January

Mima had extra Swiss cheese that wasn't used for the Christmas fondue dinner (that I missed), so she gave it to us. And so, I decided that we'd have cheese fondue for dinner on Monday, January 8th. It was delicious!

Monday, January 15th - Kids were out of school for MLK day. We had a girls lunch and movie - The Greatest Showman. Great movie!

Tuesday, January 16th - Kevin's Grandpa Whitelaw died, age 92.

Papa was able to be there (in Michigan) before he died, and then all seven siblings were able to be there for the funeral. He left a great legacy in these siblings.

Friday night, January 19th - Mima gave the girls the first of their monthly overnight sewing and activity sessions that were their Christmas present.

They made these sweatshirts.

Then Saturday, they went to brunch and mini-golf. Saturday night, Kevin, Kellen and I went to the All City Honor Band concert and dinner with band directors after, while Jenna spent the night with Bella.

Sunday, January 21st - We finally got some significant snow! I worked 5 hours which made 22 hours of work plus 4 hours of being on-call since the Sunday before! And, I met my required 4 shifts a month in just one week. Monday, January 22nd - Kevin got a snow day and the kids just got a 2 hour delay. Still no snow days for them this school year! Tuesday, January 23rd - Everyone in our CO family, except Kevin (who was resting up for the full days of CMEA ahead), went to the "How I Became A Pirate" play at a new theater in town.

Wednesday, January 24th - Kellen's first field trip of first grade - The Space Foundation. It was a fun time and I was glad to be able to go with him.

Thursday, January 25th - CMEA 2018 began and we didn't see Kevin much between that and his duties as Chair of All State Jazz Band. Friday, January 26th - I worked an 8 hour shift and then we all enjoyed the annual band directors dinner at Edelweiss in celebration of CMEA. Saturday, January 27th - we went to the Broadmoor for our nephew/cousin's band performance at CMEA at 10:00am, then we went home to have lunch and do some errands. Then, we went back to the Broadmoor at 2:00pm for the All State Jazz Band concert. We enjoyed an early dinner together after - glad to be together, just the four of us, after a busy week. We were tired!! Sunday, January 28th - church and still so tired! We had a quiet day.

This phone charging station I ordered came in the mail, so I enjoyed getting a little organized on Sunday afternoon. The kids are both using a couple of our old iphones as cameras only (no phone/internet connection) and with all the different cords, our kitchen counter had become a mess! I love this new organizer! I also purchased a mulit-USB port charger that fits perfectly in a compartment under the phones!

Monday, January 29th - Kevin's birthday! We enjoyed a dinner out to celebrate. Tuesday, January 30th - Off in different directions yet again. Kevin had a big joint concert with 2 other schools and wasn't able to come home after his normal work day. A good 14 hour work day for him! Jenna had the first night (since Christmas break) of her Bible study group, so I took her to that instead of being able to go to the concert. Wednesday, January 31st - I was scheduled to work 7pm - 11pm, but they needed help earlier, so I went in at 2:30pm and stayed until 11:30pm. My 8th shift for the month! It was a crazy shift too - 8 admissions between noon and 5 pm! Our manager was great and got right in there with us to help out and she paid me time and a half for coming in early! I must say that after such a busy January, we were all glad to see a new month!

First Week of the Year

Monday, January 1st - I started out the year with a very painful bursitis in my shoulder, so we had a very low activity day. We watched the Rose Parade and the Michigan Game. During the game, the kids created games of their own. Kellen made a Pokemon game.

And Jenna made Sorry Duck! 

We made the last of the Christmas goodies I had planned to make - Mama Vernie's (my Dad's Mom's) Date Nut Roll. Jenna cut all the dates up for me because my shoulder was too sore to cut.

It doesn't look as good as hers always did, but it sure did taste good! We watched "I Remember Mama," which was recommended to us by a friend and is Kellen's kindergarten teacher's favorite movie. It was good, but the kids thought it was a little slow.

Tuesday, January 2nd - I had a staff meeting at work at 8:00 am, so I took the kids with me. They watched a movie in the break room and helped eat all the Christmas goodies. We went to Target after, to spend the time before my physical therapy appointment that I was supposed to have for my feet (that I was hoping to use for my shoulder instead), but while we were shopping, I got the message that that appointment was cancelled. I was in so much pain that I decided to go to my regular doctor instead. I got a shot of Toradol and a prescription for Toradol pills that helped some. With the kids' help, I was able to put away the Christmas decorations. Then, that night, we watched a Christmas Hallmark movie that we had checked out from the library.

Wednesday, January 3rd - We were happy to have Kevin home and not so happy that this was the kids' last day before school started again. We used a gift card to eat lunch at Kneaders and then went to see Star Wars The Last Jedi - 3D IMAX. It was a fun day!

Thursday, January 4th - Kids went back to school. Kellen made these great New Year's Resolutions. Kevin and I enjoyed lunch and a little hike together and then I was finally able to have a physical therapy appointment for my shoulder.

Friday, January 5th - We had a family game night. Each person chose a game for all of us to play. Pie Face and Farkle were the favorites!

Papa and Kevin's Outback Bowl Trip

Friday, December 29th - Papa and Kevin flew to Orlando. Their ultimate destination was the Outback Bowl to see Michigan play on New Year's Day and they had some fun along the way. It was fun to start out the trip with a Wolverine on the tail of their plane!

Saturday, December 30th - Weeki Wachee, FL - Kayaking the Weeki Wachee River

They saw manatees swimming right under them! 

The river is lined with lots of homes. These would be fun vacation rentals. 

They saw some sponge harvesters. 

Really cool! 

After kayaking, they drove to Clearwater, FL and stopped at a beach before their hotel room was ready.

They saw these cool barnacles.

Sunday, December 31st - They went to Pinellas Park Church of Christ where Grandpa Whitelaw preached when Papa was young. Then lunch at Bahama Breeze.

They saw this cool horse shoe crab while they were waiting for their hotel to be ready. 

Sunday evening, there was an Outback Bowl Parade.

Monday, January 1st - Outback Bowl at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Stadium. This pirate ship is inside the stadium - really cool.

Michigan band played a Star Wars half-time show. 

And some high school bands joined together for a show. 

Michigan had a terrible game, but the guys said it was fun to be there.

Tuesday, January 2nd - There was time to spend in Orlando before flying home. They went to Gatorland.

They had a fun trip!

2017 Year in Review

• We really need to take more family pictures. I had to go back to fall for this one. I had planned for a Christmassy one, but it didn't happen before I got the flu and then Kevin left for his trip.
• I read 57 books (up from 44 in 2016). I exceeded my goal of 52 for the year.
• We had 2 school snow days and 6 delays (Kevin) and 4 school snow days and 2 delays (Jenna/Kellen). (That's different from 6/5 Kevin and 5/1 Jenna/Kellen in 2016.) Again, no school snow days this fall! Just one delay for the kids and 3 delays for Kevin.
• We attended 8 band concerts (missed 2 beginning band concerts).
• We attended a couple LPHS basketball games (3 were on school nights so we didn't go) and five LPHS football games.
• We visited Ft Worth then Arkansas (Sara), Greeley with the band, San Antonio/Boerne (Sara), Utah - Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce, and Zion National Parks, Winter Park, Pagosa Springs, Wichita, and Tampa for the Outback Bowl (Kevin). Kevin went to Indianapolis, Ft. Collins, and Greeley (again) for band.
• We went to the North Pole approximately 5 times and the Zoo approximately 4 times. We also went to the Denver Zoo and the Wichita Zoo.
• The kids went roller skating with their cousins - countless times - so fun!
• We went to the library nearly every week.
• Jenna and Kellen continued to learn piano.
• Jenna went to Camp Como. First time at camp - 3 nights away from home!
• Jenna graduated out of a booster seat in the car. And Kellen graduated out of a booster seat at the table.
• Both kids lost teeth - Jenna three, Kellen five!
• Both kids took swimming lessons.
• I had two foot surgeries and am still in physical therapy gaining strength and mobility.
• Kevin is still the band director at Lewis Palmer High School and teaches beginning band at Bear Creek Elementary. I still work at least one day a week at St. Francis Medical Center Pediatrics.
• We've had good days and bad days and blessings throughout. A good 2017.

End of year fun

Tuesday, December 26th - Another day of recuperating for me. Kids played with their new crafts and we all played a few games. And Jenna lost her first molar - her 11th tooth to lose!

Wednesday, December 27th - Mima, Jenna, and I went shopping for a "new-to-her" fancy dress for the Daddy/Daughter ball coming up in February.

Silly girl! After lunch and purchasing the dress, we went back for the afternoon and dinner at Papa & Mima's house.

Thursday, December 28th - I was on call for work and we made a gamble and got tickets to see Star Wars. A little before time to leave for the movie, they called me in to work (good thing we used a gift card for part of the ticket purchase)! Kevin and the kids enjoyed the movie and even did the grocery shopping after. I enjoyed getting paid time and a half for being called in, but really missed time with them. After work, we went to our favorite Mexican food restaurant and went to look at Christmas lights (one of the traditions we missed doing when I was sick).

Friday, December 29th - Kevin and Papa left for their trip to Florida to see Michigan play in the Outback Bowl. The kids and I spent the morning baking (another tradition that we missed when I was sick). Specifically, this cookie recipe that Kellen came up with and had been wanting to try. I helped him out by starting us out with a peanut butter cookie recipe, then we added the Skittles and M&Ms. They were interesting! I ate one and don't really want to eat another one, but the kids liked them! We made Chex Mix, too. And enjoyed a trip to the library.

Friday evening, we went to see the lights at the zoo. I was glad for our membership and the benefit it gave of arriving an hour before the general public - we got a great parking space!

Photobombed by a strange kid and the giraffe trying to nibble his head!

 So tall!

This elephant statue was really fun!

And a silly one, of course!

A favorite every year - walking through the tiger's body!

The lights at the zoo and the lights of the city were so pretty! And the view from the sky ride was a highlight for sure! It was the perfect night to see the lights - not too cold and not too crowded.

 They humored me for some sweet sibling pictures.

Once home, we splurged (Jenna's new favorite word) with some Spiced Pumpkin Pecan ice cream that we found at the store earlier in the day. I had looked for this around Thanksgiving when I was in more of a "pumpkin" mood, but never found it. I'm a little past that mood now, but the kids said they'd enjoy eating it too . . . and it is really delicious!

While we ate our ice cream, we enjoyed watching "When Calls the Heart" (a new show to us) with Christmas lights as our only lighting.

 Saturday, December 30th - More baking!

 This time - Peppernuts. A tradition from our German heritage.

After baking, we went to a free showing of "Leap" at Focus on the Family, then back home for quiet time. Mima picked us up and took us out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Then, she took the kids home to spend the night for me to work the next day.

Sunday, December 31st - The kids went to church with Mima, then lunch, and a movie. I watched church online and then went to work 11am - 7:30pm, then picked up the kids, put them to bed, and watched an episode of The Crown, and the NYC ball drop, then went to bed. I set an alarm for Jenna and I to get up and watch the fireworks on Pikes Peak (our annual tradition), but it was too cloudy to see them.