Soccer

Brooke and Riley played soccer this spring/summer. Eric was the co-coach and they had practices on Thursday nights and games on Saturdays. They were the youngest on their team and although the season was a tad challenging (they, especially Riley, got pretty tired by the end of the games) it ended today on a high note. Today was the Soccer Jamboree and the kids had 4 short games this morning. They made it through and actually said they wanted to play again in the fall. It was a great way to end the season.

Here they are in the huddle before their first game today. I loved the way Brooke had her foot on the ball in the photo below. It was probably the only time her foot was on the ball the whole morning. She tends to run away from the ball but she enjoys playing anyway.


Here the boys are on the sidelines waiting for their turn to play. Brooke played with the two other girls on the team, Cecelia and Eleanor.

They were both very proud receiving their trophies today. When we got home they found special places for them in their bedrooms.

One last photo in front of the goal! After the games, the kids enjoyed jumping in the bounce houses and doing an obstacle coarse. We went out for lunch to celebrate at Paradise Pizza. Then we went to Dan Patch Days for a little while and let the kids do some games and listen to the Splatter Sister sing. Another busy day for the Spielers!

Parade and Father's Day

Parade season is upon us and Eric loves taking the kids to parades in the summer. We all attended our first one the weekend of 19th. It was in Farmington for the Dew Drop Days. The kids got lots of stickers and wore them proudly. They also got lots of CANDY!

Brooke got her face painted at the festivities after. She chose a purple cat for her favorite stuffed purple kitty she has at home. Riley got a snake on his arm--again!

Here is Riley watching the parade and clutching his candy bag with a big smile.

The next day was Father's Day. The kids made bobble heads for Eric. They painted the statue and then we inserted a photo of Eric. They were pretty cute. We also made him a nice photo frame with three places for photos that he took to the office. Here the threesome are posing for a silly photo and a nice photo with the bobble heads. That day Eric took the kids to a park and out to lunch while I painted a bench for our front porch. It was all good.

Brooke' Graduation

Our little girl done graduated from Preschool on Thursday. In the fall, it's the big time--kindergarten. She did a great job at her little ceremony. We were so proud of her. We went out to Buffalo Wild Wings (her choice) for lunch to celebrate.

Here are Riley and Brooke that morning before school. We took a photo the first day so I figured the last day would be good too.

Getting her diploma from Ms. Becki and returning so proud.

Memorial Day Weekend

It was a pretty eventful Memorial Day weekend for the Spielers. We went up to Sholom Shores (Eric's parents' cabin) on Friday. We were excited about the new toy that you see in the photo above. The kids had a blast tubing behind the boat on Saturday (which was such a gorgeous day!) and they even found a way to enjoy it on land. Brooke would bounce off of it and do somersaults and before we knew it Riley was doing it too.

On Sunday, the weather wasn't quite as nice but the fishing was excellent. Eric found a hot spot of crappies and fished for hours. We had good eats that night! Well, Eric just couldn't get enough of the fishing and headed out to the dock again about 8:00 at night but quickly returned to the cabin as a black bear had crossed his path. The bear walked right by the fire pit, wandered around for a few minutes and then crossed the highway. It wasn't a very big bear but definitely something we've never seen up there before. Sorry, no photos of the bear!

Before we left today we got in a pontoon ride. It was a great way to kick-off the summer!

A crop of crappies!

Eric the fisherman

Pontoon boat ride!

Riley loves to fish too. He will spend hours in the shallow waters, picking up shells and clams and minnows.

What's Up?

I realized I hadn't blogged anything in quite a while. I guess because there has been no major events going on with the Spielers, just busy with lots of lil' stuff.
Eric was in Japan at the beginning of April. His Japanese customers sent lots of goodies for the kids. We are still eating the candy/snacks and Riley got a cool sword that you can see in the photo. It lasted about 4 days before breaking. :)
We went to Saint Mike's April Fest a couple weekends ago. It was a fun carnival and Brooke got her face painted there (photo below) We won 4 goldfish while we were there. Riley won three which he named Rex, Spike and Laila. Brooke named hers Fishy. Spike only made it a week and we had goldfish funeral last Sunday night.
I've been busy volunteering with different things at the kids' school, a garage sale and a book fair along with my parent board meetings. Brooke and Riley just started soccer. They practice on Thursday nights and the games are on Saturday. The first game is coming up on Saturday. Eric did the Get In Gear race and is busy with work and exercise.
We bought a trampoline and can't wait to get it up and going. We had to wait until we got stakes and I am glad we did with how windy it has been lately.
So that's about it from the Spielers!

Feeling Japanese....

Just a quick post from me from Japan.

I've been here for over a week for work. Its been a crazy and busy week with 15 hour work days and lots of customer meetings in the day and at night. Coming back with lots of stuff for the kids.

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures...

Sukiyaki - Thin "expensive" beef boiled with vegatables, soy sauce, etc... - tastes like candy!

Emperor's Palace - Couldn't get in!

Biking around the Emperor's Palace. Some fancy bikes and some goober bikes....

Shibuya - Just like you see on TV. One gazillion people coming together to cross the street. Pretty cool to see.

Hope you enjoyed the pix!

Easter Gone Wild

So if you are just looking at our blog now, you will get to the more traditional family poses of our get together in a bit. But these fun photos show a much truer picture of the how the event went.

Cousins getting silly!

My mom and me with matching tattoos! (temporary :))

My brother and I took a photo of ourselves, I love the fact that he has such long arms!

Grandma and Brooke laughing at the napkin game. If you don't know what that is--my brother puts a napkin on his face and blows it up in the air, then everyone joins in and chaos ensues.

This is my cousin, Lance, and his girlfriend, Tiffany. Cute couple!

Here is Tracie, giving my mom her tattoo. Tracie tricked her into it, she is so clever.

My aunt Mary and Tracie showing off their tattoos. Don't they look bbbaadddd!

Tracie and Cory doing some cousin bonding and listening to Metallica (is that how you spell it? )

Riley just had too show off his tatt too.

Easter Reunion

This year we had a family celebration for Easter. It had been too long since my cousins and aunt and uncles were together so my parents were nice enough to host the big event which took place the Saturday before Easter. There were 28 of us. We took some good family photos, ate and had many, many laughs!

Here is just a photo of the four of us. We started off the photo taking.

These are the four girl cousins in the family, we were all together! It starts with me on the left, and then Tracie (23), Amy (24) and Dawn (35). I am the oldest, of course. :)

Here are my aunts, mom and the daughters. Mary and Tracie, Lynn and Amy and my mom and me.

Here is Dawn's family. She has 5 kiddos! Sawyer (in the front in blue), Cordell, (front, yellow), Emma Jean (yellow dress), Colten (blue polo shirt) and baby Katie on Cordell's shoulders. And her husband, Jody. They are a fun bunch.

Here is my family. The four of us, my parents and Brad, Katie, Trent and Gavin.

It sure was great to see everybody!

Easter

Here are our Easter eggs for this year. We bought a glitter paint kit so it was different than dyeing but the kiddos still enjoyed it, especially sprinkling the glitter on. Nobody likes hard-boiled eggs but me so I have been enjoying egg salad sandwiches for lunch. Below shows the kids hard at work painting the eggs.

This was Easter morning at Grandma and Grandpa Vissers house. The kids each got a coloring book and a glow writer toy from the bunny, along with some candy and a chocolate bunny. They started working on their bunnies for dessert tonight. Each kid ate off the ears, Riley ate a little more than Brooke though. Happy Easter!

Brooke Skis

This was a couple weeks ago but I just had to share a few photos of Brooke on her skis. This year she went with Eric to Blizzard ski school and learned how to ski! It took her a few weeks to get the hang of it but the last session things suddenly clicked and she was flying down the hill like a pro. She even turns! She looks so in control which is something I have never felt when I have ventured out on skis. So a couple weeks ago we spent the morning at Buck Hill (we had to do it quick before all the snow melted) and I got to see Brooke in action--not just a video. She loved showing off for mom and I was amazed at how she just jumps on the magic carpet and is so independent out there. Riley hit the slopes a few times too that day. Can't wait for him to take lessons too! Now let's bring on SPRING!

Last Day of our trip!

We went out for dinner at Captain Eddy's for our last dinner in Florida. We all had yummy food! It was a great trip.

Earlier that day we walked out on the pier and spent some time on the beach. There was a friendly pelican and the kids (Riley) had fun finding sand fleas for fishing bait.

Where will the Spielers go next?