Sounders Soccer Game

 We have been wanting to take Leila to a Sounders game for a while now and we finally got our act together this fall and purchased tickets to a game. Wow! What a fun evening!! Only having been to one event ever at Century Link and not having a clue what the seating was like, boy did we luck out! It was pouring down rain the night of the game and some how, thank the heavens, we ended up about 8 rows under the overhang! Our seats were right next to the end of the section so we had a nice concrete wall on our right that blocked us in from the wind. Honestly, we couldn't have picked better seats for the weather!! Leila was getting over a cold and started complaining of an itchy eye at the start of the game. By the time we headed home, there was no doubt it was pink eye, but this didn't stop her from enjoying the game though! 

We splurged and each of us picked out a Sounders scarf. You can't go to a soccer game without a scarf, right?!?! We all decided it was a necessary purchase as we would definitely be attending more games in the future!

 We had parked on the roof, so Chris left us on a covered floor and ran up to get soaked...I mean to retrieve the car and then picked us up. We took this pic while we waited for our gentleman.

I love experiencing something new with my family. What a wonderful memory!! 

Blasters Soccer

Leila's awesome soccer coach from last year moved from coaching coed micro to coaching an all boys team with her son. So, needless to say, Leila couldn't play on Coach Sarah's team this fall. Chris and I decided to try our hand at coaching micro soccer. We had seven kids total, ranging in age from 4-6. We had a great time and I think the kids did too! Our team was the Blasters and we were assigned bright orange for our jerseys. Leila grew a lot this season. She is still a little hesitant, but when compared to last year (her first season) she has matured leaps and bounds! She even scored this season!! One game, in particular, she scored 4 goals!! She was bursting with pride that day! So were her coaches!! 

Emerson, Leila and Ainsley became quite the pals!

Cameryn, Emme and Leila

This picture captured quite an accomplishment! Our youngest player, Tevyn, doesn't try new foods very easily and for most of the season he would NOT touch oranges....but look what happened near the end of the season!

Tooth Number Four

Leila lost her fourth tooth just 9 days after the third tooth!! If she could have held out for another month, she could have sung "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth." SO close! I am writing this in November and those new top two teeth are about halfway grown in already! 

Kindergarten!!

 Our baby girl joined the ranks of school-aged kiddos this fall! She is now an official kindergartener! Wow, how did that happen? She is more than ready to start school and Christopher and I have no doubt that she will do amazing things in the months and years to come. We are amazed at her kind heart, thoughtfulness, musical ability and smarts! Of course, she's ours and we are biased, but she is such a bright and perfect child! 

That morning I made her take pictures...just what she wanted to do so early in the day. She was finally able to use her Wings back pack. She had been asking about it all summer. She was so excited to share it with her classmates...Chris and I tried to explain that most kids, ok probably no one, would know the Red Wings, but she didn't care one bit. I was able to find coverage for my class (thank you, Pam! I can't ever repay you!!) and be there for her first few minutes of kindergarten. 

 We drove to Sandy's house so she could ride the bus to school. I put her on the bus, drove fast to beat the bus to school and was there to meet her when she stepped off. 

 This was her getting off the bus that morning and arriving at Woodland. We found her line-up spot and waited. While we were waiting, she said, "Mom, I really don't think you should bring your big camera in the class! The clicking is gonna be way too loud!" Well, lucky for Leila, I didn't even go inside. Other parents were saying their good-byes on the playground and I didn't want to be the only one following the class, so I gave her a huge hug and kiss, hid my tears, swallowed the lump in my throat and watched her walk inside with her class. Only moms and dads who have had that first day of kindergarten experience can understand the feelings that were swirling around inside me. My baby. My big girl. My lovely child. 

Gramma and Aunt Chris met the bus at Sandy's house after school and took Leila out for a treat. She had a fabulous first day and was eager to head back the next morning! Here's to a great start of school! 

Third Tooth

Two days before school started Leila lost her third tooth!  It fell out during a tickle fight with Daddy. It was hanging by a thread already and he accidentally bumped her with his elbow and out it came! It made for a great story as she kept telling people that "Daddy popped me in the mouth and hit my tooth out!" 

Time, please slow down! 

Birthday Thank-Yous!

 Thank you notes are very important to me and Leila has been in charge of writing thank yous for the last few years. They are always simplified notes, but she is learning the value of having the note come from her...and not me. This year, we tried something new...I wrote the bubble letters and Leila colored them in. Then she wrote her name and drew a heart. The top picture is what we printed out and mailed to family and friends. We got kinda loopy and thought it would be fun to have a speech bubble, but we were laughing so much that the pics with the speech bubble looked crazy. Add to this that is started to rain right as I took the lens cap off the camera and you can figure out we had very LITTLE time to get the job done!! 

Labor Day Weekend

 On Labor Day, the whole Tavern side of the family got together to drive up to Cat's Creek. This was the site of MANY Tavern camping trips during Chris's growing up years. His grandparents, Carol and Don, loved spending time here with all of the family. Both Carol and Don passed away last fall and Mike and Lynn knew there was no there place to serve as their final resting spot. The water falls are beautiful and it was a very peaceful family time. 

The grandsons remembering all the camping trips.