We have made it to Thanksgiving break! It has been a busy few weeks since Halloween ... here's what we've been up to ...
Emma's softball season ended. After primarily playing 2nd base and outfield this season, she took one more turn behind the plate, which was fun to see. I'm not sure if she'll play softball in the spring as her team is likely going to be primarily a tournament team, and there's just no way to juggle that with soccer. I love watching Emma play softball, so I'm hoping she'll want to continue with a league team, but we'll see.
Emma also brought home several awards from school, including a recognition from her pre-athletics coach. I'm so proud of Emma's transition to middle school!
She really got into attending volleyball games this fall. She was there so much that the coach often asked her to be a line judge, which she loved! This winter she's going to play on a volleyball team at PSA in hopes of making the school team next year. We'll see how she does with a new sport!
I got a new car! It's a VW Taos and I LOVE it. Since we're about to have three drivers in the house (hoping Sara passes her test in a few weeks - fingers crossed), we needed another vehicle. I knew I wanted something smaller than what I'd had, and this smaller SUV was perfect for our needs at this point. Steve and I have both enjoyed driving it ... Sara hasn't had a turn yet.
Sara's competition squad competed at UCA Regionals. Here they are before loading the bus.
Super fans ... we were among a huge Plano West section! Since we could only handle so much cheer comp, we snuck out between West's performance and the awards for a bite and a bev.
This team has had several obstacles this fall, primarily with some coaching issues and athletes quitting. We really had no expectation going into this competition, and we're just glad when they weren't called first during awards (meaning they would have come in last). As the teams were called and the rankings got higher, we got so excited that they might even place. They did better than that, though ... they WON! Parents and athletes were all shocked and thrilled!
After so much work and some heartache, they got their bid to nationals in Orlando. I'm proud of Sara's hard work and her leadership as captain this year.
Now that the team is heading to Orlando in February, they have increased their fundraising efforts ... which included a car wash that the girls were less than thrilled about. They were good sports, though, and made several hundred dollars.
I made a quick weekend visit to MN to surprise Melissa for her birthday! It was so fun!
We watched movies, went to brunch, went to a craft fair, and squeezed in a Triggerfish gig (complete with a sloppy joe at the Hopkins Legion in true MN fashion).
Cal was so excited to tell me that he's FIVE now! He read me a book and showed off all his new toys. He really looked great in his backwards jersey.
Group pic! I was there less than 48 hours, but it was a bucket-filler!
Emma has a soccer tournament this weekend and Sara has to work. We have a couple of appointments on Monday, and then Tuesday we are headed back to Broken Bow for our 5th Thanksgiving in the woods. We are all looking forward to some time away to rest and reconnect. Things will be busy again after Thanksgiving, but the slow-down next week will be just what we need!
