Yay for Soccer!

Keenan and Tyler had a fantastic game last night for their school!!!!

Keenan got a hat-trick and Tyler stopped dozens of goal attempts by West.

Here's the article from the newspaper (the Statesville Record and Landmark):

OLIN - West Iredell made a run late, but Keenan Watson had already given North Iredell plenty of wiggle room.

Watson scored three goals in the first 55 minutes Monday to power North Iredell to a critical 3-2 victory over West Iredell.

"I think I was seeing the field really well," Watson said. "I was trying to get other people going."

Watson's third goal came when he stepped in front of a West Iredell free kick attempt and had a clear lane to the goal.

The Warriors (7-2-2 overall, 2-1 North Piedmont Conference) made a game of it late, though.

Craig Vang scored on a penalty kick in the 66th minute to make it 3-1.

Less than five minutes later, Max McCoy found the back of the net to put West just one goal down.

"Our coaches told us to pick our heads back up," Watson said. "They said we thought we had it won when we went up 3-0, but we still had to finish it out."

They did, and the Raiders (5-3, 2-0) must now be considered a serious contender for the NPC championship.

North, West and Statesville are widely expected to compete for the conference crown. In the first match between any of those three teams this season, the Raiders have a leg up.

"I do think we can win the conference," Watson said.

Tang Moua made 10 saves for the Warriors, who entered the game on a three-game winning streak.

"We kept competing hard and pushing it late, but I thought North was completely the better team," West coach David Heintz said. "I thought they wanted it more than us. They set the tone early, and we had to try and catch up."


(photo from pre-season tournament at West)

slow and steady

Progress is being made on the house......slowly......but it's progress!

the old stairs -- going........

going.......

gone.

The spots for the new windows in the back

the new windows (back)

and the walls come crumbling down......

almost......


I added a couple of pictures to some posts below....

Guess where????

Our family will have another member in IDAHO!!!

Kyle has been called to serve in the Boise Idaho mission!

(I think Brandee better tell him how COLD he's going to be after being a southern boy for 13 years!)

Kyle will report to the MTC on November 11th. The numbers thing is funny for Kyle ---- for years as we were driving home from soccer practice he would look up at the clock at 9:11. Well - he got his mission call on 9/11/09. He is to report to the MTC on 11/11/09 and he will be 'officially' done his mission in 2 years - on 11/11/11. Weird, isn't it?

September 11th

I was walking on a treadmill at Fitness Today Lady watching TV when the program switched to live coverage of a plane hitting one of the Twin Towers. I turned to my friend Sheila and said "that's not just an accident". We both watched in horror as the 2nd plane was shown hitting the other tower. I got off the treadmill and called Tim and told him to put Fox News on. Then Sheila and I both left the gym. I got home in time to watch the towers fall. The overwhelming sadness and fear eventually gave way to determination to restore our lifestyles and our sense of well being. As the stories came out, there was such a sense of pride in our nation! The sacrifices and the bravery were amazing.

Over the next couple of weeks, we stayed glued to the news and also tried to keep things 'normal' for the kids. We would talk about the things they heard during the day at school and try to clear things up if they were given wrong or vague information.

At a soccer game several weeks after the attack, we all stood and watched a plane fly over - realizing that we hadn't seen one in so long. It brought to mind all that we take for granted living in this country - things that we felt we were 'entitled' to have instead of being grateful for our many blessings.

8 years later we have a 'new normal' - making sure we live free - but at the same time be aware of what is going on.

“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children. “
- President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

Work, Work, Work

YAY! The new windows in the old half are going in! Too bad the kids thought a 3 day weekend meant vacation...... NOT around here!

AND - NO MORE POPCORN CRAP ON THE CEILING!!!!! (Tyler and Dallin scraping...and scraping.....and scraping)




School is going great - the schedule this year is really good. Keenan, Tyler, Ethan and Hayleigh all get up at the same time. The boys go to seminary (Tyler and Ethan with Tim and Keenan in the little red car because he goes to Statesville High School during the school day for auto tech). Hayleigh and I walk to the end of the driveway to get the bus. Elementary school is now starting at 7:30. It's okay for our family, but I wonder how many kids are going home to empty houses waiting for their older siblings to get home from high school. The high school starts at 8:15, so they don't get out til 3:15.

After school is keeping us busy. Hayleigh is doing Girls on the Run (GOTR) again. She really enjoys running. Dallin decided to do cross country at the middle school - his first meet is this Wednesday. Dallin is also doing club soccer for Winston - which has taken some getting used too! Practice is only 20 minutes from our house instead of the 1 hour+ it used to take us to go to Charlotte. Thank goodness Winston also wears blue! After 8 years of saying "go blue" it would be hard to remember something different! Keenan, Tyler and Ethan are playing soccer for school. Keenan has a painful knee injury right now that is probably his ACL (Brandee and Kyle tore theirs, so Keenan would be next in line!). He is wearing the brace that we bought for Brandee (Kyle wore it too so we are really getting our money's worth out of that thing!). We will get it checked when the season is over. He really wants to play some for his senior year. Keenan also has to march for band! His knee never gets a chance to rest! (we were kind of laughing the other day - he got fouled in a game and his right hand swelled up - the knee that is injured is his left - and the car is a stick shift - the right hand and left leg are very important when you drive a stick shift!)

Kirsten and I have been doing the housework together during the day while everyone is at school. She is such a good little helper! Yesterday, she was 'helping' put the new windows in. She held stuff for Tyler and got nails and tools (at least the ones she could pick up) for the boys. She kept 2 of those flat pencils in the pocket of her overalls jumper and made sure that Tim was always able to find his pencil when he needed it. She really wore herself out and told Tim last night that she was 'seepy' and ready for bed. She is still asleep this morning (it's 8:15!).

We took a picture to submit for Kyle's mission stuff - he put on his shirt, tie and coat......took the 'head shot' picture.....and then we took a 'full body shot'.....wonder if we submitted the right one????




We should be hearing very soon where he will be going for the next 2 years. So many possibilities!!! We've all been taking guesses. Kyle thinks Africa - he keeps dreaming about giraffes. (don't try to analyze it - it's just giraffes) I think somewhere in Europe would be fun - I have family in Holland and Kyle loves EPL soccer. It would ironic if he was called to the Philadelphia mission. Who knows?? Where do you think he'll be sent? Leave a guess in the comments and we'll post here as soon as we find out.