.  Jessica, Jen and Chelsea all getting
their watches ready.

Zach finishing the race well going past the Mile 3 marker.
Way to go Zach and your Top 10 Male finish!

Chelsea striding in well to the finish line.  4th out of all ladies!

After race shot.  Notice the bigger amount of space between
everyone following the sweaty race.  :)
From L to R: Zach, Dustin, Jen, Jessica and Chelsea

Easter Dinner for Young Roads

Following the 5K run, we headed back home to get ready to host several friends for our 2nd Annual Young Roads Easter Dinner.  Thanks to Valerie for working at Sandhills as her employer gives everyone a large ham for Easter.  It was delicious and thank you to the other friends who brought other delicious food as well!  Besides the feast, we enjoyed playing some games and hanging out.  Can't wait for next year!

From L to R: Chelsea, Jonathon, Nathan, Nicole, Zach,
Aaron, Brad and Valerie