Christmas 2015

 We enjoyed a play and musical production with Becki's family on Christmas Eve. We started our day at church, celebrating the birth of our Savior then headed to Mom & Dad's for the evening. 

The kids were a bit wired and the their production showed this extra energy.   

 The kids slept in until 5 am...to which we told them to go back to bed!!  We woke up around 6:30 and started to make monkey bread.  Once that was in the oven, we started to open presents.

 Will, Alex & Maddie all received Lego sets as their big gift from Matt & Becki.  Kaitee wasn't sure what she wanted for Christmas, so she received gift cards for Target and Amazon.  The special addition People magazine for Hunger Games was a big surprise for her though!

 

Eagle Sightings

We live along the Mississippi River corridor and have the privilege of seeing Eagles every winter.  With the mild winter that we have had, we haven't seen many...but decided to hit the River Road to drive north and look for some.  We stopped at a few Lock and Dams with little luck, but stopped at the first one again on the way home and got lucky!!

 We made a quick stop in LeClaire to visit the American Pickers Shop, which was open that day. 

Double Digits for the Twins!!!

 Maddie & Will turned 10 this month!  It is hard to believe they are in double digits already!  A privilege in our family (when turning 10) is getting to sit in the front seat!  They are extremely excited about this!

We celebrated with family and friends at Chuck E Cheese.  It was a fun night with games, pizza, cake and gifts. 

Will's candles wouldn't blow out!

Peoria Festival of Lights 2015

We drove to Peoria early in December to enjoy their annual Festival of Lights.  It has become our favorite Christmas tradition!  This day, we drove down early to go on the hunt for Felopi, which is the Festival of Lights mascot.  The city hides a medallion somewhere in the city and gives clues every week to try to locate it.  It has become another part of our trip and we love to challenge of the hunt!

Waiting in line to see the lights!!

We ended our night at Tyroni's Italian Restaurant for pizza and breadsticks.  Our day is complete - even without finding Felopi.

Spelling Bee Competition 2016

For the third consecutive year, Kaitee represented Wilson Middle School in the Moline District Spelling Bee.  To participate in the District Spelling Bee, students must place among the top 3 students in their grade and team.  There are two teams (Black & Gold) per grade, allowing 6 students per grade. 

We are proud to say that Kaitee placed 2nd - runner up! She (as well as the top 5 finishers in the District Spelling Bee) will now represent Moline at the Regional Spelling Bee at Augustana College later this month. 

Some of her words included:
Unity
Wikiwiki
bandersnatch
quesadilla
apricot
nanotechnology