Chuck Kreis Family

Santa's Visit

2009-12-15T17:45:00.001-08:00

Tonight we had a very special treat.....SANTA came and visited us!!!! Sam and Ash were so excited. They both took turns on Santa's lap. Ash remembered what she wanted but Sam couldn't think of anything. Santa said to write it down and have Mom mail it to the north pole. After Santa left Sam was going crazy. He was so excited that he came again this year. He said he must be really special to have Santa come again this year to his house.

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-14T16:40:00.000-08:00

As we do every year our family gathers around the table and decorates cookies. So last night was the night. Some are really good....some are kind of scary. Some....who knows. Enjoy!

Samuel 5th Birthday

2009-10-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Our little boy is growing up. Not only is he in kindergarten this year, but turned 5. He had a few of his freinds and many of his family come out and enjoy the fun at Ballocity. A great time was had by all. No one cried or got hurt either. :)

Brandon Cross Country

2009-10-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

We are soon coming to an end of Brandon's senior year of Cross Country and here I am finally putting up a post. Brandon has done well this year. Had to miss a couple of races do to illness, but great effort and enjoyed watching him this year. We have our last run on Saturday the 17th of October. Hopefully the weather holds out for us all. The first pictures you see are from the Blue/Gold run. This is where they run for times which coach uses to place them on varsity or junior varsity.

Here is another race in Grand Island.

Shrine Bowl 2009

2009-08-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

Brandon was invited to play his trumpet in the Shrine parade and half time of the Shrine Bowl. The Shrine bowl is where the best of the best Seniors go and basically play an all star game of football. This is a benefit game and all proceeds go to help out the Shriner's Hospital. http://www.shrinershq.org/ Well this also applies to the band except you can't be a senior. Brandon went down on Tuesday and they started practice right away. They practiced till 10:30 every night and put together a half time performance. There was a parade in Lincoln on Saturday morning that they marched in and then the Shine bowl that night. It was very impressive, with the little time they had the band sounded GREAT! They put together a short reutine for the half time show and it was very good. Brandon as you will see in one of the pictures even made it on the big screen and TV since it was televised.

Wendy and I went down on Saturday morning for the parade and then hung out at Grammy's. Went swimming and played some.

Father's Day 2009

2009-07-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was a GREAT day!!!! I had the best of both worlds. I got to spend it with my Dad and with my Son and wife. Dad was camp host up at Calamus Lake by Burwell so we decided to go up and spend the day with him. Wendy made some great meals and we got to spend some time in Dad's new trailer. What a beautiful trailer. We fished, hung out and just had a great day. I got to be the master angler this day. I

caught 7 trout. Sam did catch the first one though. We met some nice people there and gave all the fish to them since we were having steak that night. :)

Dad's/Grandpa's Birthday

2009-07-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to be able to have Dad come out and spend his birthday with us. We didn't do a lot but just enjoyed the day. We did go do some fishing at Cottonmill lake here in Kearney. It was fun. Sam was the fisherman of the day catching the most, but Wendy caught the biggest. Then we had some cake to finish it off. It was a great day for all of us. We really enjoy our time with Dad / Grandpa.

4th of July weekend 2009

2009-07-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th to all of you.! We have had a good time just hanging out and spending time together. Thurs night we decided to shoot our fireworks and then Friday we are going to the big ones put on by the chamber here in Kearney. On the 4th we are headed out to our friends house at the lake. Will post pictures as we get them. Ashlyne's friend Ona came with us and road the tube for the first time. They had a blast! They even flipped the tube. Wish I would have gotten pictures of that but didn't have the camera on. We all had a great day playing in water and watching/lighting fireworks.

Fire Time

2009-06-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

With summer comes one of my favorite pastimes.......FIRE!!!! I love fires in the pit in the back yard. Wether it is a bunch of friends or just the family there is just something about sitting around the campfire.

Samuel Swim Lessons

2009-06-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

It is another summer and another round of swim lessons for the kids. This was the first week of swim lessons for samuel and he loves it. He is just full of energy and usually the first one in the water of all the kids. He continues with his classes till the end of June so will continue to post pictures as I have them.

2009-05-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

With Wendy being laid off and unable to land a job, she ventured out on her own and started her own business. Mom mentioned that someone in Lincoln was starting a "Miracle Grow" business. So that got us thinking. Why couldn't we do that without having to buy a franchise. So Wendy came up with the idea to do a flower box and garden maintenance business. Basically everyone has a lawn service here, but none of the lawn services maintain people's flowers or gardens. So that is what she is doing. She made up a beautiful flyer and her and Samuel were out dropping on door steps. A couple of weeks went by with not a lot of hope, then all the sudden calls started coming. She has done such a good job her customers are refering her like crazy. She is looking at a 60 day lead time with all the work she has. This has also been great for Brandon, cause his hours were cut back at Hastings and needs to suplement his income. So now he is working with Wendy and doing a great job! So we thank God for his blessing of this company and the work He has provided. It is totally different now and will update pictures as we get them.

Ashlyne To Shin Do

2009-05-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

As most of you know Ash traded in her dance shoes for To Shin Do (form of Karate) a few months back. She has just excelled at it and her instructor is very impressed by her picking up so quickly and her form is amazing. We are so proud of her. Here she is getting her next belt.

Samuel T-Ball

2009-05-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

Samuel started his first T-Ball with Dad at the YMCA. It went for about a month teaching Samuel the basics of baseball. Quite and interested 4 weeks. He had a lot of fun though. He is a great hitter and thrower.

Samuel April 09

2009-04-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

In April Samuel moved up to the next belt in To Shin Do. He also go the privelege of meeting Mr. Hayes the creator of this art, he is a 10th degree black belt and pictured in the gray hair. Samuel is also sporting a new do and another "new" girl friend.

Easter 2009

2009-04-22T13:55:00.000-07:00

Easter was action packed and fun this year. We colored eggs after Church on Good Friday and Brandon's good friend Jose joined us. On Saturday we went to an Egg Event at the Church and heard stories, made crafts and found eggs. Sunday morning was a mad dash to find eggs, off the Church and to York for Easter dinner. Samuel's highlight was driving Uncle Danny's new tractor.

Cross Hanging

2009-03-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Well the cross is hanging. I put it up this morning with a couple of helpers. Lighting was bad so pictures aren't that great, but you get the idea. It is beautiful in person, course I am a little bias. :) We will take more with a better camera and post later. Chuck

The Making of the Cross

2009-03-16T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a cross for our church all winter so finally Dad came out and we just got it done. It is made out of walnut and it turned out beautiful. So I thought I would share some pictures of the making of the cross all the way to where it is sitting in the garage after being sprayed with a finish. Then soon I hope to show the final of it hanging on the church wall. The pictures of the full cross shows a little yellow due to the lighting, but the smaller ones show the true color.

More Prom Pictures

2009-03-14T21:53:00.000-07:00

These two young ladies are baby sitters of Samuel, he had to get in on the action too. Ashlyne really wanted to be included and wanted a picture with her big brother.

On the drive home after pictures Samuel informed us that when him and Roselyn (little girl from daycare and preschool) are 8 they are gettiing married. He is so his father's child.

March 14th- Prom 2009

2009-03-14T21:47:00.001-07:00

This is Brandon's Junior Prom. The group went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays instead of eating hotel convention food. The dance was from 9-12 then post prom at the Big Apple (bowling/fun center) from 1-4. Chuck and I are security volunteers for Post Prom and Chuck along with two KPD and another father are doing breathilizer tests as the kids enter. Brandon's date is Tori, they have been dating for about 4 months.

Sitting around the fire.

2009-03-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

Our first fire of the season. Could be a good sign that we will be doing it more this summer. It was a crisp 40 degrees out, but the fire was warm. Ash had a friend over, Katherin, so that is the extra girl in the photos. Sam was having a great time in the monster truck. All of the pictures of the 5 of us were taken by Sam.

Cranes 2009

2009-03-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

This is a video taken with my cheap digital camera, so the clarity is not the greatest, but you get the feel of how many cranes are flying around right now here in Kearney. This is about 10 miles from our home and on the way home you can see 3-4 more bunches as big or bigger than this. It is an amazing thing if you have never seen it.

Max, Chewbacca and Socks

2009-02-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

This is the rest of the family. When it is really cold the kittens like to come in and warm up for awhile, the three of them get along really well. Socks is under the chair, he is a GIANT cat between his fat belly and fur he is enormous. Chewbacca or Chewy for short is the all black cat and he is a lover. Max our 100+ pound Cheassiedor is the best dog ever, he is half purebreed Cheassie and half purebreed lab, Chuck got a great family hunting dog.

This is so Samuel

2009-02-01T12:39:00.001-08:00

It might be hard to see but where Samuel is supposed to be laying is full of cars and monster trucks. This was not going to interfere with his sleep, he just moved to the other end of the bed and used his Sponge Bob pillow. There are very few nights that we find him with out his bed full of toys when we check on him. Rarely do they prevent him from sleeping.

Ashlyne Status

2009-02-01T12:36:00.001-08:00

Ashlyne had a 6 week check on Tuesday, Dr Zapata did not run blood labs since Ashlyne was a little dehydrated due to her having to fast for her ultrasound. Initial ultrasound looked like inflammation or thickening of the Terminal Ileum was still present, upon pushing Ash did experience some pain but minimal. She has still had no growth in height, she is up to 91 pounds but Dr Z is sure 8+ pounds is prednisone. She is off prednisone officially as of Tuesday. He is making no changes, we will go back in 6 weeks and monitor her blood labs until then and then run the 6mp and stool sample test again then. IF she remains asymptomatic and labs stay good we may make diet modifications in April. Ashlyne's headaches were better today but when she came to pick up her meds to go to her dad's she asked for Tylenol so they are still there but not as bad. A very exciting praise is the Crohn's and Colitis foundation called tonight and Ashlyne is 1 of 12 kids from Nebraska getting to go to California for Crohn's & Colitis camp in July. The camp is called the Painted Turtle, founded by Paul Newman. Dr Z did say on Tuesday he would sign her off and plan on her attending unless she goes into a severe flare. Pray she remains stable and her checks will go down!!!

Brandon is 17

2009-02-01T12:28:00.001-08:00

This years celebration was pretty simple, Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, (Brandon's favorite has changed it was always homemade pizza), cake and a few gifts. He had his girlfriend Tori over for dinner and the festivities. Hard to believe he is 17, he is now old enough to enlist and speak to the military recruiters. UGH!

Samuel

2009-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

Samuel, where do you start, well the first picture really tells it all, he is ALL Boy, guns, cars, trucks, tractors, balls, and Dad's garage. He is Chuck's personal Mini Me, in every way shape and form. He will win you over with his amazing smile and drive you nuts in the next minute. Samuel does martial arts twice a week To Shin Do and is starting on his third belt. He goes to youf gruup on Wednesday's (Kingdon Quest is what our Church calls it) he has to be just like big brother and sister. Samuel goes to Pre-School 3 mornings a week and just loves it! Samuel is all about fun. You got to love him!

Ashlyne

2009-01-06T12:31:00.001-08:00

I can't feature one kids without mentioning the other two. Ashlyne has her own blog and that has the most up to date on her, mostly regarding her Crohn's but she is starting to look at it more as a journal. Ashlyne is suffereing terribly from the side effects of prednisone, our sweet little girl is definately in there under those puffy checks.

Brandon

2009-01-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

Brandon's Junior year is going quite well. He ran Cross Country this fall and lettered as a varsity, he also was a sectional leader (music) for Marching Band which he has also lettered in the last 3 years.

Brandon and Chuck went and meet with the Marine and Air Force Recruiters yesterday to really start evaluating his options. He has really been pushing for Marine's but yesterday after really examining the options and the difference of live styles and opportunities after he gets out he is now leaning towards Air Force.

Brandon has a girlfriend who is also in band. He took me shopping with him on Monday to pick out her birthday present. Like I know what a 15 year old girl wants. LOL.

Time is flying and in just a year my baby will be graduating. UGH, boy does that hit you in the gut.

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

It is the Eve of 2009 and our family anxiously awaits what God has planned for us. We are excited to share this journey with you.

Love Chuck and Wendy