Thanksgiving 24

What a wonderful Thanksgiving. Brian and I hosted, in what we realized was the first time in over two decades. Loved having the boys home, which we don't take for granted nowadays. Cole's friends are here with us, which makes me very happy. They are great kids. Both sides of our families made it. We got excited about our new kitchen, but realized, holidays are getting more complicated with the kids grown and in relationships. We may need to stick to Christmas Eve so we can accommodate everyone again. Thankfully, we don't need to worry about that for another year, and we loved every second of it this year. Lucky to have these people in our lives. 

Moments 11 24 :: Week 05

Hudson and friends spent a weekend in The Ozarks. They stayed at a crazy Airbnb right on the lake. He's been working like crazy. Loved it when he sent this photo.

Brian and I visited our favorite wine bar. It's all natural wines, which can be hit or miss in my opinion. We've always gotten great picks here though. And the vibe is refreshing and cool. 

Jacob is spending Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Darcy, his girlfriend. They were able to meet Hudson at his work and take a flight the other day. Love it.  

Cole came home on Tuesday with a couple of his friends from school. They brought Molly's cupcakes. So good.

The boys came on a walk with Van and me. Got to show them around the neighborhood and walk to the lake. Love that they are here with us. The Netherlands and Peru representing.

Cole played in the Nicolet alumni game. So fun. They also all played at Bavarians the next day. Even Hudson, who hasn't played since last year, and now has a sprained ankle. I think they all loved it though.

Moments 11 24 :: Week 04

Brian and I were able to travel to St. Peter, MN to watch the Cardinals in the NCAA DIII Tournament. They played UW Platteville. Cole started and played great. It's been fun watching him in the defensive center midfield position again. 

The ended up losing in penalty kicks. Not the best way to lose (or win, in my opinion -- although, that's the better option). UW Platteville ended up winning the next day too, so are moving on to play this weekend. It really could have been us. He played 17 games and started 14 of those -- racking up over 1,000 minutes. That doesn't mean the season was perfect for him or came without some frustration, but he always has such a positive attitude and I am so proud of him for that. He's a calm player who has stellar game IQ. He makes things happen and is so fun to watch. As nice it will be to have our weekends back, I was actually feeling really sad that this season was over. It's been a blast cheering the team on, and I'm going to miss it.

Since we didn't have another soccer game to watch the next day, Brian and I took the scenic route and drove to Red Wing, MN.  It's such a cute town. This is the actual train station. In fact, someone was waiting for the Amtrak while we were there. 

We've been here before, when we went to visit Mankato with Hudson on his college visits. Loved walking around. 

Of course we hit up the Red Wing boot store. Last time, I got a pair. This year it was Brian's turn.

We drove along Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River. It's such a beautiful ride.

Just a cute photo of one of the games from earlier in the season. If you look in the stands below the TTI-W, you'll see Brian, Hudson and me. :)

It's getting colder -- it even snowed the other day. One of the cute things is the dogs always can be found snuggling together now. They are the sweetest. 

Moments 11 24 :: Week 03

Matching.

I sure hope he's comfortable enough.

Beautiful evening skies.

Monday was Veterans Day, and per tradition, our CrossFit gym programmed "Chad." 1000 box step-ups for time. It's a sweaty grind, and that board was filled with 50 dots I crossed off every 20 step-ups. Took me just over 1 hour to finish. Unweighted. I cannot even imagine doing this with 35 extra pounds.

Finally finished another book. Been reading very slow again. Found this one a little confusing in parts, but still enjoyed it. 4/5.

College Playoffs

Cole's soccer career has been filled with so many unforgettable moments, but this one will stand out as one of the best. In the CCIW Tournament Finals, the Cardinals faced off against #8-ranked North Park, the division champions. North Central, who placed fifth in the division, played an incredible game and came out on top, securing a spot in the NCAA DIII Tournament. Cole started in center midfield—a position he’s played just twice for a few minutes earlier in the season. He played 77 minutes, tracked the game well, and played a big role. It was an unforgettable night, and I was so excited I could hardly sleep. I can only imagine how the players are feeling right now!

Moments 11 24 :: Week 02

Love this photo of Cole and his friend Will. So good. 

A delicious curry ramen I made. 

Cannot stop laughing when I look at this photo. It was Lorenzo's birthday (Cole's old roommate), so he took a huge group out for dinner. All soccer players from the Men's and Women's teams. They are so funny. Cole really has a great group of friends in school. 

Van just being cute, per usual. 

I drove down to Wheaton to watch the Cardinals in the semi-final playoffs. They ended up winning, and will play in the finals on Saturday. Yay. Unfortunately, even though Cole started most of the games and has over 900 minutes of play time, the season is not ending how he'd like it. Honestly, we don't understand what is going on. I don't know that he teammates do either. It's weird. But he always has a smile, and I love that about this guy.

Just a basil plant in light.

Walked to the lake during sunset with Van. It was so beautiful and calm. Absolutely gorgeous.

There are two ways to get down to the lake at our park, but usually, the water is so high you can't go down one, and up the other. The water was low enough that I was able to walk the entire beach back to the other entrance. Van even got in the water a little bit. 

Moments 11 24 :: Week 01

We left our house bright and early for Detroit, Michigan last Friday. The address we put in our GPS was this. Bon Bon Bon chocolates. We've been enjoying these chocolates for years, and were excited to actually get to visit one of their stores.

It's just such a fun place, and the chocolates are delicious. 

It happened to be in a pretty cool area with some amazing stores. 

Of course we had to go to Third Man Records. Wish we could have fit a factory tour of the record pressing in. So cool.

We had a later lunch at a pizza at Motor City Brewing Works, which was right across the street from the chocolate shop and record store. I don't want to forget about this one. It's the Mary Did Have, which is olive oil, fresh ground lamb roasted with garlic, mint, pine nuts; feta cheese, tomatoes and Zatar spice. Topped with labne kiefer cheese and fresh cucumber. So good.

The reason for our quick visit -- Brian's cousin Kristen got married in April and had a big wedding celebration. 

The venue was cool. The flowers were beautiful.

Back to the party. They had a fun photo booth. Of course we had to utilize it. These were also the photos they used in a book for the bride and groom.

The bride and groom giving a little speech. 

This weekend was also the Michigan vs. Michigan State football game. Kristen is a doctor on staff at University of Michigan. Her husband Andrew went to Michigan State. As a gift to him, she got the mascot from Michigan State come. So funny.

Very blurry photo, but here we are. Kristen is also expecting their first baby. Such an exciting time for them. I've known her since she was 9 years old. Crazy. 

View from our hotel room.  We were supposed to leave on Thursday, but Brian had to travel this week and miss a class so couldn't miss any others. (He's teaching at MIAD). We had to leave early on Saturday too. Bummer. I was really looking forward to exploring Detroit. We'll have to go back some day. 

On our way back, we stopped in Ann Arbor to check out the stadium. We also got coffee in this cute little corridor. It was early so still very quiet. I'm sure just a few hours later this town was insane.

The reason we left early was to catch this guy's soccer game. Love the graphic his friend Joris put together to announce the game.

His cousin Jacob even came! Thankfully Cole started and played quite a bit of the game. He had to be taken out due to his knee giving him trouble. Too bad because he was playing amazing. The team ended up losing 0-1, but it was a gorgeous day for some soccer. 

We were able to take Cole and Zoe out for dinner before we left too. It was a busy, but very fun couple of days.

Look what I found on one of my walks with Van this week. You would think we'd see more deer than we do. They are so cute. 

Also coming across a bunch of turkeys too. This yard had 15 of them in it. 

We also made it down to the lake one of the days. The weather has been so warm. In fact, it was in the 70s on this day. I even got to wear my new tshirt. :)

I made up a little challenge for the gym last month. Plank every day for 30 seconds. Each week I added 15 seconds on. There were plenty of weeks I didn't think I'd be able to do it. But by the end, the 1 minute 30 seconds was completely fine. I only missed one day because it was the weekend and I completely forgot. Yay me!