Soren and Reese Stories: November

Two New Family Members!

In November we "inherited" two miniature schnauzers. Abby and Maddy. Pete's friend, Mike, had to move and could not take them with him, so......here they are.

They are cute and cuddly, have a slight barking problem and are learning how to have free roam of the house without using part of it as a bathroom. They follow Pete around like a momma duck; it is so cute. The girls are having a blast with them and I love that they don't shed :)

Pops and Nana came down to Burleson to watch one of Reese's Volleyball games and we saw this donkey on the side of the road!! No way! Of course we HAD to get a picture of Pops with it. The guy was charging $10 (holy cow!) but we knew we were not going to pass up the opportunity. I wonder how much we were willing to pay?....

Reese Plays Volleyball

Reese had a fun season of volleyball. She is not sure if she will play again because she is interested in gymnastics as well and there is just not enough time for both. She improved so much over the few weeks of play. Who knows, maybe we will see her back out on the court one day.

Soren Runs in the Junior Olympic Cross Country Races!

This was an exciting, last minute adventure for Soren. Pete found out that the Junior Olympics Cross Country was having a district race here in the metroplex so he asked Soren if she was interested in competing. She jumped at the opportunity and came in 2nd place, advancing her to the regional race the following week. She faced a tougher field at regionals but did VERY well and qualified to run at the national meet in Albuquerque, NM! Amazing. Soren, you are amazing. So happy for you!

Sweet Reese. Just had to post a pic of Reese enjoying some puppy chow :)

Grandma Freda

Reese and I went with Nana to take Grandma Freda home after her visit for Thanksgiving. I always love these pics taken on her swing. We have them from 3 generations now. Pretty cool.

Junior Olympic Cross Country National Championship
Alubquerque, NM

This is so amazing to me. My daughter qualified to run in the championship race. This was all on very short notice and less than a month before Christmas, so we decided that Pete would work the West Texas area that week and Soren would fly out on Friday for the race but Reese and I would stay home (last minute flights aren't cheap!)

On Friday morning as we were getting ready to head for the airport, Soren is talking a little funny and finally admits that her throat is hurting pretty bad. Dang it! Of all days! I assured her that everyone would understand that she couldn't go because she was sick and she said she had no intentions of staying home! I called Pete and he looked up the closest emergency care clinic to the airport and Soren and I headed for DFW. I was able to walk her all the way to her gate and made sure she was situated and ready to board and then I left. As I was leaving the airport Nana texts me and asks what gate Soren was flying out of? Why? Well, because Pops was going to try to get on standby on the flight! So cool! Soren was all settled into a seat, minding her own business, when "some guy comes and throws his bag down on top of mine and sits right next to me". Being the kind person she is, Soren doesn't even look up but continues reading until the guy imposes enough that she has no choice but to glance his way. "And it was Pops!" She was so excited. What a neat surprise.

A safe flight later and Pops and Soren are picked up by Pete to head to the doctor to find out that Soren has strep :(

That evening was the opening ceremony and parade of athletes. Soren is in Region 12.