A Tale of Two Dances - Part 1

These photos are kind of out of order -- sorry!!

Megan had Sweetheart Dance in February. It's girls ask boys so they call it WPA - Women Pay All. Megan and her group of friends divide up into dates and go as a huge group.

They thought it would be fun to wear sunglasses for the photos.

Megan with her friends Jessica & Kayla.


Megan asked Matt. You may remember Matt as the Tic-Tac guy. Matt asked Megan to Homecoming their Sophomore year by filling our mailbox with Tic-Tacs.

He's a nice guy and they had fun.

There are two dances in the spring - WPA & prom. The next post has pictures from this year's prom. Yes - that means 4 formal dances in a year!!!

Megan's Cheerleading

We invest a lot of time into Megan's high school cheer. It is seriously an all year activity. She had a performance called Extravaganza on April 28 & 29th. This is the last event for the current year's cheer squad. Then, there were try-outs the very next day (April 30th) for next year's squad. They don't even get one day of rest.
I got a quick picture of Megan after her Extravaganza performance with Mom, Dad, & Margret. It worked out great that it was the Friday night of Ryan's confirmation weekend.


Cheer not only keeps Megan busy but me as well. She was a captain for the cheer squad last year (as a junior) and was selected again for this coming year (her senior year). The coaches put a lot of responsibility on the captains and the captains' parents are booster club president - automatically. That means I'm super busy, involved too!!

Here's a picture of Megan with her friends (in order) Jessica, Abbie, & Allison. Allison is a senior and graduates this Tuesday. Megan has a lot of friends that are seniors and she'll be sad to see them leave. We can't believe she will be a senior next year - where does time go?

More posts on our busy spring so keep checking....

Ryan's New Baseball Team

Ryan is playing on a new baseball team this year: the Inside Sports Elite. He's not real fond of the name since he says it sounds cocky but he does like the colors - green & gold. These are our high school colors. One of the coaches and 4 other boys from last year's team moved to this team with Ryan. It's a AAA team which means more competitive. Last year's team was a AA team. There is one level above AAA - majors and those kids are super competitive and travel a bunch to tourneys.

(Ryan is front row on the far right of this picture)

Here's the team celebrating their first tourney win. They had made it to the championship game in their first 2 tourneys but lost and got 2nd place. They were happy to finally win one. Ryan at the plate - I don't know if he got a hit this time or not. Another parent with a good camera took these pictures for me.

That's our new head coach, Tom, handing out the trophies. He's a nice guy & pitched in college. We are lucky to have 2 coaches that both played college baseball. Ryan's coach from last year (who moved to this team as well) played catcher at KState. It's nice to have such solid instruction for the kids & they volunteer their time. We are so thankful for this since Bruce was ready to stop coaching.

More posts to come over the next couple of days -- can't promise they will be in order. Ryan's baseball started in early April and he'll have tourneys every weekend through the end of June.

Luckily - he doesn't play on the 4th of July this year. Yay!

Whew!!!

Where in the world did January, February, March, & April go????

The answer is below (we've been really busy):
January - I spent time with Brent, Amy, & the girls. It was super fun to hang out with them as well as Mom & Dad by myself :); Megan cheered a bunch of basketball games; I prepared for my comprehensive exams to finalize my KU master's degree.

February - More basketball games to watch Megan cheer; cheer booster club senior recognition event & banquet to host; Megan attends yet another high school dance; tried to study for my comprehensive exams.

March - Studied like crazy to prepare for my comprehensive exams (5 essay questions - no notes on all the coursework in my master's program); shipped the kids to AZ for spring break so I could study more; took my exam over two days; interviewed for a new job; and completed the oral defense of my comprehensive exams. Whew!

April - Megan took her ACT; Bruce, Megan & I went to Fayetteville, AR on a college visit; Megan had prom; Megan also had cheer Extravaganza performances & cheer try-outs; Ryan's baseball team started playing weekend tournaments; Ryan had his 8th grade confirmation; & I got a new job back at Sprint in my old group (but working on a new product.) Yay!

May - So far...May has been a slower pace & I'm looking forward to summer. I graduate next weekend from KU which is my last "to do" for my master's degree.

Sorry I have been so tardy about updating the blog. I actually haven't printed a picture for my photo albums in a year either. I have a lot of catching up to do!!!

Watch the blog for the next couple of days to catch up with us!!!

My trip to Arizona - Part 1

I had the opportunity for a "free" flight to Arizona so I took advantage of it this past week. We had a credit on Southwest that expired Jan. 11th and it was just enough for me to travel. Bruce & the kids stayed in KC and pouted cause they didn't get to go.

I hung out with Mom & Dad on Tuesday and we all drove to the top of the Blueridge north of Payson, AZ to see Brent, Amy, & the girls. When I mean top, I really mean top!! Payson elevation is 5,000 feet and the top of the ridge is about 7,500 feet. It's quite the climb and I was relieved Dad was driving!!

I was excited to see how much Zella had grown/changed. And, I hadn't met Laney yet. I wanted to see Brent & Amy too, of course!

Zella loves to be read to and Mom & Dad were happy to get out the books. Zella has gotten so smart and verbal. I was amazed how much she's talking compared to Labor Day weekend.

Laney is very sweet and loves to be held.

Hi Laney! It was fun to meet you :)

I snapped a quick photo of Laney & Amy. You can see how Laney loves to snuggle. Brent & Amy's new home is nice & much bigger than their other place.

And of course Zella! She called me "Aunt Bahnya" which was very cute. She'd grab my hand and say "Haman Aunt Bahnya!" which translates to "Come on Aunt Brenda." She's very easy to understand and will attempt to repeat any word you say!
What a cutie. I'll post some more pictures soon. I put some on Mom's facebook as well.

Ryan's 14th Birthday

We celebrated Ryan's birthday last night cause Megan had a practice on his birthday. Ryan's so easy going that didn't bother him at all. Plus, he had a school fieldtrip on his birthday so that made it seem fun.

The birthday boy with his cake - ice cream cake. I know...I'm surprised it wasn't Strawberry Shortcake too. He wasn't totally thrilled with it so my guess is back to shortcake next year.

Megan jumped in a picture with Ryan when we realized they were both in Hawkeye t-shirts.

Ryan & his gifts with a big smile cause Bruce & Megan were teasing him.

Ryan picked this Hawkeye plaque out at Iowa Book & Supply last summer while we were in Iowa City. Funny thing is he forgot about it so it was actually a surprise.

We got a close-up shot so Brent could check it out. Ryan figured Brent will be envious.

Brent - try to guess all 8 former Hawkeye now NFL stars!

Mom & Dad got Ryan a new batting helmet for his birthday. I told him to model it so they could check it out. It's a new style that isn't shiny. Bruce & Ryan tell me it's the new cool style. He had to get a new helmet since his other helmet is too small & was red. His new team is green & gold so we went with black. Ryan said thanks for the helmet Grandma & Grandpa.

Overall, I think he had a good birthday. Thanks to everyone who sent him a card, email, or text. He enjoyed them all. Hard to believe he's 14. Almost forgot, he got his permit today too. It's been a big day for him!

Megan's 1st Cheer Competition

Megan had her first competition with the new team this past weekend. The competition was in Omaha so the team spent the weekend at a hotel. Megan said it was fun to hang out with her teammates.

This is Megan's friend Samantha. She's a sophomore at DeSoto High School and was Megan's roommate in the hotel.

Megan likes the new midrift uniforms but has decided to use some self-tanner the next time :)

We grabbed a quick photo courtesy of Sam's mom. I drove up to Omaha on Sunday morning to watch the competition and drive Megan home.

The new team didn't place well but they are still working out the kinks in their routine. The next competition is late January in Topeka. I'm sure they'll do better at this one with more practice. Megan likes the fact this team doesn't have as many competitions.