Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a fun shopping day with my parents.  Nearly every year we find a day for me to go with them to some cute, fun shops and just get in the holiday spirit.  We didn't find a lot to buy but we did have a great morning and lovely lunch together and a lovely!

I'm thankful Kase is still having fun at wrestling.  It's a mental battle for him for sure but he works his heart out and I love to see him have some success. Also thankful that when he lost his mouth guard between matches the other night, his opponent happened to get injured and had to scratch so Kase didn't have to forfeit.  That kid.  Man, if we can just get him to keep track of his stuff...he's really going places I just know it!

Happy Thursday!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We have had the loveliest long weekend together.  Kent and I were just talking this morning about how it was such a nice mix of family time, time with friends, the big kids able to work a few shifts, time outdoors, great food and just the best memories made with our people.  

Kase of course couldn't wait to get out in the snow.  He was up early enough to snowboard behind Kent's truck before the plows got out to clear the roads. Later on Saturday afternoon he spend the day at his friend's house tubing behind their four wheeler, driving their Can-Am through the snow and just having the best time outside!

Kent, Kael and I took a walk out back with my parents in their Winter Wonderland (Kylee was at work) and it was just absolutely picture perfect out there. 

Saturday night we had made reservations at 801 Grand to celebrate a huge lifting accomplishment of Kael's.  We debated about bailing since the roads were pretty bad but in the end decided to go for it and I'm so glad we did.  The kids looked great all dressed up, we made it their and back safely and we just had the best time.  I'm so proud of my family and really enjoy this stage of life we are in with older kids and being able to go to nice places with them. 

Our waiter made it special for Kael!

We were happy that Emma was able to join us too! 

Sunday Kent, Kael, Kase and Clay went to the Iowa/ISU wrestling meet and Kylee worked.

It was a great weekend! Kael was happy to have found out a couple days ago that Central canceled classes Monday so he was able to spend one more night with us.  We had a great long weekend!

Thankful Thursday

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the day at Keith and Cindy's and had such a nice time. Great food and we enjoyed a relaxing day playing games and just chatting. Kase and Krue were buddies all day and had a great time playing together. 

We've had a great week with Kael being home since last Saturday- when he's home I find that we are more intentional about family dinners and time together which is such a joy, especially this time of year.  I sure love my people.

I realize I haven't posted for awhile so thought I would share a little of what we have been up to. Kase continues to enjoy wrestling and have some success with it!

He won both of his matches at his last meet and was feeling pretty confident and happy! 

We spent last Saturday hanging out with our besties. These three beauties have the best time together, always and Kase and Coop are buddies too. We love watching Hawkeye games together! Later Kase had some friends come over and after the game Kylee hung out with her friend Andrew. 

Kylee is sure keeping her social calendar full lately! She had a bible study with this sweet group of girls, also had dinner out with some friends last Sunday, she has been working and also grabbed lunch and coffee with her friend Will, went for a run with her friend Ella and overall is just busy busy all time! She reports that she has not missed running for one single second.  Ha. 

She also celebrated her friend Bria's birthday with dinner at Cheesecake Factory, shopping and cake decorating!

Kael has been getting a few work shifts in while he's been home and has also gotten to spend time with Emma.  He hit a HUGE PR in lifting again and we are excited to celebrate him with a special dinner out tomorrow night if the winter weather is cleared up by then! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We were so happy to have made our Italy trip align so that we didn't miss Kylee's senior cross country banquet.  What a wonderful night we had celebrating the team!

Senior! Her board was so cute.

Coach always makes a special point to talk about each girl but this year I feel like Kylee got so much recognition and many special shoutouts especially since she was the only senior running varsity.  So cool to hear the awesome things he had to say about her!

Kylee and her freshmen babies.

Tradition is that the juniors make blankets for the seniors and Kylee got a really cute one from Ellie!

Awww they love her.

Kylee's senior friends.

Kylee and bestie Emma.

Kylee received votes from her peers in every category but walked away with two very special awards: Team Captain and Most Inspirational.  I know these mean a lot to Kylee as she really tried to be a great leader this season! She also was awarded Academic All State for her high GPA and being a senior runner at state, as well as the Iron Jag award since she didn't miss a practice all season! So proud of her and thankful for all the memories her four years as a Jaguar runner have given us.

Saturday Kylee went to a Rowing Camp at Iowa (she loved it!) and Kent was with her so my littlest buddy helped me set up the tree. I was so thankful for his company and we had a really fun day together. 

That evening he helped Grandma and Grandpa entertain Kellen and Krue.  He really loves spending time with them! Kent and I were at barbecue with some Edward Jones friends. 

Sunday Kent took Kase to watch his friend wrestle and Kael and Emma came to town so Kylee and I went to church with them then Kael and Emma came back to our house to hang out for a bit so it was fun to spend time with them! Kael taught me to play poker.  Kase had wrestling and Kylee went to the library then to work.  It was a nice day! 

Thankful Thursday

 Kent and I celebrated our 20 year anniversary in Sicily and I'm so thankful for him and all he did to earn the trip and also make it a fun adventure together.  

The day we arrived was beautiful! Blue sky and gorgeous water right outside of our hotel.

Really pretty hotel. 

Of course we had pizza! We explored Palermo with a group walking tour and enjoyed seeing the cathedral there. It was rainy that day so we went back to the hotel after exploring for awhile.

When the weather cleared we found a cute little spot near our hotel to try the local dish famous to Palermo and Sicily- arancine! Kent loved it.

One night we had the loveliest dinner at our hotel. The restaurant there was so good and a really pretty view looking out on the water.  This is a night I will remember forever.

We toured some cool spots while we were there and the cathedral at Monreale was a highlight for us both.  Having lived in Spain for a semester I have seen my fair share of cathedrals but truly, this is my very favorite one ever.  All of that is gold leaf mosaic!

This place reminded us of the Alhambra in Spain.  I just love this picture of Kent. 

Another day, another cathedral.  Love all the charming squares and piazzas all around the towns.

Our hotel had the MOST gorgeous flower arrangements.  I loved walking by them each day to see if they had opened even more- they smelled so amazing.

Our theme dinner was at an estate off property from our hotel and it was stunning.  Truly I felt like a movie star or something being at this place.  Just gorgeous!!! I had a pretty good looking date too. 

Beautiful views while touring the amphitheater in Segesta.

And this temple was built in 430 BC.  Wild! 

This view while driving up to the hilltop town of Erice was pretty special.  

This place felt like it was out of a movie.  Cute little streets everywhere you turned.

One day we joined some friends for a winery tour and this was so fun! Met some great people that I hope we stay in touch with!

Grabbed a quick lunch with them afterwards.

Kent and I did a little souvenir shopping that afternoon.  Kase loved the cologne we specially mixed for him!

And imagine a whole store just for me! Ha!

The last tour we did was to the coastal town of Cefalu and it was probably my favorite one. The rain had cleared and we had just a gorgeous, sunny day. 

So pretty!

We found the cutest courtyard for lunch.  

We spent the last evening soaking up the view from our hotel.  We walked along the cliffs watching a snorkeler and kayakers and just enjoyed chatting as the sunset.  Honestly that was one of my favorite memories of the trip. 

Kent surprised me with first class tickets home and I couldn't believe how amazing the flight from Rome to Chicago was.  I'm the luckiest.  I felt so spoiled and actually was able to sleep quite a bit!!!

Meanwhile at home the kids were in good hands.  Kase went to the Iowa basketball game with Grandpa Keith.

We even got some snow while we were gone!

Kael came home and enjoyed dinner and cards with the fam. And Kylee got a new job at Wig and Pen!

Kase had a wrestling match and did well!

And the kids could see the Northern Lights!

By all accounts the kids got along great here and I'm so thankful for my village who were able to take care of them while I was away!