Road Trip to Oklahoma

Shelbs and I made the trek to Tulsa, Oklahoma to pay a short visit to our favorite Sooners.  We packed a great deal into our weekend.  We had some fantastic meals, saw Snow White and the Huntsman, watched Cady’s riding lesson, took Wrigley. Stoops, and Reagan to the dog park, got Brenton’s birthday present, went bowling, and I finally got to see Tangled.  We also got to FINALLY meet Cady’s brother, Josh, and his daughter, Sage (who almost beat us all in bowling).  While we would love to plan another trip to Tulsa, our next trip will be to Murfreesboro to see Barsh and Larry in July (must spread the Shelbs around)!

Three of the greatest kids around

All Caught Up

Think I am caught up with the latest news but wanted to share a picture.  The morning of Tom's funeral service, Brenton woke up throwing up so I put him in my bed to rest while I took care of breakfast.  When I went up to check on him this is what I found - LOVE it!

Happy Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day thanks to some pretty fabulous kids and my fun and delightful parents!  Martha and I got Mom a new bowling ball so Shelby and I took her bowling after a yummy brunch.  The kids got me a Yankee Candle gift card and a fantastic watch (pink, of course).  Brenton and Cady couldn't make it in town but we are planning a weekend trip to Tulsa for a visit soon!

Mom and her gift!

Harmonie Hundred

Summer started with another bike trip.  This time to New Harmony, Indiana to ride in the Harmonie Hundred with Larry and my sister, Martha.  I can now say I rode 100 miles in a weekend.  We dusted off the triple (from last year's Katy Trail ride) and took off.  The weather was perfect (although I was a tad concerned when I woke up in the middle of the night to very loud thunderstorms).  New Harmony is a neat town and they were having all sorts of festivities while we were there.  It was also an educational experience.  I learned all about my single bike - when and how to shift gears, and perhaps most importantly, how I had been riding with my saddle a good 1-1/2 inches too low.  No wonder my thighs got so tired!!!  Larry has so much knowledge, my P.E.O chapter wants to get him to town to give us a bike master class.  Perhaps before the WIN for KC Triathlon...(hint, hint)

RIP Tom

Eleven years to the day after losing Tim's mom, Dixie, we lost his dad, Tom. Fortunately we all got to say our goodbyes.  Unfortunately, a bout of the stomach flu hit Brenton (and later, Cady) so they only made it to about 1 hour of the visitation.  It was a beautiful service that Tom would have loved.  He will be missed.

End of Bowling and Ottawa Braves Softball

Once again I am having to go back to the past to update the blog. While I had every intention of keeping current, I have failed, so badly in fact, that my web browser not longer worked with my blog.  Alas.  No more excuses or promises to be better.  It is what it is.

Bowling season finally ended (boy is it a long one - from October to April).  Shelby didn't get as many opportunities as she had hoped but worked hard throughout the season and had some success learning new oil patterns.  Her roommate situation was much calmer 2nd semester and she ended the semester with a solid 3.0 GPA.  She has great plans of practice and conditioning to prepare for next year.

Most of April and May were spent watching Cady and the Lady Braves (I have some interesting tan lines on my feet to prove this).  Cady was, as expected, as  predictable as ever - hitting, running like the wind, and a defensive standout at 2nd base.  I must confess, 2 years ago when I watched my first college softball game, I seriously thought I would NEVER understand or even like college softball (all that chanting...).  Flash forward and I am actually watching it on ESPN - although Cady is much more fun to watch.  The Lady Braves had a good year but disappointing tournament. The highlight for me was being in Hutchinson to watch her accept her All-KCAC First Team certificate.  I am getting prepared for next year - already have my softball bling for good luck!

2012 Lady Braves

Cady

What a cute family!

Collegiate Bowling and Birthday Fun

We travelled to Euless, TX for the last bowling meet of the year - The USBC Intercollegiate Sectionals.  The meet just happened to be during Shelby's spring break so the poor kid didn't get to come home.  It also happened to land on her birthday weekend.  Shelby bowled in the singles event on Friday and the team competition on Saturday and Sunday (the actual birthday).  She fought through some interesting lane conditions on Friday and the team struggled Saturday morning (probably because the coach neglected to feed them breakfast - must have forgotten it is the most important meal of the day).  Shelbs bowled great on her actual birthday and I brought 2 large cookie cakes for the team to enjoy with her (along with presents from the grandparents and my friend, Emily).  It was great getting to see her although it would have been nice if she could have made it home for a short visit before.  The team ended up in 8th place; however, they did beat Baker so I was happy (that OU/Baker rivalry makes it impossible for me to ever cheer for Baker - I wanted to wear my OU KCAC championship shirt but figured it wouldn't mean anything to a bunch of snooty girl bowlers).  Now, it's time for softball....

2011-2012 Ashford Saints

Shelbs and her cookie cake

Shelbs and friend

Hanging at the hotel

That's one big chair...

2012 Football Banquet

Tim and I travelled to Ottawa, KS to attend our last OU Braves Football Banquet.  Boy, how time has flown by - it seems like yesterday I was sitting in the parent orientation meeting.  We watched the highlight film (yes, we got to see Brenton), had our last cafeteria meal (somehow it never gets better), and then the coaches introduced the seniors one by one.  Coach Homolka said wonderful things about our boy - "teams don't win without players like Brenton."  All the seniors got to make a speech (I was a tad nervous about that as a few inappropriate things were discussed at 920 S. Cedar) but Brenton was quite gracious.  After the senior introductions, the awards were given out.  Imagine our surprise when the Thomas Trigg Award was given to our own Brenton Byrnes.  The award is for best sportsmanship and the most inspirational player on and off the field.  Brenton has had a wonderful college football experience - we are so very proud of him.  More pictures will follow when Cady gets me the ones she took.

Brenton - pre-banquet in his new clothes (thanks Aunt Martha and Uncle Larry)



2012 KCAC Championship Ring



Brenton's award



Brenton



Collegiate Bowling Experience

Now that the Ottawa Brave football season has ended, it was time to turn my attention to the Ashford Saint bowling season. The season is remarkably long (starting in September and lasting until April). Of course, Shelby’s meets are not quite as close as driving to western Kansas so a road trip was in order. Since I drove 20 hours to LA for the last Brave’s game, I figured 10hours to South Bend, Indiana would be a breeze. A better choice of words would be a blizzard. I left Friday morning after walking Hannah and although it was cold, the weather was clear. Clear until I hit the middle of Illinois. Then the snow starting and quickly turned into a blizzard. Traffic on the highway pretty much slowed to a crawl. The biggest problem (besides not being able to see the lanes) was I had to have the defrost on high to keep my windshield wipers from freezing, which made the inside of my car like a furnace. So I took off my sweatshirt and cracked the window and trudged along. Luckily I made it safely (as did the team).


The Blue and Gold Bowling Classic was hosted by Notre Dame and was held at Chippewa Bowl in South Bend. There were 44 women’s teams and 66 men’s teams bowling in 2 sessions. (Lucky for me, Ashford bowled in the morning session or I would never have made it to work on Monday). The teams bowled 6 games on Saturday and 3 games on Sunday. Having never been to a collegiate bowling event, I really didn’t know what to expect. It reminded me a bit of college softball as many of the teams had cheers and chants (although if I had to hear “Strike, strike, baby” sung to Vanilla Ice’s Ice, Ice, Baby one more time I was going to throw up. Ashford’s chants were much better and not as annoying). The girl’s came in 13th place (out of the 44 teams) and managed to completely pummel KU (33rd place - which pleased Shelby to no end). Shelby only got to bowl one game which was a bit of a bummer but as the team was doing so well it was hard to be too disappointed.


Prematch warmup



National Anthem

Down the line

I took off to home immediately after they finished their 3rd game Sunday. No blizzard but lots of fog and rain. I am going to try to make one meet each month (weather permitting). Hopefully I will have better weather next month…