District Champs Again!!

Once again Benson's football team went undeafeted this year and have been crowned District Champs!! It has been so fun to watch him play (#65 left side front row) and see them all improve. They were good last year, but they improved so much. My prediction is that in about three years when these guys are juniors in High School we will be traveling to state tournaments. Way to go Jags!!

Halloween

Xander's favorite holiday is Halloween. Infact he loves it so much he couldn't decide what to be. For the church party he was Harry Potter, for the library party he was a witch and for the actual Trick-or-Treating he was Obi won Kinobe (not sure if I spelled that correctly) with his cousin Phoenix as Superman. Madison chose to go as a black cat. Natalie was Tracey from the movie Hairspray. Benson dressed as Roger Clemens as an Houston Astro. Way too much candy came home! But fun was had by all!

My Little Ladies

So this year Natalie and Madi have been playing Volley Ball. This is actually Natalie's 2nd time and Madi's First. They are both doing great. They both have fantastic coaches and are both making great friends on their respective teams.

Here she is in back row... waiting for the ball to get there.

Taking her turn sitting on the bench. The league every one plays the same amount.

Madi and a friend after the game eating a treat. She has gotten very good also. It is amazing to me how fast all these kids learn so fast and improve weekly. (sorry there aren't more Madi photos, its a little dark in the gym and its hard to get a good shot...

I know that this was supposed to be about the girls but one of the parents from Benson's football team posts highlights here these are great, follow the video link at the top of the page. Enjoy, its from the whole year and the last game of the season last year. B is number 65, watch for him.

http://theosports.com/

Texas State Fair

Last week end Chrissta and I needed a break. We have both been very busy with all the various activities we are involved with. (To be honest, I just work, Chrissta has a lot more to do than I.) May I just say that I am so proud of her and all that she is active with. Most days she is out the door to the gym or to a run by 5:30 AM then home by 7:00 to make sure everyone is dressed, eating breakfast, has a lunch, all the school stuff is ready then drives them to school.

Then she usually has some PTA, Camp or some other committee she is serving on or other folks in the community and the church she is serving, meeting emails to read, send and respond to. (Not to mention all the folks she corresponds with and all the forwards she needs to manage.) Then there is Xander duty. He is not into getting into stuff but he is very creative and like to do art projects and go on adventures. It keep Chrissta busy with all his stuff, besides all the errands she has to keep the family going. Did I mentions every couple of weeks she teaches the co-op preschool Xander is a part of?

Then there is what I call the bewitching hours - the time between the kids getting home from school, and dinner. There is 4th, 6th and 8th grade homework, and getting dinner ready and preparing for all the activities we have during the week. Football games, volley ball practices, activity days, mutual, ladies nights, and whatever else there is.

She does this with out complaint or pay or much help from me. I am at work and I work too late and do have some travel. I love this girl... What an ultimate example to our kids. I am often "Oh you must be Chrissta's Husband" and I am fine with that...

Any way back to the original reason for my post... We decided that we would go to Fort Worth on Thursday afternoon, the Utes were playing TCU and it was the final week of the Texas state fair. So off we went to re-live some of the things we enjoyed when we were a few years younger and things were a little less complicated. (We left the kids with friends and family - thanks to all who helped out!)

The weekend started out great, the Utes won.. we loved sitting with our fellow red clad brothers and sisters cheering on our beloved Utes. We got a room in Fort Worth thanks to a friend in the hotel business. The next day we got up and went to the Texas State Fair in Dallas. I think it was more for me than for Chrissta. I wanted to go and see all the cool stuff and try some of world famous corn dogs and other fried delicious foods. We had original Fletchers Corny Dogs, fried cookie dough, fried pickles, and onion slices. Not to mention swollen fingers and the need for lots of water. What a great time. Not so much the fair, we decided that fairs haven't changed that much since 1982... People selling the same stuff, the same things on the midway. Only prices changed - 14.00 to get in 4.00 per Corny dog well you get it... We did get some photos of Big Tex and one of the many Fletchers....

We did have fun together and that is what counts. The time we spent together taking time for ourselves as a couple was great, and refreshing. Again. I LOVE THIS GIRL!

Xander, Mia, Madi and a Birthday

Yesterday was our brother-in-law Reagan's birthday. This, of course called for dinner at Rudy's!
Here are some photos of Xander and his cousin Mia. They are such good buddies! They love to play together ang get along famously!

You may also notice Madi's lovely and grown up hair cut. Her friend's mom did an amazing job. It is as cute as can be and she loves it!

Sports are back

Many readers of this blog may know that I love me some fall sports. Lets be honest its really the only time the MLB is any fun to watch or really means anything. Especially when the Yankees are in the hunt. (Sorry to all you Mariner fans, looks like another year of not making the playoffs.) Pro-baseball has way too long of a season and its really only a filler between the NBA finals and the beginning of the sport of kings - College Football. It got so bad this summer I actually found myself watching soccer and enjoying it. I am all for little league and such but come on MLB is way too long and there are too many roid users.

Enough about that. Today Benson (65) had his first football game of the season. He is the starting right guard (offence) for the 8th grade A team. I never knew how fun it was to watch linemen play. That is where the game is won. He must have done a great job, as we won 30 - 0. He played in the first half, then they took the starters out and he mostly watched the rest of the game. Here are a few pics:

They warmed up on a very soggy track, so their behinds are a bit red. The game was at Round Rock High School Stadium. Yes that's turf, they don't mess around here...

After the game muggin for the camera.

Right after we moved here Benson decided to play soccer, this is a friend that was on a couple of his soccer teams when they were in first and second grade. Now they are in Jr. High together and are on the same team again.

Obviously the Ceder Vally Jags are my favorite team, but right behind the Utes (nice job this weekend against UCLA) and anyone who plays against BYU are the Texas Longhorns my adopted team of choice. Here are a few pictures from the UT v. TCU game. A friend is a season ticket holder and invited me along. His seats are 3 rows from the top, and there were about 84000 people there very impressive. They also have the largest High Def Screen in the NCAA.

High School Football in Texas

We are gearing up for Benson's first football game this week. And so to get in the spirit of it all we attended the first home game for the high school he will attend and play football and baseball for. High School football in Texas is something else. We sit in this stadium that is amazing!! And we watch these kids that are athletic beyond reason. Friday night's game was so exciting! My heart was pounding, I was shaking, my hands were all clammy and my son wasn't even on the field. At half time our team was down 7 to 17. And with 12.7 seconds left in the game we were ahead 34 to 30. It was amazing! The final play of the game by our opposition almost did us in if it weren't for the star of the team bringing down the ball carrier. It was so fun! Can't wait until Tuesday night when I can watch my boy play.