7th Grade

It's time for junior high for this sweet girl! There have definitely been some nerves...leading to quite a few nights with disrupted sleep! Obviously, a lot will be different. Leah has been lucky enough to spend her last couple of years with pretty much the same group of kids in class. They've become almost like a family and have formed some of the coolest friendships. This past summer, most of the girls from her class took turns hosting get togethers on a (nearly) weekly basis. It will be interesting to watch how those friendships grow and change as they navigate the junior high years. Our hope is that Leah continues to keep and find wonderful friends and remains true to the lovely person that she is. She's going to do so well in junior high and we hope these two years don't go by too quickly!

What is your name? Leah

How old are you? 12

What do you want to be when you grow up? social worker

What is your favorite food? French onion casserole

What is your favorite drink? diet coke

What makes you happy? friends

What makes you sad? nothing

What is your favorite thing to do at home? hang out with friends

Who is your best friend? Bridget, Keeley, Keira

Where is your favorite place to go? Disney and Florida (the beach)

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? shopping and going to Starbucks

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? get donuts

What is the best part about Caleb (brother)? He plays outside with me.

What is the best part about Joel (brother)? everything

What is your favorite book? Words on Fire

What is your favorite movie? A Week Away

Where is your favorite place to eat? Pops

What is your favorite thing to wear? jean shorts and a t-shirt

5th Grade

Joel is back to being by himself at school for a couple of years! He is our last Bentley Lion and we cannot believe it. Bentley is such a phenomenal school with amazing teachers. It might be hard to top his teachers from last year, but he does have a Sturm family favorite - Mrs. Iaciancio, so that's good! This is the first time that all three kids ended up with the same teacher. We are looking forward to what's in store for Joel as he begins this first "normal" year since second grade. He still loves math the most and is insanely good at it. And perhaps the magic of Mrs. Iaciancio will help inspire a love for reading/writing like it did with the other two! No matter what, we know that Joel is going to have a great year!

What is your name? Joel...can you just type that basic stuff in? It's not like I'm going to ever forget my name!

How old are you? 11? No 10.

What do you want to be when you grow up? soccer player and electrical engineer

What is your favorite food? smoked chicken

What is your favorite drink? pink lemonade

What makes you happy? my dog, Chief

What makes you sad? when I'm grounded

What is your favorite thing to do at home? play Minecraft or go outside

Who is your best friend? Matthew

Where is your favorite place to go? Disney and Tennessee

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? cook

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? building stuff

What is the best part about Caleb (brother)? playing outside

What is the best part about Leah (sister)? doing crafts

What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

What is your favorite movie? Grown Ups

Where is your favorite place to eat? home

What is your favorite thing to wear? Underarmour

Freshman Year

The high school years are finally upon us with Caleb. There is definitely some truth to the thought that time flies by. It feels like we were just dropping him off for his first day of preschool and now he's ready to start four of the best years of his life! He is already getting involved with plenty of things. Football seems to take most of his attention for now. We didn't know what to expect since he's never played tackle football. However, he has impressed us so much by his dedication to this team and to himself as he pushed through weeks of camps, conditioning, and practices throughout the summer. He also participated in basketball and volleyball during the summer. He's continuing on with band and joining Mathletes too. On top of it all, he's taking a full load of accelerated classes. We definitely think he's up for the challenge are are excited to see how much he will accomplish this year!

What is your name? Caleb Sturm

How old are you? 14

What do you want to be when you grow up? a biologist or a veterinarian

What is your favorite food? chicken nachos or fettucine alfredo

What is your favorite drink? coke

What makes you happy? my friends and sports

What makes you sad? Shifts in relationships....like people drifting away from you.

What is your favorite thing to do at home? I don't really spend any time at home, so...sleep.

Who is your best friend? Micah Evans, Ruby Hillegass, and Carter Bruley

Where is your favorite place to go? the lake

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? watch tv

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? I like just generally hanging out with him...playing video games and sports.

What is the best part about Leah (sister)? She cheers for me in sports.

What is the best part about Joel (brother)? He's like a person that I can coach in life and teach how to do things.

What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

What is your favorite movie? any Marvel movie

Where is your favorite place to eat? Popeyes

What is your favorite thing to wear? a sweatshirt

Florida Friends Reunited

We were so sad that our Spring Break plans didn't bring us together for a yearly reunion with our "Florida friends", but we made sure to get our families together for some fun! After a trip up to see us last summer and a grand Chicago adventure, it was time for us to head to their adorable town just south of Indianapolis. We had a great time catching up with the Christoff family and seeing the town of Franklin. It was an extra special trip because it happened to fall over Memorial Day weekend when anyone and everyone near Indianapolis celebrates the infamous Indy500 race. We had a blast getting to hang out with their neighborhood friends while watching the race. By the time we left, we were already making plans to get together again sooner than later. We are so lucky to have crossed paths with this family so many years ago in Florida and treasure the friendships that we all have with one another!

Jam Packed Spring

Spring has sprung and it feels like we are busier than ever! It might not help that we've had three major trips throughout the past two months, but the craziness is worth the memories!

We loved having a quick visit from the Fiocca family at the beginning of April. Friends who become family are such a gift!

The kids have been super busy with band, activities, and sports. We have something going on just about every single evening and it feels like there is no end is sight to this busy way of life. It's been great watching them enjoy it all...trying new things and flourishing in things they've been working on for awhile.

Band is was definitely a time consuming activity this spring, but Caleb and Leah seem to really enjoy it!

Loyalty Day Parade

4H marched in the parade too

The 8th graders that stuck it out!!!

We have a great band director and he has done such a phenomenal job of keeping this program going throughout a pandemic.

Caleb gave a new sport a try....track and field. He did shotput.

It's bittersweet watching his last season of baseball.

Leah performed in her dance recital and did great!

Another season of softball for this girl...

Girls on the Run was back this year at school and Leah did a great job training to run a 5K. It was extra special because family members were allowed to come run with them at school for the final run.

This boy would spend HOURS fishing....good thing his best buddy feels the same way!

Joel rocked it during another season of soccer...he was made for this sport.

The school year came to an end and we wrapped it up with two big events....Nyla is home for the summer and Caleb is an official graduate of 8th grade!

We are 100% ready for Summer! Bring on the sunny, warm, endless days of fun :)

Disney 2022

When we went to Disney World back in 2016, we knew that we'd want to come back at some point when the kids were older. As the pandemic began to wind down and things started to return to "normal" we thought that the best way to celebrate would be to take a drip to Disney. We had hoped to plan it when Nyla was done with school for the year, but before the rush of summer crowds began. Unfortunately, Nyla didn't want to go, but we decided it was now or never if we wanted to do this before the crazy high school years begin in the Sturm home. So, we took the plunge and made the magical adventure a reality. We were lucky enough to have the Bruley family (great neighbors and friends) join us for part of our trip.

After exactly 100 days of counting down, the day was finally here!

We stayed on property at the Caribbean Beach Resort and loved it! The location was great and the resort was amazing.

Day 1 was Magic Kingdom....we were on the go from sun up to sun down (and then some)!

Day 2 was Animal Kingdom...it started with a rope drop sprint to the Avatar ride and ended with us going back (after an earlier departure from the park) to ride a few favorites one more time!

Day 3 began with some much needed sleeping in...followed by a trip to Disney Springs, relaxation/fun at our resort, and a visit to the Boardwalk area for some special ice cream treats!

Day 4 was another early morning rope drop to Hollywood Studios where we loved the new Star Wars land, conquered our fears of thrill rides (well, Joel wasn't quite sold on the Tower of Terror, but did it anyhow), and survived the crowds in an effort to do just about every ride we could.

Day 5 was a much slower paced day at Epcot and we loved getting to end our trip there!

We were definitely sad to leave, but our aching feet and tired bodies were ready to go home!