Merry Christmas from the Underwoods

On our way to Florida we stopped in to check out the Liberty Bowl Stadium.

We got a front row parking spot for our fountain shot in front of the stadium.  We are looking forward to New Year's Eve when we will get to see our team win here.

The annual shark's tooth hunt continued with a very skimpy find.  There is some red tide this year and temps in the lower 70s so tough hunting conditions so far.

 

 

We have been spending a fair amount of time on the golf course.  Here we are at Venice East.  Below we are at Venice Lake.

 

We got out to shop one day. This is Hunter in his latest golf attire.  Above is the alligator infested waterway surrounding the Venice Lakes Golf Course.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas! 

First Snow 2012 (as reported from the other side of West Des Moines)

 

It may have spit a few flakes a couple of other days, but this is the first measurable snowfall this season. The Underwoods live on the SW corner of West Des Moines and we live on the NE corner...looks like they may have gotten another inch or so more than we did.

Our tape measure says around 7 inches.

I think the driveway may have been a little deeper due to the drifting...and after one pass with the snow blower I think Adam would have agreed.

The first few hours of "snow" it was still above freezing so it came down very wet and heavy. There was a lot of tree damage at our house and on our street. My favorite lilac tree has been hard hit almost every time that there has been a bad storm over the past few years, and it wasn't spared this time either.

 

Boo hoo, a few of the larger limbs are split. A dead limb that was in the apple tree was also selectively removed. My snowball tree was bent in half, but those branches are pretty limber so it might come out ok.  

Through it all however, we know this is Winter in IOWA...so we keep smiling...

and we make "the BEST of IT!"

 

White Christmas and No School Today

I guess it has been a while since we have had a White Christmas in Iowa.  Seems like yesterday to us.

9.5 inches.

SouthEast Polk

Blake has been busy wrestling this fall.  His last tournament for 2012 was last night at SEPolk.  Every year he has gotten 2nd at this tournament.  This year he finallly came home a Champion.  He has to go 5 rounds to earn his title.

Here he is with his gold medal and card.  This was the first year they stopped giving out 3 foot trophies for Champions - bummer!

Landon's Reindeer

Landon visited the reindeer at the zoo rather than wait in line for a photo op with Santa :)

 

 

A First Time for Everything, Landon Rollerskates!

Last Saturday Landon tried out roller skates for the first time...and it seemed like it was Mom and Dad's first time too! Landon does a good job of saving his money in his "Kirby" account at the local credit union. Saturday they held a free pizza and rollerskating party for the kids.

 Landon testing his balance, thankfully the wheels were pretty tight.

 A couple photos of Landon and Mom hitting the rink.

Landon and Kirby.

Another first, Kim's first BLOG entry! Adam finally showed me the easy way to do it!

The Poet that didn't Know It

Blake's class put on a Poetry Cafe last Friday.  Here are three of his original poems below:

I Love Football
Football is my favorite game,
I love baseball just the same.
I play football in the rain,
When I play football I feel no pain.
Someday you will see my name,
Glowing in the Hall of Fame.


Snowman the Iowa State Fan
Snowman in the Iowa State stands,
Why are you a loyal fan?
What do you hold in your hand?
Wouldn't you rather play in the band?

Blake my bretheren,
Because the QB is my best friend,
I hold a sign that says "Iowa State to the End!"
I would play if my arm would bend.

Snowman in the Desert
Snowman in the desert
Why do you sweat?
What is that puddle around your feet?
Is that pee?

My silly friend,
I sweat from the heat.
No, that puddle is not pee,
It is a part of me.

There are many more.  Blake plans a poetry reading for our visit to Florida.  Get out the coffee and cookies!

Adam's in Texas

Adam's on business in Texas but found time in the evening

 to enjoy the sights of San Antonio along the canals.

 

These are camera shots sent by email...this is how the Lone Star state decorates a tree...

and how the canal looks on a water ride. Magical.

 

The Amazing Math Race

Hunter's Math Club concluded their current session last night with the Amazing Math Race.  They broke into teams and competed a scavenger hunt style race solving complex math problems to win prizes.  There were two ways to win.  Solving the problems correctly and being the first team to the finish line.

This is Hunter's team.  Hunter, Austin and Brogan.  Brogan is a 5th grade genius that was allowed to be with the 6th graders because he is so bright.  The real bright one in this group is Hunter.  He hooked up with Brogan to create his team.  He and Brogan solved all the problems correctly to win the team prize for problem solving. (Hunter got 2 and Brogan got 3)  They got third for the fastest time.  They were the only team to place in both categories.  Austin was along for the ride. He was a great cheerleader.

Here are all of Hunter's Math Buddies and their Coach, Tracy in the Mathlete shirt.  They start their new math challenge Dec. 12th.  They will sit for a statewide test in March.  This time they sat for an 8th grade test.  The goal was to score between 7-9. Hunter met the goal with a 9.
Hunter is in the back row wearing the white shirt.

Turkey Shoot Out

Hunter plays for the Clippers basketball team.  This is his first year in basketball.  They played in a tournament this weekend.  They got 2nd place.  Here he is with his trophy. 

Turkey Trot 2012

Thanksgiving Day was the Turkey Trot again.  Blake won our pumpkin pie for dinner again this year.  We had a great dinner and went to the ISU game Friday.  Wed was 70 degrees so we took in 9 holes.  It was a bit of a shock when we ended up sitting in 32 degrees Friday.  It was also tough to watch our team lose.

Disney on Ice

Tonight we went to Disney on Ice and Landon got a special visit before the show.

 

Awww, Mickey

 

See ya real soon!

 

 

After seeing Mickey and Minnie we went to the Festival of Trees, Landon rode the train...

Whoa! No seat belt!

 

 

...and sat with Santa and Mrs. Claus. We couldn't get him to say what he wanted for Christmas, dang.

 

"I love cheesy pretzels, but that light is SO bright"

 

"All right dad, stop taking my picture!"

 

Landon really enjoyed the show and clapped to the music with everyone else and bounced to the beat of the music.

 

A Hug for Santa

 

from Landon.

Living History Farms 2012

On Saturday Shana, Erik, Anja and Milla came to visit us in Des Moines. Shana and Adam ran the 7 mile cross country race, known as "the largest cross country race in the United States". The registration is capped at 7500, while only about 7000 people actually finish it. That is more than enough people for a trail run.

Later the kids took part in the kids trail runs.

After we all washed the mud off we met Amy and Hunter at Panera for a cousin lunch. We sat and chatted for nearly 2 hours before saying good-bye.

 

All the runners at the beginning of the day.

 

The start of the 7-miler. There were many bottlenecks throughout the run but it was still fun.

 

Though they have very different paces, they stuck together for the whole run.

 

(second) cousins having fun

 

In the enlarged picture you can see Adam to the right, Shana's hat to the left by the clocks.

 

After the race. Adam took on most of the mud struggling to get out of the last creek crossing.

 

 

Landon running his race.

 

Milla with her finisher's ribbon.

 

All the proud kids with their ribbons. Anja proudly wore her running shirt and bib to lunch at Panera after the race.

Lego Landon