Winter Kickball

What do you do in Iowa in January when it's snowy and super cold?  Play in an outdoor kickball tourney of course.

I was a little skeptical at first, me not being a big lover of frigid temps.  But we actually had a really good time.

It was a co-ed tourney and they needed at least 3 girls so Anne, Emmaly and I were there token women.

They guys set up a little shelter for us complete with a fire and propane heater.  My feet were really cold during the first game, but that was because I had too many socks on.  I took one pair off and was toasty the rest of the day.

 

It was really fun, the in field was really icy and trying to kick and run with so many layers was a little treacherous.  Anne was our star second baseman and really took one for the team.  She got kicked in the head when someone tried to jump over her to get to 2nd.  Someone else slid into the base and knocked her over.  She also broke her middle finger when fielding a grounder.  Poor Anne, but I think she had a good time.

 

Emmaly and her bum knee didn't fair any better either.  But she has recovered by now, who knows if they will be up for playing again next year.

 

The star of the team was Jeremy at first base.  He did an awesome job.  As usual he was super competitive and made the Hodson family proud.

 

Most of the people playing in this tournament were too old to be there.  One guy kept getting hurt every time he came up to kick, but every inning he kept coming up.  I guess he's dedicated to his sport.

 

A lot of people were drinking and by the later games were having trouble fielding the ball.  One guy playing 3rd base for the other team kept letting balls roll right past him.  It was an advantage for our non-drinking team.

 

A great day spent with our friends.

Christmas Break

Jeremy and the girls making some playdough creations.  He is a great dad that always does such fun stuff with the kids.

 Elder Bouwhuis served in our ward for 6 months (about).  He is a great missionary and we will miss him.  Jeremy bought this shirt for me for Christmas.  I had it on all day and then suddenly before the missionaries and Charles came over he put on his so we were twinners.  He does it on purpose to annoy me.  Luckily we weren't going out in public.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas at home this year.

On Christmas Eve we had some people over for a turkey dinner (Gena, Tim Guenther, Tom Sparks and his daughter Nellie)

Jeremy read the Christmas story which the kids acted out.

The kids also played some Christmas songs on the piano.  It was a nice relaxed evening.  I really had a lot of fun.

 The kids didn't wake up too early either.  I think it was 7:15 when they got up.

Brynlee showing off her loot.  A doll and a playdough station that makes ice cream and other desserts.

 Kylee with her Aquadoodle wearing her new jammies.

 Price showing off his new sweatshirt and journal that has a lock on it.

 The big excitement for me was getting a tablet.  I have entered the electronic age.  How I've lived this long without one is a mystery.  I also got a cute bag, scarves, shirts and gift cards.

Later in the day we went over to Indhi and Denver's and ate and watched a movie.  It was a relaxing fun day.  A perfect Christmas.

Jeremy got some clothes and shoes.  Somehow he missed getting his picture taken.  He also took off work from Christmas until Jan 6 which was huge for him.  It was great having him around to spend time with.  The kids loved having him play games with him.

We got a web camera a while ago, but we didn't set it up until recently.  So we've been Skyping with the Hodson side of the family.  It's been fun to see them and see what is going on with them eventhough we live far away.

Piano Recital

We had a Christmas piano recital with Price, Brynlee and MaKayla (our neighbor girl).  Ironically I didn't get any pics of the actual piano players.  I did get pics of Payton and Nolan pretending though.

It was fun to see the kids play so well and then we had treats after.  MaKayla is really good at piano, she has a natural gift.  I don't think she's too excited to practice, but once she gets into piano she will be phenomenal. 
Price is really coming along, he does very well.  Now if he would quit fighting me about practicing.
Brynlee just started this fall and is doing great.  She plays so well, it will be fun to play duets with her as she gets better.

Rowen's Baptism

We went to Indiana a day early this year (huge for Jeremy considering he doesn't usually take much time off of work :) ) so we could be there for Rowen's baptism.  He was the last of the Williams clan to be baptized.

 

It was nice to have so much family there.  And of course Elly is making silly faces.  It wouldn't be a family photo without them.

 This was an attempt to do our yearly family picture.  But it didn't turn out like I wanted (i.e. I looked ugly) so we chose one from the trampoline park.

 My silly kiddos love to pose for pics.

 Price and Rowen.  What handsome guys.

Other highlights of our Thanksgiving include: watching Bailee and Elly play basketball and yelling ridiculously loud for them.

Having basketball and ping pong tournies in the basement.  I beat Jeremy in both (woot woot!)

Our annual four square tourney after Thanksgiving dinner.

Me trying to take a nap and it being the scandal of the weekend.

Daily 3 mile runs.

Seeing our family and having a great time.

Learning that Tim can give Botox to people.  I don't think I am brave enough to let him inject me with poison.

Trampoline Fun

More pics of our Trampoline fun.

 

Brynlee doing a pose

 Price and Rowen playing basketball.

 Price was very excited in this one.

After we played on the trampolines we went and ate at Culver's for lunch.  Then we headed home to get ready for Rowen's baptism.

Thanksgiving

We continued our Thanksgiving tradition of going to Indiana to the Williams.  I really take it for granted all the work and prep that Kristin puts in to hosting us, but I am very appreciative of their hospitality.  we had a GREAT time.

This year Tim and Kendra came with their kids, along with Kendra's sister, Karen.  Biff's brother Skip and his wife Bonnie were there along with my parents. It was a full house, but it was so fun to see everyone and my kids had a blast with all their cousins.

 

One day we went to Indianapolis to this fun trampoline park.  It was probably more fun for the bigger kids, but my kids still got in on the action and had fun.

 Kylee's favorite was jumping in the foam pit.

 Brynlee in her new "uniform".  She loves wearing workout type clothes.  A little blurry, but she was busy juming

 Outfit chosen by Kylee, she is too cute for words