And August Comes to an End...

We finished out August with Annmarie's coach, Coach Makayla, leaving Precision for another coaching job that paid more money.  It was a rough day for Annmarie, as she really loved her coach.  She is now competing Level 7, which is optionals, and to lose her coach right when she is starting to learn her routines has been difficult.

And Westley performed again at the Opry.  We seem to be taking over that place with Annmarie, Eliza, Corey and Westley all having performed there in the last couple of months.  

First Varsity Home Game and Senior Night

We had our first varsity home game, which was also Senior Night.  On Senior Night, the senior football players and athletic trainers are introduced to the fans and walk out onto the field escorted by their parents or someone else important to them.  Another football tradition here in Wylie is that the varsity seniors get these giant posters of them from their football pictures that hang at the end of the field every home game.  Travis chose to wear a cowboy hat for his.

Corey and I got to walk out on the field with Travis and the kids were all in the stands.  It was a fun time.  There is nothing like Texas varsity football.  

Also, the football players get to come to the elementary school to open doors at drop-off and Travis always signs up to come to Groves, since he went to Groves.  It's always fun having these boys at school in the mornings.  The kids really love it and think it's so cool.

Helmet Stickers

I guess it's a tradition for the families of the varsity players to come and put the stickers on their helmets with them.  I took the kids because Corey had to work and we did it with him.  It was fun to see him in his element and participate in that tradition.

Another Week in August

This week was another great and busy one.  Eliza had her orchestra concert and parent meeting that she has at the beginning of each year.  This is her third year of high school orchestra.  It's a potluck dinner and meeting and then the orchestra performs.  

Travis had a scrimmage game.  He wasn't able to play because he was injured in practice when he got a cut on his face from someone else's helmet.  Because of where the cut is, they don't want him to sweat on it so he has to take a break for a week or so.  He cheered his team on from the sidelines.

We also had Meet the Pirate night where we meet the athletes involved in fall sports and the marching band performs.  There were also booths by lots of student groups giving out freebies and hosting games as well as food trucks and other fun things going on.  The varsity players were signing mini footballs and Travis was involved in that. 

And another thing happened.  Charleen Bach, who has been the librarian at Groves for several years, has moved on to a new position with the district away from Groves.  She left and I spent a couple weeks subbing while they found a new librarian.  She came back to present Bluebonnet awards and I had Nathan read over the summer so he was able to be one of the first recipients and have her present him with the award.  

We finished out the week with Corey singing at the Opry.  

Another Opry Star, Football Scrimmage and Big Brothers

The second Saturday of the school year was the Maroon and White scrimmage at Wylie High.  It was really, really hot but it was fun to watch the boys play in preparation for their season.  Travis is playing on the defensive line and his buddy Josh Ausborne is a running back.  His girlfriend Allison is one of the student athletic trainers.  

That night, Eliza sang for the first time at the Wylie Opry.  She did a great job and is expanding her vocal talents.  

Travis was able to help Nathan tie his tie while Corey wasn't available to help.  I thought it was cute and cool so I snapped a picture.

The Mustangs at Las Colinas

We had nothing going on one day during the school day, so Westley, Corey and I decided to hang out.  We went to see the Mustangs of Las Colinas and then get some lunch.  Westley is leaving soon for Utah, so it was nice to spend some extra time with him.  He now has a girlfriend, Alejandra de la Cruz.  They've been spending time this summer with a group of friends and have decided to date seriously.

Senior Sunrise Class of 2025

 When Mr. Alexander took over at Wylie High, he started a new tradition for seniors where they have a "Senior Sunrise" at the beginning of the year and a "Senior Sunset" at the end.  They have a breakfast and hang out with friends and watch the sun rise on the Senior year.  They write a letter to themselves that they are supposed to read at Senior Sunset, which is at the end of the year.  This is Travis and his friends at Senior Sunrise.

Musical at Fair Park

My mom invited me to go with her to the musical "Funny Girl" at Fair Park on a Saturday afternoon down in Dallas.  We took the train down so we didn't have to worry about parking.  It was a lot of fun spending time with my mom and we really enjoyed the show.

Senior Photography

When Westley was a senior, he had several photo shoots.  We did one at JC Penney that I was not very happy with.  Then we did one later in the spring with Lydia Shumard.  Westley realized he did not get any with his cowboy hat and guitar at that shoot and organized another one with Kaori.  When Caleb was a senior, he was not that into Senior photos and did a small shoot with Kaori about a week before he graduated.  

For Travis, I wanted to get him a good variety of photos because he's involved in so many things: choir, football, wrestling, and culinary.  I researched photographers and what they charged and what they allowed, etc. and found this one lady, Katlyn Ferguson, who does a "senior ambassador" photo shoot, where she discounts it and then the senior is supposed to share the photos in the hopes of attracting more business.  He gets to have four photo shoots throughout the year, which is a lot of pictures, but it's more bang for the buck than other photographers.  So he had his first photo shoot with her in downtown Wylie early on a Saturday morning to make use of a good position of the sun.

First Day of School

School felt like it started really early this year.  They did it based off of when Christmas break would be and Fall break, so it was earlier than normal.  It was the second Thursday in August though.  Travis started his senior year, Eliza is a junior, Jonah in 8th grade, Annmarie in 6th grade, and Nathan in 3rd grade.  

Nozomi's Baptism

Nozomi turned eight in July and was baptized the first weekend in August.  It's always nice to get together with all of the family here in Texas, as many as are able.  Grandpa and Grandma started a mission earlier in the year.  Grandpa is in the mission presidency of the Dallas East Mission and Grandma helps with  organizing service.  Whenever they attend church events, they wear their missionary tags.

August Already

School starts soon, and Groves Elementary started a new tradition of a meet and greet with the teachers at the school playground instead of porch visits.  Nathan got to meet his two third grade teachers for the year--his homeroom teacher (math and science), Mrs. Hopfauf, and the teacher he will swap classes to have (reading and social studies), Mrs. Mackey. 

This other picture is from when Eliza spent some time in downtown Wylie with a friend.