It Takes 3 Snow Days...

Yes, it takes three snow days to update our blog... not just one... three! About a dozen inches of snow and windy weather, was the culprit of me staying home from school three days this week! I was able to get lots of things done, including my last paper for the semester! I had fun though too as Paul was able to stay home with me for two of the days and I got to hang out with my niece Sydney for a short afternoon!

And obviously, I am on a monthly basis update when it comes to this blog! November was filled with caramel apple night with some friends, Sydney's first birthday, my sister and my newly engaged brother coming to Iowa City for the last home football game, and going back to Sibley for Thanksgiving!

Abe and Erin's annual caramel apple night!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sydney! We love you!

Yes, Paul is holding a "pet" skunk while tailgating before the Iowa vs. Minnesota game. The Hawks end the regular season 10-2!

Carrie, me, and Hat! My sis and sis to be! We are so excited for Kenny and Carrie and couldn't be happier! Carrie and Kenny were high school sweethearts and reunited after five years! We always thought he let the good one slip aways, so we are thrilled that God brought them back together! Love you guys!

Sydney and Aunt Kate!

Blizzard - Dec. 8-10

The 8th was also my birthday - I think this was the first time to have a snow day on my birthday!

October... Come and Gone!

Well, since it's been awhile... I thought I better get this blog updated! I cannot believe that October is already over. It's been one busy month!

Actually, I should probably back up a bit. September 22nd was Paul's birthday! He turned 28... he often forgets, so I thought I should document that! Paul's parents and grandma were in town throughout that week so we were able to see them over his birthday which was very nice. Paul's dad also had a birthday that week so we had to snap a picture of the birthday boys!

The following weekend, we went to Storm Lake to watch Hattie play volleyball. Unfortunately, the Beavers lost and Hat did not get to play. But we loved spending the day with my mom, dad, and sis!

It was also my parent's 31st wedding anniversary on September 23rd!

We love you guys!

A few weeks later in October, we were able to see Hattie play volleyball again in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. And... she played varsity! The Beavers still lost (to put it nicely, they haven't had the best season... but we are just so happy Hattie is getting to play!) We had a great time together and enjoyed (or I should probably say, agonized over) watching the Hawkeyes play Michigan State. What a game!

Above: Hat, Smalls, and Bailey!

Below: Kate, Hat, and Mom hanging out in the hotel room!

We also got to babysit our niece, Sydney one night! She is at such a fun age! Syd is so smart and absolutely hilarious! She has a great personality and we love spending time with her! I mean... just look at those baby blues!

The rest of October was consumed by Lone Tree Cross Country! I had seven cross country meets and six pasta parties! But it all paid off!!!!! The Lone Tree boys' team placed third at Districts, earning them a trip to the STATE cross country meet! Our girls, unfortunately placed fourth by 12 points. However, we did have two freshman girls place in the top 10 which also qualified them for the STATE meet. So this past weekend, we made the trip to Fort Dodge (where I ran ten years ago!). The boys tied for last place but hey, it was the STATE meet! :) The girls ran incredibly well, placing 21st and 24th out of 131 runners! I just cannot get enough of these two girls! They are so determined and have such awesome attitudes! Hopefully next year, they can lead their whole team to State!

(More STATE pics to come!)

In other exciting news from October: The Hawks are now 9-0!

The week in review...

This past week was Homecoming week at Lone Tree.  My cross country team ran at the City High Invitational and got our behinds kicked!  Little 1A Lone Tree came in last place against 5 other 4A schools and a 2A school ranked in the top five in the state and another 1A school ranked first in the state!  However, the runners' times were outstanding so we considered it a pretty good meet!  Last week we ran at Fairfield and one of our freshman girls won the race!  She is now ranked 13th in the state!  

One of our senior girls was voted Homecoming Queen and another was on the court.  We were pretty excited and proud that two of the three girls on the court are part of the cross country team.  I think we may finally be making a name for ourselves!  

The other "highlight" from Homecoming week happened on Wednesday night when our house was TP'd by the cross country boys.  I was really bummed that we didn't hear them... we would have totally scared them otherwise!  They did a pretty good job and it didn't take me too long to clean up!  Sorry the picture is pretty dark.... 

On Saturday, I went out for breakfast and then took a trip to the apple orchard with my good friends Katie and Christine. 

And then, Paul and I scored some Hawkeye tickets from our good friends, Chris and Amy Hogrefe.  We had awesome seats and saw a good game.   Iowa beat Arizona 27-17.  

Nik and Jeremy's wedding

This past weekend, Katie was able to attend her cousin, Nikki's wedding (unfortunately, Paul had to work all weekend).  Nik married Jeremy Vershoor, making Nikki another Mrs. V!  She was a beautiful bride, yes, in red!  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the groom, nor did I get one with both of my parents... so if I can round up someone else's pictures, I will post those later!

Hattie, the Beaver!

Katie's little sister, Hattie, just started her freshman year at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA. She is starting as a biology major and is also playing volleyball for the Beavers. She is such a cool kid and we love her to pieces! She seems to be doing well and is enjoying college life! Her boyfriend, Greg, is also attending BV so we think that helps! We would appreciate prayers for her as she is trying to decide what exactly she wants to do with her life and if she wants to remain a biology major! Oh the joys...! We love you Hattie and are so proud of you!

http://www.bvu.edu/athletics/sports/volleyball/

Teacher, Student, and Coach!

Well, school has started! We both love this time of year, Paul more so for the football aspect! I have a great group of 4th graders again and am having fun getting to know them!

I have also started my Masters in Administration through UNI (FYI...this doesn't make me more of a Panther fan than a Hawkeye fan!) It is a Monday night class over the ICN at City High in Iowa City. I really haven't been too overwhelmed yet which is nice. I'm just trying to stay on top of things!

And of course, cross country is in full force! I coach boys and girls high school and junior high. We had our first meet last week and were super happy with the results! The high school girls finished in 2nd place!!!! They were second only to Pekin, who are the defending State Champs! Our girls placed, 3rd, 6th, 13th, 34th, and 56th. The boys finished in 7th place. It should be a fun season!

Sydney

Jon, Stef, and Sydney moved back to Iowa City this summer and we are so happy they are only 15 minutes away now!  Sydney is growing up so fast and is very active!  She is at such a fun stage and really has a great personality!  We love her!  

Baltimore/D.C. Vacation

Last Thursday Paul began a week of vacation and we were able to take a trip to Baltimore, MD to visit our good friends Kyle and Katie Van Arendonk.  At the time of purchasing our tickets, Kyle and Katie were expecting their first child and we were hoping that the new babe would be at least a week old by the time of our arrival.  However, Katie went through 41 weeks of pregnancy and so Anika Kate was a mere three days old when we met her!  Although our trip had many highlights, meeting Anika was definitely the best.  She is absolutely adorable!  

On Friday, we took the afternoon to see the sights of Baltimore, via the Water Taxi.  We had a great time on the boat and enjoyed getting out a couple of times to walk around the Inner Harbor. 

One of the stops took us to Fort McHenry which was a military fort used in the War of 1812 when the British Navy attacked the Baltimore Harbor.  

After this battle took place, the flag still waved in the same spot as the flag in the picture below.  This inspired Francis Scott Key to write the "Star Spangled Banner." 

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Washington D.C.  Neither of us had been there before so we definitely heeded advice from many before our trip.  We ended up walking the whole day instead of opting for a bus tour and although we were glad to stop at our hotel by late afternoon, we were glad we chose the walking option.  We visited three museums: The Museum of Natural History (our favorite), The Air and Space Museum, and The Museum of American History.  We definitely enjoyed walking around the National Mall and visiting all the monuments.  The Washington Monument was Paul's favorite.

This is the view from the Lincoln Memorial.

Although we did see the First Dog, this was the only picture we took around the White House.

We enjoyed walking around the monuments, so after eating supper at the Old Ebbit Grill, we walked down to the Mall for a second time and enjoyed the monuments all lit up.  The WWII monument was Katie's favorite.

  

On Sunday morning, we drove to Arlington Cemetery.  It was a quick trip because of the heat but we were able to see the Kennedy gravesite, the eternal flame, and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

On Sunday night, after returning to Baltimore for one last night, Kyle and Katie took us to Rita's Italian Ice and Custard down around the Inner Harbor and then to Federal Hill Park.  We had a fabulous time on vacation and spending time with the Van Arendonks.

Jumping on the Blogwagon!

Hey Friends!  So I finally decided to start a blog... I seem to enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so I thought I would just start one too!  

Our summer has been going well and extremely fast!  Paul is quite happy about the fast part and I am just somewhat ok with it!  Paul had a busy month in the trauma unit in June, ending his first year of residency.  Then he started his second year in July on the NICU/PICU floor.  He is now back in the ER and is quite happy about that.  Even though his hours are quite irregular, he is not on call or at the hospital for more than 12 hours at a time!  I am gearing up for my fourth year teaching fourth grade and coaching cross country....and... starting my masters....yikes!  So when I've had those lazy, relaxing days this summer, I just remind myself that I will soon be so SO busy!  

Well, that's my first blog - short and sweet!  We hope this finds all of our blogging friends well and happy and we look forward to keeping in touch through the blog world!