Football Fun

I changed the background of the blog to a football theme.  I thought it was quite appropriate.  My brother and dad are both football coaches.  Dad is in his 12th year at William Penn and this is Aaron's 4th or 5th year at Twin Cedars, but his first year as head coach.  Penn is having a great season and I think Aaron's team is doing ok.  I feel like a horrible sister/daughter because I haven't been to any of their games yet.  Chad went to Aaron's game last week and we are hoping to get to Penn's Homecoming game October 29.  In addition to following Aaron and Dad's teams, Chad and I are followers of Bobcat football and this is a fun season to watch!  Our quarterback was named ESPN HS player of the week last week, which was pretty cool.  http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/football/tag/_/name/blake-gimbel  I had him in class as a 7th grader when I taught at the middle school.  He is a great kid and it's neat to see him doing so well.  Also, this is our first year as UNI season ticket holders.  We went to our first home game this season last Saturday and it was so much fun.  We were not sure how Payton would do because when we took her to a Bobcat game earlier this season, she hated all the noise.  But on Saturday she did awesome!  She sat on Chad's lap the entire game.  It was a fun day and I'm looking forward to spending many more Saturdays at the dome in Cedar Falls!

Go Sabers!

Go Bobcats!

Go Statesmen!



Go PaNtHeRs!!!!



Zoo

On Labor Day, we took a trip to the Blank Park Zoo.  This summer, we had won some free passes, but we never got a chance to go over the summer.  So, we decided Labor Day would be the perfect opportunity.  Well, it seems that the whole city of Des Moines felt that same way.  The place was PACKED!  We had to park in the overflow of the overflow parking!!  I have never really been a big fan of zoos, and I think Payton takes after me in that regard.  I took her once when she was just a year old.  We went with some friends, and she pretty much slept through most of it.  So, I was really excited for this trip because I thought she would have a blast now that she's older.  I was wrong.  Apparently zoos just aren't her thing.  She did get excited seeing the monkeys, and she did feed the giraffes.  (Although we pretty much forced her.)  Despite her lack of enthuisiasm at the zoo, it still was a nice family day.  On our way to Des Moines, we stopped in Newton to visit my friend Sara's newborn baby, Trey Michael.  What a cutie! 

Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?

I took the title of this blog post straight from the Alan Jackson song.  I remember exactly where I was that morning.  I was a sophomore at William Penn University, and my roommate and I had gone up to the cafeteria for breakfast.  Once we entered the cafeteria, I remember seeing lots of people in tears.  We weren't sure what was going on, but quickly learned that two planes had hit the Twin Towers.  We went back to our rooms to watch the coverage on tv and just sat in disbelief.  How could something like this happen?   


We take time today on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 to remember all those who lost their lives that day and all those who fight for ours today.

Tailgate fun

Last weekend Chad and I went to Ames for the UNI/Iowa State game.  We went early to tailgate at Dolly.  Dolly is the RV that my friend Kristy and her family use for the ISU games.  Jess, Keith, and the boys joined us for some tailgating as well.  The weather was pretty crappy, but we still had a good time.  The game was a close one....I really thought UNI would pull it off, but they came up short.