HALLOWEEN

Well, the decorations are out, the candy is bought, the costumes are decided on, the weather is great, time to go!

Sara's 4 year anniversary

Four years ago today we took Sara as our daughter and have been running full speed ever since. She has flurished and progressed so much faster than we ever thought she would, and is fully breaking us in as parents to a teenager with full force!!!!!!

This is when we first got Sara...look how small she was! Then she wore size 4 toddler-at the age of 9!

Charlene McKinzey

Very early this morning a special angel went home. Ms. Charlene was instrumental in the youth program at our church and a much sought after Pre A/P 8th grade Language Arts Teacher. She had the patience of the angels and directed all of our youth programs. She was also the wonderful cook at our mission trips. Sara was so hoping to get Ms. Charlene this year, but about one year ago, she found out that she had pancreatic cancer and they suspected that she had 3 months to live, but God had other plans. Ms Charlene did make it to her last class of confirmation kids that she had started.

Ms. Charlene (aka Mrs. McKenzey) will be so missed by her husband Art, two grown kids, and everyone who knew her.

Cross Country is finished

Yesterday was the district meet for Cross Country. It involved all the runners from 9 school in the 7th and 8th grade. Each grade has a boy/girl and A/B team, making 8 teams.

The first race is A/B 7th grade girls-Ruth's team. Then A/B 7th Boys, A/B 8th grade girls-Sara's team, finished with A/B 8th grade boys. The A team is the top 10 runners from the school and they wear a penny over their uniform to keep them together with the scoring.

The team Ruth was on came in first, along with 4 other teams.....making our school taking 5 of the 8 top teams. She really ran fast and pushed until the end, but she is totally glad this was the last race, since it is still hot here. After the race Ruth likes to hang out with her friends who are all really nice girls, and a few boys. If you know Ruth, she is very shy and this is a good time for her to open up some. We do stay until all teams run, since the girls like to cheer on the boys.



UNFORTUNATELY, Sara's team did not come in first.







Sara is still the fastest runner on her A team for her grade and came in 10th, but I think considering the circumstances, she should have come in first for toughness.There are not any others on her team that come close to her time, so we did not get enough points to come in first.





ALSO, this time the course was in a beautiful park that included one HUGE hill and many others, but the problem was the gravel at the beginning of the race in which they were all grouped together still, and had to make a sharp left hand turn, then narrow out to a very thin section of the course. In the gravel, Sara got tripped and went down hard. YES, this tough girl did finish the race as best as she could and still came in 10th, but was unable to give her best and finished with blood running down her leg. Luckily there is a trainer at the finish line who took her right away and clean and bandaged her leg which now does NOT include quite a bit of flesh. Good thing I did not see it because I do NOT do blood well.

Look in the background of Sara's pic and you see some girls in blue uniform-this is Ruth and her friends cheering on her sister.....how sweet!


BEEN SWAMPED, but this puts an end to 2 of the car pools-YEA MOM!!!!

new teeth for Sara

Today Sara took the trip to the dentist to repair the two front teeth that she got as a child. She has a beautiful smile, and I told her that she had better take good care of them because I only buy her teeth once. Since there is such a small bonding surface, she can never again bite into an apple, it must be sliced.

Sister love

Sometimes these girls are so silly. No one was hurt in this take down. You can tell who won.

Butterflies

It has finally cooled down and like us, there is once again action outside......I am speaking of the butterflies. The beautiful yellow one is on our lantana.

The brown butterfly was inside the dog's bowl reaching down for a sip. Luckily no one else was thirsty at the time. You can see that the butterfly is missing part of one of his wings, but he could still fly.

Volleyball & cross country

Sara is in the red penny-meaning she is on the top 8th grade team....and still the fastest girl in 8th grade in her school. This is Ruth's first year and, as she says, she loaths cross country, but it is mandatory for the volleyball team. I guess you get the good with the bad. This is the two of them after running~~~~WORN OUT! After this first meet, then Sara went to soccer practice, and Ruth went home for homework. They both slept very well!!!!!

This is an action shot of Ruth during one of her games. They have won all they games but one. She is a front line setter, probably because she is so tall. She really loves playing and gets up better than I do at 5:15 AM

RUNNING FAST

Still here.....this year is crazy. I have from 3-5 carpools/day depending on what day it is. Ruth's volleyball team has won all but 1 game.....Sara placed first in her school on their first cross country 2 mile run last week and Ruth managed to run her complete 1 1/2 mile cross country meet.....not bad. Grades are good. Jeff and the girls and I spend alllllllll weekend working in the yard, taking down the Halloween decorations and getting them started. Weather is cooler YEA! Sara's soccer team is doing terrible. I hate getting up at 5:15 every morning with Ruth to begin her carpool....and she is so tired too. Bedtime has gotten very early for ALL of us. Will do pics very soon.

Silly animals

Our dog Jessie would not get near the pool all summer, but only for a quick drink. Now that it is empty, he finds it quite fun.

Our cat loves Ruth's book bag and kept rubbing against it and I finally found out why. She loves the scent of peppermint and Ruth had some peppermint gun in the outter pocket!

V-Ball Tournament

Today was the first volleyball tournament. Of course we were up at the crack of dawn to head out. The team won the first 3 of 3, so they went to the playoff and came in second. The last game had some very questionable calls, but oh well. It was a full day of playing and they really did great~~~except for the first game after lunch which they lost, but it was the best of 3/3. Us parents decided that maybe next time, we will not let the girls eat and if so, only lots of sugar because obviously the"eat only healthy snacks" wasn't working. After all, what 12 year old thrives on "healthy" foods....I'm just sayin'.

WEATHER

...remains from Hermine has come and knocked on our door.....bring 8 inches of rain for us, and 3-4 tornadoes for just north and east of us......Ready for this to end. Needless to say, no soccer practice today, especially since THE PRACTICE FIELD IS FEET UNDER THE CREEK that is next to it!!!!!

Volleyball

Today Ruth made the final cut and she is on the 7th grade volleyball team. Volleyball is a very popular sport at the school and over 100 girls tried out, but only 20 made the cut. WAY TO GO RUTH!`

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So I drug Sara to the game. SILLY me I thought they would play one 30 minute game, whoever won , won. BUT>>>it was the best 2 of 3! First the B team played and Ruth was on this team. She was on the starting string. They won the 2 games. Then onto the A team and they played 3 and won the needed 2! Yea teams!!!!

SCHOOL BEGINS

This summer flew by with so many trips, visitors, and a church mission trip, but today is the first day of school.....eventhough it is 110 and they should not be outside!!!

Ruth~7th grade is now at the same school as Sara~8th grade. The carpool is full with 5 girls and a ton of books, binders, athletic gear.....

I can not wait until they get home today with all their stories!

AREN'T THEY CUTE!!

last baby tooth

Today my baby Ruth lost her last baby tooth and it sounds crazy, but I cried! I mean hugely! It is a symbol to me of the last of her baby days and now she's that much more all grown up. She is fairly sure the tooth fairy will be generous on this the last time....and I am sure she will be. She lost her first tooth at thanksgiving time in "04 when her best friend at the time turned around and hit her head against Ruth's mouth....that was also the way she lost her second tooth too.

School schedules

Today was schedule pick up for 7&8th grade....now I have on in both of these! We had a hitch with Ruth because apparently one of the shots was very recently changed from once every 10 to every 5 years, so tomorrow morning we will head back to school for the shot drive and we will then receive her schedule......they are so excited to see who is on their teams and see if they have "good" meaning nice teachers.

family

The house I grew up in, and my grandmother's house . It was nice to see the old places again, though they have changed some.

The next day we connected with my mom's side of the family. It has been 3 years since I saw anyone on my mom's side and I really enjoyed them...

WEDDING BELLS

We are back from up north for my cousin Jill and her new husband Jerry's wedding. It was held at a botanical garden. . . outside. We were a little nervous when it rained during the rehersal the day before, but the day of was perfect. The sun was setting and there was a gentle breeze. It was so VERY beautiful. The reception followed at the gardens, indoors, and we ate like royalty and had fun dancing too.

We enjoyed seeing many relatives we seldom see....and hope we do better staying in touch. Note the photo of the cousins that were able to attend....I was the youngest hehehe

We spent a day at the cemetary which is VERY old and beautiful. We spent an evening with my aunt Frances, her granddaughter and new great grandson....and to be honest, there was not enough time in the day to catch up....I must make this trip again and maybe next year.

School begins...for athletes

This is the second week into the conditioning training for the kids in athletics at school. It is 3 weeks for 1 1/2 hrs in the am....optional. Of course, it is in the best choice to attend to get into favor with the coaches. This is something new this year and I am seeing that sports is getting moves further ahead in importance each year. Ruth will begin tomorrow because I had not gotten her physical yet. Of course, I am doing the carpool for this....all my kids are in athletics and such good girls too.

Mission trip

This week the girls went to the church mission trip. There were about 1500 youths from central Texas in many small towns, then all coming together on the last Friday for worship. Jeff and I both shed a few tears as we said good by. They worked really hard and Sara come home with a huge bruise and scratches, and Ruth still has paint under her fingernails, but they had a great time and are already talking about the trip next year. They also met some new friends from our own church, even a boy or two.....oh my gosh!

HANDS

Thought we would get a look at these beauties another way....their hands. It is funny that you can tell the Marshall Island girls by their deeper tans....Baby V, Little S, Sara and Ruth....what beauties!

visiting friends from afar

My dear friend Erin and family drove from "the north" for a visit with us and her extended family and friends. We got to meet her new daughter also from the Marshall Islands. She is almost 9 months. She is so cute and loves to smile. Favorite toy>>>empty 2 liter soda bottle so those of you spending so much money on toys.....go simple!

We spent the first day at Hawaiian Falls water park and came out tired and burnt. The girls came home and fell asleep!!!!

Erin's older daughter, also from China, had her first sleep over with the girls, sharing a bed with Sara. They did crafts in the evening first. In the morning, I found that Little one is not a morning person.

Of course we went to the Chinese market and had to get some goodies. That also goes for our favorite restaurant China King.....yummy!