christmas spirit

even chewy is in the christmas spirit ...

he's moved from his usual couch

to the more festive couch by the tree

christmas tree * 2015 edition

we left wausau early on sunday

so that we could get back home to decorate

we decided to get our tree at costco again

and although it is much smaller than last year's

it's a nice tree and it was very easy ;)

thanksgiving fun

as is tradition

this thanksgiving we spent time in wisconsin

AND

thanksgiving night was spent at the bowling alley

NOW ...

bowling with this many kids

can be an adventure all of it's own

BUT ...

taking a picture of them all can be as well

and we still attempt that ;)

our weekend was full of fun ...

lots of eating ...

ben made us a jello salad

AND put on a concert for us

we went to breakfast

went swimming at the lodge

got pedicures

and i got the COOLEST frozen toes

and we tried on bridesmaid dresses

for alex's wedding

when all 3 kids fall asleep in the car only 15 minutes after you leave

you know it was a busy few days

and that they had a lot of fun

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

mickey back hunt

in 2013 when stacey and i went to disneyland

we went with a goal of looking to find one thing

on the back of each of the disney pins

is a little mickey shaped rubber back

while at disney world with the boys

one of our pins lost it's back

and rather than buy a new pack

we were sure we could find one back lying on the ground

WELL ...

i found one first

not be outdone,

stacey decided he needed to find one

AND that is where it began

NOW ...

fast forward 2 years.

stacey and i went this summer

and added to our collection 

BUT ...

we weren't done.

we were VERY excited to get the boys to disneyland

and get them in on the competition ...

they caught on quickly

and we were the odd family

walking around looking at the ground

by the time our trip was over

the 5 of us together had found 111 mickey backs

with stacey and alex being the clear winners/OCD individuals of the group

ben * coon rapids

ben's team played in coon rapids as well.

thankfully, none of ben's/alex's games overlapped

so we were able to catch all of the games

unfortunately,

just like alex's team

ben's team also lost every game they played

BUT ... 

this was their first REAL tournament. 

this is a new year for them - 

they switched coaches AND half their team.

each game they look a little better.

nice job, ben

AND

thank you eagle brook for having a campus at coon rapids high school

8am game

9am church

10am game

worked very nicely