Our year began in Louisiana and Texas. Rick and Becky (a.k.a. Nana and Bumpa) took us with them in the R.V. to the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, Louisiana (Iowa State lost to Alabama 14-13). From there we visited Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Galveston, Houston, College Station, and Fort Worth. Here we are at the Fort Worth Science Museum!
After a 7 year hiatus, Tim had the opportunity to ski again. Here he attempted to teach Adam to ski at 7 Oaks Recreation Center in Boone (this could only loosely be defined as skiing!). Cathy Weiler also joined us that day! Tim also spent a couple days skiing at Beaver Creek Colorado with his parents, the Novaks, and even Mike Avecilla!
Tim spent the winter months playing pick-up basketball. He included the boys in this activity as much as possible! Also during March, we made a trip to Colorado Springs and Estes Park to visit Aunt Shelly and attend cousin Michelle (Stephenson) and Dave Sullivan's wedding at the famous Stanley Hotel!
The Easter Bunny found us! :) Nana and Bumpa (Rick and Becky Simodynes) joined us in Ames for Easter weekend. We also spent a very fun weekend in Minneapolis with Brad and Jen Estochen and Mark and Eric Weiler. We went for a fire engine ride, had a picnic lunch, went to the zoo, shopped and played at the Mall of America, and had dinner at Chuck E. Cheese's. We also went swimming at Eric's place, and returned to the Mall to ride some rides at Camp Snoopy!
In May we celebrated 7 years of marriage and Tim turned 29. On Memorial Day weekend we took a road trip with Nana and Bumpa in their RV. Here we are at Miller Park watching the Brewers play the Padres. (We witnessed a rare Brewers win!) We also went to Six Flags Great America in Chicago!
By June Tim's softball season was in full swing, and Ben turned one! He enjoyed his birthday party (especially the cake!) and most of the Weiler clan was able to attend. Ben is such a sweet kid with a lot of personality!
Another amusement park...this time we meet up with Tim's uncle Ron and his family at Adventureland in Des Moines. Here Cousin Jaime and Adam are driving the truck while Tim and Ben ride along. A very good time! Sadly, July also witnessed the passing of our dear uncle John Simodynes.
New cousin Allison Weiler (born July 14th) was baptized in Ames with Tim and Terri as her Godparents! The entire Weiler family (minus Bree) was able to attend. Aunt Shelly from Colorado, was able to stay and play with us for a week. August also included three trips to Kansas City. First, for the funeral of our dear (Great) Great Aunt Norie Martin. Second, to see the Cyclones kick-off the football season with a gut-wrenching loss to Florida State--and spend a day at Worlds of Fun. And finally for Tim's annual Labor Day softball tournament.
Adam started preschool at Bethesda Christian Nursery School. Here he is after his first day of school. He really enjoys it, and is learning a lot! Terri also celebrated her (first of many) 29th birthday.
Adam turned 4 while we were all on vacation at Rocky Mountain National Park with Nana and Bumpa. Aunt Shelly also joined us in the Rocky Mountains for a day of hiking! Adam got many gifts, including his first bike.
(OK, almost November) Adam was his favorite football player for Halloween and Ben was a referee. (We still haven't figured out how he became a Green Bay fan.) Much of our fall was spent attending Iowa State football games. Win or lose, we always have a good time, but it was nice to have a third season in a row with more wins than losses. Unfortunately, we are going to fail the test of a true Cyclone fan--we are not making the trip to the bowl game this year (in Boise, Idaho).
We are looking forward to the holidays with great anticipation this year. We will have the traditional--and fun--family get-togethers in Omaha and LeMars! Plus, instead of making the Bowl trip to Boise, we will be going to Florida with Nana and Bumpa in their RV! We hope to see Mickey Mouse as well as some sun and surf from December 26 to January 5th!
Simodynes home