Coeur d'Alene

I had to fly to Spokane, WA and drive over to Coeur d'Alene for a conference.  We had an AMAZING dinner at the Hagedone Center at the Coeur d'Alene Golf Course, home of the world's only Floating Green.  The Center was so beautiful with sliding walls that were open to the night air with a gorgeous view of the lake.  The entertainment was wonderful as well.  Bill Clary http://billclary.com/ was our magician and entertainer of the year.  I had the pleasure of sitting next to him at dinner without knowing who he was.  He did magic for our table and was AMAZING.  I had such a headache at the beginning of the night I almost missed out on this great night.  Maybe laughter was the medicine I needed!

View from my hotel room at the Coeur d'Alene Resort last fall.

My hotel room at the Coeur d'Alene Resort last fall.

View from my hotel room last fall.

From this fall, the world famous floating green.

Zach's Homecoming

Zach and Claire had beautiful weather for homecoming Saturday night.  They came over for pictures and we had Grandma Millie and the Molstads for dinner as well.  Zach and Claire ate at Old Chicago and then headed to the dance.  After the "freshman fest" as they called it, they came back to our house and hung out the rest of the night.  They looked so mice dressed up, but they were anxious to change back to their comfortable clothes!

Zach and Grandma Millie

He looks happy!

Zach and Claire

Hamming it up for the camera!

Awwwww ;-)

Tommy, Julie, Zach, Claire, Alli and Todd Molstad

Alli and I played dress-up

Prayers for JT

Everyone be sure to give your kids an extra special hug each morning before heading off your separate ways. 

One of Wolf's classmates was removed from life support last night and our prayers are with his family. JT was hit by a car walking to school yesterday morning. I am sure his family thought they were in for just another regular Friday. We never know when it is our last chance to say 'I Love You'. 

Prayers for JT and his family!

More Good News for Zach

Four students from each grade at Millard South are selected to serve on the Principal's Student Advisory Board.  They have breakfast with the principal once a month to discuss student issues in the school.  Zach was selected to represent the Junior Class!  What a great leadership role to prepare him for ROTC.  We are so proud of him!

A Beautiful Weekend!

It was a beautiful weekend!  Zach and Wolf's Grandma Pam and her newlywed husband, T.J., came to visit from California.  They are driving from California across the country to North Carolina and then back.  We are envious of such an amazing trip!

Friday evening started out with an informal dinner at our house with Grandma Pam & T.J., Zach's girlfriend Claire, and his friends Mason and Michaela (I know she spells it different than my name, but cannot remember how).  Grandma Pam and T.J. brought Wolf a Wolf print that T.J.'s cousin, an artist, made.  It is beautiful and we can't wait to hang it in his room.

We headed to the Millard South vs. Millard West football game and it was a gorgeous night!  It was a great game with Millard South winning, but even better to get to know Pam and T.J.

On Saturday morning we watched Zach, Jayson, and brother-in-law Todd at their karate practice.  Pam, T.J., and I had a lot of laughs from Sensei Mark's jokes and watching them practice on each other.

Grandma Pam shows Zach her moves...

and she gets him on the ground :-)

Grandma Pam and T.J. took Zach and Wolf to Red Lobster...their favorite!  They returned stuffed and we all watched football and had an enjoyable afternoon at the house.

Zach driving Grandma Pam to lunch

Wolf gets to ride with T.J. in the Prius

T.J. and Wolf played catch outside in the beautiful weather and Zach's girlfriend Claire joined us for some of the afternoon as well.

Jayson and Wolf made their famous enchiladas for dinner (thanks Jennifer for the recipe that is now a family tradition here!) and we watched Notre Dame beat up on Michigan State.  T.J. and Jayson discovered they have a lot in common in their military backgrounds.

On Sunday we all went to Wolf's football game at Millard North and then back to the house for some football.

My nieces, Ellie and Chloe, joined us for a little while and Pam and I had fun letting them dress-up in some costume jewelry.  Can you tell they are chewing on some taffy?

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and sat on the patio.  Did I mention the nice weather yet? :-)

We could not have asked for a nicer fall weekend.  We came back to the house and watched some old home videos of the boys.  It is amazing to see how they have changed since 2006!  We looked at Pam and T.J.'s wedding photos from their December wedding...gorgeous!  Then it was time to say goodbye.  We truly hated to say goodbye and wish we all lived closer.  Thank goodness for blogs, email, etc. to keep everyone posted on the boys.

Prayers for Grandpa Dewey

We learned that Jayson's Grandfather Dewey is ill and in the hospital in Indiana.  We pray that he is comfortable and for a skilled and compassionate medical team to treat him.

Here is a photo from our visit in March 2012.  Jayson, Grandpa Dewey, Dan, Wolf, and Zach.

The Smile

No more braces!  Zach had his braces taken off this morning.  It has been a long 25 months of braces, but they are gone.  And just in time for Homecoming next weekend.  Since he just had his off, and Wolf gets his on in the next month, we have pictures of the boys scheduled for tomorrow after school.  I will need to go back and find the "before" picture and post it here as well.