After Baby Corbin arrived... this blog went down hill (oops), but I will try to catch you up to speed on what The Briggs Bunch has been up to the last 12 months (and hopefully update it more regularly this next year -- at least that is one of my 2013 goals) -- so book mark it OR simply subscribe to the blog (on the top right corner) and get email updates sent to you each time I post something!
Wishing you all...
a fun, safe, & healthy holiday season!
a fun, safe, & healthy holiday season!
~ May you enjoy the true spirit of Christmas ~
wishing you all the best in 2013!
_______Love, Dan -Tiff- &- Kids_______
Jan.-March: Biggest news... Corbin Andrew decided to arrive the last day of winter break -- 1.2.12! He brings the family a lot of smiles and the kids fight over who gives him the first hug & kiss after coming home from school. Other baby news (total of 3 Pettitt grand-babies born in 2012). Our first "boy" cousin/nephew was born just 10 days after Corbin (Tate Pettitt - Ben & Emily's 1st & Nate & Sarah now have 4 GIRLS) & Emma was born July 4th!!!!
The rest of winter was full of more swimming with the Sectional, State, and Regional swim meets for Cameron & Kiara like a lot of past years. Plus Dan has his own meets with his HS boys and MS teams! Cam competed in his last 11-12 year old events (as he turned 13 this summer) and Kiara at the time 9; kept up with many older swimmers in the 9-10 age group. Unfortunately, we lost Tiff's Uncle Bruce in March to cancer, but have started a new tradition of honoring him at an event this fall called "Bet On Uncle Bruce"!
At the end of March, we made our annual trip to Minneapolis, MN for the Mid-West Regional Meet where we spent a bit of time celebrating at Mall of America. Grandma & Grandpa Briggs travel to many of the meets and are "life-savers" helping watch the younger boys - PLUS- they are the kid's biggest fans - so thanks for always coming to lend a helping hand and spend many Saturdays with us throughout the year!April-June: Again more activities keep us "hopping" to one event to another with Cam's baseball schedule, Kiara's softball games & piano recital, plus Caleb turned 6 on April 25th -- not to forgot to mention all the extra meetings Dan and I attend for church, PTO, school, etc. --- many nights he walks in and I walk out --- so thankfully we have a couple "responsible" babysitters in the house that have taken a few turns here and there.
The biggest event this spring... was seeing Tiff's sister, Sara (salutatorian) graduate from Carroll High & play golf at the Girl State Meet in Ankeny over Memorial Week! She had a fun "luau" themed party with great weather and all of us family "chipped" in to help serve a Memorial Day Breakfast to her guests. She is now a Panther @ UNI!
Cameron's good friend Jake moved to Colorado fall of 2011; so for his 13th birthday (June 27th) we bought him a ticket to fly out & spend a week with the Heimlicher Family - and LOVED every minute of it - white water rafting, jumping off cliffs, shopping and just being a "teenager"! --That is right CAM is a "teenager (and as you read this in Dec. - has just over 6 months before he can drive with a parent - WATCH OUT)!
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Most of the summer break was spent taking tennis lessons, t-ball (which CJ cried nearly every time), swimming for fun, on swim team, & at the Iowa Games, and playing in doors A LOT with the hot, dry summer!!!
July-Sept: This year we opted to not take a family vacation -- but instead made it a summer "stay-cation"! We did make it to the Omaha Zoo the day Cameron flew out to CO, then we spent a few days updating the basement & master bedroom with new paint & decor, had a birthday BBQ with some friends & family for Dan's "33rd b-day on July 27th) plus made a day trip to Adventureland (in Altoona, IA) with the Pettitt's before school started!! We had another baby cousin/neice join our family on July 4th -- Emma! My brother Nate... now with 4 girls (ages 6 and under)... has always said, "he is a ladies man"!
Later in July, we made it to 2 family reunions in SE Iowa - for Dan's side of the family (Anita's parents - Sieren & Vittetoe sides) - so it was nice to catch up with family and meet new relatives as well. Otherwise daycare 3-days a week kept us busy (which Tiff still does year round - minus a few school breaks) and a few fun outings to the park, bowling, & golf course rounded up our summer before school and coaching began once again.
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| Caleb #1 hula-hooper! |
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Doing the "spiderman" while trying to get CJ
to smile & look at the camera during pics
@ the family reunion!
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We are planning to travel to California (in our new 2012 Sienna van we upgraded to in early Sept.) sometime during the summer of 2013 to see Dan's brother, Dustin, as he is scheduled to finish up residency in Albuquerque this coming June and move to San Diego for a 1 year fellowship. We have been to FL multiple times, so are anticipating making a long drive "West" with many stops to see friends and family on the way out & back. Hopefully we'll do some sight-seeing as well. (Stops might include: South Dakota, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, and maybe AZ (Grand Canyon) --- so if you are in those neck of the woods -- be prepared for the Briggs Clan to come visit!!!).
Oct.-Dec:
Lots of family happenings in October -- the family held a "Bet on Uncle Bruce" event in his honor - bowling, golf, & gambling - his 3 favor pastimes! Tiff's sister Kristen and the kids' new "Uncle Ryan" tied that knot on 10.11.12 in Nauvoo, IL. We had a dinner & dance reception in Arcadia, IA where all the kids were apart of the wedding part (see the video links from Bell Wedding). 
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| The 5 kiddos dress up for Halloween: Cam - a nerd, Ki- a witch, Caleb & Calvin -power rangers, & Corbin- a tiger!!! |
On October 20th- Ms. Kiara turned the Big "1-0" and is busy swimming this fall bringing home LOTS of blue ribbons. She is in to loom crafts and is working on knit hats & scarves plus LOVES her new iTouch (she spent her b-day $$ on)!! She and a couple friends went to Sky-Zone to celebrate!
For an early Christmas present
(and because Mom needed a break)
Tiff took the two oldest & Corbin to Utah for an extended week-end and attended Kristen & Ryan's Utah reception on 10/27. They enjoyed being chauffeured around and loved seeing the mountains, temples, & church sites in Salt Lake City!We spent Thanksgiving break with Uncle Dustin, Dan's parents, & then later in the day with Tiff's family in Carroll. The most recent birthday boy in the house is "Power Ranger CJ" -- who turned 4 a couple weeks ago!
We spent some of his birthday at a swim meet, then got a bite to eat at Culver's, opened a few presents and had cups cakes -- but will actually be celebrating a belated birthday for him and an early birthday for Corbin this coming Saturday. These winter b-days are hard to have as we seem to have no time to celebrate with swim meets & all the family holiday get-togethers this time of year.
Finally....we are all looking forward to another holiday break for sleeping in and getting a few more projects done around the house (or at least Tiff is!). Cameron and CJ asked for basketball hoops from Santa & Caleb and Kiara asked for Skylanders when we saw him in the mall a couple weeks ago.
Again, we wish you all a Blessed Christmas Holiday and Happy New Year!!
- Love, The Briggs'
