January Days

Mabel was sitting on Bella’s lap and she always loves to sit as close as possible. Bella tried to take her picture and couldn’t fit her whole face in the frame, so she zoomed out. 

This was the result! This photo cracks me up! 

Another close-up of our sweet girl. She looks like a seal here. 

Curtis looking so cute and serious while watching his You Tube videos. Recently, he’s been watching car videos. He’s learning how car engines work and car maintenance. I’m always amazed at what he has learned from some of the videos he watches. 

Curtis’s basketball season has begun. This kid loves basketball so much. He plays with so much heart and effort. 

We had a little friend party for Graydon. And what did he choose to do? Bowling, of course! He has such a sweet group of friends. 

Bella went to her first formal! The photos of her with her friends are on her phone. She’s such a natural beauty. 

When Andy likes something, he says, “ooh, ahh, shaaah!” Over time, it has gotten shortened to just, “shaaaaah.” One night, Bella had an away game at a school called Shawe Memorial. Whenever anyone said it in our house, they called it “Shaaaaawe.” So naturally, Bella had to get a photo of the school name for Andy. 

While we were in Wisconsin, Andy purchased a soft top for his Jeep. However, with all of our luggage and gifts, we did not have space in our van to bring it back with us. A few weeks later, my mom brought it down for us. That was also the day of the Packer play-off game against the 49ers. So we had a little Packer party. 

My mom is the biggest Aaron Rodgers fan. She was so nervous the whole night. And was broken-hearted at the end of the game. She really wanted a win for Aaron. :(

Even though the game didn’t end how we wanted, we still enjoyed our party. 

Christmas in Verona

We arrived in Verona in the early evening. Shortly after our arrival, Andy did one of the things he does best - rest. 

Twinning! Curtis wore his new shirt and Jacob happened to be wearing one that was almost identical! 

More presents! 

Bella drew Gaga’s name for our gift exchange. She decided to paint Gaga a picture of the Tetons since Gaga holds a special place in her heart for that area of Wyoming. 

Jacob braided Bella’s hair!

Graydon’s 13th Birthday! Of course, we went bowling. Literally, Andy and the boys went bowling every day (with the exception of the Christmas celebration days) we were in Wisconsin. 

Graydon is officially a teenager! 

More money for the birthday boy. He ended up with more than enough to buy his tenor saxophone! 

Monopoly with Papa! A long game with Papa as the winner. 

The two oldest cousins. 

Verona got some snow while we were up there. We brought up snow gear hoping this would happen!

I promise he was having fun. 

On our last night, we went to the Meade’s house for the Packers/Vikings football game. The Meades are big Vikings fans while we cheer for the Packers. With the Vikings quarterback out due to COVID and some other key players missing, it was a pretty easy win for the Packers. 

We drove back to Indiana the next day and I was back to school the day after that (staff workday). And it’s been nonstop ever since! I usually declare January to be my month of hibernation, but it’s been too busy for me to hibernate. Hibernation season has now been extended to also cover February!

Christmas in Kenosha

January is almost over and I still haven’t added all of our Christmas memories! Leading up to January, I knew that it was going to be a busy month - and I was right. All three kids are playing basketball right now. Each has different practice times and different game nights. We are constantly running back and forth dropping one off and picking up another. It is SUPER convenient that we live so close to school - that helps a lot! February should be more manageable since Bella and Graydon’s basketball seasons will be winding down after the first week or two of the month.

We left for Wisconsin the day after Christmas (as always.) However, that day fell on a Sunday this year; so we didn’t leave until after church.

We celebrated our Benetti Christmas at the Kreuser house. Jodi and Aaron always do such a great job hosting. 

Hot chocolate bombs are the bomb! 

Present time! 

That day also happened to be Jodi’s 34th birthday. Kristen made her a cake and we sang to Graydon too since his birthday was coming up in the next few days. 

Jodi prepared a Saran Wrap ball filled with lots of fun prizes. 

The next day, some of us went bowling.

Curtis bowled a new high score for himself. 

Jodi and Bella think so much alike. While Bella made a Guess Who gave for me, Jodi made a Guess Who game for both Branko and Bennett. Lori and Pat played it one night and were trying to get creative with their questions. Written on this photo is one of the questions Pat asked. (It is in reference to me.) 🤣🤣🤣

One dog by her head and one by her feet. Life is good. 

Rocky all snuggled up for movie night. We watched the Christmas Chronicles. 

Another birthday celebration for Graydon. 

Auntie Jodi tricked him. It looked like he was getting Play Doh, but the canister was filled with money. Uncle Scott also tricked him by giving an empty card (he handed him some money after Graydon read the card). Graydon’s main gift for Christmas and his birthday was money because he was saving up to purchase a tenor saxophone. 

One night, we had a whiskey tasting. I knew I wouldn’t handle that so well, so I drank some sparkling water instead. 

The next day, we made our way to Verona for one more Christmas celebration.