Today we had our neighbors over for a BBQ and had a great time. We got to know them better and the boys really were excited to have people over, even though the kids are in middle and high school. Kirstyn also went to a birthday party of one of her friends and had a wonderful time!
Today was a full “play day” for the kids. Kirstyn did a mall trip with her friends, Brittany hung out with friends as well, and tonight, since it was spring break, we didn’t have any “official” Young Men and Young Women activities. That said, the Laurels and Priests decided to get together and have a movie and game night at the Laurel Class President’s house which so happened to be Sarah. 🙂 She sprung it on us at the last minute so we had to rush to get the basement cleaned up and appropriate for the get-together. The kids had a great time! After MUCH prompting, we finally let Brittany go down and join the party, even though she’s not a Laurel yet (but most of her friends are and were there). 🙂
Today we got up early and drove to Starved Rock State Park, where we hiked for about 7-8 miles around all kinds of trails, canyons, etc. and really wore ourselves out! All the kids did a great job and we had a wonderful time! We all didn’t think we could keep up with Angela, but we did!
We took some absolutely gorgeous pictures and the weather was wonderful! You’ll have to see the pictures in our family album when it comes out. When we were done hiking, we ate a much needed lunch at the visitor center area, relaxed for a bit, and then drove home.
What a great but exhausting day we had. It’s so great to be able to spend time as a family when everyone is happy and enjoying the day! We only had one injury… Brittany slipped and sprained her ankle. She’ll be alright, but it is painful and she’s not feeling the best. She continued to walk for another 2 miles or so so on the ankle in order to get back to civilization. What a trooper!
Today, Mom and Dad Hobbs got home from their mission to Japan! 🙂 They landed in Idaho Falls around 2pm or so totally exhausted and probably a little sad to have left all their friends in Japan behind. They had a great welcome party waiting for them when they got home, however! Angela was really sad that she couldn’t be there to greet her parents when they got off the plane, but cheered up when I took her to an Intel event at the United Center to watch her first Bulls game!
We met the group of vendor folks and customers at a bar close to the United Center for appetizers and drinks (water for us) 🙂 and then went over to the game together.
We met some great people there and got to know a couple of people that we may get together with this summer for a grilling party. They were all really nice and Angela was very impressed! 🙂 She loved the food and the atmosphere sitting up in one of the suites! The dessert cart was her favorite of the night! We ended up taking our new friends home so that they wouldn’t have to take the train back down to the city and turn around and take the train back out to Naperville. We had a great time!
Go Mom and Dad Hobbs and the Bulls! 🙂
Today Spring Break started and even more importantly for Sarah, Hunger Games came out to the theaters! They made shirts and went to the movie…
Going to the movie was part of a birthday party for a guy in our ward. They had a blast and Sarah LOVED the movie!
This week should be a lot of fun! Tomorrow I’m going to take off of work and we are going to go out for a day at Starved Rock State Park, hiking, enjoying the weather (hopefully it will be good), and having fun as a family!
Today, Illinois held the Republican Primary Elections, and Angela and I decided to have some fun and go to Mitt Romney’s victory party up in Schaumburg (at least we hoped it would be his victory party)! 🙂 We got up there, got through security, and found friends to have fun with! We were right up on the rail next to the podium. 🙂
As we were standing there, a lady came up and asked us if we would like to be back behind the podium in the risers. We said yes of course! Unfortunately, we were right off to the right of where the TV cameras were so we didn’t get on TV but we had a blast!
When Mitt and his wife came out, the crowd went crazy! We had a great time cheering for him during his speech. What a speech it was! He is ready to take over the Presidency, and we all are hoping he does, so the country can get back on track!
After his victory speech (he won by a large margin), he went directly down to where we were originally standing and started shaking hands! We couldn’t believe it! We were starting to get bummed, but then he came back up and shook hands with people on the risers. We both got to shake his hand and say congratulations! Angela got a pic of me shaking the hand of the next President! 🙂
After the rally, we went out to eat and had a great chat about politics and such! What a fun night! 🙂
Today was a really busy day! Kirstyn had her EEP activities so we took her up to that. Sarah and Brittany participated in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Naperville with Anderson’s Bookstore. They had a blast doing that (as they always do). Zach had his last basketball game as well. They ended up losing but were .500 for the season (which is MUCH better than they did in football)! 🙂
After the game, Angela, Zach and I went over to Culver’s for the team party. The kids had a blast eating and laughing and then they had their medal ceremony.
Zach was so happy to get his medal and will really miss playing basketball. He learned a LOT this season, and although he still has some catching up to do with his friends since this was the first year he has ever played, he had fun.
Today’s weather was VERY warm (in the 80’s which is NUTS for March), so after Ben had a little rest, he got up and went outside to play in the water. 🙂
Hopefully the weather stays this way and doesn’t get colder again. I kind-of doubt it, but we’ll see! 🙂
Kirstyn EEP and last basketball game. Lunch with team at Culvers, medals, etc.
Today Angela went over to Gombert Elementary and helped Zach’s class with their “Super Science” activities. This is something Angela always loves to do and it made Zach SO happy that his mom came to help out in his class. He is such a sweet little guy and loves his mom!
Today the basketball tournament started for the middle schools. Kirstyn played hard, but they lost in the first round. 🙁 They are now done for the season. Kirstyn played hard and we are so proud of her efforts! She received a certificate in which she got the “No More Mr. Nice Girl” award! 🙂
At the first of the season, she was pretty timid. Now she gets her game face on and loves to go after jump balls and fight for rebounds! 🙂 Great work little lady!
Meanwhile, in the area of new beginnings, Angela had her first Cub Scout meeting today as a new Den Mom! She is really excited to be working with the boys! She went over to the store today and bought her new shirt, patches, books, etc. Very cute! 🙂 It’s really fun to see her in her new uniform! 🙂
Today, Kirstyn played her last regular season game. Unfortunately, they lost, but she had a great time and can’t wait for the tournament to start. It’s a single elimination round, but she is excited to play at least one more game. We’ll see how they do. We are so proud of Kirstyn and how hard she has played this season. For her first exposure to competitive basketball, she really has come a long way. She puts her heart into it and that’s what we LOVE to see! Great job Kirstyn! 🙂
Today, Zach lost his first basketball game! 🙁 He played a little better but they still came up short. He wasn’t sad though. When they lost, he said, “well, at least our record is better than in football!” 🙂 We had to laugh at that one!
After the game was over, Kirstyn had a band clinic and performance at Crone Middle School. I went and supported her there while Angela helped Sarah get ready for the big Priest/Laurel Dance tonight (a.k.a. Mormon Prom). Kirstyn did a great job and they got some great feedback from some wonderful clinicians!
After Kirstyn was done (a little later than expected), I ran the camera and Kirstyn over to where Sarah and all the kids were meeting for dinner prior to going to the dance. All the other parents were there taking pictures. Sarah looked stunning! Almost all the Priests and Laurels from our ward went and so it made a GREAT group!
They had a GREAT dinner and then went over to the White Eagle Owner’s Club for the dance. Everyone had a wonderful time and Sarah really enjoyed herself! She said that even the guys were asking people to dance which is a pretty big step for the young men in our ward! 🙂
Here is a picture from the dance itself…
Today Sarah found out that she was selected to be in the Pit for the Metea High School’s musical this year!!! Yea Sarah! She was so excited! The musical? One of her very favorites… Beauty and the Beast!
When she got home from school, she was walking on cloud 9! She will be playing her flute in this one and before the day was over, she was starting to play some of the music! Maybe this will help her practice more! 🙂 Great job Sarah! Congratulations!
