Gift Card

This past fall, Alyssa applied for the Wendy's High School Heisman award.

She won for her school (they pick one girl and one boy) and was a finalist for the state!

That won her a $25 gift card to Wendy's . . . it came in the mail this past week, along with a little medal.

We keep wondering when she's taking us all out for a Frosty!!

Just Waiting for His Call Sign

Jacob has been practicing to take his amateur ham radio license exam. Yesterday he took it and passed!!

Now all he needs it to wait a couple of days for his call sign and he's official.

School Fall Festival

Each fall, the elementary school has a Fall Festival.

Dinner, son-cones, booths/games, and inflatables makes it all things the kids look forward to.

Jacob was sick and was upset to miss it. 

Logan had a sno-cone for him.

 And Natalie invited Natalie, they had a whole lot of fun.

 This inflatable was a favorite. You strapped into a vest attached to bungie cords,

then you run as far as you can and stick a bag to the velcro strip in the center.

Natalie won by far - and the guy attending that inflatable said that Natalie got the farthest of the night. 

 Logan took a try as well.

The kids played to the end, even getting in some last minute slides before they closed up.

We'll be back next year!

Alyssa Turns 17!

Having a birthday in the middle of a busy week makes for a fast but fun family party.

I attempted to make a dark chocolate mousse for Alyssa's birthday dessert, but made a fatal flaw when I put the chocolate into a cold bowl and didn't realize it until I was wondering why the ingredients weren't incorporating very well - the light brown bowl of fluff in the middle (I have since made it again and it turned out much better).

So, we went with plan B - strawberry shortcake. 

Logan was super excited and packaged all the birthday cards she had gotten and set out the cards and gifts for her to open.

She got things she loved,

and an unexpected iPod shuffle! She was just a little excited.

Happy Birthday, Alyssa!

You're awesome - we love you!

Trunk-or-Treat

Still catching up. . . . 

Our church had a trunk-or-treat activity in October. I had thought to put together a Pipi Longstocking costume, but didn't get a chance to get it together until that day. I had a lot of fun with it.

Natalie twisted a costume idea she saw on-line and Natalie always has cowgirl stuff ready.

 Knowing that my friend Sara was coming as a Christmas tree, Alyssa was very happy to go as an elf.

 It's always fun having my friends come.

Logan and his buddies had a blast. Logan was easy - a soccer player.

 After a chili dinner, the kids enjoyed booths/games. 

 The young women did face painting and decorating sugar cookies.

 Then off to trunk-or-treating. It was a fun night.

Life's been pretty busy and we barely got the pumpkins carved and put out before Halloween night.
For a quick carve, they turned out really well!

Happy Halloween!

Wrapping Things Up - Sportswise

Soccer and cross-country have come to an end.

Logan had a great season - learning how to play on a bigger field (about 3 times bigger), have a goalie, actual positions, and real referees (not the coaches on the field). The previous small field could only hold the 4 players per side. 

He had a great coach who was positive and encouraging.

Logan learned a couple of positions,

even goalie.

He looked so small in the goal, 

but did great and had a lot of fun.

They had a fun season and Logan even decided he wants to be a ref when he gets older.

After a season of fun and making new friends,

he got his new favorite trophy.

 Natalie had a great season. The picture below is Natalie kicking the ball (the darker jersey right at the light pole - the ball is the white dot near the defender, in gray, to the right) which ended up going into the goal!!
I had just taken out my camera and didn't have time to zoom, but I was excited to get the shot.

The girls in her bracket have been playing together for so long that the teams are very evenly split

and there were more ties than wins/losses, so it all came down to the single elimination tournament.

Each game was good and often a nail biter.

The first tournament game went to OT, then penalty kicks. Natalie scored the winning goal.

The finals were equally exciting, no OT needed this game with Natalie's team winning!!

Along with the end of soccer season, cross-country came to a close as well. I've already posted pictures and results from the state meet, so this might be a little anti-climatic, but Logan and I were able to watch Alyssa run at regionals.

It's a great course for spectators because you can stand in the middle and see almost the whole course.

Alyssa ran a really strong race.

Below is her at the top of the last hill - at least they end downhill.

She came in 4th!

With a really good time. As I mentioned in the post about the state meet (scroll down to the next entry if you haven't seen it yet), she is part of a really solid team. And the team made it to state.

It was a bit bitter-sweet to have her last high school cross-country season come to an end. She's had a great four years.

State Cross Country

This past Saturday we all got up early and drove out to see Alyssa run in the state cross-country meet.

The announcer, as the girls were all lined up to start, told them that they had all worked hard and earned that spot on the starting line. I couldn't agree with him more.

It was exciting to be there and watch her run her last race as a high school cross country runner (although I know there will be many more races in her future).

Here is the start.

She's in the lighter blue to the left in the picture below.

She looked strong the whole time and did great. The course was such that we could be in one place and see her pass by a couple of spots for a total of four times during the race.

Below is when she was coming into the finish.

She came in 29th out of 185 runners!

Her team has a solid group of runners and the team placed 4th overall, out of 26 teams.

Congratulations to all the girls! They did fabulous!!

. . . . And They're Gone

Tuesday was a big day - we said good-bye to two things that have seemed permanent fixtures.

One - the Protege: our first and only new, off-the-lot vehicle that has gives 16 1/2 years of driving and was finally not worth the money needed to keep it running.

Off it went to a salvage company.

I didn't want the guy to think I was weird, trying to take pictures of the car as it was being hauled away,

so I sneaked pictures through the window, garage door, and front porch - feeling a little silly, not getting great pictures, but oh well.

We only wish it would have been drivable enough to really teach Alyssa how to drive a standard before it got towed away.
It was a good car.

The other - braces! Always seeming like a permanent fixture and on FOREVER, until one day  . . .

they are off!!

Those won't be missed.