A Little Scare

Well, soccer season is in full swing and Kaylyn's first game is tomorrow in Tacoma against Chapman University. Unfortunately, Kaylyn won't be playing. In Tuesday's practice, she went down with a knee injury. At first, they thought it might be a torn meniscus or MCL which would mean surgery and missing most of the season. After Xrays were inconclusive, an MRI showed that it was just a strained muscle on the side of the knee. Whew!! That was good news. She's already running at 75% and should be back at practice on Tuesday to prepare for Friday's game in California.

We happened to be up by Whitworth when Kaylyn called Tuesday night and told us so we stopped by to see her. It was bad enough that Kaylyn was in the training room with her knee wrapped in ice, but when we walked in we saw Krista (starting goalkeeper) laying on the table next to her! BUMMER! She had gone down in practice not 5 minutes after Kaylyn had. The coach said, "That's it! Practice is over for today!" I'm sure he was afraid he was going to lose more if he kept going. The news was not so good for Krista - she is out for the season with a torn ACL and "shredded" meniscus. She'll have surgery in late Sept. It was really disappointing news for the team. Starting the season ranked 10th in the polls (out of 435) they had their sights set pretty high. However, the back up keeper - now the starter - seems to be stepping up pretty well, even though she is a freshman. Lexi played against her last year as she was the keeper at Mt. Spokane. She's tall and quick and will hopefully be a good fill-in for Krista this year.

We're thankful that Kaylyn's injury wasn't too serious and that she seems to be healing quickly. The power of prayer and priesthood blessings has definitely manifested itself in her life. We're looking forward to watching the team tomorrow and then traveling to California with Kaylyn this weekend. Go Pirates!

If you would like to keep track of how the team is doing, you can follow their schedule and stats at www.whitworth.edu and then click on athletics. The new roster is posted as well.

The End of Summer

Well, summer is officially over for us. SAD! Kaylyn headed back to Whitworth last week, McKenna started soccer last Monday and Lexi starts tomorrow. But, weather aside, it was a great summer.

Lexi, Aleah and I (Cindy) all survived Girls' Camp. This was Aleah's first year and she loved it. Lexi was a YCL again and was in the 4th level so we were able to go on the canoe trip together again. I was in charge of the canoe trip, which is always a little stressful, but very rewarding! And Rob was one of the chase boats so it was a family affair. We started in Sandpoint, Idaho, which is one of my favorite little towns right on Lake Pend Orielle. After canoeing up Sand Creek a few miles, we turned around and headed down Pend Orielle River. Despite a strong headwind, a few swamped canoes and the proverbial "Are we there yets?", we made it to our camping site. The next day we canoed another 5 miles or so and made it into Camp Peine. It was a successful trip that didn't include any trips to the ER (unlike other years!).

My bff Nikki and me.

That's Lexi in front.

Before everyone started up soccer, we managed to get one more trip in to the lake. We spent a lazy day on Lake Coeur d'Alene which felt great because it was 100 degrees! We borrowed a friend's 3-man tube and had a blast. It is such an awesome tube - if you like flying, that is! We'll definitely have to get one of those next year.

Rob looks guilty of something, don't you think?

Lexi, Aleah and Kaylyn catch some air!

OOPS! We lost Lexi.

But everything is A-okay according to McKenna.

Rob got to have the last campout of the summer when he put on his "Scoutmaster" hat and took 5 scouts camping this weekend. They went boat camping on Lake Pend Orielle and enjoyed two days of swimming, rappelling, rock climbing, tubing and good food. Rob even provided them with a few laughs when he walked off the end of the swim platform fully dressed! He thought he had a little more platform left that he did. OOPS! But he had the last laugh when he got the other leaders on the 3-man tube and took them for a ride!

So now it's on to school supply shopping, squeaky clean tennis shoes, running to make the bus in the mornings and HOMEWORK! But what gets us through the fall is soccer. Rob and I absolutely can't wait to watch the girls play soccer. Kaylyn starts the season first. Their first game is in Tacoma and then we fly to California for the next two games in Santa Cruz. Then it's 5 games a week for the next two months! And don't forget Aleah's volleyball in there somewhere. WOW. But I wouldn't have it any other way!!

X Games

Let the games begin! Round 1 of the X Games brought "Stair Rolling" for contestants Aleah and McKenna! I think they faired pretty well, with all the padding and all. I especially liked the pillows wrapped around their legs! They thought it would be "fun" to tumble down the stairs. However, after losing their stuffing along the way and a few bumps and bruises, they didn't think it was all it was cracked up to be. I can't wait to see Round 2?! Is this normal behavior? Naw, I didn't think so - it's Aleah and McKenna we're talking about!

"Are we still alive?"