Starting the Jr. High Season

Erica hit the court for the season opener at a junior high tournament at Hartington Cedar Catholic. 

 The girls came out nervous in the first game against Cedar Catholic and lost.  But, they rebounded with a two set win against Ponca. 

Last, they played Crofton for 3rd place and won.  Not a bad first day going 2-1.  As is tradition after the game, the girls get in the huddle and pray a "Hail Mary".  This is one tradition at Norfolk Catholic that every team does after a game.  Great day in the gym!

Take care,
Michelle

A Flower Girl Growing Up

The volleyball team travelled to Wahoo on Thursday for a game.  Coach Fisher is finding out that many schools are in the same situation as us and do not have enough freshman girls out to field a team.  He plays sophomores and freshmen so that we have a team.  Wahoo does not have a freshmen team this year because of low numbers; therefore, Cara did not have a game, but she had to travel with the team.

Andy and Sarah live in Wahoo and went to watch Cara play and talk to her.  Twelve years ago, Cara was the flower girl at their wedding.  How she has grown!  We sure miss hanging out with them.  It is hard when friends move. Andy hung out at our house quite a bit before he got married.  He was a part of Cara's life from the moment she was born.  He was our first visitor at the hospital and probably her first babysitter outside of a grandparent.  Andy and Sarah took care of Cara when Erica was born for us.  The day of their wedding Cara was nervous to walk down the aisle when the ring bearer backed out.  The church was packed and she was very unsure what to do, but she could see Andy and just walked down the aisle to him. 

Take care,
Michelle 

One in the Loss Column

 Cara had her second game last week at Lutheran High Northeast. 

 Lutheran High Northeast has only 4 freshman out for volleyball and Norfolk Catholic has only 5, so, Lutheran High plays a mixed sophomore/freshman team also. 

Cara's team earned a three set loss.  The girls played sluggish, looked tired and played out-of-sinc.  Back to the gym to work out the kinks and play better.

Take care,
Michelle

Going to the Races

Keith came up with the idea of taking the kids to the horse races on Sunday in Columbus. The kids have never been to the horse races, but at first none of them wanted to go.  I haven't been to the races since I was in college and a group of friends went for opening day at Arksarben one year.

After a little persuading, they decided to go and what a good time they had.  The races started at 2:00 p.m. and we got there in time for the second race.  They were just bringing the horses out and walking them past the grandstand before the race for everyone to see.  Justin had only about 101 questions about everything going on.

While Justin and I are looking at the horses, finding a place to sit and answering questions about horses and racing, Keith and the girls are buying a program, getting snacks and drinks, they run into my Uncle Randy.  As it turned out, three sets of my aunts and uncles met up at the races for an afternoon to fun.  Uncle Steve and Aunt Sherrie came from Randolph, Uncle Dave and Aunt Kim came from Plainview and Uncle Randy and Aunt Marilyn drove up from Lincoln. 

Aunt Kim took the kids at one point down to the barns to check out the horses and scope out which horses looked good and might win.  Plus, she also bought them candy and snacks.  Aunt Kim is so much fun!  Kim's personality is very outgoing.  She can talk to anyone.  Her personality is just like her Dad, Valjean, who is passed away.  Uncle Dave and Aunt Kim own a bowling alley and spend many hours working there.

Aunt Sherrie is known for her cooking.  She has worked in cafes cooking for years.  You will never go hungry when she is cooking.  Aunt Sherrie and Uncle Steve became empty nesters a few weeks ago.  Sherrie said that she is loving it - less cooking, less cleaning, etc.

After college, I lived with my Uncle Randy and Aunt Marilyn for about a year and a half.  I lived in the basement at their house and came and went as I pleased.  They are both retired and have been empty nesters for a little over a year.  My uncle retired from the railroad after many years and is a free spirit.  My aunt loves to bake and we were talked about various recipes that we had made recently.

After the races, we headed to the Pawnee Lounge for a drink.  Aunt Kim said that they make the best Bloody Marys.  Also, she taught Justin, Ashlin and Erica how to play shuffleboard.

It was a great afternoon at the races!  No one came home a big winner, but it was fun picking a horse to win.

Take care,
Michelle

Win #1

Cara's high school volleyball career kicked off last Thursday with a home game against Norfolk Catholic's biggest rival, Pierce.  Norfolk Catholic does not have enough freshman girls out for volleyball to field a team; therefore, the team is a combined team of freshmen, sophomores and one junior.

 All the freshman girls were nervous in their first game.  Yes, some errors were made, and yes, they will all learn from them.

 In the end, they made less errors than Pierce and earned a three set win!  In fact, all three Norfolk Catholic teams earned wins to start the season.  The JV team won in three sets and the varsity took a win in three straight sets.

On Saturday, Cara travelled with the varsity to a tournament at Columbus Scotus.  Freshmen girls take the stats for the varsity girls.  It is a chance to watch and learn.  The varsity finished 4th in the tournament out of 8 teams.

Another two games for Cara this week, both on the road.  Tuesday at Lutheran High Northeast and Thursday at Wahoo Public.  Then on Saturday, we travel to Hartington Cedar Catholic for Erica to start Junior High volleyball with a tournament.

Take care,
Michelle

Homecoming 2015 - Cara's Freshman Year - Part II

Today is the second part of the Homecoming post because I took just a few photos of the evening. 

So the evening started with photographs at the Norfolk Country Club at 5:15.  The Freshman class went to dinner together.  Invitations were handed out to each class member.

 The parents were invited to come and take photos of the class.  We needed a photo of Cara with us, the parents.

Yes, Cara is a Daddy's girl.  She chose this dress after much searching and consideration.  We ended up ordering her dress online from Filly Flair.  She can definitely wear this dress again for other occasions.

 Presenting the class of 2019, with one girl missing from the photo.  They sure do clean up well. 

 One freshman boy, Ethan, presented each girl when she arrived with a corsage.  Cara was very surprised that they got flowers.

 After photos, the class enjoyed an Italian buffet in a private dining room at the Country Club.

 Then the class loaded up onto this trolley for a ride around Norfolk.  Emma's parents, Tom and Becky, and Keith and I went for appetizers and drinks downtown Norfolk.  We watched for the trolley and then took photos as they proceeded down Norfolk Avenue.

 Then the Freshman class was delivered to the church parking lot for 7:30 Mass.  Most of the high school students attended Mass all dressed up.

 After Mass the coronation took place in the Activities Center.  Maddie Love and Noah Pfeifer were crowned the Homecoming King and Queen.  Other queen candidates included: Haley Borer, Cailey Cahoy, Courtney Schindler, and Baily Eihlers.  Other king candidates included: Aaron Hoff, Jarrod Marsden, David Englehaupt and Matt Miller. 

After coronation the students heading across the parking lot for the dance until midnight.  After the dance, the freshman girls went to Charlie's house to change before going to the after freshman party at Raymond Lux's home until about 2:30 a.m.  Then all the freshman girls spent the night at Charlie's house. 

Cara came home Sunday morning tired, but she had a fun night.  The freshman class had to be back at the gym on Sunday afternoon for clean-up.  Tradition is that the freshman class clean up afterwards.

Take care,
Michelle