It's New Years Eve and the Kerry family is ready to rock. Ok, we're having a small New Years together, but we're saving up our gusto to cheer the Spartan's on to victory tomorrow during the Rose Bowl. I remember the last one, in 1988...hanging at the Stansicks in Okemos. We were so little then.

So it's been a crazy good year for us this year.

Max: A huge year of professional accomplishments: Assistant Coach of the Year (jan), Hall of Fame Induction (dec) and Head Coach position (nov). He also was able to see friends during his annual golf trip and travel to a few great professional development events. I also think back to all the public and private ways he helped encourage people through the year...be it flood clean up or helping a pregnant student, it seems everyone can lean on Max!

Ryan: Ry gained independence this year. From riding a two wheeler to becoming  little man who helps carry the diaper bag, Ryan became aware of the world outside himself. He also began his friendship with his little sister. He protects her, bugs her, plays with her and genuinely looks for her reaction and approval now rather than just seeing her as an attention seeking blob. It's kinda like he's the third parent around here since he has definite opinions on how and what we do when it comes to Elise. He's fully ready for kindergarten come fall. I can only imagine the growth then!

Elise: Elise evolved from baby to toddler. Can you imagine in one year learning to crawl, walk, talk, play, sing, do sign language, stack, color, ride on bikes, shriek and get teeth? It was a big year for our little one as we started to see her personality come to light. We already knew she was a bit somber compared to Ryan, but now we see how she's truly an observer that processes everything around her and then makes very studied and intelligent choices. Her smile lights up a room. And her stubbornness and slightly defiant streak will keep us on our toes (and laughing) for the rest of our days!

Court: 2013 was a year of outward focus for me as I figured out how to work and be a momma to two kids with very different needs. Coupled with the largest career evolution/challenges I've had to date (my team grew from 3 people to 12+ depending on the day, as well as many of my existing clients growing and evolving...all during a three day a week "in-office" and lots of hours multi-tasking with the kiddos) and I am ready to work towards a little more inward focus in 2014. I hope to spend a bit more time being creative with my photography, glass work and maybe even painting again. And I'd love to start getting "me" back with yoga and regular exercise. And sleep. Sleeping again would be nice (HEAR THIS ELISE?) All in all, things went way better than I could have dreamed.

So as we look forward, we'll also look back on the MANY blessing we had over the holiday. By far our best Christmas ever. Hope to look back on 2014 with the same sentiment. To each of you, enjoy this day of renewal. And GO STATE!

Love Court, Max, Ryan + Elise
PS: Happy Birthday Nana!

NOTE: Excessive Photo Post for Grandparents Near and Especially Far!

Christmas cookies with Nami.

Ryan's school party.

Christmas Eve at Nami and Papa's.

Hug me Elmo getting hugged.

Proud as a peacock. Check out her boots!

Watching Papa's trains around the tree.

Our little conductor.

The pics were not taken at night....But at 6am :)

The next series is Ryan being reunited (via Santa) with his summer best friend, Leppy. They met in Ithaca at the cottage we rented and haven't seen each other since our trip. Leppy wrote a note which was attached to the box. Santa even poked air holes and gave Leppy food for the journey. It was by far Ryan's favorite gift!

Max's room was a re-decorated office now that he needs a dedicated space to run the coaching from. He says he had no idea...but he is very patient and trusting to stay out of the excercise room for the week before Christmas as I got stuff ready!

Ryan with his new Magnatiles. He is building amazing things with them. I thought they were limiting compared to Legos but his creativity proved me wrong.

Elise was surprised by her new trike...we had forgotten to give it to her and she stumbled upon it about 3 hours into Christmas morning in the laundry room.

Christmas day with my family at our house was a hit!

I love that the picture of Ryan (aged 1) is right behind her here...He still had more hair than she does at 17 months!

Elise likes carrying her vet kit everywhere. She keeps saying "bye-bye" and will head to the door and then make a grand entrance.

She's ready for the Spartans! 

Playing their musical instruments together.

16 Months + 5 Years Old!

Technically, I am a month behind on this post, but it's the holidays, so everyone can cut me some slack I hope :) We've had a crazy busy month and a half with a ton of highlights. Among them:
- Max was named head coach of Northview's Football team!
- We traveled to Ithaca for Thanksgiving, where we got to meet our new nephew, Trevor
- The kids performed in their annual Christmas program
- Elise moved from walker to runner
- Court flew in a very very very small plane to Chicago and lived
- Ryan turned 5
- Max's baby-brother Brian got engaged to his love, Mallorie
- We're 100% ready for Christmas!

Thus, why we are a bit behind on our normal updates. Promise more to come over the holidays! We hope each of you have a blessed holiday full of special time with your families, friends and loved ones.

Elise loves to vaccuum whenever we do (see Max behind Elise). We're learning that many traditional gender roles are hard wired.

The kids are getting closer and closer. They love playing chase and running back and forth across the kitchen floor with the noisy WOW trucks.

Ryan's spending lots of time writing his letters (here he is on his Boogie board practicing his spelling.)

My current favorite outfit on little Ms.

Looking up to big brother as we head out into the winter weather, she loves wearing that hat....everywhere.

Needless to say, Elise is moving beyond mobile and into the acrobat zone.

Thanksgiving in Ithaca was amazingly fun. Here's our annual "Kerry Men" photo that seems to keep growing every year!

Baby Trevor with Max's dad.

Ryan enjoying every bite of Grandma's Thanksgiving meal.

The kids sitting together to watch Toy Story as a special Thanksgiving treat.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Nana too! It was a full holiday.

Ryan and his "go-go-gadget" reach as he helps decorate the tree.

Rosie cheeked boy after a snow day play-date with Daddy.

A rare, quiet moment as both kids read to themselves.

Ryan shocked and excited over his 5th birthday card.

Our animal loving Ryan wanted a long Northview snake more than anything for his birthday.

This year we had a family celebration for Ryan and Uncle E (Eric) since they're birthdays are so close together. They even shred their Tank themed birthday cake...at a party where we had Mexican food...it was a strange combo, but both boys walked away with toys off the cake. (Yes, Ryan made sure to share with Uncle E.)

Ryan showing Elise how to play Legos.

One of Ryan's favorite toys was a crayon maker. He loved the magic and science of it all.

Elise jingling her bells during the Christmas program.

Ryan rocking out to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree. He had the most amazing hip action. We got lots of questions on where he got his rhythm from!

Ryan had a second birthday party with just his friends at Jester's Court, an inflatable paradise for kids to jump their energy out.

Ryan's second cake that was John Deere themed. You'd think we live on a farm!

Ryan had thirteen friends to his party (though we lost a few to the attractions for the photo). Ryan loved the inflatable chair where he opened his gifts.

Ryan riding at the Grand Rapids museum right after we visited the Dinosaur exhibition.

Clearly the mechanical dinosaurs were a big scream!

Ryan sporting his soon to be his watch...And trying to show his guns.

Ryan celebrating Nami's birthday.