Another Hokie Alumni

There she is! Miss Destiny Lowder, the latest graduate from Virginia Tech!  I had the privilege of sharing this special event with my baby sister and family in Blacksburg.  It was too cold for May, but we bundled up in the stadium in maroon and orange blankets, cheered and saluted the class of 2014 and their accomplishments.  Way to go Destiny! We are all so proud of you and can't wait to celebrate with you again in 2017 at Elon's Law School Graduation.

Proud Dad and Grandma

Dad and Destiny with Darlene, our sweet advocate who defends and protects all of Dad's children more than we will ever know!!

It was a happy day in Blacksburg.

Nana and Papa Come To Town

May has brought many welcome events; warm weather, field day and a visit from Nana and Papa!  We had a great long weekend visiting schools, playing golf and tubing off the boat.  Yes, the lake is still freezing, but that doesn't seem to slow anyone around here down. We ran them both ragged, but at least were able to relax by the pool on the last day before they had to head home.

Kami at field day.

Showing off for the grandparents!

Everything Is Relative

The end of the lacrosse season brought a surprising victory and a surprising loss.  Both Joshua and Kathryn had great seasons and learned so much about this exciting sport.  Kathryn's team was almost completely composed of rookies, so it was no surprise that they went 0 and 8 in the regular season.  But the girls never gave up and their hard work paid off in round one of the playoffs. The underdogs had a great victory over a much higher ranked team and proved that one win in a completely "defeated" season can be almost as sweet as bringing home the first place trophy. Unfortunately their season did come to an end in the second round, but for one sunny day in May-they were champions!

Kate running with the ball..

 shooting and scoring!

She's a feisty defender too..

look at her throwing that elbow!

Team hug after the last whistle announced their first win of the season.

Finally, smiles in the post game huddle.

Taylor, Gabbie and Sydney all had come to cheer her on and were so excited for her.

And she had Jessica to share this fun moment with.

The next day she also played great,

and although it wasn't enough to take down the experienced Hawks, we still had reasons to celebrate.

Joshua on the other hand had a very different first season.  His team also had some first time players like him, but the presence of some of the best lacrosse-playing 11 year olds in the state of Georgia gave his team the edge they needed to go undefeated this year.  They were the number one seed in the tournament and fought their way to the finals. It was certainly the toughest team they faced all year and despite a tying goal by the wolves in the last minute, the other team pulled off one last winning shot with 2 seconds left on the clock.  And with that we saw our first loss.  I don't know who cried harder, the boys or the coaches.  That one defeat was as devastating to Josh as Kathryn's one victory was elating.  Lots of lessons were learned through those games, and in the end, Joshua's teammates were respectful losers and the other boys were gracious winners-but they know that next year, will be coming for that trophy!

Lots of friends were there to cheer Josh on too!

Medal ceremony for the second place team.

Great playing Joshua!