basketball wrap-up

This basketball season was so fun. And exhausting. Our last 7 Saturdays have involved driving back and forth to the Baptist church 3 times a day - Tanner's games were always at 8:30, Emma's were at 12 or 1, and Tyler's were at 3 or 4.

Right at the beginning of the season we noticed that Emma had improved dramatically from last year. And surely her 3 inches of growth in the last year helped as well. In her first game she scored 12 of the 16 points. She can also get every single rebound because she is tall but also fast. Her strong suit is NOT being a point guard (running and dribbling) but that's ok because her team had lots of fast, quick girls to do that.

We started bribing her to foul simply because she was terrified to do it. In one particular game their team just had 5 girls and Emma fouled out! We were ahead luckily, but had to play with 4 girls. The coach of the other team had her put back in because he didn't want to lose to a team of 4. :)  Her team lost just one game, and ended up the #1 seed for the tournament.

Tyler had an incredible team with lots of good kids. The difference between his team and Emma's was that his was 5th-8th grade boys (Emma's was just 5th/6th girls). So there were some BIG boys on his team with lots of experience. He learned a lot though about screening and how to play defense and steal the ball, and other intricacies of basketball, and really had a lot of fun. They lost two games all season and advanced to the final game of the tournament.

Tanner played in the youngest division - kindergartners. It was hilarious to watch and I'm sure for the coach was like herding cats, but he was patient and so good with those kids. Tanner never ended up making a basket, though he got close. His coach really tried to help him score but it didn't work out. Tanner loved it and I think will have a long relationship with basketball.

Some pictures from the season...

And the tournament championships were last night. Emma's team was amazing and held the other team to 6 points through the entire second half! The coaches even pulled Emma out toward the end because we were so far ahead. Emma scored 3 times. Final score: 22-6!

Tyler's team got way out in front and it was just entertaining because I didn't have to stress much. Final score: 34-12!

Papa and Grandma's visit

Last year Papa came to visit, as our first visitor. This year he and Grandma both came! But unfortunately it was FREEZING so we stayed in for most of the time.

The first day we went to see the Frank Lloyd Wright house that has recently been relocated to Crystal Bridges. It was tiny but interesting. Also, freezing.

Spencer and I did take the chance to go up to the temple in Kansas City, and actually got to go together! It was quick but wonderful. We ate at Jack Stack BBQ (#1 Zagat-rated bbq in the country) and got Cheesecake Factory cheesecake for dessert. We brought home BBQ leftovers for the next night.

Dad replaced the light fixtures in the kitchen, they took the kids to see Star Wars (again; though it was mom's first time), and there was a LOT of playing going on inside the house. Pretty much everyone cried when it was time for them to leave.

christmas break

I am entitling this "Christmas break" because more went on than just Christmas.

Emma had her tonsils out the 18th, the last day before Christmas break. So she missed school (mostly parties), but was too worried about missing a lot of school and that's why she chose a school break time.

I want to remember how tough and brave she was, how even when I got panicky as they prepped her for the IV (so many memories came flooding back) she stayed calm and talked so mature-ly with the nurses. I had several nurses pull me aside to tell me how wonderful and pleasant she was. As they wheeled her back to the OR and I went another direction to the waiting room I got a lump in my throat. I don't get that often with Emma - I don't feel as "motherly" with her because I have (at least for the last several years) viewed her as my equal, as a friend, and not as a small child entrusted to my care. But I got a lump because I was in fact sending a child in for a surgery for the first time, and I was powerless.

I ate a chocolate croissant while I waited. After a few minutes I got a phone call in the waiting room (!!) from a nurse who was just calling to tell me how wonderful Emma was. I get the idea they don't make those phone calls often, especially for surgeries that only last 30 minutes. That is something that is seared into my memory forever. I know Emma is wonderful, but I love when others see that in her too. What a special girl she is.

After what seemed like only 5 more minutes the doctor came in and told me it was done, her adenoids were still intact, and that her tonsils were ginormous. I don't think he used the word "ginormous" but he did say they were some of the largest he has seen. Twenty minutes later I waited back in her room and they wheeled her in. She looked awful, and I thought maybe she would be out of it but she was very aware, didn't say anything awesome/funny (darn it!), but was feeling the effects of the anesthesia. She didn't like how it made her feel, not one bit.

As that wore off they gave her some liquid medicine and within 10 minutes she had perked up. She got a slushy and we sat and talked. I walked down to the Walmart pharmacy inside the hospital (so many thumbs up for that) and dropped off her prescription, then walked back down 20 minutes later and picked it up. Her nurse, Darla, was so wonderful.

Then I got to bring her home. I thought she would sleep, but she just wanted to lie down and watch TV. Emma does not like to miss anything, or even feel like she might possibly miss anything. So on the couch she stayed.

The rest of the week was pretty low-key because we were limited in what we could do. The weather was warm and that was pretty weird and also awesome. Spencer and I went on nightly walks so I could get out of the house. We did a Star Wars marathon with the kids because I am 33 and had never seen any of them. The kids loved it, and I didn't hate it nearly as much as I thought I would.

CHRISTMAS EVE AND CHRISTMAS
I love Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  I spent so much time wrapping (finally!) and cooking. I liked doing our own thing, but it does make me miss being with family on the holidays, being so far away and isolated. We were extra isolated because of Emma's surgery. On Christmas Eve night we were talking about Luke 2 and the nativity, and we read the story of Granddad being in Austria in the 1930s as a missionary, and his fondness of "Silent Night." I asked Tyler to sing it, because he just learned it in German at school. He sang and I was brought to tears. I'm so grateful and will forever be grateful that Spencer recorded it, because that is something that is burned into my memory forever. It was such a perfect night.

That evening Santa's elves suddenly had to spend 3 hours putting together an indoor basketball game. One of the helpers was blindsided (ME), and it was crazy, but we got to bed around midnight. We were woken up at 7:15 by all the kids singing "Jingle Bells" on the stairs. I think Emma didn't sing (still having a hard time talking...) and then we spent the whole day on Skype, opening presents, playing outside in the warm weather. We had BBQ chicken for dinner and had a fire outside, and it was just really nice. Emma got a cool camera. Her throat still hurts but some of her energy is coming back.

We are hoping to go to Silver Dollar City, as it closes for the year on Dec 30th. Maybe Tuesday, if Emma can handle it. Other than that, we have one week left of the break and no real plans. It is finally starting to get cold. We did just have a tornado warning and spent some time in the closet.