All Hail The Wii

Before opening gifts with the rest of the family, Tiffany could no longer hold her excitement in. So she convinced me in the middle of the afternoon on Christmas Eve to let the kids open a few selected items...namely....a certain video game unit which appeared on everyone's wish list....The Nintendo Wii. Here is a short video montage I put together:



Sorry about the language......my bad.

After playing for a few hours we opened more gifts with uncle Jamie, grandma Marcia, uncle David, aunt Ally and niece Riley. Then we headed to the Baptist Church to see Elli play an Angel and Abbi play the Virgin Mary in the Nativity Scene.

After church, we ate sandwiches at Marica's place as aunt Cheryl and Terry, cousins Brad, Holly and Brulee and Uncle Brule showed up for food and Tom and Jerry's. Brad and Holly's first born Henry was a little fussy. Ally, David and Riley made another appearance after eating at David's dads place.

Santa showed up last night, presents were underneath the tree when we woke up......at 6:50am, thanks to the strike of a drum cymbal which scared me. Elli was impatient, so the gift opening began.

Gabe got Guitar Hero 3, which he hasn't put down, Abbi and Elli both received stuff to go with their American Girl Dolls.

Just finished off some coffee cake...ummmmm good! Looks like uncle Josh's coffee cake turned out well too! www.cyclonelane.blogspot.com (Nice slide show Anne!)

Nap time now?????????

Elli Wants Her Teeth Back

A part of the recent all school sing along was Elli and some other students who were missing their two front teeth. Here goes:

Greetings.......

Frigggin Cold

Halftime of the Bears Packers game, we've got every space heater we own on full blast....it's just down right cold. Might need to head to the orange bar to get a nip of something sweet to warm up. We were under a winter storm last night into the morning. We got ice and snow, just a couple inches. It's the wind, 20-40 mph, and the wind guts that are keeping us in for the day.

Kids are off school, they got out Tuesday afternoon. Gabe was treated to an appearance at Central with Bill Clinton and Magic Johnson doing a little stumping for Hillary. After last weeks snow fall, Tiffany treated Elli and Abbi, and Abbi's best friend Miranda to an afternoon of sledding.


Here is Abbi and Miranda:


I'm off until January 2nd, using the last of my 3 weeks of vacation. Our Xmas shopping is done and in the books, I've been in touch with Santa Claus so we're both on the same page (for a while there he wasn't returning e-mails). The girls will perform at the Baptist Church on Xmas Eve at 5:15 for a Nativity scene. Bears...touchdown......21-7 Bears.....It's been awhile since we attended a holiday service, although we probably won't stay after the program is done.

Before the service we will open a couple gifts with niece Riley and uncle David and Aunt Ally before they go off to David's dads place. Then after Santa comes, the kids will open gifts Tuesday morning, then we will all enjoy Grandma Marcia's homemade coffee cake for breakfast before enjoying a nice ham for dinner. Tiffany and the girls have been busy making sweets, fudge, cookies and other stuff. The kitchen has been smelling good!!!! Abbi just came in the living room and slyly change the channel to the Disney Channel without me seeing. I thought the game went to commercial......the commercial seem to go on forever. I glanced at the TV, saw the Disney logo....damn.....Bears block a punt and return it for a TD.....missed it.....caught the replay....28-7 Bears. Sneaky Abbi.



Thursday night we celebrated Marcia's 60th birthday at Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano in Davenport, a very classy joint, even though you don't have to look classy to be there. She thought we were just going for a meal, but we surprised her when she got there. About 15 people, family, friends, were waiting in the Wine Room. We had our own server, stayed for 4 hours, had numerous bottles of wine and spirits. The food is incredible, Gabe devoured his plate of spaghetti and meatballs, Tiff had some chicken stuffed with cheese and ham and I went with the special, a ribeye encrusted with black pepper. The girls went with chicken nuggets.

One highlight of the night was a 24 minute movie me, Ally and Tiffany all helped to put together. It was a picture slide show of Marcia's life, starting with her birth announcement, baby photos, prom and wedding photos, all the way up to photos with her grandchildren. We have Windows Movie Maker, I had to convince Ally and Tiffany if they got me the photos, I could produce the movie, with transitions and fades and music. They wanted to outsource the project, paying money for someone to do it. I showed them a 5 minute movie on what it could like before gaining their approval.

The movie was 251 photos long and had 6 songs to accompany the photos. Marcia had no idea it was coming. I guess the project turned out good, we've had some requests for copies.

Jolly Old Fat Man

As promised.....here are the girls with St. Nick a couple weeks ago at SAU following a performance of Charlotte's Web by SAU students. Wish lists are posted on your right.

We are still very much missing Dakota, found these photos over the weekend. Here Shamon and Dakota peer in between some parts of the old fence they knocked out so they could see in the yard. This is the old dog run, maybe taken in 1997 or 1998. In the summer of 1999 this area became our kitchen, construction was underway when Shamon passed.


The Big D. He was very smart, though he never wanted to strut his stuff and perform for you like he was smart. I think that was a part of his smartness. Get it?

White Christmas -- Circa 21

Thanks to some free tickets from Bill's Moving and Storage, we were treated to an evening out on the town last night at the dinner playhouse in Rock Island, Circa 21. The show was Irving Berlin's White Christmas.

Uncle Jamie called in the early afternoon and said his boss at Bill's, Becky, had purchased a bunch of seats for the staff....sort of a Holiday party like gathering. But, one by one, workers came up with other things to do, so Becky told Jamie to call us and Grandma Marcia.

We arrived in from the cold around 6pm, just in time for dinner, served buffet style in the old theater just outside the District of Rock Island. I had been there to see productions a few times growing up with my family, it was a new experience for Marcia and Tiffany and Jamie and the kids. We were minus Gabe, he was invited to an all night party at a friends house.

At first the user told us to go to the balcony for our seats, but another usher said she made arrangements to sit closer to the stage. There was a table for four, so we took it, almost in the middle of the theater, stage right. Marcia and Jamie sat towards the back of the theater with the rest of the staff from Bill's who were able to attend.

We ordered drinks, ate salads and hit the buffet, which was comprised of corn, veggies, potatoes, fish, baked chicken, pasta and had a cook slicing up a pork roast. We all ate well.

At 7:15 the Bootleggers started the pre-show and at 7:45 the main show started. It was a musical comedy about a singing/dancing/acting duo from the Ed Sullivan Show who served in the Army during WW II, who discovered their old General was in financial trouble running an Inn in Vermont. They managed to save the Inn for their General and find love along the way.

At intermission we ordered some dessert. Check out Elli inhaling her Sundae:
Elli really got into the show, we were lucky to be placed near an aisle so we were cornered by a wall on one side of us, which you can see in the photo above. Elli stood up and danced and lip synced her way through the second act. She was very funny. As the show ended, the couple sitting across the aisle behind us stopped us as we were putting our coats on. The man said next time they come to see a show they want to see Elli on stage!!!!



















Elli went gansta for this photo during the intermission.

I took this video on my phone, I ask Abbi where we are at and then the house lights went down for the show.

It's getting to seem a lot like.......

Hello All, been a few weeks since the last post, yes a lot is going on with the Ivanlams as we make our last minute preparations for the Holidays. The tree is in the front living room, the stockings are hung. And we got 4 inches of snow on Thursday.........Winter and Christmas is near!!!!!

One reason for the time in between posts is our computer......we updated systems to Windows Vista on our new HP, but the change has not been easy. Vista doesn't want to recognize our video camera, which isn't that old of a camera, so placing video clips on the blog is on hold for now until I can figure out what I need to do. We have some great video from the day after Thanksgiving when the Twirl Girls performed a routine at the Festival of Trees. They did a great job, there was a lot of people watching. We have old fashioned still photos, but oddly enough, the photo card from Tiffany's digital camera, along with Santa photos of the girls, is being difficult, the card doesn't want to show us the photos, we fear we may to to re-format the card, which would in turn delete anything on the card. That is not a Vista problem, because Tiff's other photo cards for the camera work fine. URGHHHH!

The video camera issue is frustrating, with a DVD burner and Windows Movie Maker, we were planning on making DVD's of our home movies with ease, I've made some slide shows with still photos that included music behind them with fades and transitions and graphics....it was very easy do to and looks impressive. I'm sure I'll figure something out. Until then....let's go retro. Christmas circa 1999 with Gabe and Abbi....so cute!



The new system does have the approval of Gabe, he had a lot of problems with the old computer, trying to get his MP3 music player to work with it. He recently spent $20 of his own cash to buy an IPod off a friend, the smallest and cheapest IPod. His friend received a new IPod, so Gabe offered him a deal he couldn't refuse.

Abbi and Elli started basketball practice this week for the Dad's Club, Tiffany got roped into coaching Abbi's team, no other parent stepped forward to do it. Both girls will also play roles in First Baptist Church's production of The Nativity, Abbi will play the role of Mary and Elli is going to be an Angel. They have been practicing for the last few weeks and will perform near Christmas.

During last week's ice and snow storm Tiffany took Abbi and Elli to see a production of St. Ambrose's Charlotte's Web. Following the musical, Santa Claus (the real one) made a special appearance for the kids, again those photos so far are irretrievable, if we can get them off the photo card I will post them. Hey...let's go retro again....The kids with our beloved Dakota (R.I.P.) in 2004.



The Gaber has a full plate with activities almost every day after school. If he's not preparing with the Show Choir group for the winter Show Choir season, he is working out in the weight room with the other football players or playing in the winter indoor soccer league at the Sports Bubble. He intends on playing soccer, a spring sport in Iowa, and then trying out for baseball which is still a summer sport. The Show Choir group performs at competitions in Jan, Feb and March on the weekends, traveling to Omaha, Mount Pleasant, Des Moines, Chicago. It's like a short musical compacted into 20 minutes. The competitions are like those cheerleader things on ESPN, or marching band meets. Gabe has 2 teachers at Central that work with the kids and they hire a choreographer from Ohio or somewhere that comes to town every so often. It's pretty serious. You should see some of the stuff he has to wear! Broadway Gabe!

OK OK......one more retro picture.......here's a good one from 2002.
I did figure out how to take a clip from a DVD and publish here. For those of you who have not seen the work I do with Mediacom......here's a sample from the first basketball game we taped this season, back on Nov. 20th.

Birthday Anyone?

Let's see.......November is Turkey month, cold weather, football season, fall leaves....and of course.....when you look at our combined families......Birthday Month! Lets review:

Nov. 4th: Niece Haddy
Nov.11th: Aunt Kristin
Nov. 13th: Aunt Britta
Nov. 17th: Pete
Nov. 18th Niece Riley
Nov. 19th: Uncle Tom
Nov. 28: Uncle JP

Wow! That's a lot of phone calls, cards and cake. Sure hope I didn't miss anyone. Test will come later. Happy Birthday to all!

So yesterday was my birthday (no...I don't feel old), we celebrated last night with some Chicken Enchiladas and Cheesecake. Ally's good friend Nicole was in town from Phoenix, we laughed at Riley who put a show on for all, next time you see her ask her what a wolf says........That kid can sure howl!!!! Among the gifts I received was season 2 of The Office on DVD (7 hours of DVD's) and my own personalized engraved flask. Elli and I spent the afternoon watching Ohio St. beat Michigan for the 4th straight year. After getting phone calls and text messages from friends following the victory, Elli said the word 'Michigan', I said let's call them........the team from up north, to which she quickly replied by saying ......How about the Losers? Love that kid!

Gabe packed up the drums and went to a friends for the day and night, they were starting a new band. He is optimistic about this one sticking, saying this band plays the music he likes. Elli spent the night at Marissa's house and Abbi just went to church, she is headed to Cedar Rapids today with a friend to see a show or something, I can't remember. Party at the Millers....Riley's 2nd birthday party starts today at 3pm. See you there!!!!

And now...your moment of zen:
This picture was taken as the sun was setting at Brady St. Stadium at halftime of Gabe's last Freshman game 3 weeks ago. It is the baton class group, they performed at halftime of the game. Click on the photo (or any photos on the blog) to enlarge it. The shirts say....everyone loves a Twirl Girl!!!! Their next gig is this coming Friday at the Festival of Trees, 1pm.

Random Stuff.........

Our busy Fall sports and school seasons are winding down, Elli closed out the flag football season last week and Gabe is now preparing for the spring soccer season at Central by competing in an indoor soccer league at the Brady Street Sports Dome. He sprung the soccer thing on us a couple weeks ago, he has not played since 5th grade...maybe 4th grade? It's been so long I don't remember. I couldn't talk him into track, he has some soccer friends, and the spring season will lead him into baseball tryouts. Here is one last look at Elli, weaving her way in and out of defenders.



Abbi and Elli are still taking baton lessons on Monday night and have been going to a Bible school night on Wednesdays and have been attending a Sunday school at a friends Baptist Church. They enjoy going, some friends from Garfield attend. Both girls will play basketball after the Xmas holiday, I think Tiff is coaching one of the teams!

Because vacation time at work does not roll over into the next year, I have time to kill, taking each Friday off in November, then around Xmas I have quite a few days off too. This last Monday I was the featured person in the Argus/Dispatch 20 questions column. Here's the link:
www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=362186&query=pete%20ivanic .....if that doesn't work go to www.qconline.com and search my name.

Last Friday was a sad for us, after seeing Dakota get weaker and weaker we decided to put our beloved dog of 11 years down. He wasn't moving well and looked very confused, pretty much staying in the same spot under the front living room windows for the last few weeks. It wasn't easy taking him in, but we knew we were making the correct decision, we loved Dakota very much, this week as been difficult without him. I'll try and look for a picture of him to post soon.

Halloween Baby!!!!

As you can see it was Halloween time for the Ivanlams and all had fun. The girls trick or treated around the neighborhood with Tiffany while me and Gabe and Uncle Jamie and Cousin Brule and Grandma Marcia held the compound down....or should I say spooky graveyard....Our house was by far the biggest hit on the block. Credit goes to Tiffany who put the decorations up and to Jamie whose bright idea brought laughs. Jamie brought home some big 'casket' like shipping crates from work and put them in the yard, positioned near the candy. Gabe and Jamie climbed in the crates and scarred some unsuspecting kids and adults, some of which I caught on tape. I'll try and post some scenes, it was taken at night, so it may not work well, even though I was using the night vision feature on the camera. Elli went as a pumpkin, Abbi went as Kit Kitteridge, her American Girl doll, you can see they dressed alike. Elli also took her American Girl doll, dressed like a pumpkin as well.

Gabe's hand sticking out of a 'casket'.

Pete, Jamie and Brule, enjoying a drink following trick or treat time (just kidding).

Ivanic Finds Endzone!!!!!!!!!

If flag football games were covered by our local newspapers, the title to this post would be the main headline on the sport page. During the fourth quarter of her game today Elli took a snap and went around the right end for a long touchdown run. It was very exciting, I did capture the moment on tape, which is below. The game wasn't going very well, the other team had scored 3 touchdowns, we had none. Each kid on the team normally sits out half the game because the team has a lot of kids. Elli started the fourth quarter on the bench, but a kid got hurt and she got called into action, setting up the touchdown run. Elli also tried 2 passes, but both went incomplete, one was almost caught.


The 'El Belle' also had a long run in first quarter, notice who is watching at the end of the clip.



Gabe's freshman Central team lost another game this week, this one out at North Scott, they are now 1-7 and play West Tuesday to close the season. Gabe sat out the first half and then entered to play the whole second half. He was thrown to 4 times, making 3 catches, one was a big gainer up the middle, and another was a 2 point conversion. We didn't take the video camera, we were not expecting Gabe to play much (sorry boy!). It was great to see Cousin Brule and Uncle Jamie attend the game, Abbi decided to stay home.

Happy Birthday to David, who is now 30! Last night we had a big bash for him at their house, about 50 people attended. Next time you see him, ask him how the mud pie tasted the girls made for him (he actually took a bite of a flower). Hopefully he'll remember what you're talking about!!!!!!

Lovely Riley

My niece Riley Miller showed up for dinner this evening, I've been saying for the longest time I ought to get her on tape saying hi to me. She says my name so clear it's unbelievable that Riley is not yet 2 years old! I think it's a testament from all the time spent reading to Riley that she gets at home by parents David and Ally. Posted is a clip from today as Riley swings with Elli and Abbi outside on our swingset. You can hear Riley say 'smile' when she knows the camera is on her, followed by a 'Hi Peter" and then she says....'love you Peter' ..........just as cute as anybody ever had.

Rocktober Football Clips

Another football weekend has come and gone, time to post some more clips from Gabe and Elli. Below is 3 clips from Central's Freshman game with Bettendorf under the lights last Tuesday night at Brady Street Stadium. The Bulldogs got out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter, but the Blue Devils showed some heart and clawed back into the game. If only they would have had a couple more minutes, the final score was 34-30, they are now 1-6, losing 6 straight. Gabe is #87, he is the tight end blocking on the first play. The second play he runs a pass pattern, the last clip is Gabe trotting off the field following a kickoff return. He played a lot on both sides of the ball in the first quarter, was thrown to once but he couldn't come up with the catch, after that play he didn't play much. Only 2 more games left, at North Scott this week and against West next week.



Elli had her second game this afternoon, it was a stark contrast to last week's 90 degree hot and sunny day, today was cool and rainy. Elli is #34, again was the only girl on the field, her pony tail is the easiest way to tell her apart when viewing the clips. Below Elli lines up at quarterback and takes the snap and sweeps around the corner for a short gain.




Elli is quarterback again in the clip below. It sure makes it easy to film her when she runs toward the camera. It's hard to tell why she stops running, if she step out of bounds or if she gets her flag pulled. Sometimes, I think on her first run in this clip, the refs blew the whistle thinking the ball carrier is down, when in fact the runner may not be. Her coach did a good job this week of having the kids a little bit more organized than their first game. He rotated quarterbacks after each play so more kids got to run with the ball.

They Call Her Ms. Football...................

Today was Elli's first flag football game in 90 degree heat at the Dad's Club soccer fields. Her team was out-muscled by the other team, but Elli flashed her Heisman like athletic prowess carrying the ball several times for her team. They didn't score, but Elli proved her worth. The video above is a segment caught in the 4th quarter. She was the only girl on the field, she is wearing the #6 jersey but her pony tail will stick out. The film is from our video camera, the frames per second don't want to match up with computer speed, that's why it grainy.




In the clip below, Elli is chasing a ball carrier from behind while playing defense. I think she gave the kid a little push at the end of the play.....just to let him know who the boss is!!!




In other football news.....Gabe's freshman team lost again, that's now 5 in a row, to fall to 1-5 for the year. PV beat them last Thursday at PV on a beautiful night for freshman football, 34-30. The Blue Devils were down 27-8 heading into the 4th quarter and stormed back to take the lead at 30-27, but a very bad coaching decision late in the game on a fake punt gave PV the ball at midfield, where they easily marched down the field and scored the go ahead TD with 15 seconds to play in the game. Both players and parents were utterly upset at the coaching decisions late in the game. My fear is the coaches may have lost more than the game, it will be interesting to see how the kids respond this week against Bettendorf. Gabe didn't play much in the game.

It was Homecoming weekend at St. Ambrose, Gabe escorted me to the football game where I did the public address announcing during the Bees 45-10 over William Penn, it was super hot, we were sweating bad. We got to see some guys I played football with at SAU before and after the game, then Tiffany and I went to Rookies to meet some friends, then wound up at Bleyarts Tap where some other friends were from both SAU and Garfield school. Then we proceeded to Creek Side Bar, the old McDonald's on Brady Street, to meet some other friends. We closed Creek Side down, headed home and were surprised a little after 2am, to find some couples pulling up to the house for more spirits outside at the Dover Court Pub. Bedtime came at 4am, nothing like Homecoming!!!!!!

And speaking of spirits....the greatest thing in the world happened 3 weeks ago. The New Belgium Brewery of Fort Collins, Colorado finally started shipping their products to the great state of Iowa. I can now have a Fat Tire at several local establishments, or I can purchase the 22 ounce bombers at the store. I am so happy. Uncle Josh...........don't worry about bringing a case of Fat Tire with you next time you visit D-port!!!!!

Homecoming.................

Gabe attended Central's Homecoming dance on Saturday night with a group of about 30 kids, he had decided a few weeks ago that he was not going to ask anyone, but attended with some 'guy' friends. He told us that 5 girls asked him to the dance, which confused him. He was not interested in hurting anyone, so went stag. He was invited to a friends house, whose parents grilled out for the kids. They all went to the dance together.
It was a busy night for Tiffany getting Gabe and his friends around town in the family truckster. He got dressed at a buddy's house, took group photos at nearby VanDerVeer Park and then went to eat and then got dropped off at the dance around 8pm. After dance festivities included post parties at the music teacher's house and then to the Pearson's for an overnighter.

One of Gabe's best friends......the beautiful Ashley McGee. I'm not sure who she's wearing....but Gabe is dressed in a Steve and Barry's white with blue stripped cotton dress shirt along with a pair of Steve and Barry's casual brown khakis with a borrowed yellow and blue tie from dad. Gabe chose to go with a black belt, black socks with his black Fallen skater shoes. For his hair, he decided on the 'Zac Efron' look from the High School Musical series. Very trendy, the look is considered 'in' these days.


Elli displaying her best jack-o-lantern smile. All she wants for Halloween is her 2 front teeth, and maybe some candy.

Football and School pics

Gabe's official football photo. As you can tell....he's a real tough guy. The freshman team is now 1-4 after a loss this last Tuesday in Clinton, it rained real hard for much of the game, it was not a fun game to watch. The coaches made a lot of changes from the last game, so Gabe didn't play nearly as much as he normally had this year. We're hoping his playing time and productivity increases for the last four games.



Abbi's 3rd grade photo. Abbi is enjoying the school year and is midway through the soccer season and is taking baton lessons on Monday nights. She and Elli are both attending a bible school class on Wednesday nights with another friend at a Baptist church, and regularly going to the church's normal Sunday school class.

Elli's first grade photo, notice the missing tooth. Elli is playing soccer, it's been a tough season, she has been held scoreless so far which is starting to frustrate her. This week is her first flag football practice, which we are looking forward too.

Action Shots!!!!

Here is Gabe in his stance. I think he needs to get his butt up higher, but that is one man's opinion. The Central offense mixes it up a lot, run and pass, so the Tight End position Gabe plays gives him different challenges on every play. He's got decent speed and is real good at making blocks at the line of scrimmage when they run the ball. His hand - eye coordination is getting better from game to game.
Gabe......coming into your living room ready to make a tackle.

Here's Gabe making a tackle in the latter stages of the game against North.

Figured it Out.....Not sure how though!!!!!

Gabe is running in the middle with his hand in the air calling for ball, unfortunately this happens a lot. The QB has a good arm, he can throw far, but Gabe is not the deep receiver coming out out of his TE spot.
Currently the team's 1-3, with recent losses at Burlington 26-20 and this past Tuesday losing to Muscatine 38-29, both competitive games.

The boy has 4 catches on the season and has seen a little time at linebacker on defense. We'll post some still photos in a bit.

Video try

Hey All.......
I've been looking for our USB cord for the video camera so I can upload some video. Here is our first attempt of Gabe playing in game # 2 this season against Assumption, on Sept. 8th. The Knight won easily 28-7 over the Blue Devils. Gabe is #87, the tight end blocking. More to come.

Well, haven't got everything figured out. Keeping checking back, we'll try and get it working!!!

Reunited...And It Felt So Good!!!!

Labor Day weekend '07 has come and gone, but it certainly will not be forgotten for the Ivanlam clan. Friday night, Tiffany treated the girls to Central's first football game of the year at Brady Street Stadium against the North Wildcats. Gabe had freshman practice before the game, then attended the game with some friends. The outcome was not so nice for the Blue Devils, falling big time to North, 32-12. North got out to a big halftime lead and didn't look back. I was busy working a game on the other side of the River for Mediacom, got home and no one was there. It seems Tiffany met the Pearson's at Cheddar's for some appetizers, half priced no less! I jumped in the car and met them to talk about the games and our long weekend ahead.

Gabe had to be at the stadium by 7:30 Saturday morning for his game at 9, it was a beautiful morning for football! With the sun beating down on the crowd the Central freshman team had no problem dispatching the undermanned North freshman team, 47-7. Starting at tight end, Gabe caught 2 passes during the first drive, including a catch on the game's first play. He totaled 3 catches in all, and played a little linebacker towards the end of the game. His only blemish was a fumble after one of the catches, but it didn't matter. The team looked solid and will be tested this Saturday against Assumption, before a date at Burlington next week. Pictures of the game will come soon.

After the game we drove to the northern suburbs of Chicago for an Ivanic family reunion. After some trouble finding the hotel Aunt Rachel booked (she had trouble finding it too!!) we went to my cousin Rich Tajak and his wife Germaine's house in Libertyville. Rich grew up next door to my dad in Niles, their moms were sisters. Their maiden name was Pancerz, we learned a great deal about the Pancerz family, and how they came to Chicago from Poland over 100 years ago.

Saturday we hung out at Rich and Germaine's house, it is big and beautiful! Grandam Pat was there from Tucson and Uncle JP and Khrista were present. We went back to the hotel around 10pm, where Rachel, Tim and Aunt Britta and Uncle Tom and cousin Morgan had returned from a day in the city of Chicago. We met for a few minutes in our room, all were tired so bed time loomed.


The crew: Gabe, Abbi, Elli and Morgan.


Sunday we swam at the spacious hotel indoor heated pool. Gabe was being difficult, the kids wanted him to swim, he refused. I told Tom to put him in the pool, Tom picked up Gabe out of his chair and plopped him in the pool, t-shirt still on!!

After some lunch we headed back to the house in Libertyville for the actual reunion. My cousin Celeste and her husband Bob were there, as well as my cousin Walter. Then one by one, other relatives started showing up, some coming from Green Bay, others from Madison. The keg of LaBatts was ice cold as people got together to share memories of a family that had not gotten together in decades.


Cousins reunited: Sharon, Anthony, Rachel, Pete, JP, Suzanne and Britta. Our dad and their mom were siblings, offspring of John and Lottie Ivanic.



Walter, Rich, Germaine, Grandma Pat, Celeste and Bob

Food was catered in, numerous bottles of wine were opened. DVD's of home movies from the late 50's to the late 60's were shown including scenes from Mom and Dad's wedding in 1964. The kids played out side, at one point there was about 12 kids in all playing. Then we assembled outside for a pinata and some Polish Polka music and dancing.


Swing hard Gabe, Morgan and Tom look on.

Earlier in the day Tim had shown a ring he had bought for he and Rachel's engagement, but had waited to present her the ring. During the dancing Tim got down on a knee and popped the question in front of everybody, about 40 people. Thankfully for him, Rachel said yes (can you imagine the flight home if she had said no?). Luckily Tim tipped me off before he proposed, which allowed me to get the whole event on video tape!


The proposal, with cousin Anthony looking on.

We ate and we drank and we played games outside trying to avoid being bit by mosquitoes the size of dragon flies! We headed back to the hotel before midnight, but we weren't done yet. Me and Tiff, Rachel and Tim and Tom went next door to a bar and closed it down at 2am, ending a very festive day. Needless to say, the walk back to the room was a little staggered!

We returned home Monday afternoon, after saying goodbye to Grandma in Arizona and everyone else. Thankfully Grandma Marcia hit the grocery store and planned a meal with the E Dover CT crew, ribs and chicken wings on the grille! It was a fun weekend for all!!!!

Busy Busy Busy

The school year has started......along with that comes our busy fall schedule. We'll start with school itself.

Gabe is adjusting well to high school, we thought he might have a problem waking up much earlier than the last few years, but that has not been the case. Classes start at 7:40, his alarm fires off at 6:15ish, I have not yet had to march up the stairs to wake him up. He has had a couple of show choir rehearsals around his football practices. First game against North is tomorrow morning at 9am, he is starting at tight end and told us this week he will handle the kicking duties.

Abbi's 3rd grade teacher is Mrs. Thissen, same as Gabe's when he was at Garfield. Abbi loves school and this year is no different. Mrs. Thissen is big into classroom pets, they have gerbals! Soccer practice has begun, first game is next week.

Elli is enjoying Mrs. Volliger, same first grade teacher that had Gabe and Abbi! Mrs. Volliger is a teacher that strives on good behavior in the classroom. She has a system where every kid starts the week with 5 beans. If you end the week with 5 beans you get to pick a prize from the treasure chest, if you loose a few, you get to spend recess inside. So far, Elli has a clean slate, for those of you counting....Abbi cruised into April without having a bean taken away when she was with Mrs. Volliger!!!!! Elli is also looking forward to soccer and informed us this week of her intentions to play flag football this fall. Both girls will also be involved with girl scouts.

Tiffany and I were invited to a Show Choir party last night, I was scheduled to call a football game for TV, so Tiffany went with one of Gabe's friends mom. She got a chance to meet some of the other parents involved in the program. Tiffany has been busy this week sewing dresses for the girls and planning soccer practices. She plans on attending tonights Central-North game with the girls, Gabe will already be there, the freshman practice tonight before the varsity game. The football season got under way for me last week, after taping last nights game, tonight will be the third of 12 games Mediacom has hired me to do. At work I am enjoying our new management team who is allowing us to wear polo's instead of ties if we so choose.

After Gabe's game tomorrow morning we will pile in the family truckster and trek to the northern suburbs of Chicago for an Ivanic family reunion, the first ever. Grandma in Arizona, Uncle JP and Krista, Aunt Britta and Uncle Tom and cousin Morgan along with Rachel and her fiance Tim will all be waiting for us. We'll be home on Monday, in time for Gabe's football practice.

Gabe got his too......

It's a time honored tradition that happens in circles around the globe. An act where one accepts another into a group, a team, a fraternity, or even a high school. Earlier this evening a loud knock hit our front door and a male voice shouted out for Gabe to come outside. It's tradition for Davenport Central students to haze incoming students on the night before the first day of school. Gabe went outside, there wasn't 5 or 10 kids ready to afflict Gabe with some good old fashioned hazing......more like 50 kids, some football players, some show choir members, all running through our yard spraying shaving cream and dispensing toilet paper on our trees. It was truly an amazing site. Tiffany grabbed her camera to try and get a shot, I searched for Gabe. After 4 minutes someone shouted a command, and the group was off to the next victim. A stream of cars that totaled near 20 then headed down Farnam into the dark night. Then we spotted Gabe. Huddled alone underneath a tree in our yard. You could barely make him out. Covered in ketchup, mustard, shaving cream, chocolate syrup, eggs, rice, vinegar, mayo, various salad dressings and wrapped in saran wrap, stood Gabe. As soon as it had started, it ended, Gabe alone covered in all that muck shivering in the lawn. We then hosed him off with the garden hose, and Gabe took a hot shower. It was quite a laugh. Welcome to high school son, welcome!!!!!

Summer is coming to a close.........

The summer is winding down. Tiffany and the kids have been busy preparing for school and after school activities. As you can see from the pictures in the previous blog, Tiff took the kids to Burlington, IA to Fun City, a Best Western Hotel with a huge indoor outdoor water park/casino/arcade/indoor go kart track/bowling alley/doesn't it just sound cool already? Along with Tiff, Gabe, Abbi and Elli on the trip was Aunt Ally and cousin Riley and Miranda and Michelle Metz, Abbi's best friend and mom. They left in the morning and came home in the early evening. I was working so I didn't go, but when the gang came home both Abbi and Elli bombarded me with the tales of an all around great day. Michelle marveled at Elli and her never ending smile, even on the big slides. Abbi, as you can see on the picture riding what is now know as the toilet bowl slide, was daring. Fun City will be visited in the future by the entire Ivanlam clan. Reminder: You can click on the photos to see them larger!

Gabe started football practice at Central a couple weeks ago. Things are going well, he should see quite a bit of playing time this fall for the freshman team. This past weekend he completed show choir camp at Central, classes start at 7:40 sharp, Thursday morning.

Abbi and Elli also start school Thursday morning, Ab in 3rd grade and El in 1st grade. We completed our school shopping Sunday at KMart, finding book bags for 50% off. Notice I didn't write back packs, the girls went trendy, opting for over the shoulder book bags.

Last Friday was the premier of High School Musical 2 on Disney. Abbi was invited to a party at a friends house, so Elli was allowed to have a few friends over to watch. A few parents also stayed for drinks and conversation out on the front deck, or Dover Court Pub, as we call it. For those of you who don't know it, HS Musical is the 'Grease' of this decade. This shot was taken before the movie started....top row is Marissa, Lauren and Ivey. Bottom row is Elli, Jamee and Claire.

A day at the waterpark

fun in the sun all day long. we played till we couldn't move anymore. elli got very good at stretching her height (since she was a little shy of the required), but as you can see, she enjoyed it. abbi loved the slide they were referring to as the toilet bowl. we didn't let elli do that one though, she was having a hard time staying in the tubes, and this one dropped you through a whole in the center. as we were leaving they said "fun city" sure was fun.

Swim party....Ivanlam style!!!!

Uncle David.......walking on water. Shot? No good!


I didn't hurt myself.....and I didn't make the shot. Yeah..I know...nice tan.



Daddy daughter time......swim style!


Do not attempt this trick shot at home. Pete was successful making this blind shot.

It's not a bird, it's not a plane...it's Gabe. Gabe went Jordan on this shot during a game of 'pig' with the guys on Sunday after a satisfying dinner. Pete, David and Jaime participated in the game, as you can see, things got a little wild. Sunday's temps were near 100 degrees, so the ool came in handy. (Remember...no P in the ool!)