Tyson's Basketball Season

Manhattan offered a lot of great things, one of which was Manhattan Parks and Rec.  I knew when we left we would miss it greatly.  But Carroll offered something that was a very close second.  The high school coaches and players hosted a basketball season on Saturday mornings.  Tyson absolutely loved it, mostly because he was able to get to know the some of the players.  The high school players were awesome to him, the other kids were awesome to him, and the coaches were awesome to him.  He even made a basket the last day of the year.

 

The very last thing on the last day the high school boys played the little kids, first made basket wins the game.  Joel thought maybe he could tell that the high school kids were plotting to get Tyson the ball, so I made sure to video the entire thing.  The video is a bit long, but in the end one of the high school boys rebounded it and "accidently" missed it and "accidently" gave it to Tyson.  Tyson missed the shot, but how cool is that?

 

   

 

Happy 11th Birthday Tyson Jacob!

I seriously can't wrap my head around how my little man is 11 years old already.  Everyone always says time flies, but until I had kids I had no idea what they were talking about.  Each year just seems to be going faster and faster.  Tyson is absolutely the best 11 year old on the planet.  He teaches me so much.  No one enjoys life more than him.  He makes me laugh every day.  He is a rule follower, sweet as can be, happy from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to bed, loves everything sports, and has completely converted to be the biggest ISU fan around (sorry Lundstrom's I swear he decided this all on his own :))  The most amazing thing is how he has adjusted to the move to Iowa this year.  He talks about missing Manhattan, but he also LOVES Carroll.  When we go to cheer on the Tigers, every single kid that is his height comes up to him, says "Hi, Tyson", and gives him a high 5.  They have completely embraced him.  They have shared many stories with us about how "he made a 3 pointer at recess", "told a funny story today"... I really think they like him. :)

Carroll Tigers Party!

 

 

The Rest Of 2014

We, for the most part, got moved into the house with lots of help from our family.  I swear that I will NEVER, EVER, EVER move again.  And then we hit the ground running.  We enjoyed some pumpkin patches, field trips, Iowa State football season, Halloween, a trip back to Manhattan, Thanksgiving, Christmas, first freezing cold Iowa temps, first big Iowa snowstorm, and separate trips to Vegas for Joel and I.  Whew, lucky for you I was terrible about taking pictures!

First Day of 4th Grade, Adams Elementary

First Day of Kindergarten at Fairview Elementary

 

First night in their beds in the house!

 

Iowa State Football

 

Our first visitors!  Iowa State vs. Kansas State

 

Back in Manhattan!  Go Cats!

 

Kindergarten Field Trip

 

Trip to Deal's Orchard

 

Halloween 2014

 

Charlie during the snowstorm

Tyson during the snowstorm

 

With our move to Iowa our holidays were much different this year.  Thanksgiving Day we spent the whole day in Perry with the Lundstrom's and then left for my brother's in Minnesota late that night.  We had a giant Baldus Family sleepover for the weekend.  It was a great Thanksgiving holiday and I took zero pictures! :(

 

Christmas was completely different too.  I got to host Christmas for the Baldus Family and I LOVED it!  The day after Christmas we headed to the Lundstrom's for Christmas there.  They boys thought it was "The BEST Christmas EVER!"  Not having to spend the entire week traveling was so awesome.  It was a great Christmas and I took zero pictures! :(

 

I did get this picture though.  We went to see Santa.  Charlie climbed right up on Santa's lap.  Tyson wasn't sure what to do, so he sat on Mrs. Claus.  I don't think anyone EVER sits on Mrs. Claus' lap, and I'm positive that no 10 year old has ever done it.  She didn't know what to think.  I laughed my butt off.  Then she said you should probably go sit on Santa's lap.  Love that kid!

 

 

My niece, Paige, turned 21 in November so I got to help her celebrate in Vegas at the end of December.  I was at the Britany Spears concert with my niece and sister on my 14th wedding anniversary.  We had a blast! 

 

Train Rides

There have been a lot of things in Iowa we have wanted to do for a long time, but living so far away we were never able to make them happen.  Train rides in Boone were on the top of our list.  The first one was Thomas the Train.  Tyson has loved Thomas since he was an itty-bitty thing.  Charlie knows who he is because of Tyson's obsession, but doesn't really share in his obsession.  Charlie, however loves trains in general.  For anyone who has witnessed his love of trains while visiting us in Carroll knows exactly what I mean.  Grandma Pat, Papa, The Murphy's and our family enjoyed a day with Thomas.  The boys were in heaven and Tyson was star struck.  He wouldn't even get close enough to him for a picture.  Grandma Pat took one for the team and we snuck Thomas in without them knowing.  Thanks Grandma Pat and Papa for the tickets!

 

 

 

The second train ride we have always wanted to do was the Santa Express.  The kids get to wear their pajamas, drink hot chocolate, eat cookies, sing Christmas carols, visit the North Pole, and see Santa!  I'm not sure it gets any better than that.  This time I was the "family social chair" and we ended up with a group of over 20.  The boys were ecstatic, they got to see cousins and Santa on the same night!

 

 

 

And Then We Became Carroll Tigers

For some reason we decided to build a house in Carroll.  We were suppose to move in by July 15...July 31...August 15...and we closed on September 2nd.  So as crazy as the summer was, our move to Iowa was even crazier.  We joined Joel in his 2 bedroom apartment with all of our stuff boxed up and sitting in the garage at the new house.  What an adventure!  And again the boys went above and beyond all expectations we had.  I am pretty sure it was hardest on me.  The boys did enjoy seeing the house progress and picking out the colors for their rooms.  Tyson 100% converted to a Carroll Tiger and an Iowa State Cyclone immediately.  I tried to do his room in KSU, he refused and decided on Cyclones.  School started before we were moved into the house, and the boys adjusted remarkably.  I was obviously worried most about how they would adjust to their new schools and it couldn't have gone better.  They both have great teachers, paras, and special education teachers.  And the kids have completely accepted them with open arms.  I thank God everyday for how well they have done.

Tyson in his new room!

 

Bringing a little KSU to Carroll with our purple door!