Proud...

I am so proud of this girl...

She tried out to be the Student Council representative for her homeroom last week.  She had to compose a speech, stand up in front of her whole class and present it, and then the class voted on a winner.  She practiced and practiced her pretty awesome speech, as seen in the photo above the morning of her speech.

In the end, she lost to her good friend.  But this is where the proud comes in.  I'm proud that she tried.  I'm proud that she put herself out there and did something that was hard.  I'm proud that she was a gracious loser and told her friend how excited she was for her.  Not the fame kind of happy, but a true happiness for her friend.

Proud. Just plain proud.

A Day Late...

Yesterday was officially National Daughter's Day, and while I might be a day late for the celebration, I don't need a special day to celebrate my love for these sweet things...

I am beyond blessed to be their momma - for them to be my daughters.  

Blessed, grateful, thankful.

Apples and Antiques...

Grandma Jane spent this past weekend with us.  As with most of her visits, the time with her was spent hanging out and playing lots of games!  Lots and lots of games.

We also managed to enjoy the most beautiful fall weekend by visiting the apple orchard.  The weather was amazing, but the lack of crowds at the always-busy-apple-orchard was even better.  We lucked out.

Sullivan always has to sample the goods for us, you know, to make sure they taste okay...

The apples got two thumbs up!

The girls searched high and low for the very best apples...

We found more apples than we needed...

After all the hard work picking apples, we had to enjoy a sweet treat...

Aside from the apple orchard, us ladies also went shopping a bit.  We hit the antique stores near us, in search of nothing in particular, but had fun browsing anyway.  Grandma even taught the girls how to use a rotary phone!  Ha!

Our time with Grandma Jane was great - a good mix of relaxing and fun!  We are always thrilled for her time with us.

Friday Night Football...

This past Friday was the annual rivalry football game between the two high schools in town.  Last year Quinn endured torrential rain to take in the game with her friends, but Mother Nature was more on her side this year.

Quinn had a great time at the game, although I am not quite certain how much of the game (if any) was watched!

She had a blast just hanging out with her friends...

Can you find Quinn?  No, she is not the one that is front and center in front of the group. I mistook her for Quinn myself at first.

The Tigers, Quinn's future high school, came out on top!  A sweet victory against the rival school.  Quinn was able to tell us the final score, so she at least looked at the scoreboard before she left! 

Go Tigers!

Bouncing...

A while back Quinn went to the Color Run with her friend, Whitney.  Sullivan was quite envious of Quinn and really wanted to participate herself.  That wasn't in the cards for her this year, but I told her to keep her eyes out for a Fun Run of some sort and we would look into it for her.

It didn't take her long to find The Inflatable Race - a 5K race with bouncy obstacles smattered throughout the course.  She was instantly on board and super excited when we signed her (and Ryan) up for the race!

The race took place this weekend.... Sullivan and Ryan bounced and ran, and ran and bounced some more!  

The race itself was untimed, which made it less competitive and more fun filled.  They reported that lots of people walked the course, but Sullivan was proud to share that they  were some of the only ones to run it!  

The racers with their medals....

They both enjoyed the race a lot.  Time will tell if she wants to so this again next year, or if her eyes will be on the Color Run!

Thankful and Grateful...

Yesterday was definitely a day to be thankful - to reflect on how truly blessed we are each and every day.

First off, this happened back in Sioux Falls the night before last (9/10) at 11:30 p.m. ....

Three reported tornadoes ransacked the city, leaving behind physical destruction and devastation.  Some lost trees, some lost homes, and some lost businesses.  But the blessing amid all this physical devastation is that no one lost their life.  Thankfully, and by the grace of God.

Human error played a factor in this event, as the tornado sirens were only sounded in one small quadrant of town.  The majority of homeowners did not get warning of the impending tornado and some slept through the storm.  That makes the fact that no one lost their life even more miraculous.

It is with such gratefulness that I am happy to report all of our family is safe and unharmed.  No real damage other than some downed tree branches and lose of power for a time being.  I can't begin to go down to road of "what ifs," so instead I will go down to road of 'thank God.'

It goes without saying that September 11th was filled with emotion. 

Yesterday also marked 9/11's 18th anniversary.  That anniversary gets me every year.  I remember very vividly where I was when I heard the terrible news of this unthinkable tragedy.  I can recall as I grew up adults always saying, "I remember where I was when I heard Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Elvis Presley died, or JFK was shot and killed."  I never really understood or empathized with their thoughts and emotions surrounding those events.  Probably because I didn't live through them or experience them on my own.  It was a notable day in history nonetheless, but not one that I connected with emotionally.

9/11 was definitely one of those events that will forever be engrained in me.  The anniversary gives me time to pause and reflect on all those who died in the 9/11 attacks and all those that willingly gave their lives to safe others.

We are visiting the 9/11 memorial in NYC next month, where I am sure that I will develop an even bigger sense of gratitude and sorrow and sadness and anger and bewilderment by the events that took place on that day.

In closing, yesterday was a day to count blessings not troubles. Grateful for all my peeps, all my things, all my experiences, and my life.

I am...