Bowling

Merry Christmas

Marty

Merry Christmas! Another great Christmas and holiday break is in the bags. To kick off the week long festivities we hung out with the Stubler side of the family to exchange some gifts.

Christmas morning we were at home to hopefully catch a glimpse of ol saint nick. We didn’t see him or his reindeer’s but he left some great presents for everyone.

We traveled to the great state of Iowa to spend a few days in in davenport with the Wassmer family. More gifts were exchanged.

On the way back from d-port we made a quick stop at the Super Bowl where Emery bowled for the very first time. She made it through about 6 frames before she threw in the towel, Carter on the other hand gave me a run for my money. He was extremely close to beating me.

Congratulations Grandpa Stubler

Marty

Grandpa Stubler was inducted into the Illinois hall of fame this past weekend which gave us a good excuse for a road trip.

“While the name Stubler has been synonymous with bowling in the Illinois Valley, Jim Stubler was honored with an induction into the Illinois Bowling Association Hall of Fame, October 17, 2015 in Decatur. He has devoted most of his career making it possible for everyone to enjoy the game of bowling.” -http://www.ivsuperbowl.com/

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Bowling and Fishing

Marty

Carter and Emery’s school was closed for faculty development day, so we decided to spend the day at Grandpa and Grandma Stubler’s. Grandpa got a fishing pole for Carter, and so the boys all went to Baker Lake for some fishing. The weather was not in our favor, so we did not fish very long. We had a nice visit from Aunt Imogene, where Carter scored some Legos, and Emery got a cute little baby book that talks to her. We took a trip to the park and spent the afternoon bowling. Carter also enjoyed playing all of the games in the game room. When the claw game proved to not pick up a stuffed animal after jamming quarters in it, Grandpa gave Carter a direct route to the cardboard box full of animals for his choosing! Before we head home, we had a nice meal at Uptown Bar and Grill, in LaSalle.

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Merry Christmas!

Marty

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a crazy week of fun, presents, and family. There were a few surprises and a whole lot of good times.

It started Friday night (21st) with a trolley ride through Naperville looking at all the crazy Grizwald-like lighted houses. A lot of the larger displays were timed with music that played over the trolley radio. Carter and his buddy Blake stared out the trolley windows in amazement at each house. I think they were just both happy not to be strapped into a car seat like a NASCAR driver. Those 5 point harnesses can be binding at times.

Saturday was the always long and loved trip to Davenport. The grandparents and one sister were the only ones on the guest list but my other sister Shelly surprised everyone by showing up. Shelly and Stephan were visiting family in St. Louis and drove up to celebrate Christmas with the Wassmer family. The other surprise was that my dad was sick as a dog and had to be quarantined upstairs for most of our visit. It really seems like the flu is going around bad right now. Sickness aside, the rest of joyful holiday night was full of hyped up kids and ripped wrapping paper.

Unfortunately Julie had to work on Monday so it was back to Naperville Sunday afternoon. This is the first year in a long time that we have been at our house for Christmas eve and Christmas morning. It is nice to be at home for a holiday as we were able to start some of our own family traditions. Now that Carter is older he was really into Christmas, and especially Santa this year. All with help from our friend Sam the elf, who was around the house the entire month of December. The standard child holiday emotions seemed way more prevalent. He was excited to leave Santa cookies and anxious to see what was going to appear the next day. On Christmas morning I thought Carter’s belly was going to catch on fire. He slid down the stairs so fast I had to run to keep up with him. As expected Santa dropped off a bunch of goodies to enjoy, including a big train table and Spencer the train, big boy underwear, a few others presents and a stocking full of goodies.

After all of Santa’s gifts were open we headed to LaSalle-Peru to hang out with the Stubler family. We went early so we could stop by the bowling alley to let Carter sling a couple balls with Grandpa. He enjoyed pushing the ball down the lane, but lost interest after 4 frames. The racing car video game turned out to be the most interesting thing to do. It was then back to the Stubler cottage for more presents and food. It was hard for Carter to sit through the meal with a tree supported mostly by presents. More wrapping ripping ensued and on the other side was a bunch of smiles by all.

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Christmas 2011

Marty

Hope everyone had a good Christmas! As usual we went to both family’s houses to celebrate. First was the Wassmer’s and then we went to the to the Stubler’s. After 4 days of opening presents the car was so overloaded with toys some had to be left behind. Poor Ali only had half a seat to sit on because there were so many toys crammed in everywhere.

Carter did a great job ripping wrapping off this year. He was probably so good because we practiced a lot leading up to this weekend. I’m pretty sure next year he’ll be even better and tear into them like a crazy animal.

In LaSalle/Peru, Julie and I finally took Carter up to the bowling alley to teach him all about the sport. He enjoyed the ball but didn’t really enjoy pushing it down the lane towards the pins. He tripped the buzzer a few times because he stepped passed the line trying to chase the ball. I hope Grandpa Stubler will teach him a thing or two because my bowling is about as good as my cooking… not good.

Here are some pictures.