Trace's First Iowa Football Game

 

In honor of Kaylee's 12th birthday, The Willets came to watch the Michigan vs Iowa football game. Trace was able to attend his first football game with Trevor. The boys all tailgated with Uncle Patrick and Anthony. It was an excellent game too. Iowa upset #3 Michigan with a last second field goal beating them 14-13. Go Hawks!!!

Kaylee's 12th Birthday

 

Annual Reenactment

Rizzo

Dinner at Olive Garden

Look who we bumped into at dinner

Our little girl is 12. She is such a blessing to us. She has the sweetest demeanor and is a friend to all. Her smile lights up the room. Today her birthday looked a little different since the Willets were here for the Iowa vs Michigan football game. We opened presents early and then us girls found our own way to celebrate. We decided to go to Sky Zone and then ate dinner at Olive Garden, one of Kaylee's favorite restaurants. It was fun having Emily here with us. The next day, we had a family party with the grandparents and Aunt Sam.

Here's a little bit about Kaylee:

• Kaylee loves to read.
• She enjoys playing volleyball, soccer and basketball.
• She enjoys the preteens at church.
• Her best friends are Lily Ford and Chloe Flender. She has also gotten to know Katherine Stone from school. 
• Kaylee enjoys playing games, especially Clue.
• Kaylee loves her new puppy, Rizzo!!!

We love you so much Kaylee and are so proud of you.

Dad's Knee Replacement

 

My dad had a left total knee replacement on November 4th, today he came to me for therapy for the first time. I'm so excited I get to be his PT. We'll be spending a lot of time together for the next six weeks.

Preteens Mother and Daughter Fondue Night

 

Tonight I helped plan a mother/daughter fondue night for the preteens at church. It was a three course meal. We started with a cheese fondue with bread, veggies and green apples to dip. Next we had the main beef broth fondue to dip the various meats, veggies and potatoes into. Last but not least, we had the chocolate peanut butter marshamallow fondue to dip all kinds of yummy treats into. It was a fun night with our friends!

Rizzo

 

Rizzo- 5.5 weeks old

Rizzo- 9 weeks old

Meet Rizzo Chewbacca Cook, our F1b Mini Golden Doodle. He was born on Sept 1st and we surprised the kids with him today. Kaylee had been begging us for years. She even made us a power point presentation on why we needed a dog.They had no idea we were getting a dog.  So today we decided to take a drive, an hour and a half drive and ended up at a farm. The kids got out of the car and there was Rizzo. We all fell in love immediately! 

On the drive home, we took turns holding him, but man did he stink. The first thing we did when we got home was to give him a bath. Once he was clean, we had fun playing with him. He's so little he can't climb the stairs yet. The name Rizzo came from Anthony Rizzo the Cubs 1st baseman. The Cubs won the World Series last week, so he was named in honor of the Cubs. Welcome to the family, Rizzo.

Fall Sport

Kaylee- AYSO soccer

Kaylee's fan club

Trace- Marion basketball

Trace- Flag Football with Uncle Mike and Bryker

INCA friends

Kianna's team

Trace- AYSO soccer

Sometimes our schedule feels insane. Actually a lot of the time, our schedule feels insane. However, all our kids loves sports, as do Trevor and I. Kaylee has been playing AYSO soccer in addition to her INCA soccer team. Kianna has been playing AYSO soccer. Trace has been dabbling in AYSO soccer, Flag Football and Marion basketball. It feels crazy just writing it all down...

 

Halloween

 

Halloween is full of so many great traditions. The kids had fun carving their pumpkins. They loves getting creative on their designs. This year, Trace dressed up as a power ranger, Kianna was Cleopatra and Kaylee was Captain America. We invited Grandma Jacque, Grandma GG, Uncle Ryan and Rylan over for a pumpkin dinner and to trick or treat with us. Kaylee's friend, Emily joined us as well. The grandma's stayed at the house to hand out treats, while the rest of us trick-or-treated. It was so fun being able to have Grandma GG hand out candy again like she did in years past. We sure missed that tradition when we lived in Michigan. It was a fun night!