Thankful for So Many Things

I think I speak for my whole family when I say it was nice to have a big homecooked meal on Thanksgiving - as we haven't had a stove for over a week. Yes, a week! I am not one who enjoys cooking, but I do realize now how much I miss having a stove. So it was nice to see everyone on Thanskgiving as well as enjoy so much yummy food! Our new stove and microwave is suppose to be here Tuesday. . . the grout is done in the kitchen . . .they are coming to make a final measurement on the new island and prepare for the counter top on Wednesday night. . . .can't wait until it is done. We have decided to wait to do the living room floor (hardwood or new carpet?) after Christmas so that we can enjoy the holiday season without so much of a mess.

Amid all of this, the kids decided they wanted to move bedrooms. I don't know if I am ready for it, but Elyse is moving downstairs, Alex is moving into her room, and the extra guest room will move into Alex's old room. All of this involves repainting each room before the kids move in, new bedding, etc. We just repainted one of the downstairs rooms so Elyse will be moving down this week. Next weekend we will repaint Elyse's old room in preparation for Alex's move. Why not???? We have nothing else to do!??!!!??!! :)

The pictures I have posted are from last weekend of the kids with Derek and Sara before going to the Broadway show of "Grease". They had a wonderful time, and Elyse wants to download all the songs from the show to her iPod. Again, thanks Sara and Derek as they had a really great time! And as always, thinking of Buzz every where we go.

Elyse's basketball team continues to be undefeated. The season has just flown by as they only have two or three games left. Then comes all the weekend tourneys with her AAU team. Alex has his first AAU tournament next weekend, Dec 5th, which we are also excited about. He has been practicing hard with his team and a family friend, Kyle McCarville. It's fun to think about how much they have both improved since their first AAU games in 3rd or 4th grade. . . .they have come a long way . . . .It is so much fun to watch them. . . .and Elyse said that I have quieted down a little as well as far as "cheering goes". :)

The night before Thanksgiving we spent some time with Wayne's family visiting Wayne's grandmother, Lucy, for her 95th birthday. Yes, 95! It was nice to see her and spend some time with her as well. Sadly, it was a night we will cherish as she past away last night, Saturday night. She lived a great life and will be missed. I am so glad that we had a great night all together as a family before she past away. Kind of makes me think that in some magical way, that night was meant to be together. Makes her leaving us a little more peaceful in a way, I guess. We will miss you Grandma Lucy! We are thankful for having you in our lives. Some how you always made me giggle, and I will miss that!

Vikings vs. Seahawks - One Part of Great Weekend!

We just returned from a great weekend that was very much needed after a week of "grout removal hell". Wayne, myself, Elyse and Alex went to Minneapolis for the weekend to enjoy many activities, one of which was the Vikings game today! The Vikings looked incredible, we had great seats, and it was a fun time for us together. Luckily, our seats were on the side of the end zone where the Vikings scored every touchdown (except maybe the last one by Jackson as we left by then). I have included a slide show of our pictures from the game - Elyse and I randomnly snapped pictures when the Viking's "Main Men" came near our end (Farvre, Peterson, Rice and Harvin of course). We also made sure to take a picture holding up a "Beat it Buzz" sign, (post below if unsure what this is about) and I have already sent it to my friend in charge of his "http://beatitbuzz.blogspot.com" blog page to show we are always thinking of him! Fun day cheering on the Vikes! My weekend was complete because I got 'carded' today at the Vikes game and no one else around me did as the vendor guy was selling beer in our section. I was so excited, and Wayne just shook his head as he knew it would make my day. The guy looked at my ID and said, "Wow. I would have never guessed you were that old." I'm not sure how I should take "that old" but I am going to take it as a compliment. :) My weekend was complete. hehehe. Wayne was way excited last night because as we were having drinks at Cosmos at our hotel, some past fooball player with the last name of Allen, I should know but can't remember, sat down by us and had some drinks. I didn't believe Wayne at first that it was this ex-Viking, but I was wrong. Ihen as we were leaving the stadium today, ex-Viking Randall (again, I can't remember his first name either) walked along between Elyse and Alex. I told Elyse to "bump" into him, but she looked at me like I was so uncool - which is the look I get often from her. hehe Anyway, that was pretty cool too.

The kids had a SUPER time staying with Sara, Derek, and Graham over the weekend also while Wayne and I did a little shopping and stayed at our favorite hotel in Minneapolis - Graves 601. The four of them went out for a nice diner then to see the Broadway show of "Grease" and according to the kids, it was "incredible and better than Mama Mia"", which they both loved! I can hear Elyse downloading songs from "Grease" right now to her phone as ringtones as I type. They loved it so much and had a great time with Sara and Derek! Thanks so much you guys!!! Elyse is so hooked! Once Sara sends me the pictures from that (hint hint Sara - just kidding) I will post those as well! Even Vinnie and Norah enjoyed spending the night at the Johnsons - and all slept hard on the way home today! That's a good sign! So. . .look for my next post to be pictures of their fun night and updates on Elyse's basketball games. Thanks Sara and Derek for creating more special memories with Elyse and Alex (and the dogs too, of course).

Heroes, Birthdays, and Special People

This week's post is all about the things we want to say but don't say enough, happy birthday wishes, and pulling together in times of need.

I think all of you share in my pride about my brother, Ken. Well last week with Veteran's day I wanted to get a post up of his Army "family" and let them know how much we all appreciate what they have done, some still doing, for our country. Just a little thank you (something I need to say more often). I dug through my pictures and found a picture of Ken and some of his Army buddies at a recent Army vs. Navy party. Now if you know Ken, he doesn't like Sara and I taking pictures of him, so I am sure he will be emailing me with a comment about putting his picture on my blog. Too bad Ken. I, along with many others, are so proud of you, and I want to thank you for being you, teaching my children about the priorities in life in your subtle ways yet helping them realize to dream big and go for those dreams, being the role model for all of us, excusing my "loans" from "Ken's bank" while I was in college, and opening the world to Sara and I by showing us what it was like to leave our safe home outside Colesburg and explore the world! And in connection to Veteran's day - thank you for serving our country! We love you lots! Thanks to the "Frogs" for also "adopting" Wayne into your troop. . . .maybe that should concern me a little. . .just kidding. He loves it!

Wayne's brother, Kevin, was also in the service so thank you also Kevin! I'd write more about you during that time Kevin, . . but that was before my time with Wayne. But we want to thank you too Kevin for serving our country! We love you too!

Next, happy birthday to Sara and Derek! I tried to find the oldest picture I had of both of you together , but I had too much fun looking and lost track of time so I took some that I could find. The kids are so excited to see the Broadway show "Grease" with you this weekend and spend some fun times with the Johnson family in Minneapolis! Sara - I hope we never get too old to act "too young" at concerts. :) Life is great! We hope both of you had great birthdays and special memories! We love you both!

Last, I want to share a heart felt story about a great friend and fellow classmate of Elyse's. His name is Andrew "Buzz" Miller, and his picture is above. The picture shows him getting his "leukemia kickin' umbilical cord blood" on November 7th. He is battling his 2nd round of leukemia after a bone marrow transplant in 2007 and now a stem cell transplant this past November. He is a fighter with a wonderful attitude, passion for life, and great guy all around. Anyway, his family is doing a "prayer map" in his hospital room as he is spending at least 100 days in a hospital in Minneapolis trying to build his immune system and kick those cancer cells. They have a "guestbook" where you can say who you are, where you live, how you found out about him (you can say through Elyse Kerian's family) and that you are praying for him. We, the Kerians, are asking you to send an extra prayer out for Andrew, aka Buzz, and send him a little special message. If you don't want to send a message, just let me know via email that you are praying for him and I will let him know. He has a "caring bridge" page that you can log onto and read his story, see pictures, and write him a message. Just go to "http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/buzzmiller". You need to sign in by giving your email and then making a password and that is it. You will read also about the "Beat it Buzz" activity and photo quest. If you would like to participate in the photo quest, we'd appreciate it. You can create your "Beat it Buzz" sign, send me the photo, and I will get it to the people in charge of that quest. This is a time when Buzz needs a lot of prayers and pull. He is a wonderful young man (was one of the boys here when Elyse had her sleep over a few weeks ago) and good friend to Elyse! So. . . take some time. . . .read his story.. . . and add to his prayer map. Thank you so much!

Here's a quote taken from someone who signed his quest book that I really loved and think it is fitting at this time: "You gain Strength, Courage and Confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do" - from Eleanor Roosevelt. Ken, our role model, and Buzz, our fighter, both are models of this. .

P.S. If you want a "Beat it Buzz" tshirt or rubber wrist band, and don't live in Cresco, let me know and I will get you one. It's neat to have pictures of people all around the US wearing them and showing their support for Buzz. Thanks!

Halloween, Hunting, and UNI Volleyball

I just got home from Rochester, Wayne is golfing being it is such a wonderful day, and the kids are with Kirstin who took them bowling for the afternoon. It is nice and quiet, so I thought I would do some blogging and computer "stuff" instead of cleaning up the house. That can always wait. . . besides. . . .everyone else is away playing so I am not going to clean! :) Elyse and Wayne are finally getting over their "cold/bronchitis". Elyse still has a pretty nasty cough, but she was hit harder with it than Wayne. I am just hoping Alex and I don't get it as it was nasty! They both were in bed for at least 3-4 days, not moving. Elyse ended up in the emergency room unable to fully breathe. Wayne even skipped a sunshiny Thursday for golf so that shows you how sick he was. Nasty stuff!

I know I said I would make a post about Alex, but it was a crazy week. Didn't get it done. I can tell you that Alex had his first experience pheasant hunting last weekend, much to his mother's dismay. I wasn't even aware that Wayne had bought him a gun (which I know why Wayne didn't tell me) let alone that he was old enough to go hunting with Wayne. I was worried the whole morning!!!! He said he had fun, although they only saw one bird. He did get a chance to shoot at it, so he thought that was pretty cool. I may not be quite ready for all of that, and I was actually hoping that he wouldn't enjoy himself. (Don't tell him though) Oh well. . .good time spent with his dad!

You can see that I included a picture of Wayne and I for Halloween. Quite funny I know. We had a great time being hippies, and everyone who ran into us and knew Wayne long ago said that he must have pulled his outfit out of his closet because it looked familiar. hehehe We had a great time with friends at Tiffany's annual Halloween party. I also posted a picture of my friend, Tiffany, as Velma from Scooby Doo, Michelle as a patient at the gynocologist, me, and Kelly as Cindy Lou Hoo from The Grinch. Good time!

Last night Elyse and I went to UNI to the girls volleyball game. She took along her friends Megan and Hannah, and my friend Julie (Hannah's mom) went along as well. We had a great dinner at Beck's on the Hill and then went to the volleyball match. UNI won big time, quick and easy. The girls had a great time, and it was nice for me to catch up with Julie as we haven't chatted in a while. Go Panthers! Wayne enjoyed a quiet night of rest, as he decided he shouldn't go with his cold, and Alex spent some time with friends working on their bowling game. My children are never home. . . :)

Enjoy the sunshine and have a great week!

Elyse's Little Friends and Basketball

It's been a while since I have made a post. Busy! Busy! as usual. I thought I would write about Elyse this morning and share how she is doing and then make a post about Alex this afternoon.

I have included some pictures of the two adorable little ones Elyse babysits. They both came trick or treating, and Elyse had Halloween baskets with little gifts in them for each of the kids. Their names are MacKenzie and Isaiah, and their parents are very good friends (Michelle/Brian and Kelly/Jason for those who know them) of ours. Elyse loves babysitting both of them and the pictures were too cute so I had to post them. She spent Halloween night babysitting Isaiah and then ventured down to a friend of her's for a sleepover in the middle of the night - or what was left of it. She was glad to spend time with Isaiah and also her friends. It's still so hard for me to see her growing up so quickly right in front of my eyes. So proud of her! She is so independent yet still needs big hugs from her mom and dad.

She started basketball last week. They played in New Hampton against a school that has 12 girls total on their 8th grade team. We, Crestwood, are used to playing 3-4 games (A,B,C, and D teams), but New Hampton could only play one and a half games due to their limited numbers. Elyse started the A team and did very well! Scored points, played awesome defense, and ran faster than I have ever seen her (yes. . . .I am talking about Elyse :)) Very fun to watch her and her teammates. Let's hope everyone stays healthy as schools are having a hard time making enough teams due to players being ill with flu etc. Elyse has developed quite the cold this weekend. . . .game tomorrow on Monday so hopefully she can shake some of it off before then. Anyway, she did fabulous and is really getting into her basketball, which we are excited about!!!