This weekend Rich and Andrea came to Storm Lake to camp for their 8th wedding anniversary. Grandma, Grandpa, Tyler, and I went to the campgrounds on Saturday to "hang out." We had such a great day talking, laughing, and of course eating. Tyler is doing alot of that in the above picture. He went to the Dr. on Friday. He is scheduled for a MRI and a talk with the orthopeadic surgeon this next week. He will most likely require arthroscopic surgery to his knee for a torn ligament and cartilage. We will know more later and keep everyone updated. Please keep Tyler in your prayers.

Scott and Tyler with their crutches. Justin feels left out. The boys came over tonight to cheer Tyler up and play Halo with him. That was better than any pain medicine I could give him.:)

Yesterday I got a call from Tyler at football practice saying he hurt his knee. I took him to ER where they took x-rays of his knee nothing was broken. Now the hard part. Wearing a knee immobilizer, using crutches, and waiting until Friday to find out if he torn his Lateral Meniscus. For those of you interested, before his knee went sideways he did in fact make the tackle and stop the run.

Today we headed to Sioux City to spend the day with our family. First off, we went to a Briar Cliff Chargers game where our cousin Jeremy plays a defensive lineman. Afterwards, we went to see Great Grandma and brought her her favorite treat, a DQ hot fudge sundae. She ate it all. Then, we went to Mass at St. Boniface with the Reinert's, Johnson's, and Schindler's. Lastly, we were invited over for a home cooked supper at the Johnson's. Tyler got to "play with the boys" while I visited. It was a great day. We loved spending it with our extended family.

Today was Tyler's first day of school and football practice. Practice for this week will be at 7:00am. Tyler, Cole, and Adam were pumped to get to practice. At school Tyler will be taking high school Algebra 1 which he has homework in tonight. He also will be taking Religion which he has already said will be his favorite class.

We had another fabulous weekend at the Kneifl hacienda in Ankeny. Friday evening Tyler played poker with the "big boys." He got to the final table once and was pretty excited. Saturday we went to Farmer's Market where I bought a fresh Strawberry Rhubarb pie. Tyler ate almost all of it. He let me eat one slice. In the afternoon we enjoyed a WII marathon. All of our shoulders were sore Sunday morning. Then Saturday evening we went to All Play for pizza and games. Tyler won 580 tickets. In the picture he's holding his winnings: 160 tops and 200 fake redneck teeth. Thank you Rich and Andrea for the great weekend. We always enjoy our stay with you.:)

Tyler and Chris had fun "scoopin' the loop" tonight in Tyler's new ride!

...and Tyler did. Today ended his camp session. It was the best day so far. The high school football coach, Coach McCabe, helped Tyler with reading the defense and passing. He threw a lot of sweet passes and is excited to start the 2009 football season.

Rich giving Tyler a ride in the Model T. Yes, I said it right, a ride. They got up to 20mph in 2nd gear. Both of them were all smiles.
Tyler and the Model T

#72 Benny Gordon
#62 Brendan Gaughan
Tyler and the Miller Lite girls.
Tyler with Miss Iowa Speedway.

Tyler with Austin Stewart. Tony Stewart's nephew. He races mini sprints all over the US.
Tyler in a simulator car. He raced on Bristol's dirt track. His best lap time was 13.811 sec. 4th fastest all day for the "young guns" division.
Our whole group at the speedway.
Friday afternoon we headed to Ankeny to spend the night with Rich and Andrea. Saturday morning we headed to the Iowa Speedway where the RV site was already set up for the tailgating festivities.

Even on vacation teenagers can't be without their "electronics."

We've had a great week sharing in Barb and Jerry's 50th wedding anniversary celebration. It's always fun when we get together with our family to swim, visit, and eat. Many laughs were shared and memories made these last few days. We treasure our time with all of you.

Tyler and Josh getting out of the water after going down the speed slides.

Tyler and Josh before getting into the lazy river.

After supper this evening, Tyler invited the "big boys" over for a night of X box.

To salvage what was left of a sunny and 85 degree weekend we loaded up the car and headed to Okoboji this morning. The boys (Tyler, Cole, and Chris) rode rides at Arnold's Park, raced go karts at the mini track, and played 27 holes of mini golf at Treasure Village.

Alexis and Wendy couldn't resist a picture with Tyler in front of the Princess Inflatable, after they jumped inside.



Tyler took 2nd place in the kids dance contest. You guessed it Rich, he did "The Worm" (forward). That is important to know since the kid taking 1st place did it backwards.

Tyler, Chloe, and Justin at the waterpark today.

Chloe trying to do one of her favorite things, drool and put anything she can reach in her mouth. This time its Tyler's sweatshirt and fingers.

Yesterday we picked up Hollie and Chloe from the airport in Omaha. We are so happy to have them here with us to visit. The only one not happy is Devo. He is not getting his usual 20 hours of napping in.

Last night was the end of the season tournament for baseball. Tyler's head was there but his heart wasn't. He wants to thank everyone for coming and watching him. Especially grandma, she helped with under eye and had near perfect attendance. She only missed one game. Thank you everyone for supporting Tyler. See ya all in September for football.

Thursday night was Tyler's last regular season game. Afterwards, the sponsor treated the team to ice cream cones. From the beginning of the year til the end Tyler has improved sooo much. From his accuracy in pitching to his throwing kids out in the catcher position he did a phenonemal job. I am so proud of him. This will be Tyler's last year in community ball. Next season he will play for the Panthers of St. Mary's. I can still remember his first T-ball game in his yellow shirt and velcro shoes...