17!

Timothy turned 17 today! We startd the celebration yesterday by setting up his main gift while he worked--a new gaming computer in his own space. 

 The Geek Squad even gave him a little birthday message in setting up his computer!

He had some friends over for a sleepover, and I figured they wouldn't get to cake eating until late at night, so we did a cake picture beforehand.  And since Sam's club no longer makes the double layer cookie cake, he got one double layer piece for himself and a Hyvee cake to share.

He's been planning for his party for months and saving up lots of Pokemon cards to open.  He had fun opening them with friends and got quite a few good ones.  His shirt was a gift from another friend...Benedryl cat meme.

Once his friends left, he enjoyed a birthday nap.  We got Freddy's take out for dinner and watched 2 episodes of Mr. Beast Games to finish out the night.

Happy Birthday to this young man who still gives a little smile when mom asks!

 

Christmas Cookies

I don't bake much at Christmas, as we always end up with more than enough goodies.  But sugar cookie cutouts are a must! Teresa did most of the decorating and I helped on a few. The cookies turned out quite pretty and tasty too!

 

New York at Christmas

We just returned from a quick weekend trip to New York Ciy.  We went with the idea of showing the kids NYC at Christmas and taking in a few shows.  It ended up being pretty heavy on the shows with some Christmas sprinkled in--but no complaints here! We almost missed our flight on Wednesday night, but God's grace they did not close the gate and we made it to NYC.  We stayed in Queens.  We had a nice view of the city from our window, and Manhatten was only a train ride away.

We began our time in NYC with a stop at a Christmas market.  There were lots of handcrafted items and a variety of food for sale.  We mostly just browsed.  Later in the weekend, Teresa did pick out a bracelet.  The bryany Park market was very crowded on Saturday morning.

It was a bit chilly outside, so we did need to find some places to warm up.  We went in a mall near Columbus Circle a couple of times.  There was a Shake Shack there that Timothy enjoyed.  The decorations were pretty too and they had a neat gingerbread display.  Max Brenner's was another warm up spot.  We got hot cocoa there.  It advertised as the best cocoa in the city and I am pretty sure they were right!

Another stop we made was inside of Macy's.  The decorations were beautiful in the main store.  In Santaland, the decorations were pretty amazing too.  We did meet with Santa, but it was more the experience of Santa land that we went for.

The shows were a main highlight of the trip!  We saw Six, Elf and then split up for Book of Morman and Chicago.  I think we all enjoyed the variety of shows but had individual favorites.  I liked Elf best.  There were snow bubbles at the end of the show!

We had a lot of fun walking around the city on the last night.  Being near times square, looking in tourist shops and enjoying a brownie!

And of course seeing the Rockefeller tree was amazing!  There are so many lights and it looks so pretty lit up at night.  There were big crowds too, but we managed to get some nice views.

 

Happy Halloween

 It was another fun Halloween.  Teresa carved her pumpkin last Sunday.  Timothy carved his late one night this week, so no action shots.

Both kids started trick or treating from a friend's house.  I got a picture of Teresa and her friends, but not of Timothy.  Troy and I invited a friend over to hand out candy.  I had to dress up the last two days, so I did not have a costume on this Halloween.  Troy and Lance had a blast interacting with all the trick or treaters.  It was a widny, cold night, but we still had around 130 kids!

Confirmation

 Teresa was confirmed this weekend.  It was a beautiful day and heartwarming to see our daughter affirm her faith.  We are thankful that some family were able to make it to town to celebrate with her.  And we are thankful that Pastor Karla got to confirm her.  She is also Teresa's mentor, so that was extra special!  She had a very small class--just her and one other boy!  There was a church brunch in the morning and we invited family and friends over for lunch.  We are glad that we could gather to celebrate this young lady's continuing journey of faith!

Happy Birthday

 Troy had a nice birthday weekend.  He spent the first half of the weekend busy with music.  On his actual day, we had some nice family time at the arboretum.  He ended the day with a dinner with friends.  We had gorgeous weather.  It was the perfect evening to sit on the deck with friends.

The boys bonding over Pokemon go!

Feeding the fish

As a happy birthday gift, Timothy even gave a hint of a smile!

The birthday boy and his gifts!

Teresa made French Silk Pie brownies for Troy!

Some of the birthday spread.

Great company to celebrate a wonderful man!

Homecoming

 Teresa went to her first high school dance--Homecoming!  She went with a group of girlfriends.  The started the night getting ready at a friend's house.  I helped her curl her hair early in the afternoon.  The had dinner at a restaurant on the river in a nearby town.  It was pretty windy, and sunny, but the pictures were still cute. They had a lot of poses planned out.  Beautiful girls!  After pictures and dinner it was on to the actual dance with a disco theme.  Teresa said it was a lot of fun!

1st day of school!

 Two high schoolers this year...a freshman and a junior!

Teresa started yesterday with her orientation day for freshman. She had a pretty good day.  Happy to find she had friends in several classes and at lunch.  She walked through her class schedule, so fears of getting lost have diminished.  Most teachers seemed okay.  French class is small and speech class is huge.  I am sure this the start of many adventures!

We celebrated her first day with Croissant sandwhiches and oven fries for dinner.  Her treat was bundlets from Nothing Bundt Cakes.

Timothy began his junior year today.  His first year driving to school.  He has some friends in a few classes and at lunch.  That is the main bonus of starting school--seeing friends regularly again!  To celebrate we went our for pizza.  We tried a new place.  Teresa really liked it.  Timothy thought the pizza was okay.  He got crepes for breakfast and an oreo cake for a first day treat.  Hoping for a great year for Timothy as his high school career is zooming by.