After we returned from Baltimore, the following weekend was Easter and a weekend of volleyball off!! We had another lovely, low-key holiday together. The next week, Heath had a tryout in Chicago and did a detour through Ohio and was able to spend time with his dad for his dad's birthday. He also was able to see his sister and her family.
Heath and his niece, Judy.
Heath's nephew Ronnie, who is one year older than Layne.
Heath's sister, Holly and her husband, Howie.
Heath and his dad, Steve at dinner for Steve's birthday.
More tournaments......then on Friday, April 23rd we were off to Kansas City for the Show Me National Qualifier. Layne and I had planned to drive, Heath would be coming in from Minneapolis on the same day as us. I did, however, find really cheap flights to KC from Denver. Since Heath was coming in that morning also, I wanted to meet him at the airport and catch a ride with him to the hotel. Because of this arrangement, that meant Layne and I would need to take the 7am flight out of Denver, and leave the house at 3:30am!! WHAT WAS I THINKING???!!! It had been raining in Colorado Springs during the night and when we left, I didn't think much of it until we reached Monument. The Continental Divide runs just past this town and for reasons I don't know, it causes strange weather. Just a few miles out of Monument the rain turned to snow and covered the roads with thick slushy stuff. It was dark, only one lane from the cars ahead of us and heavy stuff coming straight at us. It was awful and added quite some time to our trip. I was sure we would miss our flight, but we made it in time and even got coffee. After getting to KC, I realized that even though our drive to Denver was really bad, we actually were lucky we went at that time. The road eventually closed for a bit and some families that flew later than us didn't make their flights. The tournament turned out good for Layne's team and they finished in the Gold Bracket again. Layne in white jersey.
During March and April, Layne has her middle school volleyball season. It is, I believe, are the only middle school district in the world that has volleyball in the spring versus fall. It isn't horrible but it would be nice not to have to double-up on volleyball. She does get pretty tired during this time also. Her middle school team had a great season and finished up the normal season as the Champs of District 11. Their volleyball classic tournament at the end was a bit bumpy. I was REALLY hoping they would have made it to the finals, because that is on TV!! Well, they made it to the semi-finals and had a good season over all. I am glad to be done with middle school volleyball and next year in high school, she will play in the fall.....yippee!!
My coaching ended at the end of April, with my team finishing very well. We moved up several divisions in the region and came really close to getting to Division 1 (we started in Division 5), my team had a great season and they were a fun group of girls to coach!!
Layne had her last club tournament on May 16th in Denver and we were hoping the team might get a bid to Nationals in Reno this summer. They had looked promising in their regional tournament, but just couldn't get it together. I can't complain, they had a great season with tons of amazing accomplishments and so much improvement!!
I guess Mother's Day was in there also!! I got my breakfast in bed, which I love and look forward to every year. Heath and Layne got me some great recycled mugs from Starbucks and a new light for the kitchen (we are doing a few things in there now). My wonderful mother surprised Layne and I with some pedicures at a local salon. I got the deluxe/premium package and it was just amazing.....as you can see below.
We also had some guests in town from Knoxville, Allen, Shannon and Beckett Mathes were in town for Allen's work. We had a great hike and dinner with them on Mother's Day. They were in town for most of the week and had several great dinner's with them, it was really great to have them in town and to spend some time with them.
It was a great Mother's Day!!
School is winding down for Layne and as of today, she only has three days left. Since she is in 8th grade, they have had a few extra fun things for them to do.....like the rafting trip she just went on last week. She doesn't have many photos or any of her actually rafting, but she had a good time and said it was fun. I was really concerned the water would be super cold, it is water that comes straight off the mountain!! It was a beautiful and warm day so she said it wasn't bad, she did get a pretty bad sunburn!!
Tomorrow night is her 8th grade graduation. I am having a hard time believing this. She is still suppose to be a little girl and now she is getting ready to go to high school. It is so crazy how fast the time has gone. I tell everyone who has small kids to cherish every moment and to just hold on to them as long as you can. I know people told me she would grow up fast, but I don't really think I listened and now I kick myself for not talking that advice more seriously. Or maybe it doesn't matter if you have a grasp on that concept and have all good intentions......time just goes too fast and it is out of our control!!
Speaking of time and fast....Heath and I will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary on Monday!! I can't believe I have put up with him this long, but in appreciation of my devotion to him.....he is talking me camping to a primitive cabin with no water, electricity or restroom.....with Layne and our four dogs!! Sounds romantic, I know....don't be jealous because I got the good husband!! I actually think it will be wonderful and very peaceful to get away from civilization for a few days. I am sure it will be beautiful.
I think that this will about get us up to date, now I just can't fall behind again!! I hope everyone has a great rest of their week and an enjoyable holiday weekend!! I will get some photos up of Layne's graduation and then our little trip this coming weekend.
On a side note....and I am sure I will be writing more about the subject, we are trying to be more green in our family. I know it sounds silly because it is "all the rage", but we really are trying to use less, use differently, eat better and get chemicals out of our life. So, I am just going to leave you with a quote I came across and really like.....
Use it up, wear it out. Make do or do without. - New English Proverb
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