Holiday Festivities, cont...

We had a fabulous-ly festive time last weekend, with some fabulous-ly funny and fun friends, who helped us all get in the holiday spirit with a dance-off for the boys, a gift exchange for the adults :) some fantastic food, and....





Many attempts at the perfect Christmas photo! Good times had by all :)

Family, Friends, Fun and FOOTBALL

MY team may not have been victorious on Saturday, but we had a fabulous, fun, family and friend-filled football weekend nonethless. (How do you like that alliteration, John?)

The morning began at 6:30 a.m., when we arrived at Grandpa Denny and Nana's house...as you can see, the early morning wake-up call for tailgating did not please the youngest member of our household :) He'll appreciate the necessity of a good tailgating spot soon enough.



By the time we left, Nana had fixed the J-bomb pancakes, thus, mom and dad were altogether forgotten and on their way to Ames.



By 8:00 a.m., we had found our tailgating spot, fired up the grill and found great friends to enjoy some microwave HORMEL bacon on the grill with ... :) And then, KICK-OFF



Following the semi-blowout, we toured good ol' Iowa State, including a stop at GAMMA PHI BETA, where we visited some of our favorite spots (Senior Apartment, Cold Airs and, of course, a picture in the front yard)




We picked Jack up around 5:30 p.m. to discover he had found LOTS of fun things during the day. Mom-friendly stuff like worms, dirt, frogs and had helped pick a plethora of tomatoes.

Good day, good friends....good times :)

Chows: Week 2

PIGTAILS and another adorable leotard for week #2. As for Jack, still skeptical :)

First Day: Chow's Gymnastics

The kids may have been a little frightened and slightly distracted during all the stretching and group activities (and their moms may have been sweaty and tired after the half hour class), but overall I give the first day a thumbs UP!

Don't you want to just squeeze adorable Leah in her pink leotard??



Glad we get to enjoy this class with you, Amie and Beau :)

Splish Splash

A few Sundays ago, dear friends Kevin, Heidi & Oliver joined us in the brisk 70 degree weather for our church's Family Fun Night at the Clive Aquatic Center.

You wouldn't know the water was a little brisk from the last picture of John, would you?

P.S. Heidi - these pictures and a few more made our church's website under Splash Party 2009. Check it out here

Mini-Shawn Johnsons?

These two precious bambinos (now much bigger) are teaming up for Chow's fall semester of Parent & Me Gymnastics.

You may want to start budgeting for the 2025 Summer Olympics :)

I get it now....

Obama cookies really are delicious! I've sampled the famous treats before, but never from inside Baby Boomers Cafe and, let me tell you, they never tasted so good :) Maybe it was the delightful company of 2 delightful women that made the whole lunchtime experience good....or maybe it was the sweet chocolately goodness. Either way....I'll be back. You can count on it!

Birthday Celebration

The paparazzi is always following us :-)

Ballard High School Class of '98 Reuion, Dinner with some G-Phis, Jack and Foss, Dena's Wedding in BOJI :-)

Whirlwind Weekend

The weekend went by incredibly fast and finished with Jack eating his version of wine and cheese: saltine crackers, mozz string cheese, and cubed, skin-free grapes....and of course, milk. Delious Delicious :)

Walking the Mall

After a nice Sunday afternoon lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Jack walked the Jordan Creek Mall with Emily and Ben.

Good friends, good times, and a sick baby :-(

It was absolutely wonderful catching up with you girls and I know Jack enjoyed snuggling with you both! His fever finally broke later that evening (After a bath. Thanks for the tip, Em!) but not in enough time for Varieties :-(