Welcome 2019

So we have tried not to do this before, but we live in unprecedented times...or let's just say we are going to blame the global pandemic of the past six weeks for the fact that we are 16 months behind in our updates. Oops. With that being said, welcome to 2019! We have a pretty good feeling that it is going to be a great year. So join us as we relive that wonderful year in all its glory. We start with Excite Night, an annual kickoff to UK gymnastics that we have enjoyed the past ten years. For better or worse, Callie now enjoys going with her friends while the rest of her family manages on their own.

One nice thing about this dual adventure is that we didn't have to wait in line for an hour and a half to get the autographs of all the UK gymnasts. Apparently it was a good time, and Callie has the poster to prove it. Another benefit that Callie go from going with her friends and not her parents is is the unlimited concession stand where all desires were met and sugar consumption was at an all time high.

Onto another annual event, this time at our church. Youth Sunday is when the youth of the church take charge of the entire service. This year they decided to expand participation to elementary school students and both Callie and Reese can be seen here leading worship with ribbons and their melodious voices.

On the academic side of things, Callie participated in Governor's Cup for the second year in a row. This year the competition was held at Cassidy, and as a mature 5th grader, she asked us just to drop her off and come back when it was over. John was the designated pick up guy, and whether he misread the communications or things happened early, the bottom line is he showed up too late to see Callie get her award for 1st place in Arts and Humanities. Oops again. Good thing other parents were there to capture the moment.

In 2019 we ended up going to three different gymnastics meets, and luckily the girls have a lot of interested in it as well. This time around Reese invited her friend Ella to join the fun. We are not sure if they enjoyed the good gymnastics or the snow cones more, but they certainly smiled a lot.

When it comes to sports, UK isn't the only game in town, of course. The Transylvania University women's basketball team made it to the postseason tournament for Division III, and we got to catch a great game at the Beck Center with the Abrahams. The girls enjoyed it even more because they knew many of the players from going to the Transy basketball camp on several occasions. It was a good game and the home team earned the W in the end.

Now that Reese is getting older she is getting invited to more and more sleepover birthday parties. Here she is at her friend Zoey's 8th birthday party. We were proud to learn that Reese was the first one asleep. The excitement of the whole event probably made her crash and burn pretty fast.

Speaking of growing, Callie started setting her sights on the milestone of passing the women in her life in height. Her feet have long been bigger than Sharon's, but by spring Callie was also getting taller than our wonderful neighbor. It's only a matter of time before Sarah is the next one to go.

Reese also got her academic mojo going this spring. For her, this meant participation on Cassidy's Academic Challenge team. We were so proud that she joined the venture even though she was a little reluctant at first. The team did okay, but they didn't make it past the first round of competition. We don't think Reese was all that disappointed.

Another milestone of spring 2019 was the 16th birthday of Ella Abraham. We were so excited to join in the celebration with her and her family. We don't know if she was as excited, especially since we brought the party hat. But we didn't make her wear it the whole time, so she couldn't be that mad. Besides, as you can see in the mirror, her parents thought it made for a cute moment.