Friday I came to LeMars. Friday night we went to the LCHS Music Boosters Spaghetti supper then went to Sioux City afterwards to see the movie "21 Jumpstreet" at the Promenade. Saturday I joined Tyler for a workout at the YMCA, got him a haircut at Sie Bella, then went to Sioux City again to watch the Bandits play. They won 70-30. Today we went to the Y again and watched basketball. He is making some new friends at school and everyone thinks he looks like the white kid from "Black Express." LOL

Tyler and Kallie Croker
Tyler and Erin Scheulke
The group: Ryan Gutz,Blake Overmohle,Alex Hudspeth,Nic Seaman, Trey O'Brien, Pel Deng, Tyler Devos
Brynna Richter, Sarah Hixson, Kallie Croker, Megan Miller, Erin Scheulke
The Guys
Kallie's parents hosted the preparty to the winter formal Saturday night. The guys were all gathered around the tv watching the ISU vs Kentucky game. Halftime came and then the boys were ok with taking pictures. Being a mom of a son who is a "one and done" type in front of the camera I was amazed how many pictures I got to take of all the kids. The boys were real troopers. Us girls sure like to take alot of pictures!

Saturday morning Tyler was in a 3 on 3 tournament with Yach Deng, Chase Lange, and Tanner Hoops. They got third place but more importantly had fun with his SL friends.

This last week has been an emotional one to say the least. Wednesday Tyler started LeMars Community High School. He likes his classes, met some new friends, and is starting baseball practice with the team this week. He has joined the YMCA and is able to continue improving his basketball skills, lift weights, and spend time with Steve.
Thursday we buried my Grandma "C". It was a sad day to say goodbye to such a wonderful person who had a lot of impact in my life. Her wit, sense of humor, and love of her family was evident by all of us that gathered that day. It was nice to reminisce about the good 'ol days with family and friends. I'm so very blessed to have known both of my Grandmas in the capacity I did. They are very special ladies.

Tyler receiving his certificate of participation from JV Coach, Noah Wilson.

Coach, Bob Grant, handing out the awards and certificates to the Varsity squad. In addition to receiving his certificate of participation the team also received The Excellence in Academic Acheivement Award for having a team gpa of 3.0-3.24. This is always my favorite award.

Tyler made both of his free throws. He had the highest free throw percentage on the Varsity squad with 83%.
Tyler bringing the ball up the court.

The post season ended at Substate for the boys last night with a loss to undefeated MOC-FV. Tyler thought it was neat to play @ BVU for their final game.

You are looking at the 2012 Boys Basketball District 4 Champions. They beat Algona Monday night and Webster City last night. Each player received a medal. They did a great job playing as a team.

Friday night was the last game of the season. The team has shown so much improvement from the beginning to end. It has been fun to watch them play and grow as a team.

The boys had a rough go of it but they were able to show improvement from the last time they played the Bulldogs.

Catch up from Tuesdays game in Spencer JV lost by a 3 point buzzer beater 36-38. Varsity also lost. Fridays JV game was great as you can tell by the score below. Tyler played a solid game and had many assists to Yach. It's so fun to watch those two play. The above pic is of Tyler making it into the Varsity game in the first half. He played good defense and had 1 assist. He also played some in the second half.
Hollie and Chloe made the trip up to watch Tyler play. Grandma and Grandpa also stayed the night and spend the next morning with us. Grandma brought along her homebaked chocolate chip bread while Grandpa made us smoked bbq ribs and beans. Thank you all for coming to watch Tyler play and spend time with us. It means alot to me to have my family here for us.

Alex and Tyler-Our cousin, Alex, goes to college at Iowa Lakes in Emmetsburg. He spent the whole night with us watching Tyler play and visiting with the rest of us. Thank you, Alex:)

Tyler had a big game Friday night. He scored 15 points! Which is impressive but even more so since the starters racked up the score to be 20 points ahead and the bench got a lot of playing time. The Varsity game was also a great game with SL winning with a last second buzz beater to win.

Tyler getting in the Varsity game last night.

No pictures to show since I took my camera out and the battery was dead:( Tuesday night the boys traveled to Hull. Both the JV and V boys lost.

After the game we headed the other direction to Ankeny. For date night we went to Jordan Creek and ate at Charley's, a sub shop, that Tyler's friend recommended. It was good but we are still partial to JJ's. Tyler also needed some new tennis shoes...size 13!!! I couldn't believe it. I'm anticipating another growth spurt very soon. Chloe was such a good sport that she deserved a treat and picked out "Frosty." I really enjoy spending time with Tyler and Chloe. They are quite easy kids to handle at the mall. Now when the next baby Smith comes it might be a different story for date night...
Tyler with cousins Devin and Dillon LaBrune

Saturday morning Dillon had a basketball tournament in Cherokee. He is a 5th grader at Westwood school in Sloan so to be able to catch a game this close to Storm Lake was great.

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.