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Ode to a hound dog

Friday was a very sad, sad day in the McCoy household. Our beloved Basset Hound, Lucy went on to that big belly rub in the sky after 12 amazing years of life. We were blessed to adopt Lucy over five years ago from the Nebraska Humane Society to join our family. At the time, it was just Kim, Steve, and Daisy as a puppy. Lucy went on to be one of the world's best dogs and we absolutely loved this little red head. She was notorious for her signature moves, the "high stepper", the "butt scratcher", and the "Daisy humper". Over the years, poor Lucy's health eventually started to decline. Unfortunately, like all older dogs, her quality of life started to go downhill too. One thing about Lucy, though. She was same old Lulu to the very end.

We'll always love you and we're going to miss you so much Lucy. You were a wonderful pet and companion.

Love,

The McCoy Family

Here are some of our favorite Lucy memories:

The first day we brought Lucy home. She obviously made herself feel right at home.

The ever vigilant guard dog.

Lucy in the tub with diamonds.

Daisy's birthday party. Can you tell how excited she was?

Typical Lucy pose.

She sure loved her momma!

Steve loving on Lucy.

Sleepy sisters.

"I feel ridiculous."

Trotting away in the snow.

We love you Lucy!

Our beautiful children

I'm sorry, but I had to post this amazing photo of our beautiful little ones taken by Aunt Leah. That is all. Feel free to adore with us. Did I mention we're proud of these kids? Katy - 18 months, Ben - 4 years old.

Farmer's Market 2011

It's officially Spring which means it's time for the Benson Farmer's Market again! A proud Parsons family tradition, the Farmer's Market is where Grandpa and Uncle Jay get to sell their delicious tomatoes and peppers. Check out their vast variety of veggie goodness on their website along with upcoming market dates and prices. Our kids love sharing in the fun too as the photo obviously shows.

Happy Easter 2011!

Wow, it feels like I just posted last year's Easter post. Of course, I haven't posted much since then. Whoopsie. Anyway, we had another wonderful Easter this year celebrating the resurrection of our savior with family. We had Easter egg hunts, played down in Bellevue, and Jay and Leah came to visit. We are so thankful for our risen Lord and all he has done for this family! Here are a few photos from Kim and Ben dying the Easter eggs. It's their favorite Easter tradition, bar none!

Ben gives the approval to start the process.

Proudly displaying the first egg before starting.

These two love their egg dying!

Patiently waiting.

The first pastel products.

Katy had to get in on the fun, too!

"Look what I did!"

Like mother, like son.

Now these are some cute kids

Somehow I never get tired of watching this video. We're so blessed that they love playing with one another. Check out Katy's face after a couple of spins...

Ben's new bike

Ben got an early Easter present this year in the form of his first real bike! He had been pedaling away on his trike for the last several years, which I should say he absolutely loved doing. Unfortunately, his little legs are getting longer and he had been having trouble with his knees hitting the handle bars. We thought Easter would be a perfect time to get him a new bike so he would have all summer to break it in. While it's a little intimidating because it sits so much higher than his tricycle and it wobbles a bit back and forth on the training wheels, Ben still loves getting up on it by himself and doing a little cruising. If there is one thing this boy loves, it's feeling like a big boy. We're both looking forward to long bike rides with our kids in the future, so this was a happy day for all of us.

Up on his new bike for the first time!

Kim showing her new bicyclist some love and support.

One proud papa!

Ferris Wheel Fun!

Ben and I had the opportunity to ride the ferris wheel at Scheel's today. While it was not Ben's first ferris wheel experience, it was his first time in a traditional ferris wheel and he had a blast. After a bit of early timidity, he really got into going round and round and going high and fast. I love being his dad! Four years old is such a neat time in a child's life.

Just dance!

This is what happens when you turn my wife and daughter loose with Dance Central for the Kinect. These two love to dance! Look out world, they ain't stoppin' for nothing!

So I was in a magazine...

The UNO alumni magazine recently did an article on aviation safety and how much of it occurs on the ground, instead of in the air as most would believe. Myself and a coworker of mine, Joey Rotterdam, were interviewed, along with other aviation professionals who work to ensure our industry is the safest mode of transportation. All in all, I think the article turned out pretty good, despite it leading off with a falsehood. I am a pilot, thank you! At least we got the article's only photo. And we look like some bad mofos. Hazards don't even want to mess with these two!

You can read the whole article here.

Go Mavs!

Hanging out with friends at the UNO hockey as they take on St. Cloud State. Let's go UNO!

A new year!

Ok, ok. I know I'm bad about updating this. But this is a new year. Time to start all over again with good intentions. Of course, you could keep me accountable if I'm not updating regularly. That would only be fair.

In the mean time, enjoy this video from Caleb and Kelly's visit to Omaha last month.

Testing, testing...

Trying out the new blogger mobile app.

Katelyn is 6 months old today!

Our little girl is growing up so fast! It seems like just yesterday we were taking her home from the hospital. Now she's halfway to one! It's gonna be tough letting this one go. She has definitely brought something so special to our family. Her infectious smile, adorable laugh, and longing stares have melted our hearts from the beginning. God definitely knew what he was doing adding her to our family. She's a perfect fit. We love you, Katie and are looking forward to the next 6 months!

(Thanks for taking these photos, Leah!)

Here are a few more pictures from Kate's first meal of solid foods. We waited for her 6 month birthday to roll around before giving her something other than Momma's milk. You can tell from the photo, she was a little apprehensive. Eventually, she took to it quite well and was loving the experience. I think she loved playing with and sucking on the spoon the most though.


Ben, the consummate big brother, was there to help Kim and provide assurances to Katelyn. Future supervisor?



Kim's doing a great job helping her transition from her milk only diet. Kate doesn't know how good she's got it with this mom.

Easter - Jesus is Risen!

So I realize it's been quite a while since I posted something on this blog. In fact, it's been well over a year. In that time frame our family has grown by one, a beautiful baby girl named Katelyn and I didn't even post anything on that. Yeah, I know, I'm pathetic. Anyway, I thought I'd throw some more up here to share on what's going on in our family for those who don't regularly use facebook.

We love Easter in this family, primarily because of what it means to us and our faith. Thank you Lord for giving us your one and only son! And boy oh boy am I glad he defeated the grave and came back to give us eternal life. We also love Easter in our house because it means fun family time. Ben, now on his 4th Easter, has grown to love this day mostly because of the candy and Easter eggs. But, he's a typical kid, right?

Here's Ben walking home from the Easter egg hunt in our neighborhood. Each year, a local realtor hosts an Easter egg hunt for all the neighbor kids the day before Easter. Ben went two years ago and loved it. We missed it last year, but remembered this year and Kim him took to join the festivities. Of course, he had a blast.


One of Kim's favorite Easter traditions has quickly become one of Ben's favorite traditions too and that's dying Easter eggs. These two make me laugh. How cute.





These are just some really cute shots taken by my dad of Katelyn celebrating her first Easter. She is just a beautiful little thing, isn't she? Kim and I could not be any prouder. The flowers were cut from our garden. It's nice to have some Spring weather again to pop these things out of the ground.


Here's Katie and her Grandma. These two adore each other and love hanging out.



This was a cake shaped like a lamb that my mom (MaMaw) brought over. My dad thought it looked like a pig. Anyway, Ben is obviously ready to dig into this sucker judging by the protruding tongue.


Proud parents sharing in the celebration of Easter with their daughter for the very first time.


These two beautiful women are inseparable. Good thing I get to have them both! Definitely looking forward to another wonderful Easter next year. Hopefully Ben won't have taught Katie about candy by then! Thanks again, Jesus!

I'll try to make an attempt to put more up here in the future. I may need your help to keep me accountable though.

Bubble Bath

This was way too cute not to share.

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Fall Fun

Fall is Kim's favorite season because of the beautiful colors and fun outdoor activities. Here are just a few photos from some of the fun family things we've been doing this fall.

Our church had their annual bonfire and chili cook off late last month. I had to work but Kim and Ben went and had a lot of fun with friends.

Kim and Ben hanging out with Ben's friend, Emily.

As president of the Omaha Dental Hygiene Association, Kim and some of the ODHA members participate in their annual Vala's Pumpkin Patch outreach.

Kim and Ben go pumpkin hunting in the patch near our house.

Kim found her perfect pumpkin.

Our little helper was manning the wheel barrow.

Here I am cutting my bad boy pumpkin.

So many to choose from!

Of course, Ben wanted to help wash our pumpkins.


In fact, he wanted to do it himself.




Enjoying the Autumn evening.



Ben and Lucy help Kim make our Harvest Man.

This was the final product. OOoooh, scary!!!