This Christmas was very different from every other year.  It was special because I was finally able to see my sister after being apart for a while and it was great to spend time with her.  It was also very weird because my brother was not able to come back from Georgia with his wife.  He had just moved there and they decided it was just too much for them to travel all the way back when they had just gotten settled.  I missed them both very much, but we carried on our tradition of us four kids drawing each other’s names out of a hat and being their Secret Santa! Keegan, my 22 year old brother that lives in Georgia, just mailed his gift to us and we mailed his gift to him! We called them on Christmas day and had a long chat with him over the phone. Hopefully next year he will be able to come and see us!

Another reason this Christmas was weird was that my cousin, Nichole, was also not here because she went to the Philippines to teach at an elementary school.  When we had our family Christmas at my grandparents house, we were sad to see her usual spot empty and her stocking sitting there unfilled, but we were able to Face Time her after dinner.  It was good to see her again but it still wasn’t the same.  I could tell it was very hard for her not to be here with the family, but what she is doing there is important as well. Next year I think my Aunt and Uncle are going to fly her in for Christmas.

After Christmas, my cousins and Aunt and Uncle from my mom’s side drove in from Colorado and stayed with us for 3 days.  I have missed them so much and it was so great to be able to see them!   We had a blast playing ping pong, tag, and having snow ball fights, even though one of them ended with me getting a bloody lip!  

On Wednesday, my sister finally came home and we were able to kick off our time together by playing in a pick-up game of basketball with some other home-schooled kids on the boys and girls basketball teams for Manhattan Chief. We were on the same basketball team last year, so it was great to play with her again! Afterwards, we went out and got slushies and came to and had dinner with my grandparents. The next day, was more of a relaxing day, to let Campbell sleep and enjoy finally being home.  We went to basketball practice that day as well and she was able to see some of the people she graduated with, because most of them have stuck around this area for college and help out with our practices sometimes. It was great to play with all of the seniors again! On Friday, we went to the Jr. High girls basketball game and cheered them on.  We lost, but it was a very close game and they fought very hard. Campbell stayed for the boy’s game but I went home to get some rest for the next day, because I had a basketball game of my own on Saturday.  During my game on Saturday, we played very well the first half and were beating them, but we just became tired and were not able to hold on to our lead, so we lost. We will just have to condition a lot before the next time we play them! On Sunday, Campbell, some of our friends, and I went to go see the Hobbit! We had to sit in the second row so it hurt my neck quit a bit to look up for 3 hours strait but it was worth it! I can’t wait for part 2 to come out! I am really excited for the upcoming week, because then all of my family will be here and it will be a blast! I am so excited for Christmas but I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by! Soon it will be 2013! That’s crazy!  I STILL catch myself thinking that 10 years ago it was the 90’s...

The Holidays!

The holidays are fast approaching and I am so excited! My sister, who goes to the University of Nebraska Omaha, is coming home this Wednesday night after her last final! I have missed her so much and can’t wait to play games and hangout with her.  Soon we will be listening to Christmas music and going Christmas shopping together!  I have most of my shopping done but there are still a few things I need to get for a couple more people.  My grandparents from my mom’s side will be coming either right before Christmas or right after Christmas (we haven’t figured everything out yet).  We are doing our Christmas with my dad’s side of the family on Christmas day this year so that will be a lot of fun! We usually do it a little before Christmas because usually my Aunt and Uncle do their own Christmas with my Uncle’s family, but I guess they have different plans this year! After Christmas, my mom’s sister and her husband and kids will be coming on the 27^th and they will stay for a couple of days and celebrate Christmas with us then!  I am so excited to see all of them! They used to live in North Carolina so we didn't see them very often, but they now live in Colorado so they are able to travel and come and spend time with us! Sadly, my brother and my sister in-law won’t be able to make it home for Christmas, because they just moved to Georgia and thought it would just be too much to fly back.  I'm sure we will be calling them a lot.  Also, my brother’s secret Santa will have   to mail their gift to them. Every year, my sister, my two brothers, and I put our names into a hat and draw somebody’s name out.  We then get to buy a Christmas present for that person! I will be different because Keegan is not here to open them up with us but hopefully we can call him and Skype him so that we can still spend time with him on Christmas. 

Shea Tournament

On Thursday (11/29/12) the Shea Tournament started for basketball.  I play on the Varsity girls’ team for Manhattan Chief, a home-school organization. Our first game was against Flint Hills Christian School, the hosts of the tournament.  It was our first game, so it started a little rusty but we got the hang of thing pretty quickly. I mostly played point guard, but played the wing when Lonna ended up with the ball. We won the game 26-18.

Our second game was on Friday and we played Tyro (That is the only name I know them by...).  We played very well the first quarter and were winning by a good amount but we ended up playing sloppy and just not running through our plays like we should.  We ended up winning by 4 points but it was still a very close and nerve racking game.  Our two wins put us into the championship, making us very proud because we were kind of the underdogs because most of our players have never really played basketball.

The championship game was on Saturday against the Veritas Eagles. They were a good team and we did quit play our best either so the game didn't go the way we wanted it to. We fought hard but ended up losing by 15 points.  We were disappointed but we did learn a lot from this game and hopefully we are able to learn from our mistakes quickly, because we will be playing Veritas again in about a week! 

I am very proud of our girls for making it so far in the tournament and for really playing their hearts out!  We learned a lot and now that we have actually played some games together, we are going to be able to be much more productive at practice!   I am so thankful I am able to play for a team that is able to play for God's glory and with good sportsmanship.  I am so excited for the rest of the season! 

Thanksgiving Week

On Thanksgiving Day, we had my Grandparents and my uncle, who live in Parsons, KS, at our house.  We had Thanksgiving lunch instead of dinner, because we like to be able to go play games and relax after we eat! We also like to go exercise a little so that we don’t feel bad about eating so much food! For lunch we had turkey, of course, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole.  These are my three favorite dishes!   For desert we had pumpkin and apple pie! Having pie is one of the things I look forward to the most about the holiday! It’s my favorite food!  After lunch, we play monopoly a couple of times.  We had to play twice because my sister could not end with her losing.  That night, me and my sister got all of our money together and headed to her friend’s apartment in Manhattan.  We planned on Black Friday shopping and didn’t want to have to drive half an hour at 3:00 AM.   We really didn’t go to shop, but we went just for fun and for the slight chance that we would find a present for someone! The next day we were extremely exhausted and took lots of naps! After we were fully rested, we got into the Christmas spirit and decorated the tree while listening to our favorite Christmas CDs!  We ended the day by falling asleep to Christmas movies that were on TV.

The next day, we had another Thanksgiving lunch with my other grandparents that live in Wamego.  My grandma made amazing food like usual!  She also made her amazing chocolate pie that everybody looks forward to all year long! We actually still have some leftovers in the fridge! I guess I know what I’m eating tomorrow!

I am so thankful to God for blessing me with my wonderful family and for giving us such a wonderful time together.   In my crazy life it is easy to forget how amazingly blessed I am and to be thankful for all that I have.  I am thankful that I have a family that has taught me to follow Christ! 

U19 College Showcase Tournament!

My main event this week was the GSI College Showcase Tournament in Kansas City for soccer. I played with the U19 Mid Kansas United team that is from Manhattan.  I played as their goalie the entire week and it went great!

The first game was at 6:30 PM on Friday night so it was a bit rushed for us all to get there on time because all of the other girls do go to Manhattan High school and they don’t get out of school until a little before 3:00 PM.  The car I was riding in ran into awful traffic on the way so we were twenty-five minutes late for warm up, but it turned out fine.  I was a little nervous when the game started because I hadn't been playing much goalie, but after a while I was back in my groove.  We won the game 2-0. 

The next day we played at 8:00 PM so it was completely dark out but the fields we play on have lights so it was fine.  It did feel weird though to be playing so late.  We usually play early in the morning, but it was actually a nice change because I got to sleep in that day and take my time.  Thankfully, I was not late for this game so I was able to go through my usual warm up so I was much more prepared this time.  It felt like this game went by extremely fast; even though we actually play longer then we normally do, so that there was more time for the college coaches to come see us.  We played two forty minute halves and usually we only play two half-hour halves. This game was not our best game but we did win 1-0.  We could have beaten them by a lot more but I think we were all tired because it was late.

The third game was at 3:00 PM Sunday and this was not my favorite game.  I was really used to playing in the dark now so the sun was a little annoying and it was warmer out so I couldn't wear my big goalie shirt so my arms got scraped up every time I dove, which happens quite a bit being a goalie and all.    At first I was nervous because our team looked really tired and just drained.  We were just kicking the ball and not making plays and seizing opportunities.  But the second half of the game was a lot better than the first and we were able to score 3 goals! The game ended with us winning 3-0!

I was pretty happy with the weekend because I didn't get scored on, which is ever goalies goal for a tournament.  Since it was a showcase though, they didn't do the whole 1^st and 2^nd place thing but it was clear that we owned this tournament.  

Moms Vs. Daughter Flag Football

Last night in Manhattan there was a moms vs. daughters flag football game for all of the Chief organization.  Not everybody showed up but a good amount did.  We started practicing at 4:00 PM with our team and one of the football coaches.  None of us really knew what we were doing except for the two girls who have brothers that play football.  Once we caught on it was really fun but still confusing at times.  After 2 hours of running through plays and practicing our defense, we started the game.  The coaches of the moms thought they were going to slaughter us because most of our girls weren’t very big and didn’t play a sport the required a lot of running and physical activity, but boy were they wrong.  The moms started off with the ball but we were able to quickly shut them down and get the ball on offense.  After running a couple of our plays that we had practiced, we scored our first touchdown! This gave us a lot of confidence and showed everybody that we have what it takes to win.  We soon scored two more touch downs, but the moms also scored one.  The score was then 20-6.  Since the game was only just for fun, the refs started to call really dumb things on us like interferences and fouls, even though we really didn’t do anything. Finally the game was almost over but the moms were very close to the touchdown line.  They somehow got through us and scored a very impressive touch down just before the time was out.  Somehow the score board got changed and showed the final scored with us girls with 26 and the moms with 27, so us girls apparently “lost”. But that’s okay; I guess there is always next year!