Lately...

We went to the Wave game (Professional Indoor Soccer) on Saturday afternoon.  Cole's soccer coach is from Chile, and he is good friends with many of the players on the team.  He was able to get us tickets to sit right behind the goal on comfy red leather couches.  The kids were also able to go out on the field at half time and got autographs after.

They boys are having fun before and after scouts playing football in the gym.

The kids have been reading a lot of books lately.  Ethan is finally reading the Hunger Game series, I've been trying to get him to read them for a while.  Cole and I are reading the 39 Clues books together and Liv is reading Ivy and Bean.  Together as a family we are reading, A long walk to water, which is a great book about one of the lost boys of Sudan.  School is still going well and everyone is doing great.  Ethan just worked on a mummification project. He had to mummify an avocado and then make a tomb to burry it in.  Here is his tomb.

We went to Cole's class to watch a Christmas Play that he did with some friends.

We've been watching all our Christmas movies the past few days, The elf, Polar Express, The Grinch, Arthurs Christmas, and Home Alone.  We've finished all our shopping, baking, and mailed out Christmas cards.  I think we are just about ready for Christmas.

The boys play Futsal every Saturday morning and are having fun.  The boys also tend to round up a Football game in the neighborhood every Saturday afternoon.

Liv had a pizza party at a local restaurant with her gymnastic team.

I finally got my dinning room rug that we have been waiting for since we moved in.  It's beautiful!

We continue to light candles every night and read scriptures about the nativity and the birth of Jesus.

State Meet Photos

There was a professional photographer at Liv's State Meet.  We had the opportunity to buy a few of the photos.  I just got the digital files today and wanted to share.

State Gymnastics Meet 2014

We spent the weekend in Greenbay.  Liv qualified to compete in the state meet for gymnastics and won the All-Around Grand Championship for her age group.  It was a fun, long weekend.  

Friday night we drove up after school.  Liv competed first thing Saturday morning, since she is in one of the younger age divisions.  She had a great meet, with her best all around score.  

Here are a few pictures before the meet and during warm ups.

Here are Liv's scores.  

Floor Routine (9.300 First Place):

Bar Routine (9.475 First Place):

Beam Routine (9.325 First Place):

I don't have a video of her vault (9.150 Seventh Place) because we couldn't actually see it from where we were sitting.

Here is a video at the end with Liv being announced as the 2014 State Gymnastics All Around Champion for her age!

As a team, they took 4th place in State of Wisconsin.  

The event was held at the Shopko Center, which is right across from Lambeau field.  We ate lunch at Lambeau field on Saturday and walked around the Pro Shop. 

The kids also had fun playing in the hotel pool with all their friends.  Ethan and Cole LOVED being surrounded by all the cute little gymnasts.  

It was a great weekend and we are so proud of Liv and all her hard work.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had company this weekend for Thanksgiving.  Shawn's mom and dad flew in Tuesday evening and we had a great time with them.  The boys had fun playing chess with Grandpa, and Liv and Grandma played a few other games.

Ethan became so confident in his chess abilities over this weekend, that at school yesterday he challenged one of his friends.  He didn't realize until after, but this friend is in the Chess club at school and took 3rd in the school competition.  Ethan didn't win that round :) but he continues to play and have fun.

We decided to head out for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We went to Maggiano's for the all-you-can eat dinner.  It was delicious and we came home with a fridge full of wonderful leftovers.

We set up our Christmas tree and went to the store and bought our annual christmas ornaments.

Shawn: Pepe Le Pew (from Looney Tunes)

Jenn:  Baloo and Mowgli (from the Jungle Book)

Ethan: Gore (49ers player)

Cole: Aaron Rogers (Packers QB)

Liv: Christmas Pinball game

We spent some time over the weekend at SkyZone to burn off some energy.

 Here is Liv and her friend Isa.

Liv figured out that she could do several back handsprings in a row at Sky Zone.  She spent most of her time doing that.  I warned her to slow down and take a break so she wouldn't get sick, but she refused to listen.  She came home later and spent the rest of the day throwing up :)

 Shawn and I went to Cole' school today and watched him participate in the Wax Museum.  He dressed up as a famous person and gave a report.  Cole chose Elvis Presley and did a great job.

The last thing we did this week was start our daily Christmas Advent Wreath.  This is a new thing this year where we will light a candle and read a scripture every night until Christmas Eve about the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

There is an old man who comes every day to the place where Liv takes gymnastics.  His name is Grandpa Pete.  His granddaughter used to take gymnastics there and he would come to watch her, but she has since quit.  He is retired and bored most of the day.  He found that he enjoyed watching the girls practice.  So he still comes every day.  He brings popsicles in the summer for the girls after practice and boxes of candy bars in the winter.  The girls love him.  He comes to their meets and he has a notebook where he keeps track of the girls progress.  At first I thought it was a little creepy, but as I have gotten to know him I actually think its really sweet.  

There is a boy in Cole's school class named Jeremiah.  He has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair.  He is nonverbal and uses visual cards to help communicate.  Cole started talking about Jeremiah shortly after the first day of class.  Cole has such a soft heart and is truly concerned about him.  His teacher told me at parent teacher conference how amazingly helpful Cole is with Jeremiah.  He is always trying to help him and on one occasion when his aid wasn't paying attention, Cole was able to step in and help Jeremiah when he was becoming agitated and very frustrated.  

So proud of Cole and his big heart !