Private!!!

I'm giving in and have decided to go Private with the blog for some time!  If you want an invite feel free to leave your email address. 

Kellie

Christmas Cookies, Disney on Ice, Gingerbread House, and Gymnastics in Bloomington

Wow its seems like we have been super busy since my last post and I think I'm setting a record for posting within a week of my last post.

A favorite tradition for my kids is making and decorating Christmas cookies.   My kids, especially Mckay, ask all year long if we can make sugar cookies.  At Christmas time I give in and try to ignore the fact that icing and flour will be all over my kitchen.

I'm not exactly sure if the cookies are edible but, my kids thoroughly enjoyed them.   We tried to keep Beckham away from the icing, so his job was to pour on the sprinkles.

We went with friends to Disney on Ice.  My kids loved the free slushy and Beckham loved Buzz Lightyear and Mickey Mouse.

I went and helped Mckinley make Gingerbread Houses at school.  The assignment was to create a community, so the students chose buildings that would be in a community.  Mckinley chose to make a Dental office.

Last weekend Mckinley had another gymnastic meet in Bloomington.  I took this picture as she was warming up Vault.   She's always so sassy!

Here are some of the girls from her team that competed in Mckinley's session

During Awards Beckham was entertained with the camera.   He actually took some great shots.  I loved having Jason come with me to the long gymnastic meet.  Although he studied in between Mckinley's performances it was great to have him there.

Mckinley took 1st in Vault, 3rd in floor, 3rd on bars, 7th in beam and 3rd overall.  She's definitely got the gymnast solute down!

Another photo moment with Beckham.  But, I actually love this picture of Mckinley.  Jason hadn't seen Mckinley compete and he was so proud of her.

Mckinley had such a great bar routine this meet (scoring a 9.45) so I'm posting it so the grandparents can see.   She has struggled with this event in the past, so she was so excited.

Bar Routine

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Basketball and Gymnastics

A blog update is long overdue. I have failed to blog about so much that it would take me days to catch up. So I will start with what we are currently up to. It seems like we go from one sport to the next here in Indiana with really no break in between. McKay has gone from football to basketball and will soon be starting baseball. Mckinley is still playing soccer (indoors) but, has now added gymnastic meets. At times it all seems to be a whirl but, it is so fun to see them interact with friends and develop their talents. Besides it keeps us from thinking of major details like where we are going to live and finding a job. That stress is becoming too much of a reality and it's one we just can't seem to figure out. Anyway, we are still enjoying the time here in Indiana and we appreciate the many friendships that we have acquired while living here. Here are a few picture from life as we know it these days.

Mckinley placed first in Vault in Kokomo and she was so excited. She has made such great friends through gymnastics. This picture is of our trip to Madison last weekend. The girls giggled the entire ride and hanging out with their mom's made the long gymnastic meet go by faster.
Mckay's basketball team, Catz, played in a Tournament over Thanksgiving and took 2nd place. We were questioning whether these baseball players could be basketball players?? But, they surprised us this weekend with a second place finish and a one point loss in the championship game. It's been fun for Mckay to play with all his friends.
Here is some footage from All Star Football, basketball, and Mckinley's gymnastics. This is mainly an update for the grandparents that I have neglected to post. At times the basketball gets confused with tackle football because the boys are a little scrappy. Not a whole lot of finesse but, a whole lot of hustle.

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Heartbreaker!!!

Football can be the greatest joy and also the greatest heartache. As Ohio State Buckeye fans we've experienced a lot of heartbreak the last couple of years. I often ask why do we do this to ourselves? The agony of defeat and the suspense of every close play is a killer. But, Beckham with a pom pom, doing cartwheels, and yelling OSU cheers is priceless. I took some of these pictures and then forgot to post them of Beckham and McKinley cheering during the OSU vs USC game.

Today Mckay's team lost in a heartbreaking loss to the Cowboy's. The boys had a great season and a win today would have put them into the playoffs as the number two team. But, because of the loss and the many close teams we ended up missing the playoffs by two points. At first the game looked like the Cowboys were going to take charge but, we fought back and came on strong in the end. We were threatening to score for the lead but, the clock just wasn't on our side. Cowboys won for a final score of 22-20. The boys were sad but, the season isn't over. We have one more consolation game next week. Mckay has had a great season and has enjoyed his coaches and the many friends he has made while playing football. Here is a clip of one of his touchdowns today ( I couldn't get every play I was to busy yelling).

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Indy Revolution

Here are some cute pictures of Mckinley's club soccer team. Mckinley is playing on a u9 team called the Indy Revolution. She is definitely the smallest girl on the field (she's only 7) but, gives her all. This has been a learning experience but, has been worth the time commitment (three practices a week and two weekend games on top of three days of gymnastics). Mckinley loves to play and I guess in the end it is worth it to see her improve and enjoy it. She scored her first goal last weekend and she jumped so high in the air with excitement. Her team has done pretty well they are 5-1 and just had their first loss to a competitive Carmel team. These pictures were taken by her coach Victoria at a team party.

High School Football Night

Last Friday night the youth football teams got to run on the high school football field with the Varsity football team and then shake their hands before game time. My cute friend Janell took these pictures of the boys. Here is Mckay with some of his football team friends.

I think meeting the team is always a highlight for McKay but, playing football and baseball with friends during the game is the best part. A team win is also great, at half the team was up 44-6. I just love high school football games!

Football Preview and Pedicures

So this footage is mainly for grandparents who want to see Mckay playing football. It's hard living away from family for this reason-- they never to get to see the kids participate in their events. But, hopefully this will give a glimpse of how the season is going so far. Mckay is number 30. On Offense he plays running back, receiver and on defense he is safety. The music change on the playlist is for Mckay. He loves Black Eyed Peas so I thought it was fitting to have it playing during his football clips.

The first segment of this movie is so comical. Mckay's team has cheerleaders who make a sign for them to run through every game. The boys love it!!! Last Saturday as they ran through the sign a few of the guys in front ran a little fast I guess and tripped. Then it was like domino's after that-- Mckay being one of them to go down. This was too funny- good thing no one was hurt. Apologies in advance-- Jason isn't the best with the camera, there is a lot of footage of the grass.

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Chargers 19 Raiders 0

Mckinley and I went and got pedicures last Saturday. Mckinley has been working on a goal for a couple weeks now and her reward was to have a date with mom. Her idea was to get pedicures. It was a great reward for me as well. The massage was heavenly and the girl time with Mckinley was priceless. Here are some pictures of the outcome.

I think this is the best my feet have looked in a long time. As most of you know I'm definitely not known for my beautiful feet. The poor lady who has to groom my feet, she gets a work out.

I blame it on the running but, really it's just pure laziness.

Where did August go???

Well again I'm a total slacker in the blog department and in looking at the date I'm wondering where did August go??? Being that it is September 1st I thought I would start the month off with a blog entry. Not much new going on around our house just busy with school, sporting events, and running. Life really seems to be the same everyday. Beckham and I still go to the Y so that I can run, we often hang out with friends for lunch or park group, and then at about 4:00 PM ( when kids get home from school) run wild trying to get the kids homework done and off to different sporting events. Fall is approaching and I can feel it in the morning air. I love this time of year-- fall brings college and high school football games, baseball playoffs, carmel apples and the beauty of changing leaves and fall colors. Before I get to ahead of myself and jump right into September and October, I need to recap some of August. Here are a few pictures from last month.

These pictures were taken by my mom at the Farm in Richfield. The kids in the back of Grandpa Mikes farm truck with Tucker the Wonder Dog (as grandpa Mike puts it).

First Days of school!!! I can't believe it is already the beginning of a new school year. Mckay and Mckinley were excited to start and be back with their friends. I was excited for them to start, because it keeps them busy and this means only one more school year and Jason will be done with school-- Yahoo!!

Jason has been busy working on his thesis and this means doing some lab work at home. Mckinley has become Jason's personal lab assistant. She just loves helping (I think mainly because she loves wearing the latex gloves) and learning about the teeth.

The other day I made chocolate chip cookies. The kids had to help. Mckinley insisted that we all wear our new aprons. Beckham had to wear one as well. He looks so dainty in his girly apron and basketball shorts.

Carefully pouring in the flour. Wow Becks it's a good thing we finally got your haircut!

Beckhams favorite part was eating all of the Chocolate Chips!

Trip to Utah

Trips to Utah are always full of fun and extremely busy. We always want to see so many friends and be able to experience all that we love about Utah-- running with great friends, eating at favorite restaurants, swimming at the pool, playing baseball with cousins, and enjoying the love of so many. This trip was extra special as we saw so many friends and family that we hadn't seen in a long time. Kyle and Aly were there for the first part of the trip and it was so fun to hang out with them. We were able to see baby Cohen (Jason's sister's baby) be blessed and meet him for the first time. Mckay was able to see one of his great friends from Colorado and also see Dallin from Ohio. We also got to say goodbye one last time to my Grandma Beth. It was such a neat experience to see her tenderness as she was getting ready to leave this life. I will never forget the way she looked at me almost wanting to say so much but, couldn't and instead just gazed into my eyes. My trip couldn't have been timed any better as I was able to say goodbye and also be there for her funeral. At the funeral it was nice to reconnect with so many family members and to cherish the memories of Grandma Beth. Here are a few of the memories of this summers trip to Utah.




Utah is always about having fun with the cousins.


While in Utah Jason and I had our 12 year anniversary. It seems like we have been apart the last two years over our anniversary. Jason was nice and sent me these flowers. The hardest part about coming to Utah is leaving Jason for so long.


Our trip to Utah included a drive to Richfield to see the family farm and spend time with Grandpa Mike. Here they are watching the cows eat in the corral. Beckham was a little nervous when the cow moved.


The kids got to feed the cows and drive the truck-- only on the farm.



After the farm we went to Fremont Indian State Park for some trail running and hiking and then we headed to Big Rock Candy Mountain. The Big Rock Candy Mountain is a favorite childhood memory for me. Grandma Beth loved taking us grandkids here.









Grandma Beth's funeral in Richfield. Jason got to come to Utah for the funeral. It was a little costly to getting him there but, definitely worth it.

Erickson Family



As granddaughters we were given white roses to put in the casket. Mckinley wanted to help put the roses on the casket.


Beckham of course running through the cemetery.

In Utah Beckham had his third birthday. He has been waiting some time for his birthday and could hardly believe when I actually told him it was his special day. We had a little family get together in the city park.


Dawna made Beckham a cute baseball cake.




Beckham loved opening presents and being the center of attention.




Crazy girls!!! These girls had so much fun together as they always do. They are great friends and cousins.

One of Beckham's favorite presents was the Spider Man costume. It took him a little while to warm up to the mask but, as soon he was comfortable we couldn't get it off of him. He would say mom "Look at Me" and then he would pull of his mask and say "Mom its just me, Beckham".


My niece Jammie and I posing for the camera.

This trip to Utah was a very memorable one. Only wish I could've seen a few more friends during my stay. Next time-- I hope to see you all.