2015 Photos and Year Recap

This has been a wonderful year. The girls are thriving at their schools. Nate has switched jobs and is really happy at his new Mayo location. He is still close to our house which is nice.  I am really enjoying being a substitute para professional.  I spend most of the time working at Gibbs, Elyana's school. It's so nice to drive her into school, work, and drive her home.  I am getting to know the other paras and a few of them will text or email me personally to request me as their sub.  I'm glad to be getting to know many of the students too, even though it is a big school.

The only downer we've had this year is that Nate is struggling with an ongoing shoulder injury and I am still struggling with plantar fasciitis. I have tried 2 cortisone injections, physical therapy, massage, acupuncture, and even ionophorisis (spelling?).  I am most of all missing going for walks and running.  I have gotten bored with a stationary bike in our basement. I have been so proud of Nate though. He has been consistent with running on the treadmill and counting calories.  He is at his goal weight and looks amazing.  I'm hoping to kick things up a notch in 2016 and join him in reaching my goal weight too.  I am so thankful for family, and our many friends here. I am thankful for our church and our awesome new home. I super appreciate Midwest Lifeshots Photography to help us capture memories of our ever growing girls.

Next year's photos will be different too as Elyana gets her braces off and Mikayla will get braces on. Also, next year, we have more home improvement projects planned. We are scheduled for a new roof and we will be missing one tree as it is badly damaged and must be cut down.  Our front and back decks also need a little T.L.C.  This spring we plan on heading to Madison to Comic con to see a few beloved Dr. Who characters.  I look forward to a few short road trips here and there with the family.

Christmas!

This Christmas we stayed in Rochester for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We had a beautiful Christmas lunch at mom's house.  Due to weather, we headed out a night early to Joanne and Babe's home for the Jones Christmas. The girls always have such a fun time with their cousins. I came down with a bad cold on Christmas.  I feel bad but I napped a lot of the time at their home.  We picked up Sophia and brought her back home with us for the rest of Christmas break.  My dad and Sarah came up on New Year's Eve to ring in the New Year with us.

My real Elf on the Shelf!

This is the candy cane I made from the iron hooks I found on the abandoned railroad.

Elyana wanted monkey bars for Christmas. With a shoulder injury, Nate really pulled through and she has been so busy on the monkey bars and has multiple blisters to prove it!  Her other favorite gift is a Nancy Drew book collection. She has been alternating between monkey bars and reading.  My mom gave the girls a large beautiful doll house. Joanne gave them some doll house items and a little family for the house.  They have been busy making furniture for it and decorating it.

Here are photos of our time at Nate's parents house.  The whole family was there. We made the traditional Swiss Doobas and cream. We enjoyed listening to Ryan on the piano and Tom on the saxophone.

Sophia blended in perfectly with the cousins.

Fall Family Visits

This fall we were blessed to have Sophia visit for a long weekend.  Dad and Sarah came up and visited us also.  We went on a Christmas tour of the Mayowood mansion.  It was so much fun.  While Sophia was here, I helped her create a little house out of a shoe box and we made little furniture for it too.  I had so much fun crafting with her! The girls had fun making gingerbread cookies with Sophia also.

Halloween

Halloween this year was spent at Nate's parents. His sister, Cyndi put a lot of work into a haunted forest.  Elyana was a minion and Mikayla was a gypsy.

Chloe's costume!

American Heritage Girls

I am having fun co-leading Elyana's 4th grade group of American Heritage Girls.  We worked on making some cute reindeer hot cocoa packages and some turkey packages to sell at a church fundraiser.  As you can see in the photos below, the group of girls that Elyana is with have similar personalities.  I love seeing them encourage and support her.  AHG has helped her grow and to make friends from a variety of churches and schools.

This semester we are mastering a theater badge.  We learned about different types of genres, interviewed a local actor and actress, wrote and performed their own skit, and toured a costume shop. The costume shop owner closed the shop and let us try on anything we wished. It was such a blast. We are still hoping for a backstage tour of a theater.  In the spring, I will be leading a fun cooking badge.  Mikayla's group will be doing something similar, a gingerbread house decorating badge.

Elyana picked an Elsa costume.