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!