Valentine's Day Celebrations

Love is in the air and that means Valentine's Day is here!  Mesh and Riley went to the father-daughter dance with friends from Riley's soccer team.  Then the girls came over for a sleepover. Ri and Ben had fun at their class parties and I was able to sneak down the road to stop in to see them. 

Father daughter dance!

Ben's homework - this is hilarious! I had to add it in to the post.

Riley's Valentine box for school.

Ben's Valentine party at school.

Ri's Valentine party at school.

Riley and I went to get our hair done before our big trip starting tomorrow!

Nate - service project and math competition

 Nate has been one busy sixth grader! Last weekend he prepared a meal for the residents of Tent City and served it with his friends for his social studies class service project.  This weekend I spent 6 hours on a Friday night at a math competition with him.  It is awesome to see Nate the mathlete in action and he won for best in school! 

The little brothers enjoying the meal too!

Had to sneak this in here - Riley photo bombed us while Ben was helping me work on my frown. Lol!

Nate the great!

The first three hours was just tests but I managed to sneak a picture of him through the door. :)

Nate rocked the college bowl round - I don't know how he answered so quickly!

January went by in a flash

We can't believe January is already coming to a close!  Ben had a big month with his First Reconciliation and the 2nd grade concert at school.  Can't believe our baby is getting so big!

Ben ready for this First Reconciliation. 1/19/18

This is the face Ben made when the priest was talking to the kids about the sins they might think about confessing.  Ha ha!

Ben's second grade concert

I journeyed to the end of the lake early in the morning to find Ben's ball that had fallen in the lake the night before. Can't believe I found it!

Lovely day kayaking and going on a run with my Nater.

Riley will be getting a hearing aid soon. This wonderful book brightened her spirits about it.

Ben teaching me how to frown - we took countless selfies trying to perfect our frowns. 

January Happenings

January is off to a great start!  Riley and Ben's teams competed in the Winter Classic soccer tournament, indoor soccer season is in full swing, and we have been enjoying the outdoors despite the cold temperatures.

Ready for the Winter Classic soccer tournament

Ben's team between games

Warming up between games

goofballs

Ben hanging with the 6th graders working on their service project

bros

Bruno

Rileybel and Bruno at dusk

Ri and friends joking around before indoor soccer

Happy New Year!

We love our annual NYE night in with the Ludlows!  

We wish you a very happy new year from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas!

We arrived home on Christmas Eve to a white Christmas - what a treat!  Happy holidays everyone!

This year's grand finale present - a family trip to London and Paris in 2018!

Fun at a skating party a few days after Christmas. 

California Kieffer Cousins Vacation

The year wouldn't be complete if we didn't make our annual trek to Calabasas to Sadie's house to meet up with her and our NYC cousins-Cameron, Colin and Kieran.  "Cousins are those childhood playmates who grow up to be forever friends." -unknown

We landed and headed straight to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios. The butterbeer did not disappoint!

Watching a movie in the back of Uncle Andy's truck.

We saw Hamilton in LA - it totally lived up to the hype! My favorite part was watching Uncle Andy dance in his seat throughout the show. :) 

Benny and Andy on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

A beautiful hike

An afternoon at the Pacific Ocean:

AJM
Andy- almost 43, Joey-41, Meg-39 ;)

Me and the Kieffer boys

The Kieffer grandkids:
Sadie-9, Nate-11, Riley-9, Cameron-9, Ben-7, Colin-7, Kieran-3

Annual photo of Kiki and Auntie Meg - both the youngest Kieffer grandkids of our generations.

Nate and Uncle Andy making pizzas in the pizza oven.

Auntie Meg and the kids in the back of Andy's truck looking at the neighborhood lights.

Ri and Cam 

Ri, Sadie, Cam, Andy, Benny boy

gingerbread house fun

Until next year California - thanks for the beautiful memories!