Matt visits Bradley

Matt was invited by the coaching staff at Bradley to a game on Sunday. Lori, Rod, Matt and his friend, Austin went to the game. The guys went in the locker room beforehand to meet the team and hear the coach. They had a great time. Matt has always liked Bradley. Interesting tidbit Marlin's first cousin, Stanley Bugaieski is the team doctor.

Matt and his buddy Austin. In the picture below Austin is standing on a wall!

Coach Les - Bradley basketball coach.

Happy 24th Anniversary Lori and Rod!

December 29, 1984 - Lori Henley and Rod Kruse - Maryland Heights Church of Christ

December 7, 2008 at their home in Monticello, IL. Lori teaches special ed and Rod is a chiropractor. They have two boys - Jake, 18, freshman at Northern Illinois University and Matt, 13, 8th grade at Monticello Middle School and we can't forget their dog - Barney!

Getting ready for a kiss . . . then after the kiss . .

Lori says we better try again Rod!

Kyle is Gator Bowl Bound!

Kyle left Friday afternoon on his band trip to the Gator Bowl. Here's a rundown of the fun he is going to be having:

Friday, Dec 26 - ride the bus all night!

Saturday, Dec 27 - spend the day at Disney's Hollwood Studio Theme Park - finally check into hotel

Sunday - Dec 28 - Disney's Magic Kingdom - march in 6 pm parade at Magic Kingdom

Monday - Dec 29 - Epcot Center - travel to Jacksonville, FL that evening

Tuesday - Dec 30 - Field Show Practice - 7:15 pm Field Show Competition

Wed - Dec 31 - Mass Band practice for Gator Bowl, March inGator Bowl Parade at 3 pm

Award Ceremony and New Year's Eve Dance

Thursday, Jan 1 - Perform at the Gator Bowl halftime show - leave after game for bus ride home

Friday, Jan 2 - Arrive home around 11:00 am

Good Luck Kyle and we hope you are having a great time! We do know that they arrived safely and were at Disney on Saturday!

Sharing our Christmas Fun!

Christmas Eve we spend with the Henley's. We play games, eat, do a $10 gift card "rob your neighbor" game and laugh a whole lot. This year Santa (Uncle Mike) came with a whole bag of treasures for all!

The "cousins" - the Henley, Kruse and Ward Children!

Santa leaves everyone a filled stocking! Lots of good things - we all love the gift cards!

Grandma got their grandsons to pose for a pic of them with Grandma and Grandpa.

Now we can spend the day playing our new games and hanging out.

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours

Jake and Kelsey

Jake's friend, Kelsey came to Monticello for a visit. Kelsey was headed back to the Chicago area last Sunday and then to visit her Dad in France after Christmast. She and Jake both attend Northern Illinois University.

Weekend Recap

Friday evening I worked at a Season of Giving party. This group provided Christmas gifts for 40 families. My friend, Lisa, and I worked at the craft table - it was crazy! Thank-you Lisa for coming with me.

Saturday morning we started out with a holiday brunch with our special friends - The Jones Family. So many years and so many memories! Steve, Amber and DiAnn - Justin was driving home from Harding on Sat morning.

Art and Flo were there along with JD, Carla, Kyle and Eric. Colton was working!

Then it was off to Eric's basketball game . .this is Eric and his buddy Drew! They won the game!

We celebrated Ky's birthday with dinner at Tequila - Ky loves Mexican !

Sunday morning we had donuts to celebrate Ky turning 18! It looks like Ike was really enjoying his!

Happy 18th Birthday Kyle!

Happy 18th Birthday Kyle! Kyle is a senior at St Charles West High School, plays trumpet in the marching band and is an avid sports fan. Kyle - we love you and hope 18 is a great year for you!

Merry Christmas from Barney

Lori sent this picture and thought their dog, Barney, should get a little blog time! This was taken when he was at the "spa" !

Ornament Exchange!

What started out 20 years ago as a cookie exchange has evolved into an appetizer tasting and ornament exchange. Carla and Nancy have been hosting this event for 20 years. While there have been some move out of the area and some new faces for the most part we have the same crew who get together every year. We play some games, chat, eat and enjoy some holiday cheer!Each year Carla and I try to come up with some type of favor. This year we used our scrapbooking supplies to make these. The fringey ribbons on top are on a small notebook that we decorated.This year Ann came and played the piano and we sang a long with her. It was Grannie O's piano and I am confident she was smiling down watching us!
Each person brings an ornament wrapped creatively - after 20 years we have seen a whole lot of choices! We play a rob your neighbor style game with the ornaments!

Tis the Season for Basketball !

Some may say it is the holiday season but for the Henley's and the Kruse's it is basketball season - 8th grade, YMCA, St. Charles West and Collegiate Ball! We love our hoops! This past wekeend Marlin, Carolyn and Nancy got to see Matt play two basketball games. Matt is a crowd favorite and no wonder he is a very good player. In his game last night they won 51- 24. Here are Matt's stats and he sat the entire 4th quarter since they were so far ahead:

17 points, 10 reobunds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. The first 8 points scored were by Matthew - the other team still had zero at that point. Matt we are proud of you! Go Monticello 8th Grade Sages! (Matt is #50)

Saturday Game - Below, Monday Night Game
As fans we all have our "uniforms" to wear!

Happy Birthday Rod!

Happy Birthday Rod! Here's a little story about Rod (from Nancy) . . .when he eats a hot dog or brat he loads it up and I mean loads it up with mustard . . .
and then we he begins to eat it he can't seem to figure out why the mustard is all over his shirt and then drips on his pants, etc.

so for his birthday I gave him a couple new shirts and then . .

Happy Birthday Rod - we love you! You might ask how old is Rod - here's your hint - it is last year in a certain decade! What is your guess?

Happy Birthday Lori Lynn!

Happy Birthday to Lori Lynn! Wishing you a wonderful birthday! We love you!

God Be with You Jason!

Sunday Jason C. leaves for a few weeks and then the 1st of the year he will be deployed to Iraq. Tonight Steve and DiAnn graciously hosted a surprise party to honor Jason and wish him well (and to encourage his wife and children) It was a great night. Jason - we have you covered in prayer and for the family here we will be watching out for you! God be with you Jason!

Surprise - this party is for you Jason! Blanketed in prayer!

Jason - you will be missed. Tricia, Sydney and Calvin we are all here for you!

"Girl" Shopping

Carla, Carolyn and Nancy headed out on Friday afternoon for their version of "Black Friday". This involves NO malls but fun boutique type shops! Our favorite is Oma's Barn (Hwy 79). We had a great time also at Robin's Nest, White Hare, Willow Lake and a few more!

Carla and Carolyn already gathering treasures! Getting back to JD and Carla's house - just a sampling of our bags!

We are thankful for . . .

Colton, Matthew, Eric, Kyle and Jake! What awesome nephews.

Dad gets the break on the wishbone!