Sierra's Wedding Trip - Part 4 of 4

We spent one night with friends of Ron and Patsy (my aunt and uncle), one night in a hotel in Wichita and the last night at Ron and Patsy's house.  And the fun never stops at Ron and Patsy's house.  The boys talk about that before and after the trip until the next time we're there :)

They used to call this the "fourth wheel," and I never wanted to correct it, of course.  Crazy that now the boys actually take turns driving this themselves!!

And there's no getting out of Kansas without fishing with Uncle Ron.  Even Camille and Rylan did it this year!  The boys love it!!!  Not everyone caught fish, but everyone had a great time.  So fun and crazy to watch your kids do stuff that you did as a kid...and with the same special people :) 

Daddy got some parent points for setting up a tent in Ron and Patsy's front yard and camping with the boys, which they loved, of course.  I, on the other hand, got a good night's sleep inside. 

Sierra's Wedding Trip - Part 3 of 4

I'm trying to stand back for a minute and ask myself if I would think that Gavin and Gage were so cute if they weren't my own flesh and blood.  Ummm, YES, they're still adorable and unbelievably handsome. 

How cute is this cousin shot?  Rylan's looking at his shoe, Camille is precious and pensive, Gavin has no idea that we're taking the picture and Gage is the only one semi-posing.  I love to see these kids together!

Sweet Camille is to the far left of the picture above.  She was the flower girl in Sierra's wedding.  I love to see these shots of the boys and remember the way they looked as they watched Sierra coming down the aisle.  It was priceless. Gavin was especially taken.

I love these family shots!  And good on ya, Bro, always so poised and handsome. 

Sierra's Wedding Trip - Part 2 of 4

Sierra and Jerrell's wedding was a really fun one! The ceremony and reception were outside at a place called Botannica in Wichita, an ideal setting for a outdoor wedding. 

Nothing says wedding like pictures--standard ones...

...and silly ones!  These are pretty epic, I have to say.  Where do you suppose the boys get the ham bone stuff??

--Wild turkeys (or pheasants, shall we say, since we're in Kansas), contained in sweet suspenders and yellow bow ties for the occasion--

I was glad to have all my men with me for this trip.  Such a handsome gang!

   

Sierra's Wedding Trip - Part 1 of 4

I have two cousins to my name: Brittany and Sierra.  It seems like yesterday, literally, that Gavin and Gage were the ring bearers in Brittany's wedding, but apparently it was actually three years ago.  And this time, the Koel bros were asked to be ring bearers with their cousin, Rylan, in Sierra's wedding.

These were pictures from the rehearsal in Wichita.  Look how sweet our boys look next to the groomsmen.   Could they be any cuter?!

Zach and I will take any time we can get at any and every opportunity.  I'm so glad that our families could be together at this special celebration.  It's so fun to see Zach as a dad!!!

Grandma Koel lives in Wichita now with her granddaughter and Brent's cousin, Crystal, so we spent some time with them during the day before the wedding. Crystal has turned her basement into a private hair/nail salon and massage parlor, and it's way impressive! 

Aunt Janet stopped by that afternoon, too, so here's the line-up, from left to right: Aunt Janet (Bruce's sister), me, Gage in back, Great Grandma Koel, Brent, Gavin and Crystal. (Janet's husband was taking the picture.)

Gage's Graduation

Class of 2028?!?!  Doesn't that look/sound/seem CRAZY?!  We had a lovely little "graduation" ceremony in Mrs. Tonelli's class in the last week of school, and every student received a "diploma," along with a beautiful binder of all the year's best projects and pictures of the kids at different special occasions.  She. Does. This. For. Every. Kid. Every. Year!!!!  I'm no less floored or touched now than when she did it for Gavin and his classmates several years ago--it's amazing and something we'll treasure for a lifetime.  My baby is going to Kindergarten. 

Mountain View Spring Awards Ceremony

We all say we have award-winning sons and daughters, and Gavin is no exception.  We're so proud of him for the awards he won as a first-grader at Mountain View this year, both in the fall and in the spring.  By the end of the year, he had been recognized in nearly every one of the "specials" (art, music, PE, computer, etc.) besides attendance and outstanding academic achievement.  Gavin is highly motivated by these extrinsic awards, but I really hope that he's also learning a general love of learning.  I think he is, but I can't be sure.  I was just like him, and that's why I'm asking, I guess.  Do we love the prizes and recognition more than the pursuits for which we're being recognized?  Likely some of both, I would speculate. 

Bolder Boulder

I always look forward to the Bolder Boulder each year, having done it so many times growing up.  This year I was planning on running the whole thing with Gavin and my Dad (Grandpa Bruce) ended up joining us as well.  He raced it in the B wave and then circled back after he finished to join us at about the half mile mark for his round 2.  It was probably the first time Gavin would really try to run the whole race, as the last time I probably carried Gavin about half of it when he was five or six.  He did an amazing job.  You can see finish above together in the middle of this picture that Tara took.  We ran the whole thing with the exception of maybe 10 or 20 seconds around mile five.  We finished in 1:14:38.  It was good enough for Gavin to finish 35th out of 204 U7 participants and faster than I had anticipated.  It got me curious as to my previous times and I think I really started running it around age 8 with a time of 1:02:00.  So next year he has quite the target to shoot for.  I had a great time seeing him run and it was awesome for my dad to be able to join us for the race.

It is also a fun time to see friends that fly in from out of state to take part in the run.  Here is a picture of Tara and Sarah at the stadium.  Tara was a great supporter this year and took Gage to the stadium to cheer on Gavin and I at the finish line.  She also dropped us off at the start line so we didn't have to walk miles from a parked car.

Gavin's Soccer Closer

Here are the final pictures of Gavin's season closer.  I was coaching during the game, so I couldn't take any action shots.  This is the majority of his team, though it appears that two kids are missing.  Across the back row is: Clyde, Gavin, Big Isaiah, Pax, Matthew and across the front is: Tristan, Little Isaiah, Josh, Joaquin, and Andy.

We also got a great picture of just Gavin and I.  I have really enjoyed coaching his teams and seeing him continue to grow in his enjoyment of the game and his skills.  Next year will probably be a good challenge for him as the competition gets better.

Gage's Soccer Season Closer

This is the last game of the season for Gage.  He had a great time playing soccer this season and certainly made great improvements.  Most importantly, though, he continues to have fun.  Above, you can see him dribbling the ball into three defenders.  He seems to do fairly well even against these odds.

Here is another picture later in the game of him dribbling again through three defenders.  I think this time they had him on lock down though.

After the season the do an awards ceremony and give out pictures and trophies for all the kids.  This is probably their favorite part and the trophies go right to the dressers at home.

Mother's Day Tea at AppleTree

The Mother's Day teas at Apple Tree are always a really special time.  The little boys wear khakis and handsome button-down shirts, and the little girls wear their prettiest dresses.  My handsome little piglet met me in the hall to escort me in, with the biggest smile on his face.  You see, the kids practice for weeks in advance for this event.  They practice a poem that they recite to all of the mommies, they make special cards and gifts and they even practice their manners for the special occasion.  And then the most wonderful preschool teacher in the world, Mrs. Tonelli, took marvelous pictures of all of us moms with our babies.  She gave us black-and-white copies, a priceless treasure that I will keep forever.  And this tea was especially special for me since it was my last one at Apple Tree.  Gage will join his big brother next year at our neighborhood school, Mountain View Elementary, where he'll be a big Kindergartner!!! 

Gage's Room Rules

Gavin seems to exclude Gage from his room quite often, which obviously hurts Gage's feelings.  One day, after being told that he had to "Keep Out" of Gavin's room, we came upstairs to find this sign hanging on Gage's door.  It reads "Keep In".  The other side does have a "Keep Out", however it is almost never on that side of the sign.  It certainly speaks to the differences in personality between our two wild men.  I have to say, I am also inspired by how big Gage's heart is and this whole experience certainly highlights this strength of his to include people and enjoy whatever the activity is.

Mother's Day and Cousin Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated a combined Mother's Day and Cousin Birthday celebration at Grandma and Grandpa Mike's house.  My mom bought these really neat small cakes for the festivities.  They were each a different color and the design work was pretty amazing too!

Here are the kids and Aunt Jackie blowing out some candles on the cakes.  They are all getting so big, so fast, it seems.

What a better way to celebrate Mother's day than to be surrounding with all the grandkids.  Here is Grandma Mike opening up her latest gift from everyone.  All the kids were very eager to help out with the opening.