Pep Band Starts!
Today Pep Band started at Metea. Brittany is so excited to get back together and make music with many of her fellow marching band friends!
Brittany Pit (not Pity) Party and Jelly Belly Visit!
Today we decided to get out of the house and have a day trip together as a family. We drove up to the temple and let the kids walk around, and then we drove up into Wisconsin to go on a Jelly Belly factory tour. Before doing that, we drove around Kenosha Wisconsin looking for a place to eat and found a place with some of the best food EVER! It was called Jack’s Cozy Cafe and was really a dump from the outside (and kind of dumpy inside), but we just loved the food!
Most of us got breakfast food, and the signature Brezza that I got (Croissant Crust topped with sausage gravy, two cheeses, sausage, bacon or ham with onions, green peppers & mushrooms) was to die for. The huge homemade cinnamon rolls were awesome too! The owners came out and chatted with us, and we got to give our complements to the chef. If you’re ever in Kenosha, here’s the link: http://www.jackscozycafe.webs.com. Well worth it!
We then went over to the Jelly Belly factory and did the tour. We had a lot of fun there and the kids really enjoyed it. I think the last time we did that, Zach and Ben weren’t even around. 🙂 We had fun and made a lot of noise (when we were supposed to) on the little train car that took us around the place.
After the tour, we went into the Jelly Belly store and bought a TON of belly flops and other candy that was pretty cheap! We also sampled a lot of jelly beans in crazy flavors from pencil shavings, to barf, to dirt and grass. Here’s the list: http://www.jellybelly.com/fun_stuff/flavor_guides.aspx
I think we ended up with something like 35 pounds of stuff! This will make GREAT Christmas and other presents! 🙂
This evening, Brittany had a PIT party for Marching Band. Although Marching Band has been over for awhile, they still want to get together and have a great time! Go PIT!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today we had a wonderful day, having Thanksgiving dinner with our good friends, the Thompson’s. The food was outstanding, and the company was wonderful! Brittany loved the food! She prided herself on eating an entire turkey leg! Everyone thought she was funny!
The girls took a bunch of pictures, and after dinner, we had relaxed, had fun, and chatted. It’s great to have awesome friends to spend special occasions with, especially when family is so far away!
Kirstyn and Zach Ball Games
Today Kirstyn and Zach had their first basketball games of the early winter season. Kirstyn plays Wheatland ball and her games are at Still Middle School, so that is really nice! She played hard and did pretty well. She has a really good team and they play well together. She’s a little out of practice, but everything will come back soon, just like riding a bike!
Zach’s team played great too! When playing on his level with the Park District, they are MUCH more lenient than they were playing Wheatland. It’s all about the fun and getting used to basketball. They don’t call double-dribble or travel much at all, and the kids have a lot more “fun” I think. They don’t learn as fast, but they do have fun. Zach has been blessed with great coaches. Looks like they’ll have a good team too!
Great job in your games kids! Keep up the hard work and you’ll learn a ton! 🙂
Young Women in Excellence
Tonight we went to the Young Women in Excellence program at the church. True to form, they had a great program! The theme was Mission Possible and each of girls had secret agent names. It was cute. Brittany was Special Agent OSO, and Kirstyn was Special Agent Caramel. We got a laugh out of that.
They had a great video presentation and then some wonderful words from the leaders. The project tables were out in force as well. Brittany showed her cooking interest, and Kirstyn showed some of the knitting she had been doing for baby blankets. What a great night! We sure have great young women! 🙂
Kirstyn Honor Choir Concert
Tonight, all the honor choirs that feed into Waubonsie gathered at the high school for a concert. They had a clinic beforehand with the high school directors and when they came out and performed, they sounded wonderful!
Great job Kirstyn! Way to go! Keep on singing! You really do sound beautiful!
Meet the Mormons Night!
Tonight, we had a GREAT event over a the church. Our long-planned “Meet the Mormon’s Night” finally came to pass and we had a wonderful attendance. We had lots of friends of ward members come and it was wonderful to share with them everything about the church and what we believe. The official program was great and the “tradeshow” format after was just as effective. We were there much later than expected because people kept hanging around, asking questions at all the booths, and having a wonderful time eating refreshments.
Ben was an absolute kick in the pants tonight! One of the booths had mint lifesavers, and not too many of them were being taken, so Ben took it upon himself to do something about it. He totally filled his pockets to overflowing with them and walked around giving them out to everyone! 🙂 His pockets so full he could barely walk and we were dying laughing!
I didn’t get a very good picture (head blurry) because I was laughing so hard and couldn’t hold my phone steady. What the little character! He sure has everyone by the heart strings, though. They just all love him to death. The problem is that he knows it! 🙂
Angela Scout Training
Today, Angela had her first official scouting training at East Aurora High School! It is so cute to see her walk out the door with her binder in her bag and her scout shirt on! 🙂 She had a fun time there with a couple of the other leaders from the wards that go to our building and combine with our pack. She learned first-hand how quirky scouting can be. 🙂
Zach Gets His Bobcat!
Tonight was pack meeting, and Zach received his Bobcat award! He was so excited to go and get his first rank advancement! He has been working really hard and doing all his requirements. Angela has been doing an outstanding job so far, making sure that they plan activities that will help the boys to get their requirements done. When they called Zach up (and his parents), he was ALL smiles and barely could contain himself! 🙂
We are so proud of him and his hard work so far! First step to Eagle, Zach!!! Great job!
Parent/Teacher Conferences
Today we attended parent/teacher conferences and it was a crazy day. I went in late for work in order to go in and talk to Brittany’s teachers. She is working hard and is struggling some, especially in physics (yuck!), but we know she’ll continue to work hard and try! Tonight we went to Gombert and Still for Zach and Kirstyn’s conferences as well. We are really proud of our kids and how hard they are working. This district, being one of the best in the nation, is really challenging, but it is preparing our kids for the harder things to come! 🙂
Basketball Games for Zach and Kirstyn
Today Zach and Kirstyn played great in their games. Zach is quite the little defender! He has some work to do on offense, but he really sticks to who he is guarding like glue. 🙂 His team won and it looks as if their team is going to have a great (possibly undefeated?) season!
Kirstyn played great in her game as well! She scored the first points of the game! 🙂 We were really cheering loud for her!
Unfortunately, her team lost, but she is loving playing basketball again, and this will really help keep her practiced up for the spring and basketball for Still Middle School!
Great job today kids!
Kirstyn Chorus Concert
Tonight, Kirstyn had a chorus concert with all the grades participating. She did a GREAT job and they sounded wonderful!
After each grade sang, they had a combined choral number with everyone and it was very cool. The only drawback is that they only have the gym to sing in. Had this been in a full auditorium, the sound would have been amazing. What a great district we live in that has such a great support of the arts!
