First Day of School 2014-15

Trace's first day of Kindergarten

Our 2nd grader

Our 4th grader

Our cuties

Trace and Abram Marlatt

Trace at his desk

The summer went way too fast and here we are the first day of school. Kaylee is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Johnson as her teacher. She is super excited since The Johnson's are good friends of ours. Kianna is in 2nd grade and has Mrs. Hartwig. She too is thrilled with her teacher, since she already knows her from Kaylee having her two years ago. Trace is in Kindergarten and has Mrs. Tanner, who was Kianna's student teacher last year. The kids are all excited for the start of a new school year. I wanted to be sad that my baby boy is starting Kindergarten, but he acted like it was no big deal, so I'm trying to too.

Today also happens to be my first day starting a new job. I lost my job working with the sisters in June. They decided not to renew my company's contract, so we all lost our jobs. I found this out one week into the kids' summer break and right before we went on our vacation to Colorado and Iowa. The timing was perfect as it let me be home with the kids all summer. My new job is at 3DPT, which is a physical therapy clinic located inside The Centre. The location couldn't be better as I am now working in the same building as Trevor and the kids. The kids are excited to be able to walk through the school and meet me at work at the end of the day. It makes them feel grown up.

This job is a BIG change for me. It is an outpatient/sports medicine clinic and all my experience is inpatient and a nursing home setting with a hint of outpatient at my last job. I have decided I am up for the new challenge. I will be dusting off my outpatient books and doing some studying until I get up to speed. I will be working three days a week with my hours being from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Essentially, I will be working while the kids are in school. This job also gives me lots of continuing education opportunities that the company pays for. They are already planning on sending me to a conference in Chicago in late October. I'm excited for this new opportunity!

Broderick and Kristin's Visit

Kianna bouldering

Trace

Kianna climbing

Trace

Kaylee and Trace

Kianna up high

Auto-belay area

Climbers

Nana Bear

Kaylee and Broderick bouldering

Six-packs

Our Family- Kianna and Mommy are climbing in the background

We surprised the kids by having Broderick and his girlfriend, Kristin, come visit for the weekend. We kept it a secret, so the kids didn't even know we were having company, although it was suspected due to the cleaning spree. When the kids woke up the next morning they were trying to guess who was asleep in the guest room and in Kianna's bed. What a fun surprise!!!

The surprise continued with a trip up to Ann Arbor for some Chicago-style pizza at The Pizza House and rock climbing at Planet Rock. We all had a great time climbing (minus Daddy), especially Kianna. She is a really good climber and is totally in her element there. Planet Rock has a great auto-belay system where all the kids could climb simultaneously, rappel down and then climb up again repeatedly. It was great! We also enjoyed some pool time, disc golf, basketball, frozen yogurt, and the movie "God's Not Dead" while they were here. Fun times!

Kianna's Friend Party

Lexie and Kianna

Chloe, Kianna and Ada

This year Kianna invited Chloe Grupp, Lexie Johnson, and Ada Marlatt over to celebrate her birthday. We served spaghetti and meatballs, fruit salad, relish tray and buster bar with sprinkles per Kianna's request. The girls did a night swim and had a slumber party. It was a fun party!

Willie Wonka Jr.

Willie Wonka

Oompa Loompas 

Golden Ticket Winners

Kianna is in the middle

Spider Scene Kaylee was apart of.

Girls with some friends

Our favorite Oompa Loompas

Proud Parents

Kaylee

Kianna

The girls were super excited to do drama camp this summer. Drama Camp is two weeks long and then ends with a Friday evening and Saturday afternoon performance of Willie Wonka Jr. The girls were both cast as Oompa Loompas with Kaylee also cast as a spider.

The girls LOVED camp. They had five different dances to learn and some songs to sing. It is amazing what they pulled off in just two weeks. My favorite scene was the bubble scene when Charlie was flying through the air with his grandpa. They were hooked up to a harness and really flew. It was a super fun scene. The show was fantastic and both girls did a great job. Proud parents!!!

Kianna's 8th Birthday

Our fun-loving little girl, Kianna Jacquelyn Cook, is 8 years old. Kianna is a sweet girl with lots of energy and contagious laughter. She is rather adventurous. She loves to climb trees, rock climb, and do flips on the trampoline. She is a bit of a risk taker and sometimes is prone to act impulsively. Because of this she tends to lose things and be a bit messy. Kianna is super smart. She excels at math and reading. She even does math workbooks for fun. Kianna has a heart for Jesus and is really good at memorizing bible verses. We love our Nana Bear and are proud of the young lady she is becoming!

Additional information about Kianna:

• Kianna is a wonderful big sister to Trace, those two are buddies. Together they love to play on the trampoline, play power rangers, and just hang out.
• Kianna loves reading the Imagination Station book series by Adventures in Odyssey. She is currently on book six in the series.
• She loves crafts. She recently learned how to sew and has her mind set on sewing a quilt for one of her American Girl dolls. She also enjoys painting, doing Bead-O's, perler beads, or really just about any craft. 
• Stuffed Animals- Kianna is drawn to stuffed animals. She has way too many, but always wants more.
• Dolls- Kianna isn't into barbies or polly pockets anymore, but does still play with her American Girl doll, Kit. She just received her 2nd doll, Kaya for her birthday. She loves to dress them up and do their hair. 
• Power Rangers- We recently got Netflix and the kids have gotten hooked on watching the Power Ranger TV series. Kianna just received the pink power ranger costume as one of her presents and Trace saved his money and bought the red power ranger costume. They are hooked. 
• Bible Quizzing- Kianna studied the book of Genesis this past year at church and is gearing up to study the book of Exodus this year. She is a very good quizzer despite being one of the youngest. 
• Sports- Kianna loves to swim and is currently taking swim lessons. She is learning her strokes and how to breath properly. She is in dolphins. Kianna played soccer and basketball this past year. She hopes to try volleyball this fall. Kianna has the potential to be a great athlete if she wants to be. She tends to try things and lose interest in them pretty quickly, so time will tell...
• Drama- Kianna is currently in Drama Camp and is LOVING it. The show is Willie Wonka Jr and she is cast as one of the oompa loompas. The performance is this weekend and she is super excited. She tried out for the school play "The Sound of Music" this past school year. She made call backs, but didn't make the cast. We may have a little drama queen on our hands. 
• Singing- Kianna loves to sing. She enjoys blasting her stereo in her room and singing her heart out. 
• Legos- She enjoys playing with them very much. The kids really like "The Lego Movie" and have received several themed lego sets. She also really enjoys the Lego Friends themed sets. 
• Frogs- She still loves frogs. She gets very excited when we catch one in our yard.
• Allergies- Kianna has recently begun getting a rash and bumps when eating kiwi. She breaks out wherever the juice touches. It itches but goes away in about 10 minutes. She has a similar reaction to apples, but that allergy seems to be diminishing. 

A Time For Everything...

We distracted ourselves with a Kernels' game and time away with family.

Snow cones are also a good distraction

Kianna's birthday celebration at Air FX

Daddy and Nana Bear

Kianna and Bruxen

New Power Ranger Costume

Birthday Buddies- We also celebrated Matthew's and my birthdays as well.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 says:

"1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."

We spent a lot of time mourning and preparing for the funeral while we were back in Iowa. Honestly, a part of us has been mourning since April when we learned that Bob's cancer was back and that things didn't look good. Since then we have often felt guilty for having fun and laughing, given the circumstances. However, as the scripture says there is a time for everything.

Kianna takes a lot of joy in the timing of her birthday. I told her that when she was born 8 years ago Grandpa Bob was struggling with a very aggressive form of his Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He received a stem-cell transplant. We were all very scared that he would die and then Kianna was born. She brought us joy in a difficult time. Well this year the same thing happened. As we mourn the loss of a dad, a grandpa and a father-in-law; we again celebrate the life of Kianna. Again she brings us joy in a difficult time.

We went to the new trampoline park, Air FX, to celebrate her birthday. Aunt Sam and her family went, as did Grandma Becki, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne. We had a great time jumping, playing dodge ball, dunking a basketball, jumping into foam pits, doing flips, and walking on slack lines. We followed that up by ordering Taco pizza and Chicago Style pizza from Zoey's. It was a fun time followed of course by dessert and presents. We celebrated her birthday again the following day at Aunt Bree's house with the rest of Keri's family. We ordered pizza and roasted marshmallows for smore's.  I am thankful for distractions and that there is a time for everything; especially a time to laugh!

Saying Goodbye to Robert "Bob" Edward Cook

Trevor's dad, Robert "Bob" Edward Cook, passed away on Sunday, August 3rd at 4:00 PM. He died after a 20 year battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He was 66 years old. He will be missed. He already is. We are left with our memories and are hopeful to see him again in heaven one day.

The visitation and funeral were very nice. We were all amazed and honored by the number of friends and loved ones that came to show their support. Our friends, Chad and Julie Richards, whom we hadn't seen in years traveled several hours to show their support and our friends, Jon and Stacy Gamel drove all through the night from Adrian to show us their love. We felt loved by so many people during this very difficult time. 

Trevor, Sam and the kids came up with some of their top memories of their dad and grandpa. The following memories were shared during the funeral:

Top 12 (because 10 were not enough) Memories Of Dad

1. You always went to dad first with the hard things…he could always take the edge off of mom when needed.

2. He took personal finances to new heights  -- every asset tracked to the penny and complete with depreciation schedules. He provided well for his family and gave us every advantage.

3. You could always count on dad for a home maintenance tip – or twenty. He rarely left you without leaving an action item list and he usually took care of half the list before you could get to it.

4. There was never a dull moment touring the country in the extra-tall red and white Rycar van to the musical luxury of Hall & Oates.

5. After 5 minutes behind the wheel, he showed no fear releasing a fourteen year old onto a two-lane highway at 55 miles per hour.

6. He could make it through the Mall of America in 45 minutes. Mom might take 4.5 days. Somehow they reconciled that well for forty-four years.

7. He would drive 20 hours to avoid a 2-hour flight. His love for mom is demonstrated by the number of trips they took around the country.

8. Bob Cook took the term “neighboring” to new levels. He loved to chitchat with anyone he could find on a walk, along the fence, or in a driveway.

9. You could not have a Saturday night on the down without Old Spice and Dockers.

10. Ear to ear smiles with his grandchildren showed his joy.  Just look at the pictures!

11. It was the simple pleasures that Dad really appreciated – a family ride around town with an ice cream treat, a walk on a nice evening, a chat with a neighbor and a laugh with a good friend

12. A piece of recent Dad wisdom - how we all spend our lives chasing the next promotion, the next raise…but when you retire the only thing you take with you is what you did during the evenings and weekends with the people that matter to you most.

When the kids were asked, "what do you remember about grandpa?" They said:

• He was nice and kind. He was brilliant because he knew a lot of things. – Kianna Jacquelyn Cook

• He gave good hugs. When he wasn’t bald he had black hair, but I only saw that on a picture. – Trace Curtis Cook

• Papa! Papa! Papa! – Bruxen Dee Langfald

• Grandpa was brave because he fought in the war. He was kind and caring and I love that he came to Michigan to watch my plays. – Kaylee Rebecca Cook.

• He read me books and he came to all my games. I snapped peas with papa and Mr. Jerry. – Bryker Ronald Langfald.