Part 2 Gabriel's 11th Birthday!

 Celebrating the 11th birthday of our first born was quite something. Time flies . . . the birth and aftermath of Gabriel's birth were very tough but all worth every minute of it. Gabriel is a gem and he lights up our home. Gabriel is a kind heart and a sweet soul. Don't let that fool you though. He is

a determined and brave young man.

I meant to blog this earlier but never did. Weeks back he had a wrestling tournament and honestly got

his butt kicked. He was thrown around like a rag dog the first match and came off and told me "That was almost humerous." He almost blacked out in one match and had the wind knocked out of him in another with the coach rushing out to check on him. Hard on a Mommy, actually even his Daddy to watch him go through all that. He ended up wrestling kids that had been in wrestling for YEARS and not months! 

I say all this to say Babe and I were so proud of him. He was very nervous but never gave up, never complained and fought as hard as he could and did get better as the matches went on. 

I dare say there are MANY kids that would NOT have completed some of those matches but not Gabriel. I saw that day that he had turned into a young man. I was proud of his attitude and his actions. It wasn't just us though but also his coach was really pleased with how Gabriel handled it. He noticed the battle marks Gabriel had received during the day. 

Babe and I were drained by the end of that day.
Babe was there to help coach him and I was there for support. I knew I could not give the typical Mommy support. I knew I had to stay positive and encouraging. At the end of the day he said "Thank you for encouraging me today Mommy." Worth it all.

My little boy isn't little anymore he's quickly becoming a man and part of becoming a man (as we read in a book weeks back) is understanding who you are and being comfortable with it and that is

what I see in Gabriel. He may not be the best wrestler but you still fight the fight and do your best.

 Ross really was on me to take him to Family Dollar so

he could buy Gabriel a birthday present! He got him a good present too!

Travel Battleship!!

 Carson drew Gabriel and picture of Gabriel 

climbing on our jungle gym! Pretty cute!

 Auntie Theo and Uncle Q got him a crystal growing kit. I am sure

he'll have a grand time with that this summer.

His Uncle B got his a hiking backpack. I don't have a picture of it yet!

 Gabriel opening and seeing that Grandma and Grandpa J got

him an ipad for his birthday!!

 Gabriel wearing his new hat he got from his Uncle Q for his birthday!

He loves it!

 Jedidiah enjoyed all the exploring.

Gabriel wanted to go Putt-Putt golfing on his birthday so we did!

We had such a fun time. We all want to go back!

Gabriel even ran into a friend of his there which he

thought was really fun!

 Annalina really improved as she played!

 The Kiddos had a GREAT golfing adventure!!

 Jedidiah showing no fear! :-)

 Jedidiah getting a break on Daddy's back.

 The Wild West Miniature Golf course was so fun!

 It was very cute watching Carson play miniature golf!

 Oh Dear! Ross hit his ball into the water!

No Wins, But A lot Of Good Family Time

Carson is not big on swimming but Daddy took him in some.

 Carson asked me if he looked like a swimmer. I thought that 

was cute. He doesn't like to swim but wants to look like one.

The only reason he wears goggles is because the big kids do!

 The older kids had a blast in the pool despite it being very chilly!

 Jedidiah decided there was more fun to be had outside the pool!

 Annalina having a splashing good time.

 Coach Sieracki and Gabriel and Ross.

This was actually taken at a different tournament.
He's a 2 time Olympic qualifer but never got to go.
Want to hear sad stories listen to those!

The boys like their coach.

 We were at Colorado State University gym waiting around.

I turned and saw this and had to get a picture!

Like I said . . . good family time.

 Unfortunately I didn't get Gabriel in this picture either.

 Carson got a piggy back ride from Gabriel in the pool time fun.

Carson finally decided to stay on the pool steps and they had 

some game where they gave the ball to Carson and then 

he threw it and the others saw who could get the ball first.

This weekend we were at Colorado State University for the State Wrestling tournament. No wins but we learned a lot which is important. I saw a shirt that said "Sometimes it takes more than one battle to win the war."-Margaret Thatcher. True statement.

I was nervous going into this knowing Babe may have to leave for work and I would be the one making sure we were at the right mat at the right time. Thankfully he was able to stay the whole time and the tournament was a whole lot closer to work than we thought! But I was able to watch another wrestling mom and although she didn't have real little children she had a great organization as to how she did it. You could tell she was a veteran and now I feel like if I have to due to Babe's work schedule I could go to a tournament on my own and I have a good plan down. Plus the kids also know how the tournaments go and are comfortable in the enviroment!

Ross did a good job holding his own and did not get pinned but Carson before one match said to him "It is ok if he pins you". Ross really liked that and got a big smile on his face. He knew Carson was trying to ease his mind/encourage him. After one the matches he lost Carson said to Ross "You did you good job." What a great encourager. Gabriel should be back in tournaments in the fall.

I also had a great time meeting and talking with another wrestling mom I heard about. Our kids really enjoy her kids and vice versa. She has 2 teenagers and a 10 year old. I think Ross had 4 teenagers at one of his matches. Carson gets along especially well with her oldest son and they joke and tease and wrestle each other. He is a BIG boy and cool kid that is obviously an athlete.

We went the night before since weigh in was early in the morning and the kids had a great time at the pool. We found we were at the hotel a lot of the other wrestlers chose to which made breakfast in the morning BUSY!!!

We had a great time away as a family. It was so nice! This is the last week of wrestling for the season and then summer break.

Thanksgiving Traditions

OK, Carson needs to learn about sanitary hands.

 I think it is so fun that traditions are forming. We move so much, which is wonderfully fun, but doesn't always make it as easy for traditions. This is our third year of making packages for neighbors . . .  Pilgrim hat cookies (idea from my sister in laws websight Theo's Creative Corner) and some type of snack mix. This year I changed the snack mix to Pumpkin Pie Chex and I added chocolate chips to the recipe! YUM! We make bags of snack mix and a plate of goodies for our neighbors and the kids deliver them. Annalina wrote on the labels "Thankful for good neighbors." We really do have good neighbors.
It's a fun project that the kids really enjoy and we get to share with the neighbors. This year our neighbor next door saw them coming and turned on his Christmas lights for the first time as they came to deliver the goodies. I thought that was cool. We're going to miss them. They are putting their house up for sale in January and they're retiring.

Another tradition is we read certain books. The primary book the kids think of at Thanksgiving is Voyage of Freedom by David Gay. It's about 150 pages long and gives a more realistic picture of what it was like on the voyage. It was not just a jaunt across the ocean. The book is historical fiction but I think it adds to their understanding of the event and teaches good principles. Next year I would like to read some  also of Of Plymouth Plantation. We'll see.

Cotopaxi, CO

Went to Cotopaxi, CO for a very mini-vacation and had a great time. Got to do what we were looking forward to  . . . hanging out as a family. The kids got to fish, have a picnic, have a camp fire and roast smores, play on a playground, play with and climb on rocks down by the river, shoot their wrist rockets, learn to play Skip-bo, etc.

Jedidiah and Daddy hanging out.

Down by the Arkansas River.

Ross having fun shooting his wrist rocket!

Not sure the conversation happening here.

Ross LOVED LOVED the merry-go-around. This was probably built when I was a kid. The equipment was old and they don't make merry-go-rounds like this anymore on playgrounds. The kids played a long time on it and Ross laughed and laughed and laughed!

The first day they fished Babe caught a trout and everyone ate some of it 

for dinner but me! They thought it was good. The second day it was almost time to go and Gabriel still hadn't caught a fish. I prayed silently and asked that he catch one and that it be bigger than Daddy's!:-) Minutes later Gabriel caught one and it was AT LEAST a 12 inch long trout. Babe had gone to check out of the cabin and I coached Gabriel wrong and the fish got loose and he and I both went into the river in our clothes to get it. I grabbed it and got freaked out and let go and it got away. I felt REALLY bad. I don't know why it bothered me that much. So we got no picture of it. Gabriel was so good natured about the whole thing. He was disappointed but had a great attitude. When we went up to find Daddy Carson excitedly told Daddy that "Gabriel caught a MONSTER fish." His words not ours, it was pretty funny. He was excited for his brother!

Jedidiah, our happy camper.

Carson visiting with Jedidiah.

Carson had eaten one smore and ate hardly any of the next and I saw him roasting another marshmellow and I commented to him. He said "I am full of that one. I am burning another one." After having his fill the fun part was burning the marshmellows.

Staying warm with Daddy by the camp fire.

We saw lots of pretty scenery which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Saw this fence in Leadville, CO and thought it was really cool.