Winter Activities Have Begun


 We visited Iowa two weeks ago while Deb was there.  Gracie, Owen, and I drove up to Stephanie's and spent some time with the family. We also visited Annie's a couple weeks ago.  Chad took Owen for a short dirt bike ride, which Owen enjoyed.  He was all smiles.  It was fun to see all of them.  We hadn't seen them since we were in Iowa back in September, and we hadn't been all the way down to Annie's since earlier in the summer.

Chad and Owen on the dirt bike.

Owen with River, while he waited for a ride.

Gracie with Ms. Kaia

More of Kaia

Owen holding Kaia.  She is such a happy baby!

Awards at school

Gracie won the award for her class in November for "Rising to Excellence."  Owen also won an award, but I didn't get a picture of him.  He won the November award for "Musicianship."  The music teacher seems to like his interest and ability to sing.



Gracie and Owen each had a concert last week. Gracie's was a Veteran's Day theme on November 9.  Owen had his performance on November 14 and his theme was hats.  He was so cute in his cowboy hat.  Owen said that he was really nervous, but he did great.  Gracie, of course did, too, but she has the so much confidence and doesn't seem to mind being on a stage at all.

Wrestling at home

More playing with Dad

This seems pretty safe.

Basketball starts

It already seems better than last year.  Gracie is on a team with some girls who were also on her softball team this fall. They practice for two hours at a time and she seems to be learning a lot.  Gracie likes the more competitive program, too, compared to last year.  They played in their first tournament last weekend and won!  They only have 6 girls on their team, so the girls all get to play a lot.  It was fun to watch.

Gracie taking the ball out

Gracie with her team after the tournament.

Finally a day to work on the house a little bit.

Nick was able to put the rest of the deck boards on the porch.  Now we just have to get a railing and stairs on.  No big deal.  He also started working on the trim until he ran out of nails.  There's always something.  The kids' closets are finished, so they can put all of their clothes away.  No more excuses!  This past weekend was the first in a long time that we were all home together for a significant amount of time.

Next up is Thanksgiving.  We're looking forward to having my parents and my sister with her family here on Thursday.  Then I get to take the kids up to Iowa again to visit my grandma, which is overdue.  I think Annie is going to drive up with me, so that will be a good time!




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