Halloween and In Between
I do not even know where to begin. The past month has not slowed down, despite a little down time between fall and winter sports. Softball ended and basketball began. Football ended and wrestling began; Owen has already had 4 meets and Gracie has had 4 JV games; 2 varsity games.
Rewind a little bit and go back to the end of softball. I think I mentioned all of the awards that she got as a freshman in the previous post. Now add 2nd team all-state catcher to that list. Her goal was first team, but holy smokes, 2nd team all-state for our class is a huge honor and quite an achievement; nothing to be disappointed with. She asked for a letter jacket for Christmas. :)
I also want to mention that there are 3 other girls on this list who will be playing on Gracie's Aces team this spring. I am so excited to watch these girls play together during the upcoming competitive season.
Moving on...
Halloween! The Bentlage families got together for a pumpkin carving night. What a fun evening! I wasn't sure if Gracie and Owen would want to go out Halloween night this year - they're getting a little old, but they both figured out costumes and earned some candy.
Gracie, Hudson, and Pryce competing
As always, Gracie and Holland are the only girls.
Gracie😝
Owen, Kellen, and Rowan carving their pumpkins
Nick helping Gracie get the knife through. Hers was a little moldy on the inside.
Owen is doing great on his own, open mouth and all.
I think there were a few more added after this.
What a crew! I think Tye was the only "kid" who did not partake.
All lit up
Perfect costume! I think he just wore black with a mask.
Nova and Gracie were conjoined twins.
I didn't get to walk around with them this year; I had study hall duties and thought it would be better to miss Halloween than miss their competitions this fall. Luckily they are both old enough now that they don't really need us anymore for trick or treating.
WOW... They did a good job.
Nick's mom joined us for a weekend and Josh and Julie also drove down to visit. We had a great weekend and did some fun things with the family! Nick's mom got to see Owen wrestle for the first time, although it was the longest meet ever. We went to Level Up the next day, since the weather did not cooperate while they were here. Bowling and video games. Josh and Julie left Sunday morning and we didn't have a very full day for the rest of the afternoon. Owen had a nice long piano lesson with Grandma Deb and Gracie had to go to open gym for basketball.
Charleigh, Sawyer and Gracie
Gracie and Charleigh driving
Owen tolerating Charleigh.
Gracie and Owen both did so great with the little cousins!
Owen's wrestling season has begun! Deb drove to Eldon with me and my parents met us there to watch Owen in his first JH wrestling meet. He won one and lost one that evening, but we sat there for almost 4 hours. It was so long.
Getting a little encouragement from his coach after his match.
Gracie came to watch Owen!
USA Softball Tryouts in Texas
The weekend before this, Gracie and Nick headed south for the much anticipated tryouts for the 14U USA softball team. She was so excited and happy to get to go.
Nick and Gracie waiting to board the plane out of Columbia.
Yes, we splurged on tickets so she didn't have to miss as much school and basketball.
She is so excited to get her USA uniform!
Owen and I facetimed as much as we could.
Gracie got a fanny pack that Nick thought suited him well.
Here is my post from IG when I saw this picture of Gracie.
I just get goosebumps and can't believe how high her goals are.
IG: Is this really my girl? @britton_gracie31 I am already so proud of you. You are the epitome of "going for it." Something I learned from @scottamorton. You are so excited to challenge yourself and put yourself out there. When I talked with you before you left you said you couldn't wait to meet new people and try something different. You have already achieved success just by getting on that damn plane to go try out in Texas. That Woman in the Arena is daring greatly. I wanna be like you when I grow up, Gracie. Wish I could be there with you. Love seeing you in red, white, and blue. Good luck this weekend!
Gracie met Cat Osterman, who is an Olympic pitcher and played college ball at Texas.
Gracie with some of the coaches for her Stars team
Gracie with her teammates.
She knew zero girls here.
Another photo op.
Smiles on the way home.
More fun to pass the time.
The rest of the tryout was live games. They had to move all of the games to Saturday and Sunday due to weather and Gracie's team only played in 3 games. They had a lineup of who was playing which position during which inning and it changed every inning. Most games, Gracie got to catch 2 innings, play SS two innings, and play outfield. All of the games were streamed, so we got to watch at home. It was tough though, not knowing any of the girls who were playing.
From what I put together, after talking to both Gracie and Nick, the weekend was full of a lot of challenges, a lot of down time, and really good softball players. It was one of those things that you just get that one chance to show what you've got. There were a lot of girls who were just like Gracie, which I think was great for her to see and experience. I hope it was a great experience for both of them, but I was sure glad when they both came home. It's hard feeling so helpless in a different state.
We still have not heard the outcome of the tryout, but we have had a couple of emails that indicate they will let the girls know soon if they made it.
And we carry on with everything else. Back to school, back to the grind. More practices, more games, more of the best yet to come.
Every morning is an opportunity to start new and do something great.
Love the sunrises we get to see.
Chance...Take it.
Dream...Chase it.
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