The Ronin's Blog

Christmas 2019

For Christmas, we headed down to Orlando with the Friess family for fun in the sun. A good friend of my parents works at Universal Studios and gave us free tickets to both parks for the day. So Jamie, Bennet and I went and had a great time. Hayden's not a huge fan of big rides, so decided to stay home with Nana and Papa and get ready for Christmas. The three of us had a great time and enjoyed all of the Harry Potter attractions and holiday decorations. Christmas day was great and the boy really enjoyed their new skateboard and hover boards. After Christmas day, Bryan and family flew down from Minnesota to be with us. It was wonderful to see them and catch up. The girls have all grown so much. It was a super fun holiday and nothing beats Christmas in Florida.

Thanksgiving 2019

We took a little road trip to good ole' Illinois to see the Ronin side of the family for Thanksgiving 2019. Jamie and I also got to see some old friends as well which was great. It was good to be back and catch up with everyone and watch the all the Ronin cousins play.

15 Year Anniversary in Charleston

Jamie and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary in August, but because we wanted to plan a trip to Charleston at the hottest time of the year, we waited until the boys were tracked out at the beginning of November. My parents were awesome enough to travel up here and watch them for the weekend while we drove down there. The weather was sunny and pleasant while we walked and ate all over town. The two of us love history and exploring, so just walking around and grabbing food/coffee was heaven. We stayed in North Charleston and enjoyed going to Shem Creek and Mount Pleasant to eat and go to the beach. It was a wonderful weekend and awesome to celebrate 15 years as husband and wife.

Fall 2019

The boys started 3rd and 5th grade this year (totally forgot to take a 1st day photo:(. Bennet got a brand new teacher, Ms. Wright and Hayden got Mrs. Stafford who was retiring after 30 years. So, after the 4th of July the boys tracked back in. This would be Hayden's last year in elementary school and essentially, his last year of public school until possibly high school. But the boys were kept busy and happy again with school and a new soccer/baseball season. This year for a special treat, we were supposed to go to Disney's Very Halloween Party. Unfortunately, Hurricane Dorian came instead and our trip was pushed back until later in October. When we finally got to go, the 6 of us put on our dorkiest Halloween shirts and enjoyed all the fall/Halloween festivities at Magic Kingdom! Halloween this year was also extra special because Gigi and Popi came down from Libertyville for a fun visit. We had a great time except Bennet was sick with the flu and only went around to a couple of houses. Luckily, Hayden went trick or treating with his neighborhood buddies so we got to stay home with him and hand out candy.

BFF's Come to Raleigh

Kelley and Katie came to Raleigh at the end of June 2019 and we had a best time, as always. It was great to catch up with them and show them all of the things that we love about NC. There's also something so special about having your best friends come to your new home and new world. We went hiking everywhere, had dinner/drinks downtown, took a yoga class at Lifetime in Cary, and went to UNC Chapel Hill. Jamie was awesome and took the boys away to spend the night at the beach so we could really have some quality one on one time. It was a priceless weekend and one that I'll always think about and laugh.