Thursday, February 18, 2010

Goalie





During Luke's hockey games, they had five players on the ice, one was goalie. Because there were only 8 players for Luke's team sometimes they had to stay on the ice for more than one 3 minute shift. As soon as the horn sounds Luke heads for the sidelines and getting to go another shift proved to be difficult. So the coaches started having play goalie for one 3 minute shift and then go skate and play the puck for the next 3. One time he played the puck, then goal tended, then played the puck and was out there for 9 minutes, he was ready for a break. He didn't always pay attention as goalie, but he did stop several. It was fun to watch him back there because it was obvious he was watching everything around him, when the coaches cheered for a blocked goal, he would beam and look at them, only sometimes this ended up in the other team having a chance to score because he wasn't paying attention. At least he was taller than the goal. :)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Beau in Action

Beau had two games on Saturday and two on Sunday this past weekend. He played hard in all of them and he played a little better in each one. Beau enjoys hockey but isn't super passionate about it. He has really grown this year and he tries hard but he is out their having fun more than anything. He prefers defense over offense so he doesn't often even try to shoot. He loves to sacrifice his body to save a goal, but he doesn't want to be goalie. He is always intense on the bench waiting for his turn to take the ice. The first picture on the bench is one of my favorite, just shows how ready to go he is. The others are all just action shots, it was fun to look back at the pictures and see how hard he was working to get that puck. Saturday is his last game and I hope to get some video and some more pictures.








Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Luke's Hockey Faces

We had a hockey tournament this weekend. The boys and I headed to Butte, MT for 8 games of hockey, 4 each. I have many more pictures, but I thought I'd start with these. This was just before Luke's last game of the day, he'd already played three hours of hockey and had one to go. We loaded him up with some Cheetos, an airhead, a lollipop, and I think he was eating nerds here. He was ready to go. It was the most cooperative he was all day and the only time I was able to sit and the stands and watch without him needing me to be on the ice by the bench. He did have fun but it was a long day, for all of us.


Valentine Girl

Anna woke up for school Friday and promptly dressed in Valentine apparel. Her school party was Friday and she looked adorable. I stopped by during her lunch to snap a couple of pictures because I knew I wouldn't have another chance that day. I had fun playing around with them to make them look fun. She was a little embarassed because all her friends were watching, but she played along for the sake of her mom. She was an adorable Valentine.


Happy Anniversary

Today would have been 64 YEARS, that is such an extremely amazing number. Memere and Pepere have been such an example to so many of us. Just weeks before the accident I had grabbed a frame at Walmart to frame this photo. It sits on our entertainment center. I loved it as they mean so much to us. Now that Memere is gone from this world, that picture still sits up top and I find myself glancing at it often, I usually end up staring and offering up a small prayer...a prayer of thanks for having her in our lives, a prayer of sorrow for all those that are still processing saying good-bye, a prayer for Pepere navigating this new course of life. Tears come to my eyes often as I look at it.
What I love about this picture, that has really become present to me since Memere's funeral and returning home is that she is at the center of it. Just as she was in life, she was the center of Pepere's world, the center of the home...she is the mother and wife I hope to be. Their love is so visible, it was a dreary day, but somehow this photo makes it look like the sun was shining so brightly on them. I know Pepere misses her today and I pray he finds peace in the love he still has for her and in the love Our Father has for us. Beau was a little saddened on Valentine's Day because Pepere was alone. I feel that way today, but I know she lives on his heart as she does in all of ours. So Happy Anniversary to a couple that will live forever because of the way they have shared their lives with so many.


Friday, February 5, 2010

Going Home

I've always considered Michigan as home, it is where I was raised, it contains most of my memories, and where I have lived the longest. However, we recently made a trip to Connecticut unexpectedly, and I felt like we were going home.
Home is where family is, and when Ben's beloved grandmother, Grand Memere, passed away unexpectedly, we knew we had to go home. When we arrived at Ben's mom's house, the feeling of comfort was instant, the roads have become familiar and that feeling of I'm home crept up on me like I didn't expect. Seeing the end of the road and pulling in knowing there were arms there to hug us and love us was wonderful. Sitting at Joyce's table talking into the night, I felt at home. Putting the kids to bed in her house felt like home. Knowing the kids would wake up in the morning and go find Memere downstairs without even waking me made me feel I was home. Sitting on the love seat in the tv room with all three of my kiddos crowded around me so that we barely fit, felt perfectly right and homey.
Going to Pepere's house was like going home too. Without Grand Memere there to greet us with open arms made it difficult, but her presence was everywhere and within everyone. Sitting in the living room with the fire toasty warm, the chairs filled with family and people overflowing to the floor, how could it not be home.
Sitting at Ben's sisters, Kara, lounging on the couch with the kids playing all around us, watching cartoons that make no sense, that too was home.
Grand Memere passing on to heaven was and is difficult to understand and explain, but through this experience I learned that home is where family is and where we belong. Whether it is with Ben's large extended family, or my family in Michigan, or here in Montana with just the five soon to be six of us, home is what you make it.
I also know the greatest home is where Grand Memere is waiting...She walked through heaven's gates last Sunday and reunited with all those that had gone before her. I'm sure she had a big hug and kiss for Ben's dad, and there are many others up there that she is dancing with. She is in the arms of Jesus, what greater home could there be. We will miss her here with us, but she is in each and every person who has ever been graced to know her. She will always live in our hearts and she will live on to our children through stories. Every time I drink a cup of tea or I see a chicken I will think of her. She had the greatest hugs and the mushiest kisses. She was love, she shared love, and she exemplified the role of a wife and mother. Pepere and Memere's marriage was one to be emulated and if Ben and I can live up to the standards they have set we will go far in life, but they set the bar high so it will take constant effort to love unconditionally as those two loved eachother. I know Memere's soul is resting in peace, and I pray for all those who are grieving her loss, that God may be able to fill them also with peace and know that someday they will be reunited with the beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, and friend.















Boy Oh Boy

The first images of our little mancub. We are still tossing names around, but starting to narrow it down a little.

This is the telltale picture. The one leg is in a different plane than the other and because it is a 3-D image it looks slightly off, but the tech assured me it is just the picture, his leg is fine and she showed me it at a different angle. He looked great, size was right on and a little ahead. He is a mover and a shaker. Really starting to look forward to July.
His little foot, for his PopPop who loves tootsies, and his soon to be uncle who is a podiatrist.
And just for fun...