April 2022

April 2022 

            April always includes both girls’ birthdays, so let’s just start there.  For Sarah’s birthday, she enjoyed taking a cookie cake to school and going to softball practice and enjoying ice cream with her friends.  That evening, we got take-out from Flamme Burger.  Her favorite gift was a new bike as she had gotten too big for her old one.  For Allison’s birthday, she took cupcakes to school and went to track practice.  That evening, we had Papa John’s pizza for dinner.  Her favorite gifts were softball gear, books and a makeup kit.  We had a few different celebrations as we went over to the Dodson’s for a small gathering in early April and had a party at our house the later in the month with Randy Anna, Kathy, Mark & Chris.   

 

            Sarah & Allison were asked to be flower girls in Jackie & Adam’s wedding this month.  They enjoyed the entire process of sizing their dresses, hanging out with the bridesmaids on the big day getting their hair and makeup done, and riding on the trolley to the church for the wedding.  The wedding was at the same church that Debbie and I got married at and the girls did a great job.  They enjoyed the reception and dancing the night away.   

 

            Deb had trained with other moms from school since January for a 10k in early April.  The race took place in Carmel and this is the longest distance Deb has ever run.  Despite some snow and rain during the race, she completed 6.2 miles. Afterwards they got home and enjoyed a little time in a hot-tub to celebrate their accomplishment.   

 

            We had a fun time celebrating Easter this month.  We started the day by going to mass with the Dodson’s and came back to our house for an egg hunt and breakfast.  All the girls played well together and had fun looking for eggs and dividing up the candy.  That evening, we went over to Tom & Tracy’s for a fantastic lamb dinner.  Brandon, Diane and Ben were also there and after dinner I kept looking over at Tom and he was consistently opening a new bottle of wine every 10-15 minutes, which is a sign of a really good time!   

             

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

            Sarah has been playing two sports this spring, softball and kickball.  She has had fun playing kickball with a majority of girls from the grade above her.  She has shown some significant improvement on the softball diamond this year.  She rarely strikes out and usually gets on base. When playing defense, she has caught a few pop flies and seems to know where to go with the ball in most circumstances.  She has even turned on the TV to watch college softball.   

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

             Allison has been running track and playing softball this spring.  Due to her birthday, she is playing on a team with several of Sarah’s classmates (Sarah was too young to play).  She is having fun being the starting pitcher and usually playing infield.  At track, she has been working on long jump and is pretty good at it once she figured out her steps and how to not foot fault.  She has also continued to participate in some basketball voluntary practices at Chatard for incoming middle school girls.  Allison also went on an over-night field trip to Camp Tecumseh with her classmates and had fun learning about how life was like for the pioneers.   

 

A few more items from this month: 

• Kathy came to town for about a week and was able to go to a kickball game for Sarah and some softball games for both girls. She took Sarah and I out to dinner at Sahm’s one evening during her visit.   
• Randy & Anna came to town for an extended weekend and were able to see Sarah play kickball and softball and Allison play softball.  Anna came with us to Allison’s track meet at Chatard.  
• I traveled to Orlando for a conference for work.  Our company operates on EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and the conference was for all of the leaders of those companies.  It was a quick trip where I left Indy on a Wednesday and got home Friday evening.

 

March 2022

At the end of March, we went to Marco Island for spring break.  We flew out on Saturday the 26^thand our travel plans went pretty smoothly.  We arrived at the condo and after getting groceries and settling in, we were able to enjoy the beach and pool along with seeing the sunset each night.  We had consistent warm weather and enjoyed being in the sun after the winter in Indiana.  On Tuesday, we had a half day kayaking excursion through the mangroves and we all really enjoyed it.  Our guide was great and we were able to see some wildlife (birds, jellyfish, snails).  While on the beach, we played bocce, football, keep away, and paddleball.  The waves were pretty big, so the girls enjoyed jumping around in those.  We enjoyed having dinner out at a few restaurants (Pinchers, Sunset Grill & Salty Dog) and the girls had ice cream several evenings.  We played UNO, Old Maid or did a puzzle most evenings after the sunset.  As we flew home, there were many cancellations and disruptions that day but we were lucky enough to get home after having only a 90-minute delay.   

 

            The remainder of the month was filled with the end of basketball and volleyball seasons and the start of softball, kickball and track.  Allison’s Jr. Trojans team played in an end of the season 4 team tournament and won the first game and lost the second game.  Allison has been going to some basketball skills training for the middle school girls being offered by Chatard.  Sarah’s basketball team played for the championship and won 27-25 in a very exciting game.  Allison has started track practice and they are still working to see what events they want her to do.  Sarah has started kickball practice and her team is primarily made up of 4^th grade girls with a few girls from her grade playing.  Both girls have started softball practice and are enjoying meeting new teammates and having a few friends on their team.   

 

            Allison got to participate in an annual CKS tradition where some students march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade.  Deb and I went out to brunch with the Bultincks and then made our way downtown.  The weather was fantastic and we enjoyed meeting up with all of the other parents and walking behind the students in the parade. Afterwards, many of the parents went to the Rathskeller and continued to have a good time.  Of course, all good things  

must come to an end and at 2:15 we had to head home to pick up the kids.   

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

            Sarah went to a birthday at the Fisher’s Humane Society with her classmates and had a great time.  Sarah has shown some very creative skills as she continues to make up games and want to do things “as a family.”  She is always wanting to do something with someone which we are proud of, but can be difficult with our schedules and jobs.   

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

             Allison has quickly been turning into a preteen in the last several months.  From wanting to be alone in her room to wanting to text her friends, we can see the future.  On spring break, she spent lots of time on the beach reading a book and getting a little too “old” for playing in the sand.  Of course, once Deb or I got up to play with Sarah, then Allison wanted to be included.    

 

A few more items from this month: 

• I spent a few nights up in Wisconsin on a work trip visiting the company we purchased at the beginning of the year.   
• We met up with the Watkins and Andersons to watch the final Purdue game of the year in the NCAA tournament.  Once again, Deb won our family bracket challenge and retains bragging rights for another year.   
• I enjoyed catching up with a basketball coach (Ken Manuel) of mine from 6^th grade for a few hours over a cup of coffee.   
• I had a great time going out to lunch with 4 people I worked with for 12 years at Hurco. It feels great to still keep in contact with people from previous jobs I’ve had.   
• We are doing a work leadership retreat and hiking the Grand Canyon in September. Some of us met up and did a practice hike at Turkey Run in March to see how our training was going.