Cheers!!! When we arrived grandma wanted to split a birthday beer.
Today we visited our extended family in Salix, at my cousins home, to celebrate great grandmas 92nd birthday. It was a gorgeous 58 degree day. The kids played outside all afternoon while the adults visited inside. It was great to see everyone and catch up. We are so grateful to be able to spend time with our family. We love them all!

After the BEST parent-teacher-child conference that I've attended, grandma and I got to watch Tyler's 13 member ensemble group perform this afternoon. The boys' sang the song "The lion sleeps tonight." The judge critiqued them and stated they did a wonderful job with all the different parts. This was a great practice for the kids to "get the jitters out" before they perform in front of judges in their high school music career.

Saturday we headed to Ankeny to see Rich and Tyler's (wishful thinking school car). Tyler turned up the radio and pretended he was scoopin' the loop. We did a little shopping, ate out, and watched 2 great basketball games at Wells Fargo Arena. It was the best ticket in town to see "The Great Harrison Barnes" and the lil Cyclones of Ames win the 4A state basketball title. We also got to watch the Heelan Crusaders win the 3A game.

They won the Laurens tournament!!! They played Manson NW Webster and beat them again 27-19. The second game they played Humboldt and beat them 36-33. The last game they fell to Graettinger-Terrill 44-49. This was the last tournament of the season. The team has come a long way in playing as a team and realizing if they play together they can WIN tournaments. The team received gold medals and Tshirts for their 1st place efforts.

Today we spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a family sledding party. They had a chili, hot dog, s'more feed and lots of sledding and fun. Here's Tyler and Zach going down the hill. Tyler also got an early driver's education class. He got to drive my car and grandpa's blazer up and down the hill.

The boys celebrating their win against Manson Northwest Webster 36-31. They lost to the first team they played today, Humboldt 23-32.

They won the tournament!!! They beat Rockwell City-Lytton 46-37 the first game. They had a nailbiter with Manson Northwest 32-31the second game. The last game vs. Glidden Ralston they won 43-35. The team received medals for their first place efforts.

Today Tyler and his choir group (135 students) traveled to Sloan, IA to participate in a choir clinic. They performed 3 songs in front of a judge and were critiqued. The judge basically said that they were by far the best group there. They all looked at their director throughout the performance. Tyler said the judge looked like Teresa Smith. This is the uniform all the students wore.

The first game Harlan beat SL 46-28. The second game MMC beat SL 43-31. The last game SL beat Cherokee 34-24. Tyler had an all star performance this last game. He led the team in points, had alot of steals, and was a great leader on the floor.

Today we went to see Great Gram C. We had a wonderful visit with her. Sue was just finishing her shift so we got to visit with her too. Bonus! It was a long day of traveling back in forth. For those of you that remember "back seat disease", Tyler started to get.

It's hard to tell how tall the snow is at the end of the driveway due to the incline but it's actually 7ft. tall. My new snowblower has come in real handy this winter. I never thought I'd say it but I'm actually looking forward to mowing this summer.

I started with 1.5 TBSP. of hickory wood chips at the bottom of the smoker.
I seasoned the wings with mesquite rub.
Waiting for the first wisp of smoke to come rollin' out.
After smokin' the wings for 35 min. I smothered them in Dead Eye and baked them for 10 min.

On Monday, the start of my birthday month, Rich asked what I wanted for my birthday. I had been thinking of investing in an indoor smoker for the last 6 months. So I told him what I thought. Since Rich is well aware of the "Kneifl women get what they want" rule I had a Cameron indoor smoker delivered to my house 5 days later courtesy of Rich and Andrea for my 35th birthday. Today, Super Bowl Sunday, I thought would be a great day to test it out. Per Tyler's request I made chicken wings. They turned out super! His next request: smoked BBQ ribs. Thank you Rich and Andrea for a fantastic gift. I love it! I will be taking orders for anyone that comes to visit. Yes, Dad, I am standing by with a pen and paper to write down your request;)

The first game of the Sioux Central Tournament was against Cherokee. They lost 40-47.
The team sitting around relaxing before heading over to the "old" gym. They played Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn. They beat them 39-27.

The last game of the day was against Graettinger-Terrill. They beat them 60-47. The team took home 3rd place. Tyler had the moves of the day. Great fakes, nice post moves, and good wing shots.

The second rounds Tyler wrestled E. Wise from Spirit Lake. He lost 0-8.
Tylers first match he wrestled C. Potter from Spirit Lake. Tyler won 7-6.

Tyler's third match was against D. Trucksess from Spirit Lake. David put the "banana split" move on him which is an illegal move. Tyler won by default. He has a sore left groin. He said it's the "tied for second" worst pain he's ever felt.

Tyler lost his first match vs. Dustin F. from Sheldon 2-4.

Tyler won his second match vs. Eric K. from South O'Brien by a 20 second pin.

This was the teams first meet of the season. It's also Tyler's first time wrestling since 4 years ago. He did a great job his first meet back.

After the second game the team went to Villager for dinner.

Tournament Team
front row: Mitchell, Tyler, Ross, Grant
back row: Coach Noah, Charlie, Chase, Yach, Fernando, Caleb, Coach Dave

First game: SL 25 vs. Manson NW Webster 26
Second game: SL 17 vs. Spencer 39
Third game: SL 25 vs. Schaller 24

Last Friday at school the boys decided to have "dress up day." This is what they came up with. They were quite the hit at school. Kids, teachers, and even the principal gave them high fives and thought it was great they had a little fun with the dress code.

Last night was Tyler's last regular season basketball game. Tyler did another good job of having great vision on the court and getting the ball to the open man. Afterwards, we headed to Legacy to celebrate Tyler's success in basketball and in school. We had a fun evening visiting with Boun, talking ISU, and watching football.
Tyler and his "not so frumpy" mom;)

Trying to get open on the in bound.
Another in bound play.
Lining up at the end of the game to shake hands. The team showed good sportsmanship.

Tyler had a respectable game. He had great passes down to the posts from the one spot. He had a dandy move on defense to draw the charge (no acting either.)