The freshman boys had their first basketball game tonight. Tyler started in the point guard position. His stats were as follows: 12 points, 3 boards, 4 steals, and 5 assists. He went 4 for 6 from the line.

Wednesday Tyler got his school permit. He can now drive to school and school sponsored events from 5a to 10p. This mom is super excited!
Thursday morning we went to Ankeny to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Smith's. Hollie and Jason did a wonderful job of hosting everyone. At 12:01am Tyler and I went to Jordan Creek to hit up the Black Friday deals. We were 2 of 37,000 people at the mall that were crazy enough to stand in line for an hour just to get a bargain.
This morning Tyler had basketball practice and got to drive himself to and from. It was so neat to see him drive off by himself. He has become quite the young man.

It's been 4 years since Tyler brought home the black pheasant from his hunting trip with Rich and Grandpa. Since he's going on another trip with them after Christmas he thought he needed to do a little clay pigeon practice. Yesterday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for food, family, and a little target practice fun. It was a great day seeing everyone.
Our cousins, Lori and Josh, even tried their luck at shooting clay pigeons. It'd been almost 20 years since Lori was shooting and she went 3 for 3...not bad, huh boys?!
Trying to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time was a small feat in itself.
This is the best I could do:)

There's a lot of things I can help Tyler with. Shaving is not one of them. So, Tyler asked Steve to help him shave his 'stache for the first time. He did a good job. No nicks. This milestone made me feel old.

As soon as we arrived Christopher was waiting for Tyler to play football with him.
Christopher, Tyler, Chloe, and Scott before heading off to the game.

This morning we headed to Ames to watch the final Big 12 showdown between ISU and NE. Tyler brought his friend Scott along who was the only NE fan in the group. He was also the only one smiling at the end of a really good game. It was so fun to see everyone. Thanks to Rich for another great party and Andrea for her ticket.

Today I attended a Hospice and Palliative Care Association of Iowa conference at the Scheman building on the campus of Iowa State. The luncheon was an opportunity to recognize a volunteer that goes above and beyond in our hospice program. We chose Denise Huskamp. She is one of the 18 reasons I absolutely love my new position! While gone, Tyler had "el dia de los murtos" to prepare for in Spanish class. Steve and him did a fabulous job of getting everything taken care of and the celebration turned out exquisite. Tyler said by far their "ofrenda" was the best in presentation.....even though I wasn't around to help this morning there wasn't a doubt in my mind it would turn out anything less than fabulous.