Clarinet

 

This is the look of pure joy. Kianna is beyond excited to begin taking clarinet lessons. 

Sweet Siblings

 

Trace's Playdate

 

Andrew came over to build legos with Trace. What a great cousin!!!

First Day of School 2016-17

Kianna was excited to see her 1st place art contest picture framed in the hallway.

Kaylee began her first day of Junior High today, as a 6th grader. Not too much is changing, as she is still in the same building at Isaac Newton as her brother and sister. The main change is that she changes classes and now has 8 teachers vs 1 teacher and possibly more homework...

Kianna just began 4th grade and has Mrs. Miller as her teacher. She is excited about the reward system they put in place, as they get to earn a new state. Good behavior, doing homework, exercising regularly, doing chores around the house, etc., all earn the kids miles from the capital of one state to the capital of another state. She loves the new system and is asking for chores to do, so I'm happy. We'll see how long it lasts...

Trace just began 2nd grade and has Mrs. Henry as his teacher. Not much to report for him, except that they added four square as one of the recess activities and the kids LOVE it. They are hooked. The kids love it so much that two more four square areas were painted on the cement! They have been playing at home in our driveway too.

It is also worth mentioning that Keri began a new physical therapy job in April at Linn County Physical Therapy, a private outpatient orthopedic clinic. She was hired in April, but has only worked "as needed" since that time, which did not result in many hours over the summer. No complaints from her. She loved being home with the kids. However, that all changes tomorrow when she begins her part-time hours. She will begin working MWF from 8:00-3:00 pm. She is excited to start working more regularly again, as she loves what she does. An added bonus, is that the clinic is about 2 minutes from the kids school, so the location is ideal for dropping the kids off at school and picking them up. Score!

Girls Day with Grandma Becki

Grandma Becki took the girls to the Iowa State Fair today. The girls had never been before and Grandma Becki hadn't been there for years. They tried lots of food on sticks, ate fried food and walked around a lot. The girls enjoyed the ice sculptures. They had a fun day. Kaylee was the photographer, so we got lots of photos of her with food...

While the girls were away having their fun, Trace and I spent the day together. We went school supply shopping and then went to Sky Zone. We had a great time jumping together. It was a fun day!

End of Summer Celebration

 

Trace and I spent a fun morning together at Sky Zone. Love spending time with this little guy!

Grandma Carie's Homemade Jelly

Grandma Carie makes the best raspberry rhubarb jelly, so I want to learn to make some of her yummy recipes while I still can. We spent the day together today, so she could teach me how to make her famous jelly. She coached me through the process and the end result is the delicious raspberry rhubarb jelly we all love. It was a day well spent.

Keri's 39th Birthday

Trevor took me on a date down in Iowa City where we tried out a new restaurant, went to a movie and got donuts from Hurts Donuts.  It was our first time trying their donuts. They serve gourmet donuts and did not disappoint. It was a fun night with my love.

On my birthday morning, we ate the yummy donuts and the kids presented me with their homemade cards, my favorite type. After church, we went on a family bike ride from Boyson Rd to Czech Village and back. We stopped and ate lunch in Czech village along the way. It was a nice day for a ride. I had a nice time celebrating with my family.

Flood the Run 2016

We decided to do a family race together for the first time and this one was a blast! It was just under 3 miles and consisted of running through a human car wash, getting sprayed with a fire hose, getting skirted with squirt guns, getting water dumped on us, climbing through inflatables and going down a huge water slide. This race was awesome and had us laughing along the way. It took place down by Ellis Park, so Grandma Sue and Grandpa Wayne came and cheered us on along the way. So fun!

Kianna's 10th Birthday

Birthday girls

Chelsey, Zoey and Kianna

Kianna and Zoey

Adventureland

Monster

Raging River

Our Nana Bear is double digits. Craziness! Where does the time go? Well in honor of this silly girl, we took a family trip to Adventureland and let her bring her friend, Zoey Morris. Ironically, upon arriving at Adventureland, we bumped into another one of her friends, Chelsey Goudzwaard, who was also celebrating her 10th birthday. The girls go to school together and had already known that they had the same birthday and were both born at St Luke's Hospital, but apparently they also celebrate the same. Too funny!

We had a fun time at Adventureland. Kianna chose to go on every twisty, turny ride there. She actually managed pretty well until the last ride, which almost made me nauseous just looking at it. The favorite ride of the day was the new Monster roller coaster. The kids all loved it!

A little about our Nana Bear:

• Soccer- Kianna loves soccer. She especially enjoys dribbling the ball and scoring goals. She isn't much for defense. She is developing some fancy dribbling skills.
• Singing- Kianna loves to sing and has a beautiful voice. We aren't sure where she got it, but she is quite a natural.
• Creative- She is super creative and often makes things I would never have thought of. She created an amazing duck tape dress several years ago and more recently made Trace a duck tape shirt that had a sword compartment on the back. She makes us laugh with some of her creations. I could see her as a fashion designer some day. She is our little fashion diva and puts together some really cute outfits. She loves wearing dresses, but if she isn't in a dress than she is probably on the other end of the spectrum in workout clothes. There isn't much in between.
• Messy- Kianna is super duper messy. It isn't hard to figure out where she has been, because she often leaves a trail of evidence behind. She hasn't conquered the skill of cleaning up after herself. She is also very disorganized and forgetful. We joke that she would lose her head if it wasn't attached. 
• Friends- Kianna's closest friends are probably, Zoey Morris and Lizzy Belyeu, both from church. She also has made a friend in the neighborhood named Claire. They have really enjoyed playing together this summer. We have even bumped into them at the pool several times. Kianna still keeps in touch with a couple of friends from Michigan: Callie Anderson, Ada Marlatt, and Tory Swiggum.
• Church- Kianna loves going to church. Our church here has been such a blessing. The kids programming is super strong and our kids love going. They have all made friends and don't want to miss, especially Wednesday nights. Kianna loves Jesus and desires to please Him.
• Siblings- Trace and Kianna are buddies. They enjoy playing outside and inside together. They kind of have a love/hate relationship. They are either best friends or are super mad at each other. Neither of them like to lose and both of them tend to call things in their own favor, which  ends up in a fight. Kaylee and Kianna don't have much interaction at this point. They share some of the same interests, but there is a big difference in their maturity levels. I hope and pray this changes. 
• Smart- Kianna does great in school. She is a smart girl. She has struggled a little with math, spelling and language arts since moving to Iowa. The curriculum is a lot different, but she is working hard to improve.
• Strong-willed- Kianna is very strong-willed. She has her own ideas and when things don't go her way, everyone around her knows. Daddy says she may rule the world someday. 
• Running- Kianna really likes to run long distances and has amazing endurance. She has gone from not running all summer to busting out 3 miles at a time. 
• Frogs- She still loves frogs and has enjoyed catching them in the little pond behind our house. She caught a bunch of tadpoles hoping to watch them metamorphosize. Unfortunately, they all died, despite multiple attempts. 
• Favorite foods- cheeseburgers, green grapes, mangoes, spaghetti with meatballs, and frosted mini wheats. 
• Allergies- She is now allergic to birch pollen, apples, pears, peaches, plums, carrots, and celery. She chooses not to eat almonds, because they make her stomach upset, but we aren't sure if she is actually allergic to them or not. 

We love Kianna for who God created her to be, both the good and the bad. She is a good girl and has a great heart. She loves Jesus and that is what is most important to us. She is very talented athletically, musically, and academically. We are excited to see how God uses her many talents for His glory. 

Willet's Visit

Our friends, Jon and Hilary Willet, along with their kids: Noah, Isaiah, Emily and Abigail came to visit us this weekend all the way from Michigan. They arrived the day after Kaylee and I returned from our mission trip, so Trevor was sweet and made sure the house was clean and the fridge was full. We had a lot of fun walking with them on the trail behind the house. We walked down to the creek and let the kids wade in the water. They had fun trying to catch some minnows and crawdads.

The Johnson's happened to be in town too, so we had everyone over for dinner and dessert. The kids all had a big reunion with their friends. Kianna and Abigail really hit it off. Trace loved having other boys around. Kaylee and Emily had fun reconnecting and having some girl time. It was a  great weekend with our friends!

Preteen Mission Trip 2016

The first night we went shopping at Aldi. The kids got to spend the money we had brought with us to donate to the food pantry.

Lunch spot on Lake Michigan

Jelly Belly Factory

Day off lake

Serving breakfast

9 square

Malayna picked up garbage on our lunch break

Simmons Island Beach

Leaders

Kaylee and I had the opportunity to go on our church's preteen mission trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin.  We brought 10 preteens and 4 adult sponsors with us. We stayed at a large church/school in one of the classrooms. We ate our meals at the school, other than our lunch which we packed and took with us to our job sites. We had morning and evening devotions together with all the groups and team devotions with our smaller groups. Our group had a lot of good discussions. In our free time, the kids loved to play 9 square, which was setup in the gym. We played lots and lots of 9 square.

Our church group was divided into two teams. Kaylee and I were on two different teams. Kaylee's team leaders were Pastor Kim and Darcy. Kaylee served along side her friends: Lily Ford, Addison Christiansen,  Anna Lai, and Bryton Grimm; at a local senior center. The seniors came to the center to socialize, play bingo and do crafts. The kids had a chance to participate in the games and crafts, as well as, work in the garden and do some small painting projects. Kaylee was challenged to remember that God created all people unique and precious. She enjoyed her time at the senior center.

My team consisted of: Neil Grimm, my co-sponsor; Maddie Hodgins, Malayna, Jillian Christiansen, Rachel, and Laci McHenry. We spent the week serving in a local food pantry. On Monday and Wednesday, we had the opportunity to help the customers shop. Our job was to make sure they knew what they were allowed to have and took the right quantity. We also were in charge of bagging their groceries and assisting them to their vehicles. I had the opportunity to pray with several of the customers. One lady was battling cancer and another lady was pregnant and having pains while we were shopping together. On Tuesday and Thursday, we had the opportunity to sort through donated items and restock the shelves. Honestly, we enjoyed our time at the food pantry so much that several of us want to try and find a place to volunteer back home.  I was challenged during the week to be bold.

Our food pantry was just a few minutes away from Lake Michigan, so everyday we took our lunches and had a picnic at the lake. Lake Michigan holds a special place in my heart, so this was definitely a highlight for me and my team. We loved it so much that we convinced the other group to join us after volunteering on day. The kids loved playing in the sand, collecting rocks, and swimming. It was a great memory.

We had one free day, which our two teams spent together. We toured the local Jelly Belly Factory, went out for some yummy pizza, and went to a beach for the afternoon. We enjoyed swimming and playing some Newcomb, one of Kaylee's favorite games. Newcomb is played on a volleyball court, but instead of bumping the ball, you try to catch the ball. If you drop it, you are out. It is pretty fun! We had a great day relaxing together.

One of the challenges for the week were the showers. They were locker room style, meaning that all but two were open without individual shower curtains. The kids wore their swim suits while showering, unless they were one of the lucky two who got the individual showers. The showers were also the kind where you pushed a button, the water come out briefly and then shuts off abruptly. By abruptly I mean, 8 seconds later. Lets just say, we don't miss the showers, but if that was the roughest part of our mission trip I'd say we did pretty well!

Kaylee and I both had a great time on the mission trip. Our groups bonded over the six days we were together. We enjoyed serving others. We are truly blessed and enjoyed blessing others.