Some great hikes

Its rainy, its dreary, we dont have heat or hot water.....  Lets go for a hike.

It really just feels better to be outside and my husband is the best hike finder around.  This one if pretty much in our back yard.

We probably shouldn't have taken Nora, but its so hard to say no to her excitment.

These are mountain bike trails that Asa builds, you will NEVER catch me riding across that bridge!

 

Some great March things - from Jobs, to Basketball to concerts

Here are some great things...

My mom asked me to take care of this rope plant while she was gone.  Not only did I not KILL it, its actually thriving.  So much so, I had to take a photo.

Jazz band had a concert featuring a guest artist on the clarinet and it was REALLY good.  Can't believe its a last for the Leadbetters.

These guys spent a chilly day all together on the golf course and loved every minute.  Dad still won!

This was the final night of us all being friends - Tennessee had a big game, Michigan and Michigan state had big game too - best part, it wasn't against each other.  Yet....

Best part, Farrah submitted an application for a family counseling position and guess what, 2 interviews later and she is IN!  This world needs her and her talents.  Its not an easy job by any stretch.  I (and this world should be) thankful for people like Farrah with a big heart and love for doing this work.

Not sure if we nailed the Instagram trend, but it was fun trying.

you guessed it - full family room = full heart

Just so we are clear, Bill has 2 T-shirts on.  MSU had the first game.  Gotta LOVE his spirit!

And then it was quite and this one settled into the fun new location for the 2nd TV-

We ran out of gas, yup, it happened.  That device is producing heat, and that little white dog is pretty smart and the photo made me smile.

 

Basketball Banquet

First basketball Banquet under the new Regime - it was quite efficient - check out this impressive class of 2027!  Congrats to Shane on EARNING the Varsity Letter!!  That is HUGE - Speaks to his DRIVE - I love seeing him aggressive on the court.  Watching the 3s go in is pretty cool too.

This is my bitter sweet moment.  Here are the senior boys - Nick's buddies, Chase, Ryan, Tate and David.  

These are their mom's taking their photos.  It is beautifully sad to see them move onto the next step.  I will REALLY miss these moms in the stands.  The only thing constant, is change.

 

Tate's Birthday

What's up Birthday Boy!!  Here's to 19!

Brian rocked the birthday boy weekend Awe throwing and all!

Thank you to Brian for hosting the neighborhood NCAA tournament bracket which brought us all together smack talking and TONIGHT all together for Tate's birthday!  Cake was premade by Farrah who was in CA celebrating her sister's big 5 - 0!

Still really love a full family room - translates into a full heart every time!

 

My Helpers ROCK

1/2 day central and while these guys are DYING to get on the golf course, we committed them to a family chore of locking in the chicken coop!!  They dug in the wire fencing, got rid of the rat tunnels in pretty record time.

 

These are the days when I feel BEYOND fortunate for this crew.

And it makes me giggle at the time when Drew was late to his basketball game because he totally forgot and was knee deep in chicken poop - and coach still gave him a hard time.  Yup, that makes me laugh...

 

Award Night for Nick and Coach Bristol

Board of Ed celebrates big achievements for their community  how pretty darn awesome is it that NIck get recognized for his 100th win at the SAME time that Coach Bristol gets recognized for his coaching 100th win!!

 

FINAL Rhode Island tournament and we FINALLY figured it out - stay with the Charrons!

Friday night we head to Newport to connect with the team at an old timey arcade grab take out at a noodle bar (drive an eat it - genius right?) not if you are the driver....

Saturday 2 games, one of them had a kid that can DUNK.  Needlesss to say, we didn't win that game.

Here is a big win!  All together with the crew.  We even had Nick and Shane drive up.  It was a beautiful afternoon and opted to hit Top Golf and did a little shopping at TJ Max.

Another game.

More fun cousin time!

We sucked in Helium balloons, my sister made limitless crepes, we watched wedding crashers and just chilled together.  Total win, icing on the cake was opting out of the final game (as a team) and watching Drew pal around with the team mates.  What a difference a year and our family makes.

 

Back on the slopes

Thankful for some snow and a little time back on the slopes!

Tate included!

 

Buy out the bakery

Farrah started a new gig at the Riverton Bakery - she worked a week before the owner need to close doors to care for her mother that started to hospice care.  She wanted to see all the breads to go home to hear mother.  Farrah bunded us together to help sell out the bakery!  We sure made a great dent in it!

 

Basketball tournament games

The team goes on and up against Ellington again!  Love our baller!

This time, the Keefe's book a bud for the fans!  Talk about EPIC

Our own fan bus.  It was even hard to get tickets and they sell out the gym.  I managed to score one for Drew and Hunter.

This is one spirited crew.

Gotta love the video snippet.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-N5nZe5q-mM?feature=share

It was packed - the team had cheerleaders and a rather engaged student body with chants and all.

The game was close but became clear we were not going to be on the winning side of it.  The boys fought hard but this was the end of the season.

Made for still a rather fun ride home.  We got to see the girls game on You tube and watch the young ones crush some dancing in the back.

https://youtube.com/shorts/yYU99B1A5sg?feature=share

 

Wrestling Banquet

Tuesday night Wrestling banquet - Loved sitting back and remembering 

Nick's Freshman banquet at Jenny Bahr's house (not long after COVID) 

Sophomore Banquet, coach Josh hosted at the Lions club, 

Junior we crushed at the Lions club (letting josh catch a little break) 

Senior year we fill the North house.  

Love how this team has elevated!

Had to capture the well prepared speech from Nick - Tommy was great as well.  

https://youtu.be/2av0nRM6qmw

The most EPIC wrestling video made by Jenn Wright

https://youtu.be/7yY-k-nupyg?si=FtzJInylVClSjLv5

Beyond amaazed at the impact this sport had on Nick and the return he gave to the program.

Love the kids and the families in this program

The junior class and leaders for next year!

The banquet was beautiful and emotional - love it all.  Can you believe as we were all there, Shane gor on the court for their second tournament game?  of course he did.  And we missed seeing the big smile on his face!!  He will remind us in years to come I bet.

 

The Tournament Begins!

This was QUITE the game, with 2 buzzer beaters to have the final win end in Double over time.  It was also a double header with the girls leading it off.  

While Shane didn't hit the court, its an honor to dress for the game on be in that row of athletes.

 

My Birthday Week!

My sister wife planned a birthday week for me.  it received a bit of an eye roll from my family but not every night involved them.  Sunday night - 

Chicken Paprikash ALA Chef Brian McCullough.

Looks and tastes like the original!

Any only 2 pots!

Woven into our Sunday night dinners.

The gift included this beautiful glass start made at a local farm.  I spent time over the holidays ogling them and trying to decide on a color.  Beautifully chosen and now taking the place of Shane's 1st grade made snowflake that hung for years.

Monday was family birthday and a walk with my sister wife and a balloon surprise from our neighborhood bestie

Love how plants can travel through the mail - this one has the most beautifully colored flowers!

The final night was a dinner out with my closest crew chosen by Farrah.  Warmed my heart seeing the list of ladies she was texting.  The treasure was hearing some fond memories of how they met me.  Crazy to think Kelly and Mary I have known since high school, Meg one of my first friends here, Rebecca not to far after, Patty from life in the hood and Farrah being the most unique story of them all.  Only regard is not getting a full table photo!