British Soccer Camp

The kids finished up soccer camp tonight. We tried out the British Camp this year vs the MSU one that Kohen did last year. We really liked and it will sign up again next year. Kohen isn't happy it's only once each year. This, of course, was Kresee's 1st camp and experience with any soccer. She only had to go 5-6:00 every night and Kohen went from 5-8:00. Luckily this evening was nice weather and it was enjoyable watching them. Here are pictures from the week. Since I was helping with Papa's funeral stuff I wasn't there the entire 3 hours every night but I did get to see them plenty:)

 

First evening of camp

 

 Kohen and Adam got to be in a group together.

 And little sisters, Audrie Kate and Kresee, were together. These girls will be on the same team this Fall.

 The coaches were soooo good with these little kids. They had so many fun, cute games to keep them entertained yet still teach them basic soccer skills. The first night during a water break there was a grasshopper sitting next to me on the bleachers. Since Kresee is obsessed with bugs and animals she loved watching it. I had to coax her to go back out on the field vs hang out with the grasshopper. When Kerry asked her later that night what was her favorite thing about camp that evening she said "seeing that grasshopper". I have a feeling this Fall when she is playing for real, we might have the flower picker, butterfly chaser, etc vs soccer player--haha...

 

 

 Kohen's first night...They did different drills and then split them up into countries to scrimmage. His team was China and had to wear blue the rest of the week.

 Last day of camp

 

 

 Getting her sheet to tell her how good she did this week and giving hi-fives to all the coaches

 Group picture...

 

 After she was done, I went and watched Kohen his last 2 hours....

 

 

 It was pretty awesome. Each night they picked a MVP for the evening from each group. Kohen received it both on Wednesday and Thursday. And then tonight they picked 3 MVP's for the entire camp; one for each age group. He GOT it for his group and he was so excited!!! He really did work hard. And the best part was that all 3 MVPs were all from China and so they won the overall World Cup for the week for the most points accumulated all week!

 

 Here is my little MVP for all the 6, 7 and 8 year olds!!!!

 

Group picture...

 Getting his sheet to tell him what he did well on and what he needs to continue to work on.

 Coach Gerarld and Kohen. He really loved Kohen and all these coaches were so great with the kids. Kerry and I think we would love to host one of these guys next year. I don't know where they would sleep but we think it would be a lot of fun:)

Great job to both kids. You continue to make us so proud!

Papa

August 9, 1934 - June 9, 2013

This week has been the most exhausting week of my life. From planning the funeral to the visitation to Papa's funeral; it's been an emotional week. One I hope my family doesn't have to do again for a very, very long time. It still hasn't really set in. I don't honestly feel like he is really gone. Like he will just appear but I guess that's normal. I've never lost anyone close to me so these feelings are all very new for me.
Kohen had baseball camp every morning this week and both kids had soccer camp every evening. It's been hard getting them to and from everything but it's helped with them having something to do so I could take the time to help mom and Nana with whatever they needed. The kids did OK at the funeral today. Again, I'm so thankful they knew Papa and were close to him. I'm sad because I know Kohen was pretty upset by the whole thing. He cried a lot today and Kresee was almost hysterical during the funeral. She was so sad looking at his picture up there by his casket and then she would start thinking of Sage and Biskit in heaven and start crying even harder. Poor things. The funeral was beautiful. I picked the songs for the funeral and the slide show. A hard job but I thought they were all perfect songs.

How Great Thou Art--Carrie Underwood
Save a Place for Me--Matthew West
When You Get Where You're Going--Brad Paisley
Go Rest High--Vince Gill

Both my sister and cousin, Bryan, spoke today. They did a wonderful job telling funny stories about Papa and things we will always remember about him. There were so many people there was standing room only. The place seated 225 so there were lots of people there. A testament to his life; he was such a good man who was loved by many.

After we got Papa's funeral all set and figured out on Monday I went out to take some pictures of Lady. We wanted a picture of her to put in a flower wreath that would be in his casket for the visitation. Good thing she cooperated and I got a great picture. This picture was buried with him. She was by his side throughout this entire cancer fight and we know he would have wanted her beside him always.

I really don't have the words right now to express how I'm feeling other than I'm just so sad. I can't imagine how Nana feels or my mom and aunt; losing your husband and father has to be so hard. I just know he is no longer in pain; he can breathe without any problems and is in heaven watching over us until we see him again someday. I love you so much Papa. You meant the world to me. I couldn't have asked for a better grandfather and I'm so very lucky and blessed.

13 years

Today Kerry and I celebrate our 13th anniversary. But I'm not really in the celebrating mood and he understands that. He has been so amazing the past few weeks and makes me feel lucky to have him as my husband. The kids had soccer camp tonight and so my good friend Stephanie was super sweet and took Kresee home with her to play with Audrie Kate while the boys continued at their camp and Kerry and I ran to On The Border for a quick anniversary dinner before heading back to the stadium to pick up both boys and run Adam home. I didn't even think we would get a dinner so I was very thankful for her offer. We went to the Gaylord last year and were hoping to do that again this year. Plans are on hold for now of course but hopefully we can go next month or before I start back to work. Happy 13 years Kerry. I love you so very much!

Good-bye for now Papa

Today, by far, was the worst day of my life. We said goodbye to my Papa around 11:30 this morning. He has been in the hospital since May 18th and just wasn't getting any better. He fought a hard fight the last 14 months. Lung cancer ended up taking him from us but he sure tried and we are thankful for that. He was transferred from United Regional on Wednesday afternoon to Hospice. And he passed away peacefully with all of us there which is what he wanted. We were so very blessed to have this time with him the past few weeks. Last Tuesday on the 4th, every single one of us got one on one time with him to tell him how much he meant to us and oh how much we loved him. I know many families do not get to do that opportunity and we feel so very lucky. He was so sad that he hadn't been able to see his dog and so the hospital made a special request to let Lady come and visit him last week. But the great thing about Hospice is that she got to visit him every day those last few days of his life. Nana and Papa just celebrated their 59th wedding anniversary and they had an amazing life together. I honestly don't know what we are all going to do without him. We've eaten dinner with Nana and Papa every Saturday my entire life and it's never going to be the same without him being there.

 Here is Lady visiting him at the hospital last week.

 Last Monday the 3rd he was in and out of it but my mom and I sat and held his hand from 8 am that morning till about 8 pm that night. I took this picture and I treasure it.

 These pictures were from last April 2012 and I wanted to post a few again....Some of my all time favorite pictures of him. I'm so glad we took them. And I'm so thankful my children were able to know him.

After he passed away today, we all went to my mom's to start going through photo albums to pull pictures for his funeral. Poor Lady doesn't really know what is going on but I thought this was precious. Kerry and Lady decided they needed a snuggle buddy for a nap. I know my Papa would smile at this:)

This week is going to be miserably hard. We have the funeral to plan tomorrow and the visitation/funeral to get through. Many prayers are needed for our family as we try to get through this.

Run for Rosie 5K

Today I put on my first ever 5K and 1 mile fun run....I've ran plenty and I enjoy signing up for local ones here in town....Although I knew it wouldn't be easy, my friend Jamie and I were able to pull it off....One of Kohen's sweet friends since preschool has a mom who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma...Jamie and I knew we wanted to do something and we thought this would be a doable event and one that we could try and raise some money for their family...We met back in February and decided on the name "Run for Rosie" and came up with the tshirt design....And then the next almost 4 months of my life were dedicated to getting this thing going:)...I can't even begin to describe how great everything went...So many people came out and participated...We were able to raise over $4,000 for her family (that's even after paying for all the tshirts and the chip timing people)....Pretty darn good for a 5K....I just know that we had a lot more people come out than other 5K runs that are established here in town so we were so happy about it all....We had 90+ run the 5K and I don't know how many walked/ran the 1 mile....

We let the kids compete for the 1 mile fun run...The top 3 boys and the top 3 girls got medals...Kohen was so wanting a medal...He ran so hard and did sooooo good but came in as the 5th place boy which was awesome!!!! But disappointing to him....His cousin Jaxson got 1st place for the boys and beat everyone...He did amazing...

I think he knew we were pretty darn proud of him...He got over it pretty quickly because he loves helping and he got right into volunteer mode for the 5K runners...

The kids and Kerry loved passing out water...Kohen's favorite was at the finish line handing the people a cup right when they got done...

Me, Rosie and Jamie

Ranger Swim Party

After the Run for Rosie this morning we had a baseball team party to go to in the afternoon....I always love going to the Thomas house for this party every year because the boys have such a great time and I love visiting with all the parents...We are all friends and it's nice having some adult conversations:)

 

Here are all the boys that were able to attend...We were only missing a couple....

Since the trophies haven't come in yet, Coach Jesse made each boy their own certificate...

Kohen got the "Speed Demon" award for zipping around those bases; sometimes even when he was told to stop:) 

We had a fun season and I think Kohen is wanting to do baseball again in the Fall....

Soccer Swim Party

We had a swim party to celebrate the boys on their awesome soccer season...Adam's parents thankfully let us come hang out at their pool...The boys had a great time swimming and eating:)

 

 Miles' mom made this neat soccer ball that they all signed...I love it and it's already sitting on my front porch in the flower bed:)