Christmas Day 2016

Opening presents at home




And at Granny's house:




Kai said at breakfast he received everything on his list. When Sage was asked his favorite gift, he said, "my family." Awwww!

Favorite moments:
Playing with Cozmo

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Christmas Eve 2016

Christmas Eve 2016 was wonderful!

First stop: celebrating with the Kelly side. Great fun with cousins and lots of special gifts.




























Second stop: one last Christmas Eve at Great Pa and Great Granny's house. This was a special evening and exactly what my grandparents would've wanted - everyone together celebrating and remembering the good times. It's sad to know that after spending 37 Christmas Eve's at the house, this was the last one. But, we have great memories to last a lifetime.

Last stop: home to set out cookies, carrots, and milk for Santa and his reindeer.








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Bye, Sammy!

Sammy, our Elf on the Shelf, is on his way back to the North Pole. Check out these sweet notes the boys left him to say goodbye.




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School Pictures 2016

Sage, age 8, 2nd grade




Kai, age 7, 1st grade



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Too Cute and Funny Not to Share

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The Countdown Is On!

Now that the kiddos know about our upcoming Jamaican vacation, we have a countdown going. We always have a Christmas countdown chain and this year we've added a Jamaican Vacation countdown chain. Only 16 more days!



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Goodbye, Great Pa

Today we said goodbye to Great Pa. We called him Great Pa because he was the greatest. He took care of all of us and taught us about the importance of family. We have so many wonderful memories that we will hold in our hearts forever. Sage loved spending Christmas Eve at Granny and Great Pa's house with his family. Kai loved that Great Pa always came to his birthday party and played games with him. Great Pa was such a special man and we will miss him tremendously.






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Would you rather?

Recently, I discovered that after we tuck the boys in at night, they stay up talking to each other. That's not surprising. But, when I took a moment to listen to their conversation, I realized they were playing the "Would You Rather" game. It's where you ask each other questions with two hard choices. Apparently, they ask each other one "Would You Rather" question every night.

Here were tonight's questions:
Would you rather...
K: not know who you are or not know who everyone else is?
S: smell farts or smell puke all day?

Obviously, the questions must range from serious to super silly. I'm just amused that they came up with this nightly ritual themselves. #brothersbonding


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Halloween 2016

Another great Halloween!





























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Kai's Talents

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Lake Geneva: Fall Break 2016

The boys and I celebrated our fall break with a trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Since Jared was in Mexico with his childhood friends, we invited Grandma and PaPa to join us. The boys rated the trip as follows:
S: 10 out of 10
K: 200,000 out of 10

I told them where we were going, but kept the fact that the hotel had a waterpark a surprise. In this picture, you can see Sage's surprise at the discovery.




The first night, we spent in the waterpark. We all really enjoyed the indoor/outdoor hot tub. The boys loved the room with its loft sleeping area and jacuzzi tub.




The second day we spent the morning exploring the shores of Lake Geneva as we hiked the Lake Geneva Shore Path. We hiked 4+ miles taking in the scenic views and imaging what it must be like to live in the multimillion dollar homes. We ate lunch at a cafe along the shore and celebrated Octoberfest with the local residents.




On our hike, the path changed as you crossed the backyards of the residents. Sometimes the pat was paved and other times it was not. It was always narrow. Here is what happened when Sage tried to pass Grandma on the path...



He ran out of his shoes at they stayed stuck in the mud. Ha ha!!

One evening, we enjoyed a haunted hayride at the stables on the resort. At first, it was fun and funny. But, about half way through, Kai didn't think it was fun anymore and was terrified. It took a while to calm him down. But, we still had a great time and even enjoyed the fireworks afterwards.




The third day we hunted for Bigfoot as we hiked around Bigfoot Beach State Park. We played at two different playgrounds and enjoyed lunch at the fancy hotel on the resort.









Here are the boys giggling hysterically through the entire lunch as they told silly stories and spelled words they couldn't say out loud in a fancy restaurant.

We spent our final evening enjoying one last round at the waterpark.




Both boys made it successfully across the "Ninja Warrior" course.

Lake Geneva was a great place to spend the fall break!

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Happy 8th Birthday, Sage!

Happy birthday to Sage! We celebrated the day Sage style. We had donuts for breakfast, special lunch at school, his favorite for dinner (Qdoba), and his favorite desserts (Lofthouse cookies and kettle corn). He wanted to just chill at home (in his undies) playing on his new Nintendo 3 DS. Typical Sage!

At 8, Sage is kind, smart, loyal, and creative. His favorites are:
Food - Qdoba
Color - Sage green
Hobbies - playing with friends and family
TV Show - Amazing World of Gumball

When he grows up he wants to be a teacher.

We love you, Sage, and wish you all the best for your 8th year.












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Best. Circus. Ever.

Darla took the boys and I to the Universoul Circus today. It was so fun! Yes, we felt bad for the few big animals that were in the show. But, once you got past that part, it was incredibly fun. The music was great and the performers really encourages audience participation. We even had front row seats which was amazing and slightly terrifying when the elephants came out. Sage liked the dog act and "the wheel of death." Kai's favorite was when they changed people into tigers. It was a thrilling two hours!

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