Holidays are Upon Us
We'll start with the weekend prior to Thanksgiving
Gracie and I left for Florida on Friday, November 17 for the weekend. Yes, just the weekend. We were there for less than 72 hours. She had five games, a couple trips to the beach, and not time for much else. It was great though, and I'm so happy that we got to go. Meanwhile, Nick and Owen had a boys weekend. They attended the Mizzou football game against Florida and then the Mizzou wrestling match the following day against ASU, I think.
Nick and Owen having fun
Waiting in Belleville for our flight
I picked up Gracie from school a little before 11am to get over to Belleville, IL by 2pm for our flight that left at 3pm. But first we dropped off our car at the St. Louis airport and Nick drove us the rest of the way. It just worked out better to fly out of Belleville and back to St. Louis so Gracie didn't have to miss as much school. We were in St. Pete by 6pm that evening and went out to eat with Deb and Deanne. We didn't stay up too late, as Gracie needed to be at the field by 8am the next morning, which is about 45 minutes from Deb's house. Three games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday. I don't have a lot of pictures of softball, but they played well and only had one loss to a really good Top Gun team from Kansas City.
Gracie getting warmed up on the first day
More first day play
Day 2 after a triple I think.
She ended up playing pretty well over the weekend, hitting .500, no errors, and one passed ball. She played in every game; catching, shortstop, and third, which surprised me, since there were 15 girls there. It was fun and they got to play good teams. We saw some people from Missouri and Iowa that we know, and only see at softball tournaments. We had lunch with Brynn and her mom and it was great. Kind of ironic that we travel that far to have lunch together, when we never see them in Missouri.
I love watching Gracie play, but it's even better when it's warm and we're by the ocean.
We made it to the ocean on Saturday just before the sun set.
It was great.
Saturday after the games we went back to Deb's house so Gracie could clean up before we went to a party at one of Deb's friends house. It was pretty fun and glad we got to go. We didn't stay out late, as Gracie had more games in the morning. We ended up seeded #1 in our pool, so had the #1 seed of another pool, which happened to be the Top Gun 18u National Team. They were good. We were run-ruled, but got to play against some really good girls, most of whom are already committed to D1 schools (7 of 9 in their batting line up and both of their pitchers who threw against us). Gracie was the only one of our players who had a hit in that game. I really don't know how she hit the pitch that was thrown to her, either. The pitchers were REALLY good. We ended up finishing 3rd in the tournament by winning the next game, which was great!
Then... more fun in the sun!!! We went directly to the beach after her last game and then had dinner by the ocean. It was just about perfect!
I imagine the water was pretty chilly, but that did not stop Gracie.
Her face and arms are pretty dark, which is probably a combination of both dirt and sun.
Ahhh...
We got to see another beautiful sunset
Here it is.
here we are.
More beach beauty
Then the trip home...so early on Monday.
We left for the airport by 3:30am on Monday morning, I think. Our flight was at 5:30am??? and we had a connection in Atlanta. Gracie loved that she could watch movies on the Delta flight. Allegiant doesn't have those amenities. Back in Missouri, we arrived at the airport by 9:30am and I had Gracie back at school before noon so she could go to basketball practice that evening. What a crazy weekend, but we had so much fun! I took the rest of Monday off from work. :)
Next up....
Thanksgiving Turkey Trax!!!
River, Chad, Owen and I ran the 5k this year.
It was River's first!
Annie tagged along for fun; Nick and Gracie stayed back with Kaia.
Getting ready to race! Man, he has changed so much just since last year, let alone 2 years ago when we last ran this together.
Owen and I went for a 2 mile run a couple weeks prior to the 5k and HE was pushing me. I was struggling to keep up with his 7:45/mi pace on our gravel, but it was pretty good for me to do that. I really thought he was going to beat me this year. He is just so much better, taller, faster than he was 2 years ago when he ran it with Nick. He was ahead of me through the first 2 miles and was keeping up his sub 8min/mile pace, but just couldn't keep it going. I caught up to him and ran with him for maybe 1/4 mile then pulled ahead. I kept waiting for Owen to surge at the end, but it never happened. Annie was waiting about 200m from the end and she confirmed that she could not see him coming around the corner behind me yet. When he got done, he said, "mom, my butt cramped and I just couldn't go." LOL. I beat him, possibly for the last time. However, I am certain he could win in either 1 mile or 2 mile races. I fear for next year if he chooses to run this again with me.
Chad and River chugging away!
I think Chad is smiling. He must really love running.
So, I ended up winning my age bracket and another pie this year, in large part due to me being terrified that my son was going to beat me. I am also pretty sure that the race was .1 mile longer than it should have been, but whatever.
Here we are!!!
River, Owen, and me after the race.
I hope River liked it and wants to run again! I'm sure he will eventually be quite the runner!
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Celebrating Thanksgiving after!!!
It was great to host again this year!
Nick cuddling with Ruby after a long day.
Tree Time!
The Wearmouths and Blyths headed south to the Lake after lunch/late afternoon and were replaced by Josh, Julie and Co, who all stayed for the rest of the weekend. We filled Friday and Saturday with more Christmas and family things, including Christmas tree shopping, seeing the magic tree, a little gym time at the school, and finally an evening at the lake.
This little hut seems too small for Gracie
We visited Lloyd's again this year to purchase our Christmas tree.
Owen picking it out.
We got a big one.
Nick and Owen carrying it to the truck
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Our family tradition
Gracie and Owen
All who attended
Magic tree!!!
We actually went to see it lit for the first time this year! It is still pretty breathtaking.
I love seeing this every year.
Charleigh and Gracie in front of the tree.
Owen doesn't try to count the lights anymore.
Owen carrying Charleigh.
I hope they loved it as much as we do!
Family pic even though it is pretty dark
I questioned the 10' tree, but it looks so good this year.
I also think the bow on top adds a lot to it. :)
Feeling festive.
Gracie and Owen were not impressed with my consignment store purchases.
Back to Competitions
Starting with wrestling
The season has actually come and gone already. Middle school wrestling is a whirlwind of meets and then suddenly it is done. Owen competed in his last meet last night. I think Owen was 16-6, maybe, but I'm not sure. I know he only lost to two different kids, but he wrestled them each a few times. He finally beat the kid from Osage in the last meet, but still hasn't beat the Boonville wrestler. He has had a great middle school season, though and there is pretty good competition at his weight. I have a lot of pictures, but all of the season is wrapped up into this one blog post.
Sitting with his coach
Home meet
More wrestling at home
Same match
End with a win
Congrats from Coach
Warming up at Fulton
Checking in
Another win at Fulton
Quick conversation after the match
Hanging out with a CWC teammate - Bryce (Boonville) dominated his weight class.
He is about 30 pounds bigger than Owen right now. They are still just as squirrely as ever.
A little basketball
Getting ready for tipoff
Here we go...
Game against Eldon
Starting lineup
#35
So far, we are 1-4 this season, with many more opportunities to improve. It is going to take a lot of grit, perseverance, and resilience this season. We graduated 5 phenomenal seniors last year, who left huge shoes to fill. These girls will learn and grow this year, and they have so much potential. Gracie is doing her job, pulling down boards and contributing consistently each game. There is another game today and then a tournament in Rolla next week.
MORE wrestling to finish the season...
Another meet at home
Breaking it down
Back points
Checking with Coach to see what to do next. ;)
Next match at Moberly...same opponent from Boonville.
This one went into 2OT. He wrestled a great match; just came up a little short.
Talking it over after.
Next one was a win.
Fun times making Christmas treats!
OREO BALLS!
I actually went to a holiday party with friends!!!
Oh, what fun! I got to spend some time with other moms! It doesn't happen very often unless we are at a sporting event together.
Middle School Winter Wonderland Dance!
April provided the pre-dance party for this good looking group of young men.
The boys had a fun night, even though they said the dance was boring. Kegan and Walker came over after school, then Kegan stayed with us that night. They all had a great time at Talleys' house and I got to spend another evening with my friend while the kids were at the dance. Gracie ended up going to the boys' varsity game that night in California and Nick was officiating in Moberly, so it worked out well for me.
Moving on...Here are the kids' winter sport pics. They turned out so good this year!
Basketball
Class of 2026
Wrestling
Who is this kid???
What has happened since last year???
Love these two.
Like I mentioned, the school season has finished and without pause, Owen started with CWC last night. His first tournament will be Jan 7. He has big goals and will need to work pretty hard this year, again.
The end of the semester has come for both Mizzou and Southern Boone. Gracie accomplished her academic goals of getting straight A's and over 95% attendance. She was very motivated to not have to take final exams this semester! This is the first semester she has had all A's with no A-. 4.0 GPA this semester!!! I'm so proud of her!
Owen is still doing well and getting the highest marks possible for his classes. Pretty proud of both of them!
Getting ready to travel a lot in the next couple weeks for both holiday fun and more sports competitions. We head to Iowa tomorrow to see the Wearmouths. Gracie has a basketball tournament in Rolla next week, then we are back to Iowa for Nick's side of the family. We will be busy, but it will be nice to have a little time off from work.
Missouri sunrises are beautiful, too.
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