Fun Family Saturday

We had a great time together on Saturday. It started with Alyson's basketball game followed by cleaning the garage. Although I should add Kris ran 16 miles before 8 am! After cleaning the garage we spent a few hours just relaxing while Joel napped then went to the mall. We shared a "snack" (teriyaki chicken and rice), walked, let the kiddos play and found a new game to add to our collection. It's a dice game called "tensies". When we got home I went for a 5 mile run and Kris picked me up. Nice to have the wind against my back and going down hill most of the way. Kris and I  cooked dinner together, cobb salad, while the kids put together a gingerbread house at Keegan's long awaited request(about 3 days but that's a long time to a kid), ate, lit the wood fireplace and played Tensies. What a blast!  Then we camped out on the living room floor.  Alyson read us Enos from scriptures and we all went to sleep in front of the fire. So much fun. What a great, memorable day!

Alyson's 5th Grade Basketball

We are two Saturdays away from completing Alyson's first year playing basketball (5th grade). Kris is exercising his expertise and coaching her team. Aly likes basketball and plays the forward position. She is so fast, guards really well and has a nice shot.

Last game I realized we have taken a lot of video of her games but no pictures. So here are a few to mark her first year of basketball and Kris'adventures in coaching.

Leopold Nature Center

Keegan, Joel and I met some friends at the Leopold Nature Center for a children's activity on Wednesday. It was a beautiful, sunny day in the 40's. Yes, that is a wonderful temperature for this time of year in Wisconsin! The kiddos learned about river otters then we sledded. It was Joel's first time and after the first run he loved it. What a fun time for the boys and me. Keegan, our little home body even wants to go back next week. Great fun! Great success!

Valentine's Day

Kris and I celebrated 15 years on Valentine's Day since he proposed to me at Thanksgiving Point.  Wow-can't believe it's already been that long! We started our Valentine's date by eating at Ruth's Chris. We used a gift card our realtor gave us, and the food was so delicious, the company even better ;)

Then we headed to a performance called "Rave On."  Kris was such a sport to tag along with me as we joined mostly 60 and 70 and I imagine even some 80 year old Buddy Holly fans to watch an impersonator and his band! But it was awesome!  I'm just sad Kris and I didn't take photos of us. I guess pictures of the Buddy Holly impersonator will have to do.

Thanks for the great time, Kris. Here is to 15 more wonderful years!

By the way, Kris got me three pictures of the Colorado National Monument and wrote on the back of them. The photos and his words were beautiful. I got him, and I guess us, private dancing lessons something we have always talked about doing but haven't made the time for until now.

Keegan's First Valentine's Day Celebration

Keegan came home from Phonolgy (speech) class so excited last Thursday because he got to celebrate Valentine's Day with his classmates. He packed his cards and candy around for several days. It was awesome to see him so happy about something as simple as that. Really helped me put things into perspective and remind me of the simple joys in life like seeing your children experience something for the first time with as much excitement as he did. Thanks, Keegan!

Polar Plunge

Kris was asked to participate in the Polar Plunge to benefit The Special Olympics. With the help of many friends who sponsored him he was one of the top 15 fundraisers. The kids and I watched him take the leap into the fridged cold pond bely flop style all the way. Diving was prohibited! This fundraiser was especially significant to Kris because his mother worked for over 30 years taking care of people with special needs. This marks his 6th straight year helping the Special Olympics in one way or another.

Kourtney's Piano Recital

Kourtney participated in her first piano recital on February 8th. There were 24 performances altogether and she did very well. Quite the proficient! I will check with her which pieces she played and post it later. Great work Koco. We love to hear you play!

Koco and Ellary's Play

Kourtney and Ellary tried out for the Missoula Children's theater play "Pinocchio". They both received parts, Koco as an urchin and Ellary as a baby doll toy. They practiced after school for one week straight then performed their play on Saturday. It was their first experience acting and it was a great one. They hope to try out again next year. Great job, girls!

Alyson's Braces

I can't believe Kris and I have a child old enough to have braces! Alyson got them on January 31st and will most likely have them for about 2 1/2 years. It took her a little while to get used to the braces as it always does. Just yesterday (Feb. 21) she had an appliance put in her mouth to help her lower jaw grow because of her over bite. Her jaw was pretty sore most of the day. Besides the bill, I guess it's the price you pay for straight teeth and a beautiful smile!

Christmas 2013

We spent Christmas with my parents in Grand Junction, Colorado. Our trip began 12 hours earlier than planned on a cold, evening, the weather forecast calling for freezing rain that night. With only 3 hours sleep at a rest station in Iowa Kris pushed on through the whole 20 hour drive so we could miss a lot of the bad weather. How amazing is he?

Some of the highlights of our trip included a hike to Devil's Kitchen on the Colorado National Monument, an outing to the Dinosaur Museum (Keegan's favorite), eating pizza at Munchie's in Fruita, rockwall climbing, a big girl's trip with Nana and Papa to Bananas amusement park, playing at the library with aunt Uta, and skiing.

The majority of the fun took place at home playing games, watching movies, cooking with Nana and talking around the dinner table. When it was time to return to Wisconsin we had our fill of fun.  Thank you Nana and Papa for making it a memorable trip.  We had a wonderful time!

(I'll add more pics I downloaded to our computer later. These are from my phone.)