School's Out Weekend

The kids didn't have school on Monday, January 26th because of "grading day". This gave the kids an extra day over the weekend for extra activities beyond hockey and homework. Presley kicked off the weekend with a pizza party with her teammates.



On Saturday, Canyon and Dad enjoyed a pancake breakfast with his team followed by pond hockey in the rink behind our house. Dad and Ron continued the fun with an adventure in St. Paul, including a jazz concert with some of his classmates and then some crazy ice racing at the Red Bull Crashed Ice event with Dad.





On Monday, Mom, Presley and her friend Taylor enjoyed a great breakfast at the famous Al's in Dinkytown. The girls then followed up by making the best cookies ever on their own. Nice relaxing and fun weekend!

Presley's First Band Concert

We now have three musicians in the family. Presley's first concert was awesome. All the kids did great and the teacher helped them demonstrate their progress since the beginning of the year. And Presley got a solo to demonstrate Smart Music! Mom and Dad were proud parents!

The Next Stage of Life -- Presley Gets Braces!

It's official. Our kids are growing up way to fast. On January 20th, Presley got braces (and Canyon will most likely get them in the future too). She was a trooper about it and ready for the challenge of not being able to eat some of her favorite things as well as prepared to keep her teeth super clean (for ~ 18 months). Way to go Presley!

Dick Johnson Memorial Tournament - Roseau, MN

Mom, Dad, and Canyon traveled to Roseau, MN (near the Canadian border) with Canyon's Peewee AA team for the annual Dick Johnson tournament. This was Trisha's first trip to Roseau (coming based upon Ron's ringing endorsement). Presley stayed back with a couple of hockey families while we got this cultural experience and great hockey weekend. It's a 7 hour drive to Roseau from the Twin Cities. The team, coaches, and parents pack into a bus to enjoy the journey together. Thank goodness it was great weather and Mom didn't have to stress too much about the drive. The boys usually pack into the back of the bus while the parents sit up front!



Roseau is a unique spot because it's home to only about 1,800 people yet hundreds of families travel here every weekend in the hockey season for tournaments. This town rolls out the "zamboni" and hosts spaghetti dinners to every team to make the experience one to be remembered by all. Rumor has it that all the local kids play for free in Roseau (funded by all the tournaments and hotels) and the ice rinks are left open and unlocked 24 hours a day. Eden Prairie is one of the local's favorite teams because we were the first big program to travel to Roseau and all the other programs followed suit! Our boys had a strong start to the weekend winning their first two games. Unfortunately, they lost to a strong Grand Forks team and ended up coming in 4th in the tournament. We still had a great weekend of hockey and Canyon had some great goals and assists.





But the definite highlight to the trip is the ice fishing. The boys usually run around on the ice while the dads get serious. However, it is always the icehouse with the Moms in it that get all the fish and have the most fun. This year was no different. We all ventured out 3-4 miles onto the lake in some crazy travel contraptions. And unfortunately, Mom's first step into her icehouse was into a fishing ice hole all the way up to her hip. Her housemates were great, letting her sit near the heater, getting her cold beers (that they kept in one of the ice holes), and even lending her their boots when she needed to go outside and pee. We all caught fish and one of our housemates caught the biggest fish for the whole group. Fun day!

Post New Years Travel to North Dakota

After New Years, Mom, Dad and Presley headed north to Fargo, ND for the Girls International Hockey Tournament. Presley loves both the hockey and social element of this tournament. The tournament started by carpooling with one of Presley's teammates. The girls loved watching movies in the back and stopping at Culvers for a pitstop.



The tournament kicks off with an ice cream social and pin trading at one of the local rinks. Since Presley has been doing this for several years (starting with Canyon's tournaments) she has become quite the pro at pin trading, often trading one of her pins for 2 or 3 of someone else's pins.



The tournament also includes lots of fun non-hockey activities like swimming at the hotel pool. This year's hotel had an awesome pool, hot tub, and exercise room, which the girls loved.



Ultimately, it all comes back to hockey. Presley and her team played great. Presley had several goals and assists and her team ended up in 3rd place out of 16 teams, which represent the best teams in the state. Way to go Eagles!




Since Fargo is half way to Bismarck, Mom found rides for Presley and Dad to take back to the Twin Cities and Mom continued on to Bismarck to see Grammie. We packed a lot into just a couple of days, including painting the ceiling in Grammie's bathroom, buying and programming a new garage remote, taking a yoga class in a salt cave, checking out the new North Dakota heritage museum, working out at Grammie's gym, enjoying several home cooked meals by Grammie, checking out a new restaurant in town, celebrating Grammie's new job offer with her neighbor, and watching 2 not so good movies. Whew.... Mom successfully the made the 7 hour drive home on a cold (-20 degrees) but very sunny and clear day. Great trip and look forward to seeing Grammie again soon!

Christmas Week 2014

Grandpa Jim, Grammie Liz, and Kasie came to MN to be with us for Xmas this year. The week was filled with many amazing memories and surprises (like Aunt Kimmy coming into town). The Kohls family spent a lot of the time at the hockey rink watching Canyon and Presley play hockey. Both kids scored goals for their relatives. Ronnie also made sure they got to experience a traditional hockey tailgate before the game.






We took the Kohls out to experience the famous Juicy Lucy at Matt's bar. Thumbs up from all!



The Kohls took all the kids (including Kim and Trisha) shopping at the Mall of America. The kids had a blast and now have a real appreciation for shopping ("uh oh").



Our week was filled with our traditional Christmas week activities including our annual pizza making party, Christmas Eve service at the Upper room, and a great Christmas Eve dinner. This year Aunt Carol, Uncle Bob, and Great Granny joined us for dinner. We ended dinner with a great rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas by the fire.




And Santa totally surprised everyone with amazing gifts for all! We enjoyed a leisurely morning opening presents and eating lots of treats!





On the 26th, we headed down to Red Wing to have an amazing lunch with the cousins at Smokin' Oak followed by a competitive game of bowling at the local bowling alley. And as the week came to an end, we finally got our white christmas on the evening of the 26th so Kasie could tell her friends back home that it really does snow in MN.

Grandma Harriet Comes to Town

Grandma Harriet arrived in MN this year for a two week visit for the holidays. Her first week in town was filled with a lot of fun activities...

On the night of her arrival, Canyon had his first middle school band concert. It was awesome to see him all dressed up. The band is really maturing and they were able to play both traditional and contemporary songs (like Poker face).




We waited to decorate the tree with Grandma Harriet. It was fun to have the kids pull out their ornaments and debate who's turn it was to put Santa on top of the tree. It was Canyon's turn but for the first time he was too big to get on to Dad's shoulders. Wow do they grow up fast!




Grandma Harriet also continued her tradition of making gingerbread cookies with the kids...




We treated Grandma Harriet to a Christmas show at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater. We enjoyed a nice dinner in the "cavern" and then smiled and laughed at the holiday comedy with great skits and great music...



We enjoyed our traditional christmas eve dinner with Barbara and the Abbeys a couple of days earlier this year. We decorated gingerbread cookies and had a fun gift exchange game. The highlight of the evening was singing Christmas carols because this year both Ryan and Canyon participated in playing the Christmas carol songs (in addition to Ron)...




This week Presley also enjoyed a secret santa party with her hockey team...