CELEBRATIONS

The boys had one of the very best days at their parties over the weekend. I was proud of their kind comments to all friends and family for helping them celebrate the big FIVE! We went to Lakeshore and did what Brady and Colton love to do...SKATE! Michael and Jarred joined in the fun along with some Dad's and Mom's as well. Some Friends from their preschool class came along with their best buddies from our family friends. The family gathered at our house later in the day for more sports fun, everyone wore their favorite team Jerseys and ate dinner. Colton and Brady switched between their Sailor Varsity Hockey jerseys and the McCarthy Red Wings one they got for their birthday, it was a hoot. Again, the boys were spoiled rotten, had a blast and used those manners we have been practicing so hard on:-)It was a truly blessed day! So very thankful for our awesome friends and family who celebrated with us and help make life so special for our little blessings.

5 years later...

The best fitting words for the last five years are THANK YOU LORD for blessing us with these JOYS!!! I can not believe that 5 years ago this week we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of what we prayed would be two healthy little boys. Our prayers were answered and here we are five years later with two of the most active, funny, sweet, smart, did I say active....little boys. I prayed for years for these two blessings and am so glad God heard us and sent them to us. To say they have filled our lives with joy and excitement is an under statement. Although there are certainly been challenging days, as there will be to come, I cant imagine a moment without them. These pictures tell the story of brotherhood. They are growing to be the true meaning of brothers. They love each other, stick up for each other, care for one another and fight like any normal five year old brothers would! They have grown so much in the last year. Full week preschool has proven to be a great academic world for them, they amaze us with what they bring home. This year will bring another big step as they head for Kindergarten this fall. I really can not believe how quickly five years have passed. I love you B and C...so very very much:-)

Sailor Hockey Season

And were are off....hockey season is in full swing. Jarred decided to play for his school this year sporting the blue and white...GO SAILORS! High School hockey is different in many ways compared to travel but its also...hockey!! So far this season has went pretty well. The schedule is a tough one, I don't think there is an "easy" game on the schedule. This is done on purpose, of course, the Sailor Hockey program always has its sights set high. It has been a good change of pace, playing with kids that walk the halls and our house. Families faces that are familiar and a chance to catch "home" games only 5 minutes away! Jarred seems to be growing and settling into his game. Its a challenging position which comes with great highs and great lows. He will look back and learn a great deal from his high school hockey experience and its exciting to watch it unfold...well...sort of "watch", I still spend plenty of time roaming the halls trying to get the butterflies out of my stomach. Jarred is mentally much tougher than I:-)
They won the Konrad Tournament at home this weekend. In the final game Jarred got so close to that word we dont like to talk about...(shut out!)..with just over a minute remaining they scored (one of those silly goals that you just want to jump out of your seat and stop!). Oh well a wins a win!!! 3-1 Kondrad Champs

Christmas Season 2010

What a wonderful time of year! This Christmas seasons was certainly one of the very best! We have many Holiday traditions, I hope the kids will cherish forever.

We started with our annual after Thanksgiving Christmas with my mom, Doug and Grandma and Grandpa Stearns. We then continued to celebrate through the whole month of December. We got together with the Anderson and Conrad families to frost cookies, we saw Santa at his workshop at the High School, we saw Santa again at the mall, we helped Grandma Stearns with her annual toy give a way for those in need.

My Grandma Stearns is such as inspiration. She works so hard every week to try and make people's lives in West Michigan a little better. I was so glad we were able to help her this year with the shopping, organizing and putting together this Christmas give away. She reaches out to over 25 families in our community who otherwise would fall through the cracks during the holiday season. Jarred and his friend Mallory spent the day of the give a way at the church, I think they learned as much as they gave. When my grandma called after the give a way to tell me how much she appreciated their help she actually thanked me for raising such a nice young man, well Grandma....its with role models like you and grandpa that make it easy to know how to raise kind children! One of the best days of the season.

We had the annual Stearns family Christmas Party at Aunt Linda's church. We spent lots of time with family; on Christmas Eve we went to the Swanson's, had Christmas day dinner with Papa Felt and spent the day after Christmas with the Felt Families. During break we headed over to Grand Rapids with the Houle's and enjoyed a great day at the Children's museum, Rosa Park Circle Ice Skating and Nite Lights at 5th third ball park. Jarred has taken the boys to play pond hockey a couple of times, geez they are all getting so big!!

Michael was able to go home and spend some much needed time with his wonderful family. The boys sure did miss him they went downstairs a few times looking for him and were happy to see him back.

Christmas morning was just how I remember it when I was little...Brady raced downstairs and then upstairs to wake his brothers he proclaimed to Colton that Santa had been here he was sure of it, screaming at the top of his lungs. Colton was so scared it wasn't morning and he shouldn't get out of bed for fear Santa wouldn't come at all, the two of them talked back and forth about this for about 5 minutes until Brady convinced Colton to go downstairs it was then they both started cheering that Santa had arrived!!! Grandpa Terry and Lori soon joined us for a great Christmas morning, memories were made.

Like I said...its been WONDERFUL:-)I just love this time of year and could not ask for better friends and family to be spending it with.

I can't count how many times I have stopped to Thank God for all of our blessings this year.

Michael and the Moran Family

Finally...a pic of Michael! I am going to be getting some pictures soon of all of us together. Here are a few shots Jamie took for Michael's senior pics and his wonderful family. Don't they just look like nice people:) The Lumberjacks have improved to .500 for the season right now. The team seems to be coming together recently. Its exciting to go to the games, which we try to do everytime they are home. Colton and Brady not only made it through the entire game on Saturday without any major meltdowns, fits, or any other form of fun behaivor...we even went to dinner afterwards with Michael and some friends from his team. We are all thankfull for falling back an hour on the clocks today after out late night!

Our Family 2010

BRADY - This picture captures your big personality and your sweet tender heart all at the same time. You give out more kisses than anyone I know, you count them each day. Some days you ask for 15 others 2 or 3 but always a specific number. You say things like "Mom this dinner is really good" "Mom I like your necklace, your so pretty" "Grandma I love you so much" "Daddy will you lay with me?" You also have a stubborn side (not sure where you got that from?!). Once you set your mind to something you won't give up..hmm...not sure where that came from either!? Your a wild hockey skater and you love hockey!!! Your doing so well in school. Your counting and spelling and writing...its so fun to see what you do each day. You love to play with your action figures and you get so excited to do your "homework" I hope that lasts for a long time.

COLTON - You are so darn cute. I love your smile, its the very best! Today when I was not feeling well, you were the first to try to do everything for me. You checked on me every 5 minutes and asked what I needed. You can be so kind and thoughtful. You have a huge imagination and have taken a great liking to Max. He is your best buddy, besides your brothers! Your so smart too. Your handwriting is better than mine! (Honestly no clue where that came from) You really like to play soccer and are going to try skating with the Lumberjacks tomorrow. You grow braver everyday. Your not a kisser/hugger, touchy feely kind of guy (I DO know where that comes from) but I know you have a big heart and I like to steal kisses from you all the time:)Your vocabulary is outstanding and you amaze us by the words you say.

JARRED - Seriously...WOW, you have grown into a great young man right in front of our eyes but would you please... stop...getting older that is!!! Your a kind kid who is busier than the average 15 year old and keeps it all together. You have your first job and never, ever, not once do you complain about going. You are saving half of everything you earn and do not complain about that either. I keep on you pretty hard about keeping your grades up, I really think you will thank me some day, I hope! Your practicing at least once usually twice a night for one sport or another and your keeping good grades. Really, what more could we ask for? We are working on your attention to detail...I think I might still be saying this 10 years from now! Your funny, easy going and a joy to be around. Best of all you love your family. Your brothers idolize you and for that we are thankful.

OUR FAMILY - Has grown by one more this year. Michael Moran (promise to post pics very soon of him, but my camera is broken!) Michael is a USHL Lumberjack player who is living in our house. But he is so much more than a hockey player, he is wonderful young man who we have all grown to like a lot! We are so lucky to have him with us this year. We are enjoying following him on his journey with hockey and much more including...going to a new school, moving away from home, making new friends and doing his own laundry!! Colton and Brady think he is really cool and Mike and Jarred get along just great. I have cooked more home maid meals in the last 3 months than I have in the last 3 years, like I said this have been good for ALL of us:))

It is a busy busy busy household over here on Harbor Point but we are loving everyday and thanking God for our wonderful family.

I thought Jamie did an outstanding job capturing all of our personalities in our annual photo session. She is taking Michael's pics this weekend, cant wait to post those as well!

Grand Rapids .5 Marathon

Well...we did it! Kathy Hellmann and I finished the GR 1/2 Marathon today. Its a great feeling to see the training pay off. We ran about a minute faster per mile than we trained and it wasn't until the last mile that it caught up with us. I am so proud of my friends Jenni and Shannan for finishing the full and Jenni for finishing her 2nd in 2 years! After about 11 weeks of training Kathy and I took it all in running shoulder to shoulder over 11 miles. She crossed just a minute after me, not bad seeing she is 9 years older than me (I know she will love that I posted that!).I think we got out of it injury free as well which is really something to be thankful for. I hope our running continues for a long time together.

Grand Rapids Marathon 1 hr 57 minutes.