We Made It!

It was so nice to spend New Year's Eve with the boys, my parents, and the Geisert family. Mom and I cooked, we watched football, played cards, celebrated the ball dropping with noise makers and streamers and then celebrated the actual central time zone new year. And.....we all made it to midnight! 

It's hard to believe it is actually 2016. We had an amazing 2015 and I hope that 2016 finds us as blessed as we have been this past year. As the boys grow older, I am thankful for every celebration we have with them. I'm also thankful to ring in the new year with most of the Karlen family. Happy New Year! 

A mean game of pitch 

Celebration! 

Enjoying stay in up late! 

Passing Time in Pender

It's been pretty cold since we arrived in Pender, but we are finding ways to pass the time. 

Cheering on the Cougs to victory 

And the Huskers (a late night)! 

Opening Christmas gifts 

Coffee at Popo's

Touring "the factory" (aka Blue Ox) 

Cooking 

And eating

And obviously time with family 

 

 

Christmas Day 2015

And we made it all the way to Pender! The road from West Point to Pender was horrible, but we made it. 

Full

Joyful 

Thankful

Grateful 

Beautiful 

Stockings Full 

Christmas Date #2

D-man and I enjoyed a Christmas lunch date at Qdoba (with a really good coupon) and then some time at Starbucks. We talked about highlights of the year (both boys answered the cruise to this question). We talked about plans for next summer and just had a nice time. 

Basketball Camp

The boys have been in basketball camp in the morning for the last three days. Each day has a theme and T-man owned the holiday theme today (but he was sad he didn't win).  D-man owned team spirit day on Monday with his new Coug shirt and new Coug shorts (sorry no picture of this). 

Winter Break and Christmas Date

I took the day off of work today because the Smileys spent the night last night. It was a really nice day of getting stuff done, hanging with the boys and seeing them be able to hang with their friends. 

D-man helping me make cookies 

Some "snowball" in the open space 

This evening, D-man had a basketball clinic, so T-man and I had a Christmas date. We went to Boulder for Smashburger (one of T-man's favorite) and a bit of Christmas shopping. When we were headed to the store, T-man spotted a sign for "GameStop" and he was SO excited (he got a gift card to this store from his friend for his birthday, but had never been).  So we were able to go walk around and check things out so he can spend his $$ after the New Year. 

When we walked out of the store, he stated, "That is a cool store." It was fun to be able to experience it with him for the first time. The rest of our trip was really fun as we picked out gifts for family members. Fun to get out and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the holidays - especially with my Christmas date. 

Smashburger! 

He loved checking out all the merchandise 

Star Wars

A great way to kick off the holiday break - Star Wars! We caught the 12:45 showing with the Smiley boys. We all REALLY enjoyed the movie. We then watched the Broncos lose and then enjoyed a delicious meal and time with friends. 

T-man ran into a friend and got to sit with him for the movie 

Star Wars is everywhere! 

6 Points!

Today was T-man's final basketball game of the fall season. He was playing very aggressively and had 6 points - his best game of the season! It's a great group of boys and fun to watch them develop in their skills and basketball acumen. 

Getting medals from coach Perry m

With our little shooter 

Snow, Sick, and Shoveling

A fun day at home with the boys even though D-man was sick. T-man kept busy with Legos, a science experiment, played with his new birthday gifts and did a bit of homework. He (of course) also played Xbox and watched some videos. D-man was feeling rotten enough that movies were all he did. 

I got some work done and found time to do an hour+ of shoveling. I treated myself to a 4:00 beer after my efforts. A nice day to be snuggled up with my two boys. 

Sick kiddo - poor guy 

Science experiment 

Shoveling.....,

Games 

1000 POINTS!

One of the fun things about T-man's birthday party was that he landed on 1000 points playing one of the video games. Even better? His brother was the one to share it with him! (And he was able to cash out for nice prizes). A great treat for the birthday boy! 

Party People!

We It's been a weekend of celebration for the  T-man. We surprised T-man with a doughnut cake Saturday morning before his basketball game. 

We then headed to Lakewood for 2 basketball games for D-man and followed with a family birthday dinner at Casa Bonita. The boys LOVE this place and Marshall and I just embrace the cheesy. 

After a neighbor's holiday party on Saturday night, we woke up and partied it up with T-man and 13 friends at Chipper's Lane with bowling, laser tag and video games. These parties are exhausting for me and Marshall, but T-man and his friends had a fun time (and that is what matters). Happy birthday to our little guy (who is not so little anymore)!