Long needed update

Well, months have passed and I am just a bit behind in updating! So, where to start. We survived through another Iowa winter. The worst in many years. We are all hoping NOT to have another one like that anytime in the next, oh, 60 years or so! Kurt took a trip with his bike team to Arkansas for training in the mountains. He enjoys the rides and the scenery. He was feeling pretty good. He seems back in good racing health and is hoping for a good year. He got a new time trial bike so is looking for some fast times this year! He has raced in a couple races and placed 2nd and 3rd! He's starting off great! Brianna decided to try tennis this spring and has joined the tennis team. There are a lot of girls on the team, so she doesn't get to play every match, but seems to be having fun. She keeps working hard at school and getting good grades. Bode keeps growing and manages to amaze us everyday with something new! He has moved up to the next room at his daycare, so he's learning lots! We decided to decorate his room over spring break, so he has a new airplane themed room. We painted it sky blue. He loves it. We also started working on Brianna's home office/closet. Since she has such a huge closet, we split it in two. We still have a little work to do, but it is looking pretty neat, too. School, as always, keeps me busy, but now that speech season is over, I am not feeling quite so overwhelmed! I'm including a few pictures and videos. Enjoy!

2010 already

We had a wonderful Christmas break this year. It started out a little rough as there was a snow/ice storm on Christmas eve which kept us from heading to the farm. We missed the kids and the wrapping paper battle, but knew we didn't want to get stuck there since we were leaving for California Christmas morning at 6:20 am! We safely made it to the airport by 4:45(way too early) and had to sit on the plane for about an hour while they de-iced, but after that, we were on our way to sunny Los Angeles. We arrived in L.A. by 9:30 and enjoyed spending the day at Kurt's sister Gail's house with Gwen and her family, too. In the morning, Kurt joined a local bike team and went on a "leisurely" 80 mile ride. He joined the team later in the week for another great ride. Makes us want to live someplace like this! A very bike friendly area. Then we headed to Disneyland. What fun, even though the lines were long! It truly is a magical place even for adults! Bode was just in awe the entire day and Brianna had fun on the rides. Aunt Gail invited one of her friend's daughters to join us, so she and Brianna became quick friends. The next day we went back to one of the Disney hotels for a character breakfast. What fun it was to interact with so many Disney characters. Bode's favorite was Chip 'n Dale and next favorite was Jasmine! Then we headed to Hollywood Blvd. Certainly an interesting part of town! We visited Madame Taussand's wax museum. Brianna had fun being "artistic" with her photos! We went to San Diego the next day to visit the zoo. I loved the pandas and koalas. The drive to San Diego was beautiful with the ocean to our west the whole way. We joined up with my brother, Drew, and his girlfriend, Julie, for dinner, spent the night and went to Seaworld the next day. The Shamu show was my favorite since I always loved killer whales. The whole family enjoyed Seaworld. One of our favorites was the pet show. It was really cute! We spent one more day at Disneyland before heading back to the arctic blast that was awaiting us in Iowa!