The Graduate!

Maddie's cousin graduated from UNL (University of Nebraska - Lincoln) last month! As with so many things, there was a lot of uncertainty about graduation in the pandemic age! But, it worked out well - Yay!

The graduation was outside; the graduates walked and picked up their diplomas and it was a happy occasion - even though it was a bit chilly that weekend. I'm sure Grace got used to the crazy Midwest weather though I think the minus 30 degree winter and excessive snowfall may have convinced her that Nebraska, while nice and all, does not have the best year-round weather!

Before she graduated, she got together with Maddie so Maddie could take some photos on campus! Grace and David both graduated. Grace's boyfriend, Clayton, has one more semester and will graduate in December.

The blooming trees on UNL campus were gorgeous for graduation photos!

And those columns you see in some photos - are called The Kissing Columns (not sure why) were removed the day after graduation so that the football training area can be expanded. Of course - football! So happy to have these photos before they got moved!

We had loads of fun celebrating Grace's graduation! She's back in Florida now working at Ernst & Young. Those 4 years went by so fast!! Congrats Grace! We'll miss you!

Catching Up?

Summer seemed to have sped by at warp speed

and somehow I've gotten way, way behind on blogging.  

Sometimes, I have a bit of blogger's block

and simply cannot put together a sentence or

two and thus I get behind.

I'm going to try and catch up a bit here

and there.  Sorry if stuff is out of order,

but that's life -- it often seems out of order, doesn't it.

Me, Philip, Maddie, Connor and the Littles

In mid-August, my sweet niece returned to town for her

second year of college!

How she can possibly be in her second year already is

simply beyond me!

Grace, Todd, Amy and Philip's little kids

Amy (my little sister) and Todd brought Grace back to town from Florida!

We don't get to see them as much as we'd like, so

we nabbed the opportunity to go out to eat with them

in the always fun Haymarket area.

We had such a beastly hot summer and it was sweltering that day,

but being from Florida -- they didn't seem to mind!

They got Grace all  moved back into the dorm and she's

back into the college-coed groove!

I'm sure Grace is looking forward to temps cooling

off  . . . soon I hope!

Being a Florida girl, winter was her favorite time of year here

in Nebraska last year!

Cheer Camp!

Of course, I'm still trying to catch up on summer activities,

so please bear with me.  

It's just been too busy and I've been too tired sometimes

to work on the blog after working all day and

running to school, cheer practices, etc.

Lost my mojo I guess! ;)

Sooooooo, let's get to it, shall we!

Varsity, JV and Freshman squads

Cheerleaders have a 3-day camp every summer at our local university!

Off to the University dorms!

Maddy absolutely loves the food at the dorm!

Hmmm -- do you wonder about my cooking now??

 

It's supposed to be a great time for bonding with teammates,

learning new cheers and figuring out how to 

go, go, go, all day long, stay up late and

put on a happy face everyday.

You guessed it . . . it's exhausting for the girls! 

JV - the winningest squad!

The JV girls (Maddy's squad) worked super-hard

and had fabulous results!

They won 3 first place trophies and 1 second place!

Way to go Bolts!

 Doing so well earned JV and the other squads an

invitation to go to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

game in Orlando over New Years!

Exciting, but doesn't exactly work as well 

as one would hope.  

Hotel costs + travel expenses + crowds over Christmas holiday

+ logistics = nightmare.

Nice to be invited, but not able to attend. 

No matter, we are super proud of the cheerleaders

and their hard work!

Sister/Cousin Fun

Even if it wasn't 't officially Sister/Cousin day last Sunday, it was for us!  

My little sister, her husband and daughter were in town for a quick visit from Florida.

Besides seeing her in-laws  too, they were looking at the university.

Amy, me, Maddy, Granddaughter Jane

How can it even be possible that the sweet baby girl I met with Amy in 2000

will be headed to college next year!

Maddy & Grace

Grace is absolutely one of Maddy's favorite cousins!  We really wished

we had more time with them, but were happy to have one evening together. 

We had a wonderful family pizza dinner at Philip's so Amy and family could meet

Harry (now 3) and baby Dorothy!

Just before they headed out, we made a quick request for a few photos! 

It was such a scramble that we missed getting others in the photos too!

Next time!

It was so good to see them all and spend some time together!  Now, cross your fingers that our University is her favorite and she picks the Big Red!

Big Red Star!

A few months ago, I received an email from Maddy's school principal!

No, she wasn't in trouble --
he wanted to nominate her 

as an outstanding 8th grader to receive a Big Red Star

from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

I gave him some details of her background including the sports, clubs

and volunteer work she has been involved in and he added

the academic information.

About a month ago, we received the news that she and 

another student from her school were selected as outstanding 8th Graders!

Last week we attended the Big Red Star awards ceremony

with about 320 students from all over the

State of Nebraska!
(We thought it was just a Lincoln event, but there were only
about 12 students from Lincoln and
the rest were from various cities around the state.)

There were presentations on getting ready for college and

what to think about and classes to take in high school to prepare.

The keynote speaker, Peter Ferguson, was funny and

kept every one's interest. 

Near the end of Pete's address, he mentioned

how his daughter (who is a high school freshman)

constantly does the "teacup" pose with her friends and

he thinks it is SO odd!

He also mentioned he's been mistaken for Michael Jordan!

Well, we saw him on the way to lunch 

and what did he and Maddy do for their photo?

The teacup pose!  :)

It was really a super proud moment for us and Maddy.

I've always thought of her as an
outstanding 8th grader.