Merry Christmas!
We started off Christmas "vacation" by sending the kids to grandma and grandpa's for an evening. Owen still had to attend 30 minutes of virtual school on Monday morning, but they got to spend the night and have fun at the lake for a little bit. All of Southern Boone's schools were closed a couple days early due to high numbers of positive cases of Covid and lack of staff available to teach in-person. Gracie had to finish up any missing work for the semester and Owen had two- 30 minute google meets.
Here's Owen...enjoying the hot tub at the lake.
Nick has also been working more on the barn when weather and time permit.
He has a little help every now and then (Owen, not me).
Almost all of it is sided now. It looks so good!
We had visitors for a few days!
Jazzy brought her family for Christmas!
Gracie, Jazzy, and Gramma Deb
Gracie now wants a dog that she can pick up and hold.
Hanging out on the couch
Nice face Gracie.
Ruby seemed to think that she would fit in Jazzy's dog bed.
I believe that she is too big.
Deb, Amber, and Jazzy arrived Tuesday night and stayed through Christmas morning. Deb took Gracie shopping on Wednesday and went for a two mile walk with Owen that morning. Luckily we had one day of ok temperatures while they were here. It sure got cold by Christmas Eve day.
Yes, cold. With 25 mph winds. Yes, I went running.
April went with me. We went almost 3.5 miles, but it was rough.
Christmas Eve
Things were a little different this year. I can only remember twice that I have not gone to a candlelight church service on Christmas Eve. Once was in high school when we spend the holidays in Colorado skiing. The other time was when Nick and I were in Shreveport for a bowl game with Iowa State. However, I do like having Deb here to play piano for us. We got to sing Christmas songs, and she takes requests. On Christmas Eve, we did a mini concert via facebook for Annie's family and my parents. It was so great! We also watched a church service that was streamed, but it wasn't the same as being there in person. Things were a little different, but we had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time with family!
Family pic!
Gracie and Owen with Grandma Deb
Gracie is taller, but she does have her boots with a little heel on.
Owen with Jazzy
Gracie with Jazzy
Ruby gets to pose for a couple pictures.
Not so easy to get these two to pose.
It looks a little forced for Nick.
Presents!!!!
As usual, we opened gifts on Christmas Eve.
Owen with a new Chiefs hat and Chiefs ornament.
Gracie with her new softball ornament
"I just like softball. Softball's my favorite."
Ruby trying to relax in the mess.
Matching jammies!
Gracie has been asking for these since last year, I think.
She was so excited when she realized we all had them. Nick even complied.
I finally have an updated picture of these two!
Nick thinks it's time to go to bed.
Me and my girl.
Apparently Gramma Deb doesn't know the circle game.
Nick still looks like he does not want to be bothered.
Christmas morning
Nick and I were actually up before anyone else on Christmas morning. It was almost 7am before we heard Owen. Then Owen had to go wake Gracie up.
Santa came!
Sleepy girl; but she looks happy!
New arrows for his bow. It sure was cold out this morning.
A drone from Annie and Chad.
Owen is a lot better at flying it than he used to be.
This one has a camera on it, too.
A quick trip to Iowa
We drove up to Muscatine to see the family for a few hours. Nick got to make pizzas and the kids got to play together for awhile. We drove up and back in the same day, but it was so good to see everyone.
Tossing the pizza dough in the commercial kitchen at the lodge.
Kind of nice having lots of ovens.
Redneck windchimes from his mom.
Grandma with her grandkids. The oldest is 17 years, the youngest is about 8 weeks.
Gracie and Ryleigh waiting to open presents.
Lucas and Owen
After the short trip to Iowa, Owen, Nick, and I left early Sunday morning to head over to Odessa, MO for the first wrestling meet of the season. Owen had been signed up for one a week ago, but it was canceled. He was so excited to finally get to compete. Nick actually left earlier than we did so he could coach the whole day. They were only allowing one parent per wrestler, and wrestlers could not stay for other sessions. Each age group had it's own session, with a 30 minute break in between.
Owen and Nick looking at brackets.
Talking with his coach before his match.
Waiting for his turn.
Go time!
I streamed on facebook for all of his matches, so didn't get as many pictures as I usually do. But I'm so glad that family got to watch him wrestle from afar! Most of these are screen shots from the videos, so they're a little blurry.
Owen had a great day! He pinned all of his opponents. However, he only had about five minutes rest between his 3rd and 4th matches and he was pretty tired. The first period of his last match was pretty rough and he was down 7-0 going into the second period. However, his opponent didn't score again after that. It was 7-2 going into the 3rd period and Owen pinned him with 1:00 left. I'm so proud of him for not giving up and continuing to fight through it. He must have been so exhausted after that first period of fighting off his back. He won his bracket at the tournament and the medals were sent home with coaches. We celebrated with ice cream on our drive home. :) Next up will be Blair Oaks tournament on Saturday! I feel like we have been waiting so long to watch him compete. I haven't even been able to go into any of his practices, so this is the first I've seen since last winter. I was so excited that he got to wrestle!
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