Hart Family Christmas Picture 2014

Christmas Letter 2014

 I tried something new for our annual letter this year.  Unfortunately, I am not able to upload it onto blogger or Facebook since it isn't a recognized document (image or doc).  Don't know if this comes through or not, but I thought I'd give it a try.  We trimmed our mailing list a lot this year, knowing that we would be uploading a copy which we could email out.  No such luck thus far.

Fall Break - Kansas City

Our school started something new this year - a fall break!  We were so excited to see this on the calendar and immediately started looking at options for a short trip.  Our first choice was to head back north to Lake Superior again (see our time in Minnesota).  We really want to head back up there to see the rest of the north shore and drive into Canada.  We'd also love to cruise around the Apostle Islands since that didn't work out last time.  We were very disappointed when we checked schedules and found that a lot of the fall schedules ended the week before our fall break. 

We then decided to look into a new place - Kansas City.  It would (hopefully) be warmer and the trees would still be turning.  We weren't disappointed!

We left the Monday of Fall Break (Matt was on call the previous weekend).  One of our first stops was at this covered bridge in Madison County, IA.  It is one of the bridges that the book, Bridges of Madison County is based on.  The bridge was beautiful but we had zero luck at finding the letterbox.

Once we reached Kansas City, we checked into our hotel and decided to go shopping.  The kids wanted to go to the American Girl Store and the Lego Store. 

Will said it best when we walked into the American Girl store, "Uh, this is a boy's worst nightmare!  So much PINK!" 

He & Matt quickly found a seat and waited for us to finish our shopping...

We ended our first night in Kansas City by eating at Fritz's.  The food left a lot to be desired, but the kids loved placing their order through the phone and watching the train deliver their food to them!

We started our second day by heading to Independence, MO (such amazing history in this town!).  We mainly went in search of letterboxes, but we quickly struck out and were discouraged by the clues and no finds. We decided to give up on the boxing for the time being and headed to lunch.  With food in our tummies, we headed south towards Shawnee again (where we were the night before) to shop at IKEA and find a few more boxes.  We didn't have much to get at IKEA, but it still took us over two hours to do our shopping!  We headed out to find a few more letterboxes in the area...

While letterboxing and driving around town, we found many "Royal Blue" fountains.  It was neat to experience Kansas City in the middle of their World Series run.  There was electricity in the air - you could feel it!  Many of the city's beautiful fountains had been turned to blue water.  Most everyone you met wore something Royals!  Here are the kids in front of one of the blue fountains.

We were able to find a handful of letterboxes which helped our day go better!  We ended our night at T-Rex for dinner.

While leaving the restaurant, we came across this display!  Kaitee asked if she could have her picture in front of it since Amelia Earhart is her hero!

Matt & I discussed the best option for our last full day in Kansas City.  We felt that we had seen enough of the city while driving all over and really weren't up for doing a lot of "touristy" things.  We decided to head to Independence, KS to visit the Little House on the Prairie home.  We knew that it would be a full day of driving, but knew that this would most likely be our only realistic chance at seeing this home. 

We headed out the next morning and discussed our other options for the city if we stayed in town.  We made a last minute decision to stay in the city and go downtown.  We had already driven around the Plaza a bit the day before, but we wanted to see that a bit closer.  We also wanted to visit Union Station and Union Cemetery.  We successfully located a letterbox in Union Station and then explored the beautiful building.  It was fun to try to describe what it would have been like 100 years before.  We can only imagine through pictures and movies.   


This is the Centennial anniversary for Union Station!

We walked outside to get some pictures and walk across the street to see the WWI monument close up.  The science museum (in Union Station) is currently running an Extreme Bug unit.  This lovely lady is sitting outside Union Station.  They even dressed her up for the World Series!  We had the kids stand in front of her and tried to take their picture.  All of a sudden, she started to move!  With the movement came a VERY loud noise!  Scared the crud out of the kids!  We will be laughing about this for a long time! 

World War I Building and Monument

At one point, I looked back and saw Will using this stick as a cane.  I took his picture but he asked me, "Don't put that on facebook.  I don't want people who walk like this thinking that I am making fun of them."

Kansas City did a wonderful job of making their city beautiful!  We were amazed by how many green areas there were inside the city limits.  The Plaza district with the river running through it was very unique.  We have heard that it is even more amazing with Christmas lights! Alex & Maddie both decided that they would move to Kansas City and live in one of mansions near the Plaza district when they are old enough to own a house. 

Our next stop for the day was at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the sculpture art there.  The kids loved the glass maze.  At one point we had a meltdown with two our kids and decided it would be best to leave and head for another stop.  The distraction seemed to help. 

Pay no attention to Will...he truly is all boy!

We ended our day of exploring by visiting a few parks - in search of letterboxes.  We stopped at Waterfall Park in Independence, MO.  While Matt looked for the box, the rest of us explored and played.  What a cool park!

We also found a letterbox near this tunnel in Lee's Summit.

Our last stop was at this park...Lowenstein Park in Lee's Summit.  The kids loved the 3 tier drinking fountain. 

We drove back to the hotel and the kids swam while we waited for some pizza to be delivered.  Once the pizza arrived, the kids took showers and we all watched the final game of the World Series.  We were sad that Kansas City lost, but it was a good game to watch...and even more fun to say that we were a part of it!  All kids quickly fell asleep and we woke up and headed home the next day. 

Two side notes:  You may notice that Will is wearing the same outfit in every picture.  You are correct in seeing this!  I gave each kid a list of things to pack and I told them that I would not be checking what they packed.  Will assured me that he had packed everything from the list (at least 3 times!).  Once we arrived at the hotel and swam that first night, we quickly realized that he, indeed, had not packed any clothing other than his swimsuit, pajamas and sweatshirt. 

Other note - we hear rumblings from the top that we won't have a fall break again. It was nice while it lasted, I guess.

Halloween 2014

We got home from Kansas City with an hour to spare before Trick-or-Treating!  We unloaded the van and headed over to Eldridge, IA to spend the evening with our small group - for food, fellowship and trick-or-treating.

The kids had a blast hanging out with their friends!

The next night (31st), we got dressed once again...and headed over to Grammy &
Grandad's house as well as a few neighbors whom the kids consider honorary aunts/uncles. 



We ended our night at Becki's sister's house.  The kids really enjoyed walking the neighborhood with their cousins.  It was very cold (20 with wind chill), so we lost half the kids after the first loop.  The older kids did both outer and inner loops - and have the bounty to prove it! 

Hart & Whitten Kids



Cross Country Comes to an End

Kaitee receiving her pin for PR (Personal Record)

 Wilson Middle School had their sports recognition night this evening. Coach Perkins identified two "most inspirational" athletes (one boy and one girl from each class --6-8th grades) -- Kaitee was recognized as the most inspirational female athlete of her class. Not because she was the fastest runner, but because she always smiles . . . even while she runs.

We are so proud of Kaitee. She decided that she wanted to try XC this year. She never complained once, even when she realized that it was much harder than she anticipated. She finished the season with her best time of the season

Receiving her certificate, pin & letter

Kaitee with her favorite coach and teacher, Mr Perkins

Driving Thru Fords!

We had a busy Sunday last weekend!  We started our morning at church where Alex helped with the children's service for the worship segment.  Will, Katie & Becki stayed home (we had attended church as a family Saturday night) and worked outside, preparing the deck/house for cold weather.  Once Matt got home with Alex & Maddie, we got ready to go to the Moline Halloween Parade.  This parade has always been a fun tradition for our family.  Lots of floats, friends and candy!  We got down to the parade and staked our claim at the beginning of the route.  We had some friends join us and we were looking forward to a fun parade.  The parade soon started...and then quickly ended.  We were disappointed to see the end of the parade after only 18 minutes!  We drove home almost in unbelief!  In the past, the parade had been 2x the size!

After getting home, we decided it was too nice of a day to stay home.  Even with the day more than half gone...and school tomorrow...we decided it would be fun to head towards Dixon, IL (1 1/2 hour drive) and visit White Pines State Park.

We knew ahead of time that there wouldn't be any time for hiking - which made us sad.  White Pines has some fun trails with creek crossings!  We were able to drive through the fjords along the road and take pictures as we walked around the main park area.  What a gorgeous day with beautiful trees!

Will started a dance session on the picnic table.  Soon Maddie & Kaitee followed suit!  They had all of us cracking up!

Alex was content with doing her cartwheels.

 We hopped back in the van and headed to see the other side of the park.  The kids loved driving through the creeks!

 We spotted this tree (Below) and knew that we had to get some pictures underneath it!  The color of the leaves were unbelievable! There is something about leaves that bring out the kid in every person!

 Will making a leaf angel...

 We had fun getting an updated version of the overhead "head shot" from Mother's Day

 Having recently watched Karate Kid (I, II & III), the kids loved standing on these posts and imitating Daniel(son).

 We ended our time by driving up to the Lodge area of the park.

 And then drove through the creeks one last time before heading back into Dixon for dinner.

 We were blessed with a beautiful day, amazing scenery and a breathtaking sunset to end our day! God loves to out-do Himself!!