"Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life. No matter what." ~Author Unknown



Thursday, June 22, 2017

January

It’s weird to go this far back and blog about the beginning of a new year already knowing so much has happened since then.  Clearly this is not ever going to be a real time blog again, but it’s still a record of our goings on and we love having it to look back on.  So, back to January.

We started the year having Alexander and Graeme with us.  Western Michigan did really well in…I was going to say football, I think it was football, but honestly I’m not sure now.  That’s how much I pay attention to sports.  Anyhow, they did well enough to play in some special bowl game(so must be football) in Texas.  Andy and Ellen traveled to see it and we got to keep the boys!  We had these poor kids moving every second!  First day we saw a movie and even got some rare January outdoor time!

IMG_0777IMG_0779

By day 2 I had to send a pic of Graeme’s shiner to Ellen because no way that was going to be gone by the time they got home!

IMG_0785

On the day of the game, the ladies took the kids to the pool while the guys watched the start of the game back home. 

IMG_0786

We got home in plenty of time to see the end of their losing game, and serve everyone some dinner.

IMG_0787

IMG_0792

These two were well past bedtime when they came running in to show me they were learning cat’s cradle!

IMG_0796

The last day we headed to an awesome play area where we met up with one of Sof’s old cheer buddies.  Reunited!

IMG_0797IMG_0805IMG_0807

We were sad to send the boys back, but confident we had thoroughly exhausted them!

January school mornings are cold and dark.  Sof is still always excited to go.

IMG_0815

You can see the sun rising through my bathroom window.  Every morning Sof runs in to see it.  If it’s a particularly pretty sunrise she always grabs my phone to take a picture!

IMG_0842IMG_0844

Thursdays continue to be skype day.  Sof’s class loves it when I come, and I love catching a glimpse of what they are working on!

IMG_0852IMG_0853

IMG_0924

It took over a month, but we were so excited to receive mail from from our girls!

IMG_0917-2

I have the BEST staff, and we always love a reason to celebrate!  The district teacher of the year came from our school this year, so you can bet we celebrated that!

IMG_0856

Adrienne performed at basketball games with her pom team.  These two are just here for the cotton candy!

IMG_0861IMG_0864

We always celebrate Christmas with our family friends in January.  Unfortunately we had to cancel because of sickness, but Nan decided to still come!

IMG_0835

Mark and I snuck away for a weekend.  We happened to be in the area of a shop that my principal’s daughter owns.  She carves wood prints and then transfers them to t-shirts and other products.  It’s seriously the coolest thing.  She’s an amazing, talented young lady, and Mark and I just loved everything about her and her brand.  If you’re interested look it up…Woosah, Grand Rapids, MI! 

IMG_0869

Then we were off to the “Juice Ball” which was a 70’s themed charity event for a soup kitchen.  We fully committed to the look.

IMG_0870IMG_0873IMG_0874IMG_0876IMG_0877 (1)IMG_0883

I’m always telling my kids they need to respect our cleaning lady Darlene by picking up clutter and having things neat so she can actually get to the surfaces she needs to clean.  Sof started leaving notes for her and asking Darlene to write back with feedback on how she did preparing her room!

IMG_0841

These Valentine cookies from Panera were sooooo good!  We had more than one in the month they carried them!IMG_0901

Adrienne was given an entire booth at our school district’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration to display the work she’s done with Grace Girl’s Home in Sri Lanka.

IMG_0904

Allie and Sof came to support her!IMG_0907

The keynote speaker was a holocaust survivor named Irene Miller.  She wrote this book “No Man’s Land” and we of course bought it!  Sof really thought she was going to read it.  She was bummed when she realized I wasn’t going to let her!  However, I did read it, and it’s an amazing story that sticks with you for awhile.IMG_0912

We were lucky to have a snow day in January!  We didn’t think the roads were bad enough to keep us away from the mall though!IMG_0915

I love that Sof still loves breakfast!  Oatmeal every morning with something else on the side!IMG_0923Clearly Pusheen was all the rage back in January.  Especially on school mornings!IMG_1066IMG_1070IMG_1075IMG_1118

Kaitlyn has been doing Ninja Warrior classes, so we went to support her in one of her challenges.IMG_1106

The girls had a cheer competition and lots of supporters showed up!  An old cheer buddy, the cousins, and Grandma and Papa were all there to cheer for them!

IMG_1082IMG_1088IMG_1091IMG_1093IMG_1099

I love this thank you note that Sof wrote to her cheer buddy. 

Thank you for the squishy.   I love it so much.  Also, at the end of the pyramid scooch in a little please.   

IMG_1113

Starbucks dates are our favorite. 

IMG_1120

Especially on cold January evenings!