We're Still Here!

Yep, we are still here! Our last blog post ended right after Spring Break (yikes!), so I have to go back a ways. So towards the end of the school year last year, Kyle was inducted into National Honor Society. Great job, Kyle! Keep up the good work your junior year.



Believe it or not, way back on April 26th, the Avenger Endgame movie came out. We were desperately trying to not hear any spoilers, since it took us a bit to get in to see the movie. Overall, the movie was pretty good -- and it brought this current phase for the Marvel movies to a close well, but I think it also could have been so much more. I personally was really hoping to have a lot more Captain Marvel in the movie.



On May 4th, we celebrated Kenny's parents 50th Anniversary at a special mass. Their actual anniversary was August 16th. They had a lovely ceremony for all the participants.



Then on their actual anniversary, we were all able to get together to eat out and give them their gifts. Kenny had them recreate one of their wedding photos to commemorate the day.



Kenny's annual Bad Pants golf outing this year was a success. It was pretty cool this year, so he wore Kyle's Deadpool pajamas and apparently they were the winning outfit. What could be wrong with Deadpool riding a kitten unicorn? Seriously?



Kyle's last day of school was June 5th; Delaney had already been home a couple of weeks. Everyone was so looking forward to not having a set schedule and enjoying the summer break. We did a lot of sleeping in, playing video games, reading, and not doing any homework. It was glorious. Kyle's last day as a sophomore. :-)



Delaney played soccer all summer with Chicago City again, as well as helping fill out some travel games for an Indy team. She did a lot of traveling, but she had a great time playing soccer all summer. One weekend, she had to go play a couple games all the way in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Kenny wasn't able to go with her, so she and I made a weekend out of it. We ate some yummy food out, did some shopping, and visited an adorable cat lounge and adoption center. And oh yeah, Delaney also played some soccer. HA!



Kyle usually keeps his summers pretty open, so it is unfortunate when everything overlaps for him. Kyle was volunteering to help process the Chromebooks for the school, which was from 7am to noon (definitely an early summer day for him). Then, he had his driver's education classes the same days from 1 to 4pm. Definitely NOT his desired carefree summer days, but he got through them all. And he now has his Driver's Permit. Watch out!



Our nephew Connor graduated high school; it seems so hard to believe. Connor is going to Ohio Northern University for college this year. Go Polar Bears! Now my parents just have one more grandchild to get through high school now. (Kyle, we are talking to you!)



Towards the end of June, Kenny and Timmy participated in a golf outing to support the LAM Foundation. I even found Kenny a feather shirt to wear in honor of the event. They had beautiful weather and a great time.



In addition to soccer and her part-time job, Delaney still found some time to hang out with Nate (of course). They had a blast at a Jimmy Buffet concert (at the exact same place that we watched him 25 years ago!), they had a great day at Chicago, and even hit a water park one day.


 



Then it was time for Delaney to go back to Parkside; I have NO idea where our summer went. Unfortunately, her apartment wasn't even ready so she had to move in some temporary housing for a bit. It was looking a bit sad.



Once her apartment was finally ready though, Kenny and I headed up with the rest of her stuff and helped her set her room up. Now she said, she finally felt like she had a home. :-)



Kyle started school back on August 20th, while Delaney's classes just started yesterday. Here are our two juniors: our daughter in college at Parkside, and Kyle in high school at CPHS.



And Kenny and I just celebrated our 24th anniversary... we got a big one coming up next year!



Enjoy!
Ken, Dani, Dee and Kyle

About Time for a New Post!

I always have really good intentions to keep posting more often, but next thing I know... it has been half a year. Ha Ha! What can you do???

Last post, Kyle just got his braces off in mid-September. So, starting from there... Delaney had her fall season of soccer at Parkside. It was a good season -- starting with their trip to Boston for pre-season and ending with a trip to the conference tournament. Delaney got some great playing time and scored six goals, 2nd on the team. The highlight goal was at Purdue Northwest with a bunch of family in attendance! Now it's time to roll into Spring Season with a few games before heading home for the summer.


 



 

 

 

 
For Halloween this year, both kids actually needed to dress up! Kyle was helping out with a Halloween Key Club event, and Delaney was going to a costume party. Here was their thought processes:

1) Kyle: I don't really care, just make it simple and find one for me.

2) Delaney: I can't find one I like, check out a myriad of make-it-yourself costumes before finally deciding on one.

So, Kyle was an Identity Thief. He wrote names on "Hello" stickers and put them all over his shirt. Ta-dah! Costume finished.


 
Delaney decided on Audrey Hepburn and borrowed from me a dress, jewelry, sunglasses, shoes and put her hair up. (And sadly, no one knew who Audrey Hepburn was...)


 
 But she did seem to like her Halloween care package. :-)


 
Kyle learned to make homemade pies for Thanksgiving. He did a pretty good job; they certainly tasted yummy!


 
Then it was time for Delaney's finals; definitely time for another care package.


 

 
Next thing you know, it was time for Christmas Break! We went to see an early showing of Aquaman. It was a lot of fun, everyone really enjoyed it (except Kyle, who was lame and decided to stay home).


 
When we decorate the house for the holidays, we have kept a lot of the kids' grade school artwork and put them up around the house. I went through and took pictures of all of them -- so cute!


 
While Delaney was home for break, Kyle still had to get through some school. He also had to go to a Regional BPA contest. He was more than ready for Christmas break to start for him as well.


 
And, of course, there was all the Christmas gifts to make before the celebrations. It is always such a relief to finally having everything done and ready to go! Here are just a few that were made:


 
Then we had Christmas celebrations with friends and family! There was a lot of eating too much, exchanging presents, and just enjoying visiting with everyone.


 

 

 
And I also had to share the AWESOME wrapping paper my parents found! Meowy Christmas!



When all the festivities were over, it was time to just relax and enjoy the remainder of the break. This included a lot of sleeping in, video games, and being as lazy as possible. Well, that is for Kyle and me... poor Delaney and Kenny had to work sometimes. :-(

Long after Kyle was done with Lego Worlds, I kept plugging away to get that one last achievement: Billionaire. And... I finally got it! We also played a lot of Overcooked 2, which is a lot of fun -- until the kids start getting snippy with each other. Then it is time for a break! There was also some Celeste, Abzu, and who knows what else.


 

 
And we also did the most difficult puzzle we have ever done before, that we gave away because we were NEVER doing it again. It was hard not having the straight edges, but even harder than that... was the fact that some of the pieces seemed to fit in more than one place. So, there was a lot of rearranging and frustration... but we FINALLY finished it!



Believe it or not, it was time for New Year's Eve! The girls got off to a rocky start, with the guys starting off with a winning streak.



But Delaney decided that was enough, and she got a win! And I finally got one, too.


 


And Delaney finally got into her groove and was unbeatable. It was also the wee hours of the morning, and we were all tired! We called it; Delaney was the champion (and, as you can see... it was not my finest time at game night).
 

 

 
Then a few days later somehow, someway... we are now the parents of a 20 year old! That just doesn't seem possible, does it?

 
For Valentine's Day, Thor was eager to help me get Dee's next care package ready. (She wondered how all that cat hair got in her room!)


 

 
Kenny and I were able to get away for a weekend. We went to a Dierks Bentley concert, and we also got to go see Captain Marvel! Thor and Loki are now Goose fans!!! Then, we met up with Delaney, Nate and a couple of her friends who were hanging out at the Galloping Ghost all day for lunch before heading home.


 

 
And... Spring Break went by way too fast. :-(

Luv, Ken, Dani, Dee & Kyle