mazda milestones

#joinnordic banquet

tonight was ben's nordic ski banquet

it was at bunker

and it was really nice!

ben and all his freshman friends piled into one table

they had such a fun season

they have grown stronger as skiers

and as friends

which is very fun!

although he didn't ski varsity

ben lettered as a freshman

because he logged so many extra hours of skiing

outside of practice

and made it to every practice and race

these boys put in SO much work

they ski whether it is -20 or +40

they don't just stand around at practice ...

they ski the entire time!

ben started the season having never been on skis

and he ended with a time that was over 5 minutes faster than when he started.

he has developed a love for a sport

that a year ago was completely foreign to him

AND

i have actually warmed up to the idea of standing outside in -10 degree weather

to cheer on my favorite skier!

ben's captain's award was the "i'm coming along" award

because even when he wasn't racing

ben went along to help time and to cheer them on

he made friends with a lot of the upperclassman

james and michael are 2 of them

it will be sad to see them go next year

nice job, boys! 

and thanks for talking ben into skiing with you!

hits deep tour

for christmas this year

we gave the boys a few 'experiences' 

along with the things they were expecting

we already went to triple espresso

and now tonight came the 2nd ...

which i was really excited for

we took them to the toby mac hits deep tour

we started the night with dinner at rock bottom brewery

YUM!

THEN ...

we headed to the target center

what a GREAT lineup!

aaron cole

finding favour

mandisa

her good morning duet with toby mac

was probably one of the best songs of the night

ryan stevenson

eye of the storm was my other favorite

danny gokey

who drew loved because he sings in spanish AND english!

and of course ...

TOBY MAC!!

unfortunately he didn't sing jesus freak

or any dc talk oldies

BUT

light shine bright

and a TON of our other favorites

they ended with a full group performance

which was AMAZING

GREAT concert

and

GREAT night with all my loves

minne*snow*ta - 2018 edition

a few days ago we started getting winter weather warnings on our phones

typically this means we could be getting anywhere from 1-20 inches ...

they have no idea who will get what

BUT

we knew there was a good chance this one could give us at least a little snow

sure enough ...

on saturday afternoon the snow started

and it came down fast

we decided to go out before we all went to bed

so the boys could play in it a bit

and we could get one run of snow clearing done

by that point we probably had about 3-4 inches

and

the boys made some pretty significant forts

by sunday morning the snow had stopped

but the wind had left some pretty significant drifts

by our front door

an area that i had already shoved was about a foot high

BUT ...

drew's castle survived the night

and the plow

alex and ben's tunnel survived

and the neighbors were all very excited to check them out

i don't think we had this much snow at all last year

so to get a lot of snow

and then have it followed up by a nice day

was a nice treat!

bed hogs

when stacey is traveling for work

alex likes to fill his spot in our bed

most nights chewy tries to find a way to share the bed as well

problem is ...

by the time they get comfortable

there's not much room left ;)