Surprise Birthday Party

Our good friend Krissy turned 50 recently, so we surprised her with a birthday party. Krissy was very surprised. Those are tears of joy:

 

The girls wanted a photo with Krissy, so of course I obliged them:

Miracle on 34th Street

Recently, our good friend John played Fred Gayley in the Seedling Theatre production of Miracle on 34th Street. John's performance was epic.

Last Holiday Concert

A lot of lasts will be occurring this year now that Nick is a senior in High School. Last Thursday was Nick's last Holiday concert. The songs featured at this year's concert were from Frozen, Polar Express and The Grinch who stole Christmas.

Alex Came Home for Thanksgiving

Alex made a short appearance over Thanksgiving weekend. Unfortunately, the weekend went way too fast.

Rob Plays Hockey

I discovered last week that a friend of mine, who is probably the greatest athlete I've ever known, plays hockey, so naturally I had to drop by a game to see him in action. I wasn't disappointed.

ISU Tailgate

One of our last tailgates of the season. We had a big crowd at this one.

Nick in Concert

This isn't a timely post, this was the Halloween concert, but better late than never.

 

Fall Senior Photos

Took advantage of a beautiful fall day to shoot some photos of our newest senior. Cody even got into the action.

Father's Weekend at Missouri State

Drove to Springfield to visit Alex over Father's weekend at Missouri State where we took in a football game. Missouri State lost, but we had a great time anyway.

College Visit - Southeast Missouri State

Southeast Missouri State left a very good impression with Michele and I, and most importantly, with Nick. We loved the campus, the cafeteria, the housing, and the  administrators we came into contact with.

Here are some of the sights from that visit:

This tree is called the gum tree due to the number of chewed pieces of gum that students have stuck to it over the years.

Champion Beech tree near the river front branch of the campus.

Looking out over the Mississippi towards Illinois.

Academic Hall, which is the landmark building of the campus.

 

The probability that this will be Nick's choice for college is very high.

She's a Keeper

Our neighbor's tree looks very nice this time of year, so it seemed like a good backdrop for a photo of my life partner.

Alex Came Home

For the first time since starting college at Missouri State University, Alex came home for the weekend. He spent much of his time catching up with friends, but we did manage to get him to sit still long enough to take a few pictures.

Cody Wants to Go for a Walk

This is Cody's way of saying, hey, I'm ready to go outside and sniff around:

Who could say no to that face? Not me, that's for sure.

Tailgating Two Weeks in a Row

This week's tailgating group prior to ISU's game against the SDSU Jackrabbits:

ISU Tailgate

Finally had an opportunity to look inside the newly renovated ISU stadium this past Saturday during the pre-game tailgate.

The place looks very nice. Can't wait to see the Redbirds take on South Dakota next weekend.

We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon

Michele ran a 10K today alongside the participants of the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon. Pictured with her is her good friend Tara who took part in the half marathon:

This is a shot of Michele as she crosses the starting line. That smile makes me wonder if she knows there is more than an hour's worth of running still ahead of her:

Amazingly enough, she crossed the finish line with the same smile. I'll never understand runners.

Up Up and Away

Stumbled upon this powered paraglider trike while walking with Cody today at Maxwell Park:

I have got to get me one of those!

College Visit - Western Illinois University

Today we paid a visit to Western Illinois University so Nick could take a closer look at their Engineering program.

On the plus side, we were very impressed with the engineering program as a whole, and especially with the chair of the engineering department. On the minus side, Nick thought the campus was spread out too much, and he wasn't happy with the meal options in the cafeteria.

Next on the college visit list - Southeast Missouri State in October.

Family Weekend - Missouri State University

Great weekend with Alex in Springfield. Looking forward to getting back down there again soon.