Christmas in Iowa Day 1

We went to my brother and sister in laws house for Christmas with my family the weekend before Christmas.  The kids had lots of fun playing with their cousins.  Here are Nick, Alexis and Brayden with grandpa playing their new DS games.

 And the boys, Nick, Brayden and Nate with grandpa

 Brayden and Daddy

 And all of us 

 Time to pile on Nick and Jason time

 Opening Gifts

 Love these next two of my Nephews.  Nathan watching over Alexis opening her gift.

 Nick opening up his fishing pole.

We had a fun night, started out meeting at the Pizza Ranch for dinner and then back to their house for some fun.  More to come...

Disney On Ice

 I won tickets to Disney On Ice from KS95(a local radio station).  We went to the first night on December 8th.  We Picked up the kids from school and drove up the eat at the Olive Garden(our favorite:))  Then we headed to St. Paul.

It was awesome!  The kids had such a great time.  This one was the lighting of the lanterns from Rapunzel

 Jason and Brayden looking at something before it started.

 The kids and I

 I Love Tinkerbell.  

 The kids really enjoyed The Lion King

 Pumba who we named our cat after:)

 Simba and Nala.  They skated so great together!  I got video of them also.

 Snow White midair

 Aladdin

 Another one of my favorites was The Little Mermaid.  It was a really quick skate.  They had such vibrant colorful outfits on.  

The colors were amazing, the kids loved it and had so much fun.  I am so glad Alexis pushed me to call and win the tickets:)  

A Very Special Night

In November sometime, the kids and I were listening to the radio in the car after school and Alexis heard they were giving away tickets.  She was pretty bumbed(actually in tears) that I couldn't get through to the radio station.  The next day we heard it again and I tried and finally was able to get through.  I was in shock that I even got through.  Now I had to answer the question correctly.  The few people before me got it wrong so they gave a clue.  Guess what I answered it correctly(still can't believe it!)(I never win anything!).  So, early in December we drove up to St. Paul.  Jason dropped us off at Rice Park and the kids and I walked around the park while we waited for Jason.  Who was dropping the car off a mile or less away at his sisters.

 A Giant Nutcracker

 They had lights all over in the tall trees.  Love this picture!

 And Alexis

 There were big boxes to climb on

 I couldn't believe how tall this tree was and how there were so many light on it to the top.  See the kids down at the bottom:)

 The pictures don't really show how gorgeous it was.

and what did we win tickets to?  STAY TUNED:)....

The Tooth Fairy Visits

Brayden lost a tooth

Our 2nd 5K Run

My friend Tami and I ran in our second 5K Turkey Trot.  We were a bit more prepared this year than last.  We both beat our times from last year by about 3 minutes.  Next years goal is to make it under 30 minutes we were super close this year.  

On a side note I've lost 20 pounds in 3 months, I joined a gym, and joined MyFitnessPal and Tami and I are pushing each other hard to meet our goals..Feeling Great:)  Happy New Year Everyone!

Happy Halloween

On Halloween night we got together with our friends and took our animals and doctor trick or treating in town.

We stopped at grandma and grandpas house

and a few other places along the way.

The Riverbend Nature Center

The Saturday before Halloween we took the kids to the Nature Center for a Family Fun Night.  The kids got their faces painted

 My Lion and Pet Doctor

 We waited our turn for a horse drawn wagon ride.  

 Alexis chose a cat for her face, Brayden wanted a snake

 We went outside after that and the kids jumped in a bounce house and then slid down the slide

after they did that they played a few games and took a stoll down the path to look at the carved pumpkins.  We made our way to the Spook house which was very child friendly.  Although the kids were still very nervous to go in.  

The After Party

We came back home to enjoy the beautiful night at our home.  We sat on our deck and then went in to eat some chili and chicken and rice soup.

 We took a family picture which we haven't done in forever

 And we also got a group shot 

 After it got dark we unwrapped caramels

 And Kathi made her special carameled apples, they were so yummy!

Then we we went out to enjoy our first campfire at our house. 

We had such a fun day.  

Pumpkin Patch/Apple Orchard

At the end of October we got together with Jasons family for Kathi's 60th Birthday Celebration.  We started out the balmy afternoon at Emma Krumbies.  Which has a few activities for everyone.  The kids enjoyed feeding the goats.

 They climbed up, rolled and jumped off of a big hay pile

 Brayden always flocks to Aunt Kellys boys, here he is with Adam

 Alexis found her favorite scarecrow figure

 We all rode along on the hay wagon and enjoyed looking at the apple trees and pumpkin patch

 Here's the birthday girl Kathi with JJ

Brayden and Alexis with their cousin Michael

and then we all headed back to our house for dinner and...

A Fun Night with Aunt Amy and Uncle Tom

Aunt Amy decided that she wanted to take the kids for the night.  Her and Tom planned a fun night, late in October, at the Brunswick Zone Bowling Alley.  The kids played a few games.

 Ate some dinner and got their bowling shoes on.

 This was a first for both kids.  

 It sounds like it was a hit!

The kids then spent the night at their house and met us the next day at the pumpkin patch(that will be the next post:))