Who remembers where that Christmas tree was?

Wednesday afternoon Mom and I headed to Minnesota to stay with Sherry and Merlin. Thursday morning we drove to Clarkfield to visit Gramma "C" at the nursing home. I brought along my stack of baby books. We had a wonderful morning reminiscing through old photos. She has a delay in getting her words out but her speech was much improved from the last time I had seen her. I thanked her for giving Tyler and I wonderful childhood memories. I hope I can take care of mom and dad as well as they have taken care of their parents.

Tyler and Chloe playing Candyland

We had a wonderful holiday season. It has been so great to see all our family and friends. We truly are blessed to have all of you in our lives. Thank you for a memorable Christmas season.

Tyler had 8 points. He is improving on driving to the basket and it is so fun to watch him develop as a player. With all the craziness of the holiday Grandma is continuing to keep us well fed with homemade chicken n noodles and Christmas goodies. It was also fun to have my friend, Sherry, who is a teacher at East come to the game. She brought me supper and more goodies. Thank you to you both.

Tyler saw quite a bit of action in the 2nd quarter of the varsity game Friday night. Trey had a hard fall, bruised his tail bone and wouldn't return until the 3rd quarter. Coach called on Tyler to shoot Trey's free throws and said, "I need you to make these 2 free throws." That's just what Tyler did. Coach also drew up a play for Tyler to shoot a 3. He missed it but fortunately, Pel got the rebound and scored the bucket. He also guarded the leading scorer for the E'Hawks and can proudly say that he didn't score when Tyler was on him. After the game Tyler shook Coaches hand and thanked him for putting him in the game. Tyler is a pretty easy kid to coach. Don't yell at him, allow him to trust you, and he will give you a 100% every time. So far, the relationship is blossoming beautifully and it's so exciting to see from the bleachers. We also are continuing to receive wonderful home baked goodies from Grandma. This time she made banana chocolate chip bread which he downed right when we got home. Thank you :)

Tyler was the leading scorer for the JV game. He had 14 points. 6 points were beyond the arch.
As Coach Harnden used to say, "The starters did their job so the kids on the bench could get some playing time." Tyler got in the last minute of the game. He got fouled and made his first free throw. Thank you Grandma for the soup. It was a nice warm meal after a night of basketball.

This is the posters that are hung in businesses and schools (and Grandpa's office) of the Varsity Boys basketball team.
Last night in Estherville the JV won their game! The starters did a good job executing the plays to get a lot of easy buckets in the paint. Tyler had 1 point which came from a crucial free throw at the end of the game. Also, I didn't keep track but he probably had 10 assists. He found the open man down low and Chase, Yach, or Grant scored.
Thank you grandma for the home baked cookies and the wonderful dinner out before the concert. It's such a treat for both of us. Thank you Steve for saving our seats so we are able to enjoy the concert from the front row.
Monday night Tyler had his Holiday concert. The kids did a great job! I love listening and watching the kids perform.

Friday night we traveled to Spirit Lake to watch the boys play ball. Tyler was the JV teams leading scorer with 8 points. He also saw some Varsity action and had a steal. He made sure that Mitchell, who was keeping track of stats, had it marked in the books;)

Tyler saw his first Varsity experience Tuesday night in an awesome game vs #2 ranked in class 2A vs Hull Western Christian. He came in twice for his teammate and friend, Trey. He did just what he was supposed to do and that was to play good defense. Which in turn made the opponent turnover the ball and let us score a bucket. Wednesday before practice, Coach Grant chatted with Tyler and told him he really liked the way he played on the court. Tyler was happy with the talk and will continue to work hard. Even though at the end of the night the boys were on the losing end of the game, 89-95, it brought a lot of confidence to the boys that they can play with some of the best teams.