Colton's Thanksgiving Blessing

We found out Colton drew for his first rifle deer hunt a few months ago and there has been very few days since then that he hasn't talked about it. He drew the Thanksgiving hunt and in the area right around my parents' place. We were all so excited for him, and when I say "we", I mean Colin and I as well as Papa Jimmy, Gramma Suzy and Uncle Jeff.

Thanksgiving morning, the guys, including Trevor, got up in the dark to get ready to go. I, of course, had to snap a picture of the hunting party (ignore the flash reflection from the door - it was too early!):They came back by the house a couple of hours later and then headed back out again, saying they'd be home by noon, which was when my mom was planning to have Thanksgiving dinner ready to eat. Well, noon came and went and I kept telling my mom that I was thinking positive and that he must have gotten something. About 1pm, they pulled up and got out of the vehicles without so much as a smile. Mom and I had run out there and we asked if he got one but they all said no and were walking toward the house. Then, I noticed Colin had his cell phone up like he was recording something and Colton said, "Go look, Mama" and Gramma and I ran over to the truck and there it was:Colton's 1st deer! It was a beauty, too! I was so excited and was jumping around and screaming (that is why Colin was videoing it)! The smile on Colton's face was priceless:The guys all kept talking about how calm Colton was while the three adults got very excited. Colton took it all in stride and acted like he'd done it a million times. Papa Jimmy said that was the sign of a good hunter. He shot it 150 yards away, using Papa's .243, and hit it on the left side, just below the shoulder. One shot, opening day. We told him not to get used to it, that he was a little spoiled! :-)

Jeff and Colin then drug it to a better area for me to get pictures. I had been looking forward to this for a very long time! I started just with Colton:

Colton and Daddy (who was also sportin' a pretty big smile):A proud Papa Jimmy:

Trevor was also excited for his cousin:Colton with Uncle Jeff and Trevor:Then, this is my very favorite picture:What a blessed boy Colton is to have a Daddy, Papa, Uncle and cousin to share that wonderful moment with?

We had to get a shot with Cady, too (all dressed up for Thanksgiving in her dress and turkey hat):And one with Gramma Suzy:Nana and Uncle Johnnie showed up during pictures and she was excited, too:So much to be thankful for already on this Thanksgiving, but that was just icing on the cake! Of course, Mom and Tammi and I didn't complain because it meant the hunt was over and the guys could spend the rest of the Thanksgiving break with us! :-)

Cady's Thanksgiving Program

Last Tuesday, Cady's class put on a special Thanksgiving performance for their families. Mrs. Romero did the same thing when Colton was in 1st grade and I really appreciate all her hard work to get it together, when most classes are taking an easy day on the last day before break.

The play was called "The Meal Must Go On!" and Cady was the pumpkin pie. :-)

From left to right is Hannah, Liliana, Tyler, Lela and Cady. Her first line was, "You all think you're so important! They always save the best and sweetest for last!"

Her second and last line, which she is delivering below, was "Well, it goes to show you, that if you cooperate you can really put something great together."

She did a great job and said both lines perfectly and loud enough for all of us to hear! We were very proud! Mrs. Romero told her afterwards that she picked Cady special for that part because her last line was the most important line of the play and she knew Cady would deliver it the best.

They then put on their turkey hats and sang "Albuquerque Turkey" for us. Cady is in the picture below, but 9 times out of 10, she is where I can't get pictures of her! If you look closely, you can see her hair, chin and mouth in between Hannah wearing the red and Tyler in the yellow:Here's a shot of her and Mrs. Romero, whom we are very thankful for:This is one of her good friends, Jade:

Daddy with his silly turkey:She made us an adorable pinecone turkey:Afterwards we all ate some pumpkin pie and then it was time to go home and start Thanksgiving Break!

Growin' Up!

After years of watching Bubba go off to sleepovers with his friends, Cady finally got to experience it herself! One of her very best friends, Mckynze, is turning 8 next week, and Cady was invited to her Hawaiian sleepover at the Drury Inn. I had let Cady read the invitation herself, and when she got to the part where it said to bring your sleeping bag, pillow and pajamas, she squealed with delight and yelled, "My first sleepover!" Mckynze's mom, and my good friend, Sherri, had invited me to stay and hang out as long as I wanted, so when I asked Cady if she wanted me to, she said, "I'm good, Mama, I'm good!" I knew she was, too. Part of me was sad that she is growing up so fast, but another part of me was excited because she is an independent little thing and for that, I am thankful (most times)!

Friday finally came, and we packed her all up when she got home from school. I have to admit, that I fought back some tears. She stays the night at her Grampa's and Grammy's and with my parents all the time, but going off to a slumber party was all new to her and me. I was very thankful that it was with such great family friends, though!

When Colin got home from work, it was about time to take her. I actually wanted to go a little early so I could snap a few pictures of her and the birthday girl. Below is a picture of her pulling her suitcase in the hotel. Daddy tried to help, but she insisted on doing it herself!I know - big suitcase for one night. In her defense, we had her sleeping bag and blanket packed away in there, too. :-) We were there so early, that we were able to go up to the suite and see all Sherri's hard work in decorating. She did a great job!

Here are Cady and the birthday girl:I also had to snap a picture of Mckynze's cake - it was beautiful!

Their family just went to Hawaii and swam with the dolphins in September, so a Hawaiian party was perfect!

It was then time to say goodbye and give our little girl a hug to last until the next morning. She was so excited, but Colin and I noticed that she did give us each two hugs before we left. ;-)

We then headed to El Paso for a special dinner at Pei Wei's, which Colton chose (that's my boy!) and a stop at Academy Sports and Ulta (Colin and Colton chose to hang out in Best Buy while I was shopping there). It was a nice evening with my two favorite guys!

We did think about Cady a lot, though and even texted Sherri to see how she was, and we were told everything was great. Her other good friend, Kaci, was also there as was Taylor, from her soccer team. Mckynze's big sister, Mckaela and some of her friends who Cady knew were there, too, so she was surrounded by familiar faces.

They ate dinner, swam, made cute dolphin necklaces and watched a movie. Of course, Mckynze opened her gifts and they ate cake, too.

Now, Cady is not a night owl, and I know kids tend to stay up late for sleepovers. We all wondered how late Cady would last and even guessed times. Colin guess 9:30, Colton guessed 10:15 and I said 10:30. Sherri told us she lasted 'til 10:45 and there was one other little girl who was out before her! We were impressed!

We picked her up at 10 Saturday morning and she was all smiles. In fact, she told me as we were leaving that she wishes sleepovers were for two nights!

We stayed in town for a few hours running errands and got home around 1 or so to eat lunch and relax a bit. Cady sat with Colin and within 20 minutes, she was sound asleep on his chest:

That is always the sign of a great sleepover! :-)

Thank you, Sherri, Michael and Mckynze!

Another Soccer Season Bites the Dust

Fall soccer is over. Always bittersweet for our family - we are excited to have more free time on the weekends, but miss the games, seeing the kids play and being with our soccer family, which is full of great people!

Cady moved up to U8 this year and got to play with Mckynze and had Michael as her coach. Another family friend, Greg Groves, was the assistant and Colin also helped out at games when either Greg or Michael couldn't be there. Here is the U8 Red Ranger team (these pics were taken at one of the first practices back in August for their player cards):Top row, left to right, is Cady, Kaci, Mckynze, Taylor and Cameron. Bottom row, left to right, is Nicholas, Brevin, Alyssa, Coach Greg and Coach Michael.

I love this picture of Cady with her close friend and teammate, Kaci:Here the team is warming up before a game:Besides being back with some of her older friends and having new kids on the team, U8 is also different because the games are longer, the fields and goals are bigger, and they can play a kid back to guard the goal. Use of hands is still not allowed, as they are not true goalies yet, but they can have someone stay near the goal to help defend it.

Cady came off a great U6 season where she scored a lot of goals, so we were a little concerned about her playing in a more competitive level. She did seem tiny out there, compared to some of the opponents, but she surprised us in being aggressive and going after the ball! Here she and Alyssa work together to get the ball down to their goal:She finished up the Fall season with 4 goals out of 10 games, which we were proud of. Her strength this season, however, appeared to be her ability to block the goal! I remember the very 1st game, when Michael put her in at the goal, she looked so small and unsure of herself and I was one nervous Mama!The other team was dribbling the ball down the field right at her, and she didn't wait for them to get to her, but charged them and kicked that ball away back down towards the Red Rangers goal:

After that, she looked forward to playing defender every game and only let one or two balls past her the entire season - even against the boys who were much bigger than her:We were very proud and appreciated Michael playing all the kids evenly at goalie. It helps them gain that confidence and brush up the defending skills for when they move up into U9.

Here are a few more pictures of Cady's awesome season:I had fun trying out some new soccer 'dos on her this year. Here is one of my faves:

In October, thanks to Ms. Alisa, the kids on all three teams each had one pink sock to wear during games for Breast Cancer Awareness Month:Here is the team picture for the Fall '11 U8 Red Rangers:Here are Cady's Fall soccer pics: (this was another of my favorite new soccer 'dos)

Colton played U10 this year, coached by Colin with assistance from Michael. They had the maximum number of kiddos - 12! It was a lot of fun, though. Here is their team, pictures taken at practice in August:

Top row, left to right, is Colin, Coach Michael, Arianna, Cameron, Colton, Jenna and Devin. Bottom row, left to right, is Ethan, Mckaela, Jagger, Taylor, Travis, Shelby and Tyler. It is a great group of kids and they are all pretty close!

Colin LOVES coaching this team and he does a great job. A lot of these kids have been playing together for a very long time and they are really starting to get it together with the passing and working together.

I love this picture of Colin and Colton playing before a practice one afternoon:

I love sideline shots like this:

Colton really amazes me at his ability to play soccer and it is one of my favorite things to do to sit and watch him! The funny thing is, soccer wasn't a sport any of us ever played in my house, and actually I grew up hearing jokes about soccer and such (especially when I dated a high school soccer player!) So, to have a child who seems to be a natural soccer player and who could actually continue playing through high school, seems funny, but I am very proud, too!

Colton is a hustler and can be from one side of the field to the next in what seems like seconds. He is good at moving the ball down the field and very good at jumping the pass when it is intended for the opposing team.

He also played goalie a couple of times, but doesn't like it and isn't as good at it as some of his teammates like Cameron and Ethan:

He is an aggressive player, though, not afraid to get in there and get that ball - even if it means getting penalties called, which he seems to do a lot (oops!).

He is good at passing, too, and most of the team is finally good at that! I love seeing them pass the ball - especially when one of them is able to score! Speaking of scores, Colton had 27 goals this year, in 10 games. That is his record and we are all proud of it. He has a strong leg and is able to get that foot under the ball perfectly for a beautiful, arched kick. He also had a problem kicking it straight to the goalie every once in a while, too! ;-)

The entire team plays well together and the coaches do a great job playing on each member's strong qualities. Can't wait to see what they do next Fall!

Here is the Fall 2011 U10 team photo:

Below are Colton's Fall 2011 soccer pics:

We wrapped up our phenomenal season with a soccer party for all three teams, at a local park, just a couple of weeks ago. The kids, as usual, had a great time playing together:

After pizza, it was time to hand out trophies. I helped pick them out this year and I do have to say, they are my favorite ever. :-) They included a picture frame and used the photos I took of each of the kids earlier in the year. Here is Cady with her two wonderful coaches, after receiving her trophy:

Colton with his awesome coaches and trophy:

It was another great season, for sure! They just keep getting better and better. No soccer for us for awhile, as we have decided to take the Spring off. Colin and I were torn with that decision, with the U10 team and how well they are finally playing together but the extra time in Spring will be nice. I know we will survive but we sure will miss it!