What a decade it has been!

I have been a mom for a whole decade!  Wow how time flies by. 

Reed has grown up to be such a loving, caring, enthusiastic, energetic, smart and athletic young man. 

I can still remember Christmas Eve 10 years ago like it was yesterday. I was working at Target as one of the front end managers and I was scheduled to work Christmas Eve. That morning I thought I was feeling a little funny, but being the dedicated employee I was, I went into work.  Instead of running around the front lanes, they plopped behind the service desk on a stool. As the day went on my discomfort started to get a little more uncomfortable. I was definitely starting to have some major contractions, but still not wanting to leave work. I didn't want anyone else to have to come in and work for me since it was Christmas Eve and all. By 4 or so they finally told me I better go home otherwise you are going to have this baby here! So I drove to my parents house which was walking distance to the hospital and waited.  I didn't have to wait to long, as 3 hours later Reed was born!

Reed was and still is one of the best Christmas presents anyone could give me.

I am so proud of who Reed has made me today!

I love you Speedo!

Happy Birthday!

Reed still has those wonderful dimples that just melt your heart!

Eyeing up all those candles! He got them all out with one big blow.
(Luckily we were all feeling better by this time, as we all had the flu)!

I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for you!

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we had some good friends come over. It was so relaxing, the boys watched football, the kids played and Rachel and I worked in the kitchen. It was a lot of fun to have! We might have started a new tradition. Drew also had his first sleep over at our house that night. 

Getting ready to eat!

UTPA in Chicago

 Nick is now one of the Assistant Coaches at UTPA. In November his team played in a tournament in Chicago.  We didn't get to see Nick a whole lot, but it was great to see his team play.

Reed and Drew were water boys and loved every minute of it.

This is how wonderful the players were with the boys.
Getting water and giving the bump!

Shooting some hoops!

The teams little buddy!

Reed trying to take in as much as he can.

The players were so good to the boys.  Reed would even go into the locker room with them after each game and at the last game they all thanked him and gave him a round of applause.

Brett just sitting and watching. 

We were very surprised that he didn't throw a fit that he wasn't allowed on the bench as well.

UWSP Hall of Fame

Jack being inducted as coach and Nick as a player and both of them including the whole winning teams for winning the
National Championship back to back.

Could they get any cuter?

The Bennett Men:
Jay, Nick, Jack, Dick and Bob (just missing Tony)
Finally got a picture of all of them.

The boys getting as much time with Uncle Nick while they could. He was only home for a short weekend. But they loved every minute of it!

Some of the things that have been happening at our house lately.....

NO MORE DIAPERS!

NO MORE CRIB!

NO MORE NUK! 

(WE ARE WORKING ON BABY)

Washington DC

Jay, Jack, Sue and I went to Washington DC this summer for Jay's Uncles wedding.  When Jay and I heard that Uncle Bob and Alfred were finally getting married we knew we didn't want to miss it.  We were fortunate to have my parents still in town so they could watch the boys for us.  We left for DC on a Thursday and were back in Marshfield by Sunday, which we drove.  We had some great laughs in the car on the way to DC and the way back.  Only hearing them in person makes them so funny!  

It was great to not have the kids with us, so Jay and I could explore DC without any limitations. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the wedding, as it was a very intimate wedding in their brownstone. 

We hope to take the kids back to DC so they can enjoy it as much as we did.

We are all so happy for you Uncle Bob and Uncle Alfred!!

We are here to stay!

Who would have thought we would be staying in Marshfield?  I came here dragging my heels and not wanting to even come with Jay.  I was going to stay in La Crosse and he was going to come and do his fellowship. We would all then be in La Crosse after his fellowship and be starting his job.  Easy right?Boy I am glad that I came with him!  Not only would the kids and I  have missed him tremendously, but we would have never  have found out how wonderful Marshfield is.  From the moment we moved to Marshfield we were so welcomed by teachers, coaches, a church family, friends and our neighbors.  Yes, you did read that correctly we have been going to church.  It is a Presbyterian church, so of course I felt right at home. Our church is very involved in the community and being green!  I can't wait to get our feet in the door a little more!
It was a very hard decision staying here or going back to La Crosse. We loved La Crosse, but when we really sat down and thought about all the things that we loved about La Crosse, we realized a lot of the people we were so close to are also moving on.
We both felt that staying in Marshfield would allow us to accomplish our goals that we have set individually and as a family.  We also love the idea of a smaller community to raise our kids in.
I wish we could tell the kids that we didn't have to move again, but unfortunately that isn't the case.  We are renting the house that we are currently in from the clinic so we will be having to make one last move. But I think the kids will be excited once they can really call a place "home." Even though we have called every place our home, it hasn't been ours!  We are all so excited for those next steps.


Thanks again to everyone for all the advice and support you have given our family over the last couple of months!

Halloween

Bat Trooper

The cutest Batman ever!

Pablo, Optimus Man

Reed has hit the stage of not really caring what he wears for Halloween.  He was also not with us this year for trick or treating.  He went with our neighbor and another friend and got to run from house to house and not have to wait for the little kids.  He also wanted more candy! We on the other hand went for the experience.  A street in town almost every house was decorated like it was Christmas.  It was so much fun.  It made trick or treating so much fun.  It also helped that is was 50 degrees outside.

Reed's football season.....

To say that Reed enjoys playing football would not be correct.  Reed LOVES playing football.  He has a football in his hands at all times.  He is either playing catch, kicking or punting all the time.
We had a football game going on all the time in our backyard. Now that it has been to cold and wet ourside they are playing football in our basement.
Reed was a little bummed this year as he didn't get to play quarterback, but instead he was able to play wide receiver, D-Line, punter and kicker. He was ok with the coaches decision once we got to play all those positions. He was hardly ever off the field.
He showed so much improvement as the year progressed.

Unfortunately this guy put his hands up as Reed was scoring his touchdown.  He scored a couple more through out the season but this is the only one I got a picture of.

Reed wanted to kick an extra point all season and the coach finally let him.

   

The extra point is............

GOOD!!!!