Still WISE

Just before President's Day weekend, Bay had all four wisdom teeth extracted. The two bottom ones were impacted and looking to potentially cause some problems with crowding etc. We arrived bright and early on a Friday morning. I have to be honest, I may have been more nervous than she was. I knew they were putting her out and I wasn't sure how she would react to it (as a mom that is nerve racking).  Within 40 minutes of her being taken back to the surgery room, she was done. She remembers Dr. Steele saying "lets do some drugs" and the rest is a blur. When I went to see her in recovery, he said she did as well as you could ever hope. She was a very cooperative patient;) She couldn't talk ... obviously .... but she just kept looking at me with this confused/blank stare. I felt like she was a little baby again who didn't understand what was going on and my instinct was to want to scoop her up and take care of her. We went to pick up a shake (Dr orders) so she would have something in her belly before taking any more pain meds. We have the funniest video of her sitting in the back seat of the car and not knowing what she was supposed to do with the shake. She kept (trying) saying "I can't" and looking at us with these helpless eyes. Mark began to feed it to her and she started into this laughing/crying episode. I didn't get many pics because I was initially so worried about the surgery and then I was caught up in making sure she was okay:) I did snap this one as she was wheeled out to the car after.

 The effects of the cocktail (a mixture of Versed, Fentanyl, Ketamine, Propofol and maybe something else I can't remember) lingered with her longer than expected. She was pretty loopy all day. Emmrey and Karsyn wanted desperately to get a video of her similar to all the ones they watch on YouTube. We didn't experience anything like that but she did have lots of busting out laughing over nothing in particular or a few times where she was really impressed with something she saw or heard that was pretty ordinary to the rest of us (for the record I think most of those "hilarious" post wisdom teeth videos are staged anyway;)

 It was hard to get her to eat at all the first couple of days. She did enjoy some soup, applesauce and more ice cream than usual throughout the weekend. No major swelling or bruising. By the time she went back for her follow up and syringe/cleaning lesson a week later, her sockets were all pretty much healed over ... Dr. Steele couldn't believe what a fast healer she was! 

Down 4 Wisdom teeth, but this girl is as wise as ever!

a little bit of this and that :}

Some random photos of happenings over the last couple of months. 

Emmrey won a "Pawsitive" Character award at school and along with her certificate she got this snazzy shirt.

We spent so much time at the high school gym for basketball she made herself right at home

Mark was super excited about his birthday gift that was waiting for him at home after our trip. 

The fact that it was filled with Coke Zero kinda put it over the top.

I gathered snacks and surprises to put together Goody Bags for the swim team for Conference. 

It was the most fun to hand them to the girls as they loaded the bus.

We watched the Super Bowl despite none of us really being that into it. Emmrey was the only one who attempted to look like a fan. She cheered for the Patriots only because the rest of us wanted the Falcons and she felt bad for the odd man out... such heart:)

We started our National Park presentations. So far we have Sequoia and Glacier in the running. I am always blown away with the effort the girls put into their presentation. 

Emm had made this whole color wheel game with facts about her park.

These two noticed on their way out the door to church one week that not only did they match in color, but they had matching skinned knees. I noticed how stinkin' beautiful they both are!

Mark got out to do some fishing with one of his fishing buddies 

(not sure how much fishing was done, this one likes to talk more than fish)

Kars earned herself some awards at school too. She got this one for Outstanding Freshman in 1st quarter. Like Emmrey she was given a shirt along with her recognition at the assembly. 

Ubuntu: "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

She also received an award for Academic Achievement, Positive Attitude and Effort in her Pathway. 

I spent President's Day with my favorite hiking buddy on the Roosevelt National Forest in the Red Feather Lakes area. We've been having some spring-like weather around here!

V Day 2017

A little snapshot of our Valentines Day. We had a yucky virus that was making its way through our crew (some escaped it) so I was off my game a bit. 

We didn't have a Valentines dinner but the girls found some goodies with a Valentine breakfast instead. 

We attempted to play the Valentine version of Twister that Gma Cheryl sent us in that "festive red box". Emmrey is hardcore and played several rounds herself.

 I did manage to get my traditional sugar cookies baked so we enjoyed way too many of those;)

My lover doesn't really like the idea of Valentines .... says he would rather show me he loves me everyday instead of one day (ha!). Once these little girls came on the scene the holiday has really been about making it a fun day for them. I sure love them with all of my heart! I love the "one who does not like to celebrate" too;)

LEGACY

The end of season Swim Banquet was last Monday. One of the moms insisted on providing a Pasta Bar as opposed to the traditional pot luck. I envisioned this as some noodles with a few different sauces. I was right about that, but in addition she had made about 10 different pasta dishes. 

It was pretty impressive! I felt a little outdone with my contribution of heart shaped sugar cookies.

Every year we have been a part of the Poudre team, Coach Breshears reads a letter from him to his team, and then calls up each class {ending with Seniors} and talks briefly about each one of them. I am so impressed that he takes the time to not only do this, but to know the girls well enough that he can do this. When it was Bailee's turn he talked about her being a captain, her Sweet 16 nickname he gave her the first season, and how she has provided him with some of the most rewarding experiences as a coach. He came up with a word for each of the girls and talked about why he chose that particular word. For Bailee he chose LEGACY.  He shared that as he watched her swim her last 500, knowing it was the last time he would see her swim made him emotional. Not only because she killed it and got her best time of the season, but because he admired the person that she is and how she carries herself. Talk about a proud momma moment!

The four stellar seniors on the team this year. Seriously I was very impressed with these girls. 

All around great people doing pretty great things!

Caroline, Bay, Margaux, Katie

Bailee and her co-captain Kiana are two very different personalities and at times I think that was a real challenge for Bay. They each brought their own strengths to the team and hopefully a valuable lesson was learned about being able to work with someone you feel you don't have a lot in common with.

And her coach B's! So many good things to say about these two men. Coach Breshears has been with her from the beginning season at Poudre (which was his first season there as well) while Coach Bailey just joined this year. They both have such likable and positive personalities and just happen to be bro-in-laws:) Coach Breshears has done as much or more for her outside of the pool as in. Bailee is not a loud or showy person by any means and so often kids like her get overlooked in a big crowd. Coach Breshears had that gift of perceptiveness and took notice of Bailee despite her lack of drawing attention to herself. It is every parents hope that others will see their child's good qualities and recognize them for it. He did just that and more!
Rob Breshears will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Coach Jake Bailey, Bailee, Coach Rob Breshears

What a night! My emotions were at the surface as I listened and observed my little girl being honored. I think he chose the perfect word for Bailee. She truly leaves behind a LEGACY of character and integrity. It has been a privilege to watch her in action.

From Sea to Shining Sea

Emmrey had her school music program on Monday. It was held at the Timberline Church again but this year it was just grades 3-5 as our school population is exceeding the capacity at the mega church.

The program had a Road Trip theme and all the songs they sang were connected to that. Emmrey had a part as a Body Percussionist during the Rocky Mountain song.

Addie, Emm, Chloe

 It was a great little program and while I love how nice and roomy the church is,it loses the personal touch of a crammed school gym;) Either way Emmrey loves being a part of a performance!

Impala Hoops

                     While Bailee was completing her last season with the girls swim team,  
                           Kars was playing her first season on the girls basketball team.

 It is pretty uncommon for a Freshman to make JV or Varsity, but Kars was pretty optimistic about making C team.  After learning she would be a part of D team, she felt a bit deflated.

The competition was a little a little stiffer than she was prepared for. 

As much as it hurt initially, it ended up being really good for her. 

It forced her to push herself harder and strive to be better. Her skills were recognized and she started playing up on C team for a good number of games. 

Her strength is on offense and she is the go to 3-point shooter for the team. 

It was really fun watching her play through the season. It was a bit chaotic with schedules that were always changing, but we worked out a carpool with a few other Welly parents that lightened the load. 

Minus a couple of girls who were missing on picture day, 

this is the group of girls she played the majority of the time with.

back: Amor, Coach Flores, Kars
front: Bailey, Trinity, Wendi, Makayla

End of an Era

Between Swimming and Basketball our lives have been pretty occupied with Impala sports for the past 3 months.

Bay finished her last season with the girls swim team. Since she was able to drive this year, that meant less back and forth to the pool for us and fewer bleary-eyed 4:30 mornings. I don't think getting up during the 4am hour (in the dark/cold winter to boot) ever gets any easier. I won't miss the scheduling demands of the swim season, but man has being on that team been good for her!

Her events were the 200 IM or Free and the 500 Free which is a bugger!  She's discovered after all these years of swimming that her strength is endurance and not speed. 

Swimming has challenged her both physically and mentally. While she LOVES to swim and likes going to the meets, she does not like swimming at the meets... confused? She doesn't like competing or the pressure ... she suffers with a bit of anxiety before every meet and every event she is in. She is tough and pushes through for her team!

 She has made some wonderful friends and while she is not social by nature,
she has loved being with these girls.

She has been lucky to have an AMAZING coach who really "saw her" from the very beginning and recognized her abilities both in and out of the pool. 

From her first meet as a CKAT to her last as an Impala, it has been fun to watch her evolve from a little girl to an (almost) adult. Always full of grace and character.
Always excited to be a part of something bigger than herself.

Who would have thought that our little toddler who was terrified to get too close to the water would turn out to be a swimmer! Thank goodness she did .... we have had the opportunity to be a part of a world that was foreign to us (and we know she could save us if we ever need it;)

Mini Poms

Emmrey got to be a "Mini Pom" for a couple of days. The Poudre dance team {aka Poms} held a fundraiser where Elementary age kids spend a Saturday learning a routine and then perform at a basketball game. When Emm heard about it at school she was relentless in her desire to participate. 

T-shirt, poms and dance? ..... she was all over it;)

Saturday rehearsals

The night of the half-time show she was pumped! 

 Getting ready to dance to Fireball. The only thing that would have made it any better is if it had been at Karsyn's game

 It was all over after a brief 3 minutes but oh the memories.

some of the older girls in the group

 Emmrey was excited to see her friend Chloe from the hood decided to Pom it up with her

 This girl rocked it! She loves her some dance:)

Senior Night

A couple of weeks ago was Bay's last home meet for the season. It was also Senior Night. About halfway through the meet they have the team line up in a tunnel fashion as the coach reads a short tribute about each senior. While I was on deck attempting to capture the moment with pictures, Mark was in the stands with Emm trying to record the whole thing. 

completing the tunnel run

 The seniors then line up on the blocks for one final moment of recognition. Along with the balloons and flowers they each got a blanket embroidered with their name and graduation year {in Poudre blue of course}.

 These are the four Seniors on the team this year.

Margaux, Bailee, Katie, Caroline

 After nearly nine years of watching her at swim meets, knowing it was all coming to an end was bittersweet. Swim meets are long and hot but I have so enjoyed watching her on this journey. I am so proud of her dedication to her team and even more proud of the strong character she exudes!

Bailee was a Captain this year, a role that brought some added responsibility that she relished in. Initially she didn't have much interest in being a captain, but the girls on her team and her coach really encouraged her. She isn't loud or aggressive, but she brings her good attitude and example to the team .... she is everyone's biggest cheerleader!