Thanksgiving in the Ozarks



Great Family Picture!

Nick set the timer and jumped through water for this one.
It's amazing that it turned out so well.


We spent Thanksgiving Day with family in the Ozarks and it was so nice outside!  We made a trip to the swinging bridges for the first time ever and let the kids (and adults) play outside.  Owen would have been content throwing rocks into the river for hours.

Gracie and Owen posing by the river

River and Annie

Gracie even helped Annie put up her Christmas tree and decorate

We spent one night with Annie and Chad, then spent the next night with my parents.  After dinner on Friday evening, we head back north to Iowa so we could spend Saturday and Sunday at home before Nick left to start his new job in Columbia.  The past couple weeks have been a whirlwind and some days I can't even remember what day it is.  I'm sure I've forgotten many things and probably will continue to do so for the next month...at least.

Seeing Santa is very important!

Owen forgot to tell Santa what he wanted, so he had to go back for a minute.

On Sunday before Nick left, we went to Des Moines for the Festival of Trees and Lights.  That was fun for a couple hours.  The kids got to see Santa, go on a train ride and get their faces painted.  Sounds like a good day to me.  After that, my mom came to our house and spent the whole week with me while Nick was gone.  That was incredibly helpful.  I'm not sure what I will do by myself.

Owen's Winter Concert at school
What a handsome little guy!

Gracie's concert at school
She looks so grown up!

Waiting for Gracie's concert to start.
Owen was not nearly as content watching as Gracie was for him.

Writing letters to Dad with Grandma Kate.

Yep!  It's time for this again.  Gracie had her first basketball game on Saturday!  So fun and entertaining to watch these girls.

And...a carriage ride at the Tree Lighting in Slater

So much in one week!  I'm so thankful that my mom is able to come help me.  We had multiple activities most nights last week and it makes things so much easier having someone to help.  My mom was able to pack things for me during the day and keep things a little more organized at home.

We now have a closing date on the sale of our house.  The new owners will take possession on January 15 and I have decided that my last day at Ballard will also be that day.  I have talked to my boss about it and it will work out well, since that is the last day of the semester here.  I still don't have a job in Missouri yet, but hopefully once I get down there, something will work out.  Nick's goal is also to find somewhere for us to live by the end of this week. We've been looking at both rentals and sale properties, but not quite sure yet what we will do.

Nick's first week at Missouri went well.  He was busy the entire time and had a few late nights in his office I think.  He got to coordinate a press conference for the new head football coach at Mizzou 
and went to a few events. He has been staying in a hotel, but I don't think he spends much time there other than to sleep. This weekend also went quickly while he was home.  He arrived early on Friday evening and surprised us.  Yesterday was spent packing more stuff, going to Gracie's game, and then to Joslyn's birthday party.  I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get things done.

So, less than five weeks until we move out of our house.  It really doesn't even feel like the holidays are here with everything else that's going on.  It's also very strange to not have involvement with wrestling anymore.  Nick mentioned more than once on Saturday that this is the first time 22 years that he has not been involved in some way and how strange it was to not be in a gym on a Saturday in December.  I will go to Ballard's home meet on Thursday this week, but I feel very disconnected without Nick coaching.  There are still a mixture of emotions, moving forward.  Some days I'm so excited to start something new, and others I just want to cry because of what we are leaving behind.  I have to remind myself that everything will work out the way it's supposed to.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dreams and Goals Realized

Image
  I have to start with this.  I have been hoping and waiting to post this for so long, and it is finally a reality for Gracie!  I'm sure that November 12 will be a day remembered for a very, very long time.  This fall has been such a roller coaster of emotions for all of us, revolving around Gracie's recruiting opportunities opening with D1 schools.  September 1 began the time of uncertainty, and navigating the past couple months has been challenging to say the least.  She has always known where she wants to be, but not sure if that goal would be her reality.  She has done everything she can to put herself in that place, and she finally got the call from Coach Anderson asking if she wanted to "officially be a tiger." I have never felt more impatient than the past 2 months, and we were told to enjoy the recruiting process...ugh. NO.  I know God has a plan, but sometimes it's so hard to be patient and wait for it to unfold.  Anticipation vs Anx...
Read more

Fall Fun

Image
Homecoming 2024! Owen is looking pretty good all dressed up And Gracie is beautiful again. Look!  We match! Chase came over to "officially" ask her to homecoming the week before the dance. She was surprised and it was a success. Homecoming parade Owen looks a little bored. But Gracie is definitely having fun The whole weekend was beautiful, sunny, and warm.   Much better than last year during the parade. Chase picked Gracie up to go to Hartsburg for pics Owen wasn't quite ready yet. I love this pic of Gracie and Kate. This is a good one, too. Kind of crazy, 3rd homecoming together. With softball friends Chase, Gracie, Kate, and Pryce Lainie and Gracie More pics with Nova The junior class met down at the Katy Trail in Hartsburg again this year for pictures.  There were a lot of kids down there.  I thought that I got a pic of Brook in there, but I can't find it.  Then Chase and Gracie went out to eat at Chick Fil-A, of all places.  Then to the dance....
Read more

Gym Season!!!

Image
It is officially the season of sitting in gyms.  Basketball and wrestling are in full force, and we have 2 high school schedules going on.  Both kids have had their team pics taken and have each competed a handful of times.  Owen has had 2 tournaments and 2 duals and is wrestling varsity at 165 pounds.  It's not the weight that he expected to be at, but so far, he is doing ok.  He weighs in at just over 160 on a good day, so we are not having to worry about cutting/maintining weight at all.  At least not yet.  So, this is great!  The downside of this is that he is a freshman in a higher weight class, which means that he will most likely see a lot of juniors and seniors in his brackets. So far he is holding his own and getting better every day. Versailles tournament Last Saturday was spent in Versailles.  This was the most recent competition.  Owen did pretty well and placed 5th going 4-1 on the day.  I think there were 19 or 20 kids...
Read more