Dyer flag football

Dyer's team ended up 3rd this year.  Again there were about 2 teams that were stacked so if you take them out of the equation Dyer's team did really well.  Dyer played defense most of the time.  I think he ended up pulling a flag every other game.  We definitely need to work on catching the ball but he didn't get much offensive playing time so I don't think he was super motivated to catch the ball.

He got a flag!!!

Another one!

Yay Dyer!

Flag!

Dyer had a lot of fun and I think he wants to play next year.  Hopefully where ever we move to has a flag football league.

Blair soccer

Blair's team did really well this year.  They won almost every game of the season.  I think they tied one game in regular season and lost one game in tournament.  That game was a heart breaker for sure!  It just wasn't their day.  The other team played really well but they definitely had a lot of luck on their side-that or we had a lot of bad luck on our side.  They ended up 3rd in tournament since that game knocked them out of the finals.  Honestly I think that game should have been the finals because that team was the only team in the league that actually gave us a challenge!

Even though Blair had a winning season I think she personally had a rough year.  She had a lot of really good players (that were also really good friends) on her team and because of this they didn't pass her the ball very much.  It was sad to see that she was wide open and girls on her team would purposely go out of their way to not pass to her so they could pass to their friends.

Assist for Blair!

Blair mainly played defense this year but every once in a while she would move up to midfield.  

Blair played goalie for one game and she did awesome!  At first I couldn't find her anywhere.  I noticed that she wasn't on the bench but I didn't see her on the field either.  Eventually I saw that Blair was in the goal!  Even though she ended up doing awesome I really don't like my kids playing goalie.  It makes me a nervous wreck and it's hard to enjoy the game.

I think Blair had 5 saves and no goals were scored against her!

Blair ended up scoring one goal this year and of course it was the one game I couldn't be there for.  They rescheduled the last two tournament games due to weather and it just so happened that her very last game was on the same day/time as Blakely's preschool thanksgiving dinner/program.  I still owe her ice cream for her goal!

Easton flag football

Easton's team ended up placing 4th.  It was a little rough in the beginning of the year for both Easton and Dyer's teams.  In flag football (at least this league) you can stack your team!  So anyone that played last year and was good were basically put all on the same team.  Seems a little unfair if you ask me but whatever!  There were at least two full teams that played last year so they really had the advantage at least in the beginning of the year.  Easton had a really nice coach (ended up he was the husband of Dyer's 1st grade teacher-small world).  First off he didn't even have a son on the team (maybe that's why I liked him because he didn't have any "favorites") and he played everyone equally.  

Easton played center most of the time so he was in for almost every offensive play.

Bummer!  He should have caught it!  Easton didn't get passed to very often.  If he was lucky he got passed to once a game.

He did end up catching one pass but of course I didn't get it on film.  It happened to be two days before hurricane Michael hit so I had a bunch of people calling and checking in with me.  I saw it and you would have thought Easton scored the winning touch down with how excited I was that he caught it!

Pulled a flag!

Easton also pulled the flag here I just turned my camera off too soon since it was an interception.

Easton got hurt on one of the first plays of his last game.  He sat out for almost the whole first half.

Deployment update

I got a Christmas card in the mail from my Aunt Connie asking me to update my blog and give an update on Nathan's deployment.  I guess she didn't appreciate the cliff hanger from over a month ago....Sorry!

Nathan finally arrived in Qatar about 4 days after he left Florida.  It was a long stressful journey and Nathan was really tired by the time he got there.  Our anniversary was the day after he left which was a bummer!  It was hard not having much information or contact during those 4 days. 

We are so blessed that we get to video chat almost daily!  It has made it easier on everyone that we get to not only talk to him but we also get to see him.  I think it is especially helpful for McKinley.

Not the best pictures but this is our life right now!

When Nathan first got there it was sooooooooo HOT!  He has to walk/ride his bike everywhere so by the time he gets from one building to the other he is drenched in sweat!  He was pretty excited a couple months after he got there when there wasn't a heat advisory before 9:00 am. 

Nathan doesn't have a whole lot of work to do there so he has to keep himself busy in other ways!  He's taking some continuing education classes while he is there.  He's also learning Spanish.  He bought a ukulele and is teaching himself to play.  He is also working out about twice a day.  Every once in a while he gets to play video games with a co worker.

Nathan's gotten off base a couple times to go out to eat but he doesn't get to go very often.  He's gotten food poisoning a couple times since he has been there!  Not fun!  Most of his entertainment is going to the movies for $3 on base!  They are new releases at that price!

Some buildings downtown when he finally got to go off base.

Thanksgiving at the cafeteria.  

Nathan goes to church on base.  They have two branches.  One meets in the morning for just Sacrament and the other meets in the afternoon for all 3 hours. 

It rained there on and off for about a week which is really unusual.  I think Nathan said they got more rain in that week than the average rainfall for the year!  

Nathan found these desert flowers!

Nathan has participated in two 5ks since he has been there.  I think he is only in it for the shirts!

 Nathan has been spoiled with packages recently!  I'm so thankful that many have been making this holiday season extra special for him.  I know he really appreciates it!

We are officially more than halfway done with this deployment!  YAY!!!  We can't wait until spring when he gets to come home!  We miss him so much!

First Day of School- Aug. 13th

Not only was it the first day of school for the kids, but Nathan's mom left early that morning and then Nathan left for his deployment that afternoon.  Yeah, I felt like everyone ditched me!  It was nice though that Nathan was able to see the kids off for their first day of school. 

Easton-6th grade (middle school) at STEMM

He has to wear a uniform

Blair-4th grade 

Dyer-2nd grade

group pic

This wasn't Blakely's first day of school but she still wanted her picture taken!

Blakely-preschool

She has to wear a uniform too!

McKinley home all alone!

3rd day of school!

In all honesty though I think this was probably the best day that Nathan could have left.  Don't get me wrong I would have preferred that he didn't go but because he HAD to, I was glad that it happened the way it did.  The kids were distracted/excited that school was starting back up and since it was the first day of school/first week of sports, a whole new schedule was already starting for everyone.  Yes, I had to figure everything out myself from the beginning, but I didn't have to start a routine and then reconfigure everything out a while later.  Everything happened at once and we were so busy from the get go that it has helped with my sanity.  Plus, with a lot of PRAYERS everything went rather smoothly.  I was truly blessed with the way our schedule fit perfectly.  I wasn't sure how everything was going to work out but for the most part it did!  I had four kids at three different schools.  I had to drive Easton to and from his bus stop which is about 2 miles away from my house every school day and drive Blakely to and from preschool three times a week.  I had four kids playing sports (the boys flag football and the girls soccer), three kids playing instruments (lessons once a week), and two kids in church activities (Easton scouts once a week and Blair activity days every other week).  That's a lot for one person to juggle!

Once games started this was generally our weekly schedule after the kids got dismissed from school:

- Monday: boys football games.  If we were lucky they played one right after the other.  If not then we would have to stick around for a game between their games.
-Tuesday: Easton football practice from 5:30-6:30 (sometimes 7:00) and Blair soccer practice from 6:00-7:00.  It worked out nicely because their practice fields were down the street from each other- like two blocks. 
-Wednesday: Scouts for Easton every week and Blair activity days every other week.  Luckily they were usually at the same time and same place!
-Thursday: Easton guitar at 3 before Blair and Dyer got home from school.  Practice for the boys at 5:30-6:30/7:00.  Both of them were at the same field!  Practice for the girls from 6:00-7:00.  Both girls were at the same complex but at different fields!  Sometimes this day would get tricky if the boys went until 7 but I was never more than 10 minutes late picking them up-which I think only happened twice!
-Friday: Blair piano at 4:15 and Dyer drums at 5:30.
-Saturday: Soccer games for the girls.


It's also a blessing that I have just enough time to get Blair and Dyer on the bus about 5 minutes before I have to leave to bring Blakely to preschool.  Also, I have just enough time to grab Easton from the bus stop at 2:10ish every preschool day before I have to grab Blakely from preschool at 2:30.  Everything just seems to fit just perfectly!  So blessed!

Pirate Cruise

Nathan's mom came out for a quick visit before Nathan's deployment.  Yes, Nathan's currently deployed!  We were able to squeeze in a pirate cruise before they both left.

Water gun fight!

Watching the kids

The boys had to clean up!

Face paint!

Sword fighting

Pulling up the treasure