40th birthday

I turned 40!  We had a fun celebration with family.  My mom had this beautiful cake made.  Jillian requested Grandma Darlene's sugar cookies for her celebration.  We usually celebrate Grandpa Pat, Jillian and myself all at once since we all have January birthdays.  Shortly after my family celebration I flew to Vail Colorado to spend the weekend with my dear friend Tamra.  She is a NNP at the hospital there but since its fairly remote, its not always busy so she gets to spend her down time at a fully furnished apartment in Vail Colorado.  We had a blast!  Vail is just like I imagined.  Gently falling snow most of the time and beautiful chalet type decor.  We relaxed, watched Netflix, enjoyed amazing food and shopped.   It was the perfect way to remember my 40th birthday.

Disney Cruise!

 In celebration of Paul and Darlene's 50th Wedding Anniversary they took us on a Disney Cruise over the Christmas holiday.  We had a blast!  It was just as Disney said it would be.... Magical!   We had so much fun and made tons of great memories.

 Here we are boarding the Disney Magic in Miami Florida.  We had so many favorites to our trip but a few of the highlights were the all you can eat french fries and ice cream (grandpa and the kids could not get enough!)  Coming back to our cabins at night and finding our towels had been folded into animals, free movies like the newly released Star Wars, AMAZING  live theater shows each evening and perfect weather!!

 The ship was completely decorated for Christmas.  This handmade gingerbread house was just one of the many amazing picture opportunities.  We had fun celebrating "Pirate Night"

 You never know what cool idea you might find on Pinterest.  We added a little more fun to our Christmas Eve celebration with these cute hair do's.

 They allow you to decorate the doors to your cabins.  The kids had fun making posters for Grandma and Grandpa during one of their afternoons in the Kids Zone area.  

 Christmas!!  The line to get a picture in front of the beautiful sky high tree was long but we finally got our shot!  A Christmas we will never forget!

 Snorkeling on Disney's private island Castaway Cay.  That sure felt good after the dads and kids finished the 5K earlier that morning.

A great surprise at the beginning of our trip was that we had been upgraded to rooms with balconies!! The views were amazing and it was a great place to dry our swimsuits as well!!  :)

Thanksgiving 2015

 We celebrated Thanksgiving in Mitchell.  This year we also had our Clark Christmas since we had plans to be on a Disney Cruise over Christmas.  Uncle Jordan and Owen having a blast together as usual.

 Wrestling and electronics!  Perfect combination

 Grandpa Paul and Owen with their serious faces!

 Another beautiful table at my mom's house

After we celebrated Thanksgiving in Mitchell it was back home to Yankton to get ready for the holiday season.  The kids and I love to decorate for Christmas.

 It was Owen's turn to put the angel on the tree.  Could this get any more dangerous??!!

Fall fun!

 Lauren and Jillian trying out their new guns with Dad.   Madelyn and Owen wanted to look tough as well.

 Since moving to the country we have started cutting our own hay.  Before we knew it we had hay everywhere and not enough tarp to cover it all etc.  This is Lauren and Will loading bales into my garage for the winter!  I was NOT happy!  

The hay just kept coming!

Fast forward a few months..... A very large storage shed for all the hay and hay equipment!! 

Halloween 2015

Owen-Flag Football-Bears

Owen played his second year of flag football for the Bears.  Will, Blake and Tyler Carda and Ryan Guthmiller were his coaches.  He loved to pull flags and of course carry the ball.  Will enjoys coaching as much as Owen enjoys playing so its a great time for both of them.

 

Lauren XC-2015

 Brandon Valley.  Started off the year with a 5th place finish! She trained all summer long.  She and several of her teammates met at the lake 3 days a week to run.  When she wasn't running with them, she ran on her own as well as taking strength and conditioning classes.  She also attended a week long XC camp in Brookings.  Her hard work really paid off this year.

 After a disappointing few races due to a terrible long lasting cold, she was finally ready to roll at ESD.  She got 16th place.  Just missed a medal by one spot. Here she is with her teammates and coaches walking to the start line.
 

 Celebrating with her mentor and friend Savannah Woods

 The morning of the State meet.  She let me help with her hair!!!  She had no emotional energy left to fight me.  The nerves had set in! 

 Heading down the first stretch after the start.

 

 The proud family after her 13th place finish at State!!  She remembered missing out on that medal by one spot at ESD and told herself that was not going to happen at the state meet.  She ran a PR and had a great day all around. 
 

On the awards stand taking pictures.