Club Volleyball 2019-20

Allie loves volleyball.  She endures the activity with passion that I can't explain in words.  The entire time she is on the court, there is a smile on her face.  So when club volleyball tryouts came, we had to go for it.  There were 2 teams she seemed interested in, Club South Volleyball and Rivals Volleyball.  She was a part of the Club South Volleyball Juniors last year, but this year she would be trying out for their club league.  I'll be honest, I NEVER fit in with the parents of this club.  But I went and watched my daughter enjoy the time.  So I was interested in the other team, even though they had practices 20 minutes away.

Her first tryouts were 8-10 for Club South.  There were over 25 girls trying out for the 8-10 spots.  She had fun, but she wasn't sure about the coach.

Her next tryout was 11-1 for Rivals.  There were about 20 girls trying out for maybe 2 teams.  She had fun, AND liked the coaches.

I know she was tired and hungry by the time the second one started, but she gave it her ALL!  Before the tryout was over the coaches walked around pulling each girl out of the scrimmage game (one on one) to talk about what they thought.  I quietly sat there watching them pull most of the girls for this chat.  I said a prayer and next thing I knew, they were talking to Allie.

She came running over to me with a HUGE smile and a piece of paper.  They wanted her to be a part of the 14U teams.  I couldn't be more proud of her.  We signed and returned the paper right then.  The best part is this league is more my speed and costs less than the other teams.  Bring on the Club Volleyball Season 2019-20!!!

Morton's Halloween Party 2019

This is definitely become our new tradition.  We all dressed up in costumes and attended the Morton's party again this year.  We had Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction), Woodland Witch, Bob Ross and his "happy little tree".  There has already been discussion as to what we will be wearing next year.  Good Times!

New Fence

This is a perfect picture of our backyard.  The leaves have started to fall (even after the snow day), the sky is blue, sun is shinning and our new fence is DONE!!!

It was a challenge with the two dogs and not being able to just let them out back.  We had to train them to walk out with us and do their business, then walk right back inside.  Thankfully, we were only without a fence for less than 2 weeks.

It looks AMAZING!!!  And this property is slowly becoming more and more like us.

Standing Lunch Date...with my mom

My mom lives in Spokane.  It has been over 20 years since she and I have lived in the same town.  So the picture above not only documents one VERY GOOD sandwich, but the first (of many) Tuesday lunches with my mom.  I tend to be rather busy with my own activities, not counting kids stuff.  But Tuesday's at noon seem to always be open.  So I filled it with a standing lunch date with my mom.  We will explore places I've tried and places I haven't.  Not only was my stomach full after this meal, but my heart as well.

NO MORE HOT TUB!

These are the before and after pics of a project that I decided to pull the trigger on. I discovered that maintaining a hot tub isn't something I'm cut out for. Especially for the little amount we used it. So after asking all the family members, I called someone to come and take it away. Our plan is to turn it into a nice seating area with fire pit maybe next year. In the mean time, we are getting a new privacy fence that will help the yard look nice. I will keep you all updated on the project.

Family Photos 2019

One thing I do miss from Kansas, was our family photographer.  He took our family pics every year. Last year we didn't get around to having them taken due to moving. But this year I asked a mom of Allie's classmates if she would. They came out GREAT! We chose to have them taken at Manito Park, since that is one of the key places we love. We thought by wearing all black the colors from all the flowers and greenery would stand out.  Little did we know it would snow the next day, so the foliage didn't exactly cooperate with us. But we love the pics anyway!

SNOW DAY...In October?!?!

This was the view at 6 am on October 9, 2019.  We had heard there was a chance of snow, but assumed it wouldn't stick...or cause so many issues.  As the sun began to rise, we saw what happens when heavy snow falls onto trees that have not lost their leaves yet!  Lots of branches had fallen and we even lost a tree. Then the notifications came that school was canceled due to power lines down and lots of people without power. Thankfully, we didn't lose our power once. But we did have some cleaning up to do over the next few days.

Another blessing was how quickly the city responded to help. By lunch time they had come down our street and collected not only the fallen branches, but removed our split tree. My mom didn't have any power, so the kids and I took her to lunch and shopping.  This "snow day" was definitely a memorable day!