Hello! Thank you for your patience as we have been ridiculously busy this winter season. I realize it has been since Christmas since our last post and I cannot fathom the idea of filling you in with everything since then. Instead, I will do quick snapshots of what our lives have been all about these past two months. I promise we will post more often as we are finally coming up for air with our schedules. Thanks for checking in, here we go!
Happy New Year! After a crazy busy Christmas, we welcomed 2016 at our friend's cabin. We went sledding, snowmobiling and tubing at Christie. We toasted to a new year and are so thankful for our 2015 blessings. We are excited for the new year and all it has in store for us!
Ben, Chris, Matt and my brother, Jim, all were fortunate to have received gifted tickets to the Vikings/Packers game at Lambeau Field. The highlight of this entire football season was the Vikings win against the Pack that night. My brother is obviously a Vikings fan, we still can't figure out why Matt is. They had a great "brothers" bonding outing, so that is all that matters...well, that and the fact the Vikings won :)
We celebrated Christmas with my Dad and Sharon in mid-January. We all gathered around to watch a heartbreaking loss by our favorite team. It came down to a stupid field goal and we lost, UGH! Needless to say, I was just excited that Cooper put on a spare jersey from his cousin Jimmy. Haha, Chris was not impressed.
Mid-January... Liberty is not going well these days. Our almost 13 year old golden is almost entirely blind, going deaf and she is dealing with vestibular issues. She stumbles, falls and is disoriented. The vet just blames old age, but we think something might be happening (like cancer). We have had many scary and sad moments watching her and Caden drew this terribly sad photo of our family. I can't help but think how therapeutic art can be for children. We will know when it is time for Liberty, she is not in pain, but we are saddened to see her health decline, sigh...
I turned 29 (wink) on January 16th. My birthday fell on a weekend, so that was exciting! We spent the day at hockey and then shared a bday dinner at Fuji. They took a family picture, had me sign the photo for their celebration wall and of course, sang and banged on some drums for an added embarrassment factor. It was a perfect celebration, with the boys that I love.
Cooper qualified for the jump rope contest (top 5 boys) and Caden was first alternate. We went to their school for the jump-off and Cooper ended up taking 4th place! I think he had 9 jumps in 10 seconds :) Caden didn't jump as the top 5 boys all were present so hopefully he qualifies next year. Our little jumping beans!
The boys made the school's monthly newsletter in the photo above. The school bought new tubes and they love to play together at lunch recess. I love seeing their pictures from school events!
Winter fun activities have included snowmen building and plenty of snowmobiling!
We are SO proud and happy to share that Chris passed his national board exam for the American College of Healthcare Executives. To become a fellow, you have to be a member of ACHE for 3 years, participate in conferences and professional workshop hours, and then prepare for a 7-8 hour exam. Chris studied extremely hard and flew to Georgia for a prep course. He passed with flying colors and is now one of few administrators who holds this certification. What is it good for you might ask.... Chris inspires to be a CEO of a hospital sometime in the near future. This will set him apart and will help him reach his goals. Way to go, Chris!
We had a winter fun weekend with all of Chris' family in Chetek. It was a gorgeous weekend, so we took advantage of ice skating on the rink Lois made for the kids, ice fishing, snowmobiling and just enjoying our time together.
Caden loves swim team. We really didn't know what to expect with this sport, but overall, have been pleasantly surprised. Caden has made huge gains in his swimming. He has great endurance and can now compete the freestyle, backstroke, and breastroke. He loves to dive off the blocks and is one of few kids to do so. He completed his first 50 yard race with a flip turn as well. He is still "younger" for his age bracket but has been competing well and has earned ribbons this season.
Freestyle Relay (2nd place)
Breaststroke (5th place)
Not pictured, Backstroke (8th place)
Cooper is a 2nd year mighty mite, but should still be in beginners. We petitioned the board because this kid has a god-given talent for hockey. He is SO different from Caden. Caden is technical, an amazing skater, but not aggressive on the ice at all. Cooper plays 150% with pure heart and is extremely competitive. He actually wants to be goalie, so for this tournament they allowed goalies and he jumped at the chance. The jamboree was at our home rink, they played 3 short games and Cooper couldn't have been more ready or excited. He played 1 of the 3 games in the net (look how tiny the nets are!!!) He played the other two games out of the net. If you were to ask me, I really hope he doesn't want to be a goalie in the near future. It's too stressful to watch!!!
He falls often because the kid is a work horse out there!
Face-off
He was excited for the medal! He gets to compete in one small jamboree next weekend, otherwise, his season is over. We love watching Coop play hockey!
Mid-February.... Caden wrote all about what being a president would be like. I love how he used Chris' trips to DC as a reference to historical places and he mentioned he would have lots of paperwork. To top it off, his teacher had him put on huge glasses and make a serious face for his photo. Haha, this cracked me up.
Chris and I took the day off after conferences to have a family fun day at MOA. We went on all the rides, had lunch, and of course, squeezed in a stop at a dealership so Chris could buy a new pick-up truck. He is one happy guy. At MOA, we couldn't help but notice that the boys were really only riding the BIG rides (despite this one of the bumper cars). It makes us a bit sad to think just a few years ago, the mini-rollercoaster was a brave feat. Our boys are growing up way too fast.
Caden had a quick, morning jamboree in Altoona. His team is doing so well considering most are first year mites. Caden likes to play forward and has had a few assists this year. We are not sure if this will be "his sport" and comparing swimming to hockey, we feel he might be more of a swimmer. Time will tell!
Pinewood Derby! Caden's Boy Scout troop hosted their annual derby last week. Chris nearly needed a trip to the hospital after a DEEP cut thanks to the saw (ugh!) Thankfully, he carried on and helped Caden complete his car. Chris did the cutting, Caden did the sanding, both helped with painting and I assisted with decals. It was a family affair.
In both of his races, he lost to a tie-breaker and was eliminated from moving on in the competition. Despite this unfortunate result, his troop voted his car for best design. He was beyond excited for the honor and took home this nifty ribbon.
Swim team had their photos taken last week and I snuck in a quick picture. We will get the professional one back, but Caden is the front row, 4th kid in from the left (sitting tall). This shocks me as it doesn't seem the swim team is THIS big, but it is! There are many great families and we have been lucky to get to know them at the meets and some social gatherings. Caden swam in the "last chance" meet. He didn't qualify for state, but improved his times by seconds. Here he is getting ready for his one last event, the backstroke.
And to round-off February, Caden just completed his first, away tournament in Hudson this weekend. This brings back childhood memories of being dragged to my brother Jim's tournaments around the state of MN. Some things don't change such as the decorated hotel doors, goody bags (I made these, thanks Pinterest), swimming with the team, pizza party, floor hockey in the hallways, parents hanging out, having a few adult beverages, and just bonding with the team. We are really lucky to have such a great group of hockey families to spend time with. We also had some fans, as my brother, Karri, Jimmy and Ava came to cheer Caden on. He felt so proud. So, there you have it, our crazy life. Hockey, swimming, Boy Scouts, swim lessons, school, work, accomplishments, family time and many, many memories. Thanks for sticking with us and we hope to post again soon!
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