Catching up in the New Year

Boy the time just flies. I can't believe the holiday season has come and passed us by again. Lots and lots of events, gatherings and memories have taken place in the past few weeks since I have posted. I will try to highlight them now and make an extra effort to be more diligent in updating more often.

Cole's traveling basketball team has been busier than ever. He has been practicing at least twice a week with tournaments at least every other weekend (sometimes two weekends in a row). The last tourney before Christmas was a true "B" tournament (even though at least half the teams were "A" teams. This was the first tourney that they didn't win a game. Not that they shouldn't have won, but the first game got away from them. The second got messy and was not close but the last game the kids played their hearts out and was leading late in the fourth quarter until they went cold at the free throw line. The other team made 7 of 8 down the stretch and ended up squeaking by us at the end of regulation. It was a hard one to lose because the kids played so well together and really out hustled their opponent. Unfortunately we just could not buy a free throw.

Cole got his Christmas present a few weeks early this year. As you may already know, Cole has been taking guitar lessons. When he first started out I bought him a First Act electric guitar in order to lessen the initial expense (in case the guitar wasn't for him). But he has stuck with it and loves to play. He has been itching to get his hands on a better quality axe and spent many hours looking on the Internet at different makes, models, colors, etc. His favorite place to window shop is Guitar Center which so happened to have a sale. Well we went in and Cole found a sweet guitar and case. So with some leftover birthday money of his and a lot of Mom and Dad money, he got his early Christmas gift. He was and still is very excited about it.

Cole is still adjusting to the increased responsibilities of Jr High. He is finding he likes some subjects more than others. It is sometimes very challenging to juggle his busy extracurricular schedule with the demands of school work. But he is learning and growing. We were very pleased to find out that he made the "A" Honor Roll. He worked very hard for his excellent grades and we are very proud of him. He is looking forward to the next quarter when he is able to experience new subjects and teachers. He will also be starting Jr High basketball after the holiday break. As you may imagine this will increase his workload immensely but he says he is up for the challenge. I think he will be a very tired young man once spring comes around.

Kennedy also has been a busy girl. With all the Kindergarten activities and dance practices it doesn't leave a lot of spare time. She has been so excited (and nervous) for her first dance recital. We could tell as the days were getting closer that she was a bit nervous about it. But once the day arrive we all gathered in our seats to support her. She did an awesome job! Once she was out there on stage you could just tell she was loving it. During the final group finale she had the biggest smile that she just couldn't hide. It was priceless to see her up on stage executing each and every practiced dance maneuver.

Jacob and Kennedy have been so excited and busy getting ready for Christmas. They have enjoyed making Christmas cards, signs, posters, letters to Santa and you name it. They had also gotten into the Christmas spirit of giving. They both enjoyed wrapping "presents". It was pretty fun for them to go grab a toy out of their room and wrap it up and write one of their family members name on it. It was priceless to see the excitement and joy on their faces when De or I opened up a beautifully child gift wrapped race car or toy phone.

We were able to go see Santa at the mall again this year. Jake and Kennedy were so excited to see him. This was the first year that we did not have one tear shed on our Santa visit. They both went right up to Santa and begin answering his questions. Jake told him that he wanted a Race track and a blue guitar for Christmas while Kennedy informed him that she wanted a Scrap booking Stamp Kit. We had a great family day.

The days leading up to Christmas is always hectic and busy. But as usual we always get everything done. We got all the baking done (De not me) and all the last minute shopping. The house was spruced up a bit and all the snacks, platters and goodies were prepped. It was our turn to have Christmas Eve at our house this year, so De's sister Kristi, her husband Rafe and daughter Anna all came over for the Christmas Eve festivities. De's grandma arrived on the train earlier in the week from North Dakota for the the holidays also. We had a very relaxing evening of eating, visiting, playing games and opening a few gifts. The kids had a blast! What a fun night. After the evening ended and the cookies, carrots and milk were put by the tree the kids slipped into sleep as us adults welcomed the quiet and rest. All the kids were up at the first sign of sunlight. They were buzzing with excitement of what Santa had brought them. Luckily they all were very good this year. They opened the last few gifts and we needed to get ready for Christmas day mass.
We arrived early enough to get a second row seat and enjoy the pre-mass carols. It was a very beautiful and simple mass. De and I felt truly blessed for our wonderful family.