Thanksgiving Week

Our Kiki Bear came home for a whole week! It was a busy week as we all had our "bucket list" of things we wanted to do with Kaylee while she was home. I had games to play with her, Trevor had games to watch with her and Kianna and her had Black Friday shopping and sunrises to watch together. We only had her to ourselves for a couple of days before Grandma Jacque and Aliyah flew in on Monday.

We tried to make the time extra special, as it was also Grandma Jacque's 75th Birthday. As a way of celebrating, we drove to Delray Beach to check out Tiger Wood's new mini golf place, Pop Stroke. It's made to look more like a normal golf course with sand traps. My mom hadn't played mini golf for years and loved it, as did the rest of us. We celebrated her birthday again the next day with dinner at Jetty's overlooking the Jupiter Lighthouse.

We hosted Thanksgiving with lots and lots of food. The guys watched some football and the ladies played some games. It was a great day.

On Black Friday, we went and did a little shopping and then put up our Christmas decorations. It's a big job and is so pretty once finished. 

Kaylee headed out the next day, as she had tickets to the FSU vs UF football game in Gainesville. She met Veronica there and they had fun watching the Noles win! We're sad to say goodbye, but this time only have a few weeks until she's back for Christmas Break. Yay!!!   

Kaylee's 19th Birthday Weekend

 

We planned our trip to Tallahassee so that we could celebrate Kaylee's 19th birthday with her AND attend the FSU vs Miami Football Game. This time, we invited Stacie, Patrick and Shelli to come with us. We got there Friday night in time to take Kaylee and Veronica out for a yummy birthday dinner at Bella Bella's Italian Restaurant. They had the best garlic knots. After dinner, we headed to an outdoor concert, which was not really our scene. 

On Saturday, we setup our tailgate early with our new tent and larger table. We made walking tacos, which we found out are more of an Iowa thing. Kaylee, Veronica and I played cards, which was fun. 

The football game was a blast, which is saying a lot coming from me. Their chants and traditions make the game entertaining. Florida State beat Miami 27-20. It was extra fun having Shelli, Stacie and Patrick there with us.

After the game, we walked back to Kaylee's dorm to show Shelli, Stacie and Patrick. Then she came back to our house with us to open gifts, eat birthday came and watch the Iowa football game.

On Sunday, we took Kaylee out to breakfast before heading back home. It was such a fun weekend! I'm so happy we got to celebrate with her. Now just a few more days until she's home for Thanksgiving Break!

College Life

Kaylee is loving college life. She has worked hard to get plugged in and meet people. She has gotten involved with City Church and their SALT ministry. She goes to church on Sunday mornings, then to SALT college service on Tuesday nights and to her City Group (small group) on Monday nights. She went on a beach weekend retreat with SALT in Panama City Beach a couple weeks ago. She had an amazing time and got to meet quite a few people. Her City Group just formed a flag football team, so she's doing that too. 

She has been attending all the home football games, which she is LOVING. This week she had a big group she was going with, which was an added bonus. Lauren and Veronica made the big screen and so did Kaylee and Kaylynn. How fun!!!

She participated in Battleship, which is where they put a bunch of canoes in the swimming pool and the kids are given buckets to try to sink each other. She did that with Veronica and a couple other friends. 

She's joined a marketing club. She's been line dancing. She's been to several FSU soccer games. She's loving college and we're so proud of her. Oh and despite all the fun she's having, she's doing great in her classes too! Score!  

Kianna's Southeastern University Visit

Kianna and I just returned from a visit to Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. It's a small, private, Christian university that is just 2.5 hours from home. I'm happy to report that she really liked Southeastern. We met another mother/daughter and hung out with them most the day. The girl's name is Josie and she is from Bradenton, FL. She is a grade older than Kianna, but they got along well. The mom, Jenny, attended Anderson University in Indiana, so we got along well too. We also ran into Emma Parsley. She's a junior and is very sweet. She attended JCS and was on the same basketball team as Kaylee and Kianna. 

SEU is a very positive community that seems to be a good fit for Kianna. The only thing she didn't like was the a/c unit in the freshman dorm. She found it very loud and is concerned about being able to sleep with it nearby. While that's not great, it is the first school she got excited about, so that is promising. Time will tell where she ends up...

FSU Family Weekend

We just returned from a fun weekend in Tallahassee. It was Kianna and Trace's first time to FSU. Kianna was able to sleep in the dorm with Kaylee and Veronica. Trace was stuck with us. 

We got there early Friday afternoon and took Kaylee, Lauren and Veronica out to dinner with us at a hibachi grill. Then we went back to the house we rented and played some cards.

The next day, we tailgated with Kaylee and her friends. We laughed at our setup, as our neighbors said they felt inspired to go to the beach, as we had our beach tent and chairs. It was pretty funny. The tent fell over a few times, so we will be upgrading by the next tailgate. We brought our Hawkeye Corn Hole with us and met some fellow Hawkeyes. One gal is a freshman from Cedar Rapids and graduated from Jefferson. Small world. 

The game itself was fun. FSU played Virginia Tech. FSU has so many fun traditions and the weather was amazing. After the game, we ordered pizza and headed back to the house to relax and play some cards. I got some one on one time with Kaylee, which was special.

On Sunday, we went to church with Kaylee and then headed back home. Five more weeks until we see her again for the FSU vs Miami game.