Saturday evening we celebrated Tyler's confirmation. Our neighbor and very good friend, Donna Holmes, is Tyler's sponsor. We had everyone over for supper beforehand. Then it was off to church. 75 kids were confirmed. What a big group! Thank you everyone for making it to this special day. We truly are blessed.
After mass we got a picture with the Bishop, Walter R. Nickless.
After Confirmation we came back to the house to celebrate Grandpa's 59th Birthday. He'd been making sure I had a home baked jello cake ready for him all week. I did and it was delicious!
Sunday Grandma went to Carroll with us to see Tyler play. He scored 10 points! They only had 5 kids show up so that meant no subs. They ran the floor for the full 50 minutes! They played Carroll and only lost by 5 points, 76-81. They did a great job!

Tyler driving to the bucket.

Last Sunday and today Tyler continues to play in the Top 64 fall basketball league in Carroll. They lost vs the green team last weekend and this weekend vs Keumper. Tyler continues to get a good cardio workout while working on his defense and offensive skills.

Saturday we celebrated Rich's birthday with him at the ISU vs Texas game. Tyler brought his friend, Trey. He had never been to a D1 football game before. I bought the boys tickets so they could watch the game. Fortunately, the company and food was extra good because the game was only good if you were a Longhorns fan. Thank you so much for hosting another wonderful party.
Sunday, I took Tyler to Carroll where he has joined a Top 64 Fall basketball league. It was very good experience for Tyler to be playing with bigger, stronger, and faster kids. He kept up very well, rebounded good, scrambled for balls, and made 3 of his 5 shots. Tyler is on the red team.

This past week was Homecoming. There was a lot of fun activities as we all remember. This picture is of Tyler from Thursday. The day was class color and sophomores were yellow. So, Tyler dug out his 6th grade tournament team basketball uniform and wore it to school. I seem to remember an Uncle of Tyler's that did something similar?! Must be a guy thing:)

We had another fun weekend in Ankeny with the Smith's. Each month we see Chloe she gets so big and continues to make us laugh. We are very fortunate to have them close so we can see each other more often. Tyler definitely enjoys talking sports with Jason and it was fun for me to have Hollie to go shopping with.

Labor Day trivia question: What do Uncle Rich and Tyler now have in common?
Answer: They both got tickets with grandpa. After the car show they were driving home and got pulled over for not displaying a front license plate. Fortunately, Tyler's was just a warning.
Today Grandpa and Grandma came to Storm Lake for the Kiwanis Labor Day car show. Tyler got to be the first driver of the car since Grandpa made it street legal. We didn't win any awards but it caught the eye of the local newspaper writer and lots of spectators. The kids got to sit in the drivers seat and parents took their pictures. "379" will be in many photo scrap books.

Aihlee, Tyler, Pel, Moses, and Moses relaxing on the couch making beats and lyrics for their next CD. They had an opportunity to perform at a showcase night at a bar in Sioux City but some of the kids were unable to go due to football on Friday night. So, whole group decided not to go.
The other half of the room complete with tv, table, and microphone. The room turned out quite well and the boys are really enjoying their new space to hang out.

To listen to songs by Black Express go to Youtube and type in: BeEasyMusicEnt.
They have 23 videos. The one named "the making of party" is filmed at our house.

Before the concert they were rehearsing in the back room in the basement. I've turned the room into a "Man Cave" for the kids to do their music in. It just needs a little more insulation;) It has been neat getting to know the boys and watching them grow from a lyric in a notebook to a song sung in front of a 100 kids. They are not shy and they definitely have a knack for performing.
"Black Express"
front row: Tyler(Flamez), Jaman(Mazar), Pel(P.Y.D)
back row: Yach, Trey(TO3), Moses(Mo), Faheem(Prodigy), Aihlee(Poppe), Tor(T.P.G), Paul(Yak)
Saturday night a dance was held at the Elks lodge. The kids know the guy that puts them on and they asked if they could perform some of their songs. They got a 45 minute time slot and sang 8 songs. They did such an fantastic job. Tyler is the technical producer for the group. They wrote their own music, recorded, and turned it into a CD. Some of their songs can be heard on Youtube. I warn everyone though some lyrics are not suitable for young ears.
Today was Tyler's first day of his Sophomore year of high school. It is also the first day of school that he got to drive himself. I love that he has his school permit. He is becoming such an independent young man.

Tyler and Steve celebrating his birthday. The jello cake I baked. It was delicious.

Tyler and Chloe taking a break from playing outside while tailgating.
Tyler and Rich with his 50/50 tickets at the race. Unfortunately, Rich wasn't the winner of the $32,000 purse.

Saturday morning we headed to Ankeny to hitch a ride with the Smith's to the Nationwide race. We saw an awesome finish which I have yet to see a replay. Afterwards, we spent the night in the RV. Sunday morning we headed back to Rich and Andrea's. Before heading home Rich treated us to Mexican. It is always so fun for Tyler and I to be with all of you. Thank you for a great time!

Part of the fun was decorating Steve's car for the ride down. These are the flags that Steve hand sewn and painted. Pretty sweet Tyler said.
At 6:30am we got to the school parking lot to wait for the bus. The kids were greeted with donations of donuts, Chocolate milk, gatorade and Subway subs for the ride down to Des Moines. The businesses have been so generous. Thank you.
The 2011 Storm Lake State bound baseball team.
Trey giving the bus a warm up rap.
Citizens Bank rented this charter bus for the kids to ride down in. Super comfortable Tyler said.
Tyler warming up the pitcher, Carsen Anderson. He said it was so cool to be on the field.
Rachel and I in our "flashdance" outfits. Only at State can you revert to your childhood and not feel old.
The Reserves for the Varsity baseball team.
After their heartbreaking 0-3 loss to Cedar Rapids Marion the team received their State participant trophy.
It's so neat to see Chloe running to Tyler after the game to give him a hug. They are so precious.
Thank you Steve, Grandma and Hollie for coming to the game and supporting the team.

It's been a great run for the boys. The underclassmen are already talking about making it back next year to Principal Park. Go Tornadoes!!!

Head Coach, Bill McCabe, introducing the team.
After the pep rally a picture on home plate.

It's been such a fun year to follow these young men on their journey to the state tournament. Tomorrow they play at Principal Park, where the I-Cubs play, in Des Moines at noon. They will face Cedar Rapids Marion in the quarter final game.

The team receiving their substate winner medals from Athletic Driector, Rick Anderson. We're going to State!!!!!

This weekend "the girls" headed to Minnesota to attend our cousin, Krista's baby shower. We also went to visit Gramma C. It was so nice to see her. Her stroke has left her having difficulty speaking. She did say "Fun...Good...Times." I know she remembers all our good times together when she smiled at me. Me too. I will never forget them either.
The team receiving their district winner medals from Athletic Director, Rick Anderson.
Tyler and Chloe with his District winner medal. It was so fun to have Gramma, Hollie, and Chloe here to see the game with us tonight.

One of Tyler's many "jobs" on Varsity is helping the starting pitcher warm up. Here he is with Nic Seaman.

Today was the last game of the Varsity regular season. The team went 23-8. Friday starts District play.

Tyler crossing home plate to score the first run of the game.
Tyler got his third "W" of the season pitching the first 4 innings of the game. Blake came in the 5th inning to pitch and get the save. Tyler went 0 for 1 (HBP, 2 walks). This ends the season for the JV team. Varsity continues on their season and Tyler will continue to suit up and keep the stats.

Chloe had just gotten up before we arrived and was still a little tired. She wanted to snuggle with her cousin Tyler before the big parade.
What a wonderful 4th of July weekend with our family and friends! Sunday we had everyone over for a backyard picnic, trampoline fun, and roasting marshmallows for s'mores. Then off to King's Pointe to watch the fireworks. Monday we watched the parade, swam at waterpark, and of course ate more delicious food.
Tuesday Tyler had 2 games. First he played in the Freshman game at 1p. They lost 12-4 to LeMars. When that game was over he hopped on the bus to play a JV game in Spirit Lake. They won that game 13-2.
Grandma has been staying with us while Grandpa is on the road trucking. Even though she has 4 broken bones in her foot and is on crutches it is so wonderful to have her with us. The silver lining to the whole ordeal is we get to spend extra time with her and she gets to see all Tyler's ballgames.

Tyler's batting at Hull was 0 for 3 (fielder's choice.) Tyler played short stop. He had lots of good plays for outs but the best play was a catch from Jack(catcher) to get the kid out stealing second. Thank you Grandpa for Driving Miss Daisy (aka grandma) to the game.

Wednesday night the team played in Cherokee. Storm Lake lost 3-4. Tyler only played short stop for one inning. He arm was still a little sore from throwing 137 pitches for the win against Pocahontas the other night.

Tyler pitched all 7 innings of the JV game. He had 7 strikeouts to help lead the team to a victory. Tyler's batting was 1 for 3 (fielder's choice, double.) The game tonight was his second full game victory for the JV season.
In the Varsity game Tyler made his debut as a courteousy runner for his good friend, Trey, who pitched a no hitter tonight.
Tyler crossing home plate and scoring a run for the Varsity who won 15-0 in the 4th inning. Tyler is officially on quik stats for 1 game played and 1 run. The website is: www.quikstatsiowa.com
To cap off the night Grandma treated us to our new favorite treat, a F'real, at One Stop Shop. Thank you Grandma for celebrating Tyler's success with us. His smile says it all.

Last night the 3 freshman at the bottom of the lineup (7,8,9) came through to score the first points for the jv team. Tyler got on base by walk, Chase hit a single to advance Tyler and Mitchell drove him in with a hit. Tyler's batting was 0 for 1 (strikeout, walk.) He played shortstop the whole game.

Tyler scoring the first teams run on an overthrow.

Tyler was 1 for 2 (double,walk) batting last night. He started out as pitcher and had a rough go of it. He walked 10 batters and struck out 1 in 2 1/3 innings. At shortstop he had 3 good plays for outs.

With grandma and grandpa on vacation in the Dells and Steve in Pennsylvania on a business trip I headed to Emmetsburg with only myself and Tyler's baseball shoe. He had only packed one along with his black running shoe. Tyler went 0-2(walk) batting. He played shortstop and had 2 really good plays. One was a catch from Blake at catcher and got the runner out attempting to steal second. The other was a sharp throw to Jay at first. the Varsity kids were sitting in the stands and called out "Jeter" when he made the throw. Sounded like a compliment to me;)

Tyler crossing home plate.
Since the JV schedule was "light" this week (he only had 2 games) Tyler was asked by his friends on the freshman team to come pitch for them. He pitched the whole first game of 5 innings. He went 2 for 3 on batting.
Since it's been a while since Tyler has caught I thought I'd take a pic of him. During the second game of the doubleheader he caught for 2 innings. They won that game 10-6.

I also want to say Happy 39th wedding Anniversarey to my parents. They came up to Storm Lake and took me out for lunch and came to watch Tyler play his ballgames. They are such great parents and grandparents to share their special day with us.

Tyler keeps the stats for the Varsity team. Here he is with the ump making sure the books are correct.

Tyler played short stop in the JV game. He had 3 good plays for outs in the game. In batting he went 1 for 4.

On another note, this morning the baseball and softball teams helped Jim and Salli Nichols try to clean what was left of their house after an arson fire a few weeks ago. They lost everything. I was so touched as I dropped Tyler off this am to see a yard full of kids willing to help out their teachers. They learned a real lesson in the differrence between the value of helping your fellow mankind and the value of possessions...possessions can be replaced...friends and family are priceless.

Tyler was the starting pitcher for todays game. Through 6 1/3 innings the score was tied 1-1. Then came a few walks and errors. Blake came in to relieve. The team didn't have their bats going tonight. Tyler was 0-2. Tyler definitely had his best night of pitching so far.

Tyler started at the short stop position and had some great plays on defense. Tyler's offense was the name of the game last night though. He went 2 for 2 (single, double) and a walk. He says that he's focusing more and keeping his head down. Coach Kevin Cone has been a big help with helping Tyler improve his batting.

Tyler on first after his base hit.

Tyler gets his first "W" for the team as the starting pitcher. He pitched all 4 innings. He also helped the cause by having a sweet hit (single) and making it home by stealing the bases. He allowed 4 hits, gave up 4 walks, and hit no batters. He pitched a very solid game. It was so great to see the team come together tonight on offense and defense. Thank you to Grandma for making the 2 hour drive to support Tyler. You are the best!

The Varstity team lined up for the National Anthem.

Tyler started at short stop in the JV game. He had a couple of good plays for outs. I'm so proud of his hard work, practice, and dedication to the team.

Tyler started pitching 2/3 of the way into the first inning. He pitched a great second inning. His speeds have been right around 75mph with his fastball. In the third he had his first hit of the year. It was a sweet hit on the ground between the third basemen and shortstop. He was stealing second and as he was sliding into second base he got nailed by the ball...you know where. Long story short, with Tyler's history of torsions we made a quick trip to the Spencer ER. He was fine and returned in time to keep stats for the Varsity game. The lessoned learned from the night??? He'll be wearing his cup from now on;)

I missed Tyler's game:( Luckily Tyler still had Grandma and Steve in the stands to cheer him on. (silently of course.) He had a great throw to home plate to get the out. He was 0-2 with a walk on batting.