Great Grandpa

Last week we said goodbye to Great Grandpa H, Erik's grandpa.  He was nearly 94 years old!  He was a quiet, sweet man who gave great hugs and left a beautiful legacy of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  He is the grandpa that Erik spent many, many hours on the farm with.  He (along with Grandma H) never missed a game or program of Erik's--or any of their grandchildren.  We were truly blessed to have him in our lives for so long.

We explained to the boys that although we are sad he's no longer with us on earth, we are super happy for him that he is now in heaven with God and Great Grandma H.  They said that they were sad and wished he had one more birthday here (we had plans to celebrate with him this past Sunday) but then Kade said, "But he's super lucky because now he gets to celebrate his birthday in heaven and he gets to eat Connie's cookies and those are WAY better than any cake he'd have here!".  

These are the pictures I could find quickly on my phone.

The boys were so little!

4 generations.  

Look at baby Kade!!

Great grandpa and Mason meeting for the first time.

Another 4 generation picture!

Mason's baptism

At the time of this picture it was the oldest and the youngest, 

at Grandpa's 90th birthday.

I love this picture because it captures what Great Grandpa did best--sitting in the stands with family, cheering on his grandkids at their sporting events!  When I picture Grandpa H, this is how I see him (with Grandma H at his side, of course!).

The great grandkids (missing a few) at Great Grandpa's funeral.  

It was a beautiful celebration for a wonderful man.

Mason started swimming lessons at the Y in January.  We weren't sure which level we should sign him up for but it was obvious after 32 seconds in to the first class we chose a level too easy for him.  The poor instructor has his hands full with our little man!  He's got no fear of the water and loves to jump in, go under, hold his breath and swim around--meanwhile half the kids in the class are still afraid to get wet.  Oh well, Mason's just happy to be swimming in the middle of winter!

Kade started basketball in January as well!  We moved him up a level to play with 3rd and 4th graders this year.  I was a little apprehensive that he wouldn't be able to keep up with kids 2 years older than him.  However, after scoring 6 points in the first game, 10 points in the 2nd game and then 16 points in this last game--I'd say he's right where he should be!  I will say, it's been a little weird to see him play with kids taller than him.  It's nice to see him actually work for a rebound!

The long winter is in full force so it's time to cash in on the Christmas gifts.  Kade got a gift card to the local trampoline park so we got a bunch of friends together and spent an hour jumping off some energy.

His favorite area is the dodgeball court

This area takes way more work to actually get on the beam than it does to knock someone off!  Half the time they swing, miss, lose their balance and fall in without ever making contact.  But they are pretty persistent in their efforts!

This might've been the most entertaining part of the whole experience.

Check out Kade's face in the bottom picture.

Afterwards 12 kids and 5 moms descended upon the Mexican restaurant next door.  To say they were overwhelmed was an understatement!  Holy cow was it loud and chaotic!!  But the food was delicious.

Mason got a tool kit with a couple wood projects from my parents.  He's putting the catapult truck together here.  Next up...bird house!

Fishing for the elusive blue gill in Grandpa's waterway.  

Unfortunately he didn't catch anything this time.  Could've been due to his choice of location for his fishing spot but who's counting.

The last of the Christmas pictures.  Hard to believe that was over 2 weeks ago now!

The 2 gifts that I got the boys that I assumed they'd be not that thrilled about actually ended up being their favorites!  

Never mind the washing machine in my dining room.  Just happened to be doing a bit of remodeling in the laundry room right over the holidays...as if the holidays aren't stressful enough!

Christmas at my parents...

Christmas at Erik's parents...

On to 2019!!!

Christmas Parties and Traditions

Unfortunately neither Erik nor I were able to make it to the boys' Christmas parties at school this year.  Thankfully our friend Melissa was able to send a bunch of Mason's party.

Apparently Mason asked Melissa to take his picture with this fancy hat on.

Looks like a bit of a struggle with his gingerbread house.

After his school party he had his daycare party!

The Saturday before Christmas we made our annual trip to stay with Megan and her family and see the lights at Riverside Park in La Crosse!  Last year there was a huge snowstorm and Erik ended up throwing his back out and had to sit in the park while we walked around.  

This year Erik was healthy and the weather was much milder.  However that meant it was crazy busy and we didn't really get to see the lights because we spent most of the time keeping track of the crazy kids while battling a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd.  The kids had a blast though and next year...leashes.

The line to see Santa was extremely long.  However, this guy was wide open!  Mason was beyond ecstatic.  He was literally shaking with excitement and happiness to meet The Grinch!