UNDEFEATED SEASON!

Jonathan has been so busy since his last few weeks of summer with football practice. It all began with two-a-days leading up to after school practices then the games began. The 8th grade football program ended up having a GREAT season! The A team was undefeated with a perfect 9-0 season. The B team was undefeated leading up to the last game of the year and they ended up being 7-1. It was a fun learning experience for Jonathan since he had never coached football before. He has made some new buddies with his fellow coaches. Every Friday night they would go and scout for the high school. It was a very busy fall. He is very excited to have a small break before beginning after school soccer practice which starts the week after Thanksgiving. He is so pumped up to get back in the grind with soccer and the guys are really looking forward to having a great year.

School is back in session

My gosh! After a very busy and emotional summer everything is finally back to normal. Boy did we have a very eventful few months. Kristin was 13 weeks pregnant when we went to the doctor and found out the baby had no heartbeat. So 4 days before her cousin Jamie's wedding she had to have a D&C over at Day Surgery @ ETMC. Once again we were to the point where it started to seem real for it to all be taken away. We are doing okay but it is a struggle somedays to understand WHY? We went on to Jamie's wedding and it was so beautiful and it was nice to have something to take our minds off of things. Two weeks later after going back to the doctor for a checkup Kristin started having abdominal pain for about a week. She went and had it checked out and needed further tests. So a week later had a HIDA scan to check out her gall bladder and found out that it wasn't working so good. So on her birthday we met with a surgeon and planned to have it removed. During all of this Jonathan found out that he would be coaching football this year at Palestine and two-a-days started in 4 days. So his summer ended a little short and started his daily treks to P-town for football practice. School started for him on August 27, Kristin was still at home recovering from her surgery. Everything was fine and she is healing well. No lifting, pushing, or pulling for 6-8 weeks but is now back at work and is doing GREAT! Jonathan is the offensive and defensive line coach for the 8th grade team at the middle school and they have had their first 2 games and have won both. There is an A TEAM and a B TEAM and it is very interesting to watch. During all of this mess her other cousin Amanda has moved to Tyler to attend TJC and hopes to get into the Radiology Tech program next fall. She is living in her first apartment and is enjoying the "grown-up" life. I think that gets everyone up to date for now. Gee whiz! It's been crazy but life moves on.

GERMANY here we come!

And we are off to Germany. We are leaving on Monday morning to fly to Atlanta, Georgia then to Frankfurt, Germany. We will be there for 9 days. We are so excited and looking forward to the new experience. Neither one of us has ever been there so that should be fun. I'm sure I will post a full report when we get home.

And the season is over

Well... just like that the soccer season has come to an end. The Palestine soccer team made their first ever appearance at the state tournament. The result might have not been what we were expecting but the experience was good none-the-less. We drove down to Round Rock on Thursday and checked into our hotel. The game started @6pm. We headed over to the beautiful Round Rock ISD stadium to watch the game. It must have been so overwhelming to our boys. They played Frisco and right off the bat it was 1-0. By half time it was 4-0. Our boys played great. I don't think they played their best game of the year but they all tried so hard. The final score was 7-1. It was tough for the players and the coaches losing like that but it was a learning experience for all. Almost our whole team got a chance at playing in one of the most important games of the year. Not many teams can say that. By the end of it all Christopher and I had lost our voice from cheering so loud. We had so many fans drive all the way there to see the game. It was so neat to see how the whole town backed the Cats. Julie and I had made the boys some picture frames for their gift. When they got to IHOP after the game they each had a frame on the table with a picture of them in it. It was so fun to see all of their faces when they saw them. They were all smiling and laughing. It really was great to see them pick their heads up. Many of them have already talked about there goal for next year to make it back to state. We are only losing 5 seniors and we have a lot of really great guys coming back next year. It was such an AWESOME season it was hard to see it end but we staying in Round Rock all weekend anyway. On Friday we let the boys sleep in and went and had breakfast. Then we all loaded up and went to the Main Event in Austin. It is a really cool place with pool tables, bowling alleys, laser tag, and games. We took the guys there to hang out and have a good time. It was a lot of fun. After that we went to a restaurant named Red Robin. They have really fancy hamburgers. They were so good. Then we went to the stadium to watch the 5a semi-final between Plano West and Katy Martin Ranch. Plano West won in a shootout. It was good for the guys to get to watch some of the game and see how other teams play. We then went back to the hotel so the guys could play a FIFA tourney on Xbox and Playstation. Logan was right there in the middle of all those high school boys. It was so funny. The next morning the guys got up and loaded the bus and came home. We all stayed there and went shopping, ate at the Macaroni Grill and came home Saturday night. We then went over and visited Jonathan's friend Wes and his wife Jennifer. They had their 3rd child on Thursday afternoon. Aaron Coletrane Canaday was born at 2:16 and was 8lbs 4 oz. We had to go over and see the new addition. He is so cute and looks just like his brother. We had such a busy weekend and to think we are leaving to go to Germany in 7 days for spring break. We never stop. That's what Jonathan was thinking yesterday. Gee whiz! Time for a break. We are so excited about the trip. Time to start packing. I'm sure we will tell all about it.

STATE BOUND!

Oh my goodness! The Palestine Wildcats Boys Soccer Team is going to the State Championship! They are the first 3a team ever to make it there. They boys beat the Brenham Cubs 1-0 Friday night at Waco Midway. It was an awesome game! Scott, Nancy, Christopher, Kathleen, Julie, Drew, and the kids went to help support our boys. We all had a great time. After the game we went out to eat with the team, gave them their goody bags(which has become one of their favorite parts about the playoffs). After every game they all get a bag with candy, cookies, brownies and/or mints. Julie started by making them all chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Then we did easter brownies, then we got them soccer ball easter eggs filled with yummy jellybeans along with soccer ball snickers. Last game they got candy in soccer ball bags that were decorated by the PHS National Honor Society. We had to call in help because we were busy making these "wand" things to shake at the game. We had so many people at the game even though the weather was not the best. Who would have thought it would be 40 degrees in April. It was so bad that one of the playoff games had to be postponed because there was a 1/2 inch sheet of ice on the field. So Austin here we come! We are playing on Thursday at RoundRock ISD Athletic Complex. It is a beautiful stadium. The coaches got their heads shaved after the last game so now he really looks like his Uncle Pat. The players had a great time doing it. We are so proud of them and we are just going to have a great time and enjoy the momment. They are making history and it is fun to watch. We like our chances at a state championship but we will be happy of the outcome no matter if we win or lose. No one thought we could make it this far and look what they have done.

SOCCER PLAYOFFS!

Anyone and everyone that knows us knows that the Palestine soccer boys are in the playoffs. They are preparing to play in the regional final this friday(Good Friday) against the Brenham Cubs @ Waco Midway High School at 7pm. They boys have had a GREAT season, they are playing so well together. They have defeated Whitehouse
4-1, Lumberton 2-0, Willis 3-1, and Davis 1-0. They are very excited. If the boys win Friday night Coach Absalom and Jonathan will be getting their heads shaved!! They are so happy how the boys have done and we are all so proud of them! Good Luck Wildcats.

Sorry, we must appologize.

We are sorry that we haven't posted anything on here since December. Jonathan started soccer practice then and we all have been really busy. His jv team had another great season (he will have to post the record, I have no idea) and the varsity is doing even better. They have made it to the playoffs for the first time in 5 years. The boys and coaches are pumped. They played their first playoff game friday night against Whitehouse and won 4-1. They play this Tuesday night in Nacogdoches against Lumberton @ 8pm. Go Wildcat Soccer. Other exciting things is that our very good friends just had a baby girl. Lily Addison Whitfield. I am sure that you will see many pictures of her later. She is beautiful. A big girl, coming into the world at 9lbs. 11oz. but so precious. 2 soccer games a week, our friends with a new baby, work and March Madness on tv and we are pretty booked up. Last weekend I went to Dallas for my cousins bridesmaid luncheon. We had a great time. We went to a really cool tea room called Nooks 'n Krannies in downtown Plano. The food was excellent. We will be traveling overseas at the end of April to go to Germany. We are very excited about that. The month of the birthday is coming up in April. Jonathan, Nancy and Christopher all celebrate their birthday next month. We hope everything is going well for everyone.