Papa Ken and Greyson

Papa Ken and Greyson spent some time together hanging out together in the backyard.  It was a contest to see who could swing higher!

Papa Ken earned points on the dismount.

We finished off the evening sitting around the fire on our newly painted and stained deck.

"Without wood, a fire goes out;

without gossip, a conflict ceases."  Proverbs 26:20

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for:

~State Football Playoffs.  Our first playoff game is next Wednesday.
~my Friday Spaghetti Ladies. 
~Bryce.  He helps me.
~the beautiful weather we had Monday for Jackson's Sr. pics.
~Shannon.
~my parents for helping out with the kids.
~that Papa Joe is much improved.
~soccer season and the opportunity to see my children run and play.
~email.
~Jackson's abs.  How else could he do this?

 "There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand." Proverbs 19:21

Thanksgiving 2009

We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our home again this year. We only had 17 at the table, so in comparison, it was a smaller group than usual. Grandma Shirley and Papa Ken came, Papa Joe came, as well as Shannon's sister Carrie, her husband Jason, and their two boys, Will and Ben. We also invited Homer, a gentleman from our church, to spend the day with us. Bryce spent the weekend with my sister's family. It just didn't feel right not having him with us.

I started cooking and baking on Wednesday. The kitchen smelled yummy all day. I think we finished about 11:00P.M. I didn't take many pictures, because, well, I was busy cooking. Here are a few shots I did get.

Upside Down Pear Cranberry Cake before...

...and after.

Blueberry Pie

We had two kinds of turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, applesauce jello, rolls, corn muffins, pumpkin pie, apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin cheesecake, upside down pear cranberry cake, cinnamon ice cream, crackers & cheese, and I can't think of anything else. It sure seemed like a lot of food.

Mom and I figured we had over 18 hours of cooking time involved. We were done eating in about 45 minutes.

Papa Ken always helps with the dishes.

Grandma Shirley played Yahtzee with the kids.

The guys all went outside to play football after dinner. They were outside just long enough to work up an appetite for dessert.

All of our guests left by about 4:00P.M. We spent the rest of the day lounging around and planning our strategy for Black Friday shopping.

We're thankful for each one that was with us on Thanksgiving. Hope you all had a great holiday!

"If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;" Proverbs 25:22

Great Wolf Lodge

In March we had the opportunity to celebrate my parents' 40th Wedding Anniversary by joining them and my sister's family on a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Wisconsin Dells. Their 40th was last year, but it took awhile to schedule a weekend away.

Here is a picture of the grand kids.


We stayed in a suite that slept 15. There was plenty of room for all of us. It had a complete kitchen, two full and one 3/4 baths, and enough beds to accommodate all of us. The dining area wasn't ideal, but manageable.

The kids had a great time at the water park.

Hudson coming down the water slide


Katie coming down the water slide

Shannon and the littles.

Jack and Alex going across the ropes/lily pads


Cousin Mason


Uncle Jeff


Bryce


Jackson


Colton


Chase


My sister Kim


Our hosts for the weekend

There were plenty of activities to keep all of the different age groups busy. Hudson, our little daredevil, was unstoppable. At on point, he took off from Shannon and ran directly over to a 3 foot deep pool, looked back at Shannon, smiled, and jumped in. Papa Ken was able to jump in and grab him just seconds after he went in. It scared him for a few minutes, but not long. Unfortunately, Hudson wasn't feeling good and was sick with a fever on Saturday, so he missed out on some of the fun.

We decided we would like to go again someday. Anyone else want to come along?

"He who heeds the word wisely will find good, and whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he." Proverbs 16:20

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve we spent the afternoon in Reinbeck at Grandma Shirley & Papa Ken's house. We opened gifts and had an early dinner. We left for home early due to blowing snow issues. We made it home without incident, but our road was filling up in a hurry.

Hudson's new tricycle

Naomi's geography game


Katie got a Fur Real dog


Colton got a Wii game


Bryce's Wii game


Chase


Jackson and Alex waiting their turns


Jodi

Shannon


Grandma Shirley


Papa Ken trying out his stadium chair

We spent the evening at home playing some of the Xbox and Wii games the kids received as gifts.

On Christmas morning the kids woke up about 7:30. We make them all gather in the upstairs hallway, then go downstairs from youngest to oldest. First they get their stockings, then we sort out the gifts. I was a bit of a Scrooge this year, and we didn't even put up a tree or any decorations. By the time we got an afternoon of decent weather, it was a week and a half before Christmas, and it seemed like too much hassle to traipse through the snow and chop down a tree. We took the money we would have spent on a tree and bought canned goods for a family that our church sponsored.

We didn't have a ton of gifts to open this year because we are giving the kids a lump of money to plan a trip (or trips) with. They get pick when and where, as long as it fits within the allotted budget. Our goal was to avoid buying a bunch of gifts just for the sake of buying a bunch of gifts, and allow the kids to create some memories, instead.

Despite the small volume of gifts, we still had a fun morning. After the unwrapping was done, we played with some gifts, then I settled in for my nap, and Shannon got started on preparing our Christmas dinner. Ever since I can remember, it has been our tradition that Shannon cooks on Christmas. This year we had lasagna and garlic bread. It was delicious. We got the crystal goblets out and had some sparkling grape juice, and the kids thought they were very special.

**Shannon and I were just discussing when the cooking tradition began. Back when we lived in Nevada, when I was about 5 months pregnant with Colton, we were expecting a house full of guests, and I came down with the flu. I don't remember ever being so miserable. Shannon took over, and did such a great job that I've allowed him to continue the tradition.**

Christmas afternoon we went to Papa Joe's to spend some time with Shannon's family.

Papa Joe

Shannon's sister Carrie

Carrie's husband Jason

Cousin Will

Cousin Ben

The evening ended in a trip to the ER. That's a tradition we hope not to continue!

Katie's lyrics to "Jingle Bells"
Jingle Bells, Christmas Bells
Jingle all the way.
How much fun
It is to ride
In a one foot Christmas sleigh.
Hooray!



"...and every man is a friend to one who gives gifts." Proverbs 19:6b

Christmas 2007

We began our Christmas celebration on Christmas Eve. Grandma Shirley and Papa Ken arrived at our house about 2:15pm to open gifts, eat dinner, and go to the Christmas Eve service at church.

Papa Ken

Grandma Shirley

On Christmas morning at 3:31 am, Katie came running up to our bedroom exclaiming, "Santa was here!!!!". We assured her that everything would still be there when the sun came up, and she should just go back to sleep. Fortunately, she did. Unfortunately, I was unable to get back sleep, so had a very early start to my day. I got up and chopped the veggies for the turkey and stuffing, and by the time Shannon got up at 5:30 we were ready to get the bird in the oven. We debated about waking the kids up, then decided to just play Wii without them. Within about 10 minutes they were all awake and ready to open gifts. We all took turns opening gifts, and then spent some time playing together.

When the turkey was finished cooking, we loaded everyone up and headed to Papa Joe's house. We spent the afternoon there, then came home and rested and played the remainder of the evening.

The nice thing about having two little girls so close in age is that they think they are getting twice as many toys!

Katie looks a little freaked out by the Barbie head.

Colton loves Moon Sand and anything he can create things with.

Bryce was the only one to receive a Bionicle this year.

Chase received Wii accessories, too.
Jackson received mostly Wii and XBox 360 components.

Same for Alex.


We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

"Many entreat the favor of the nobility, and every man is a friend to one who gives gifts." Proverbs 19:6

March Madness revisited

We finished out the month of March with a surprise birthday party for Papa Ken. When the Clarks show up, it's always a party, right? He turned 62 on the 30th. Instead of birthday cake we had a big chocolate chip cookie and cheese and crackers. The end of March also brought the end of basketball. Whoo Hoo! It was a long but fun season.

Saturday the 31st we attended a state wide youth event sponsored by Faith Baptist Bible College centered around the Final Four basketball games. Alex, Jackson, and two others from our youth group attended. Pastor Steve Cox of Clear Lake gave a challenge to the teens on being prepared for Christ's return. They organized a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, coinciding with the broadcast of the basketball games on two huge screen TV's. We enjoyed pizza (can you have a youth event without pizza?) and prizes throughout the evening. Alex and Jack's basketball team didn't fare too well. They were eliminated in the first round, and Jackson didn't even get subbed into the game. Jackson and Alex participated in the slam dunk contest, and Jack won first place. Actually, he was awarded second place, but the kid they gave first to was a little shrimpy guy who only made one of his four dunks, and it was more of a lay-up than a dunk, so we overruled the decision and granted Jack first place. They both received the same prize of a t-shirt. Alex's name was drawn, and he chose a basketball as his prize. The finale of the evening came after the games were over. Prior to the final four games, the teens were given the opportunity to predict the final score of the games to be thrown into a bucket and the closest prediction would win a prize. Up for grabs were 2 PSP game systems and a Wii game system. The winner of the first game got the choice of a PSP or the Wii system, and she chose the Wii, leaving the PSP for the winner of the second game. No one was more surprised than ALEX when his name was drawn. You see, his astute mother whispered the winning score in his ear as he was filling out his card, so in effect, I WON THE PSP! Overall, it was a very successful evening.

And now the drum roll...Bryce was the official winner of the Clark Family Bracket Breakdown! He correctly chose Florida as the winning team, rocketing his score over all the others. CONGRATULATIONS BRYCE! Notice his picture in front of the window in the living room. Do you notice anything about the window? YES! It is fixed. And it only took three panes of glass and three trips to the store to fix it ;).

"My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice--indeed, I myself;" Proverbs 23:15