Elliot’s 16th Birthday

This evening we celebrated Elliot’s 16th birthday. The Reagens, Mimi & Papa, and Mari’s friend Lila came over for skyline pizza, cake, and presents.

Some notes about Elliot:

  • Elliot would sleep until noon every day if he could, take a 3 hour nap at some point in the day, and go to bed at 2.
  • He likes to play video games on his phone and occasionally on the TV.
  • He doesn’t have a job yet, but is committed to get one when he turns 16.
  • He is a good driver and is planning on getting his license in a few days.
  • He likes athletic clothes and shoes.
  • He likes cool cars.
  • He and I play ping-ping and he wins 99% of the time.
  • He wanted that Lakers shirt for his birthday.
  • He and Cam play pickleball with me and Nate sometimes.

Favorite song:
Favorite color: Red
Favorite food: Skyline
Favorite musical artist: Yeat
Favorite book:
Favorite sport: Running
Favorite movie:

Birthday Party Redo

This evening we hosted Lucia’s birthday party redo. She ended up being sick the first time we were going to host and luckily everyone could make it this time.

Painting Pumpkins
Birthday Cake
Group shot

Missing In Action

Today was Lucia’s birthday party, but we didn’t take any pictures because she was not feeling well. We still had the Hylands, Liesses, and Reagens over for dinner, but Lucia wasn’t feeling well, so it was a short night.

Colorado Visit

This past weekend we went to Colorado to spend the weekend with Andrew. He is on Fall Break at school, which lined up nicely with his birthday. We left Des Moines on Friday, picked up Andrew, and then went to Woodland Park, which is up the hill from Colorado Springs. We spent Saturday and Sunday exploring the area and then on Monday we drove Andrew back to school and headed home.

It was great to see Andrew again and get the gang back together. We all miss having him around.

Hanging out in Andrew’s dorm room.
Touring campus.
The girls and Reggie.
Dinner at In-N-Out
Garden of the Gods.
Climbing
Andrew worked hard to get to this spot.
Mari
Susan and Rob
Family, minus me.
Sunday – We drove up Pikes Peak
We didn’t take the cog railway, but it was cool.
Pikes Peak Visitor Center
Rose and Lucia on a hike.
Susan and Rob on a hike.
The kids, on a hike
Still on a hike
Family pic, with Pikes Peak in the background
Andrew’s birthday dinner at Casa Grande
Andrew’s birthday dessert at Casa Grande
Happy (almost) Birthday, Andrew!

Birthday Weekend

This weekend we celebrated Mari’s 17th birthday and my 41st birthday. The Reagens and Mimi and Papa came over a couple of times for cake and ice cream.

Mari likes to go to PF Chang’s for her birthday dinner. This is probably the most popular sit-down restaurant for our family.
Cousin Swimming
Rob and Mari
On Saturday night Susan, Rose, Lucia and I went to see an outdoor performance of Into the Woods.
Swimming on my birthday.

Rose 7th Birthday

Today we celebrated Rose’s birthday, a day late because yesterday was a busy day.

Rose at 7 is a lot of fun. She and Lucia still spend 99% of their time together and get along extraordinarily well. Rose’s ideal schedule is waking up at 8 and going to be at 10. She likes waffles and bagels for breakfast, mac and cheese for lunch, and walking tacos for dinner. This past year she did dance and soccer, and loved the 2nd grade.

Andrew, Mari, and Rose
Elliot lounging after dinner, on Rose’s new sloth.

Happy 9th Birthday, Lucia!

Today we celebrated Lucia’s 9th birthday. Lucia and Rose left school early and we went to Howell’s for some fun fall activities. This is the second year in a row we have done this.

Welcome to Howell’s
Lucia and Rose love these.
Jumping Pillow
Bathtub Train
More Bathtub train
Tractor ride to pumpkin patch
Racers
Maize
Pumpkin Picking
Waiting for a ride back to the main barn
Tire Swing
Pipe Wheel
Birthday Face Painting

Lucia is still a sweetie and joy to have around the house. She is excited and enthusiastic about school. She wakes up most days around 7:45 when someone wakes her up. Without a wake-up she would get up around 8 or 8:30. She likes toaster waffles for breakfast. Susan packs her school lunch most days, but she likes to get hot lunch a couple of days a week. When not in school, she likes reading, art, playing outside, playing ping pong – pretty much everything. She played soccer this fall and does dance (baller, tap, and hip-hop). She goes to bed at night around 9:30, but I often have to poke my head in after 10 to tell them to stop talking and go to bed.

Happy 18th Birthday, Andrew!

This evening we celebrated Andrew’s birthday with the Reagens and the Liesses.

The Crew
Big Booty
Waiting for presents
  • Wakes up around 7:40 on school days, 10 on other days.
  • Runs
  • Works out
  • Walks around the house with his airpods in
  • Goes out with his friends on the weekends.
  • Plays football with his friends
  • Plays ping pong with Elliot
  • Likes watching sports
  • Has already had 3 jobs (Fareway, Target, Chick-fil-A)
  • Figuring out where to go to school next year (Xavier, Creighton, Regis)
  • Stays up too late sometimes, but the problem is he doesn’t pay for it