"Who am I?" Elyse and Friends Performance

I just came home from the kids' Religious Education classes.  Tonight, Elyse's class performed the "Stations of the Cross".  It was done in a created way by using a life size "shadow box" and each scene was done with a few students standing in the shadow box posing to fit the scene but all you saw were their shadows from a spotlight behind the curtain.  All other lights in the room were off and dark. Wayne's niece, Lydia, did a great job as one of the readers. 

The night ended with Elyse and some of her friends, including Wayne's other niece, Miranda, telling the story behind the song "Who Am I?" by a religious group called the Casting Crowns.  They used white gloves, as you will see, and a blue light.  All other lights in the room full of adults and kids were off.  They did a wonderful job and the song is beautiful!  I have watched it many times already with a tear going down my face.  Very creative girls and wonderful done!

So...enjoy the freshman girls story of "Who am I?" by the Casting Crowns.....may we always remember what is important in life....

Elyse Faces Her Biggest Enemy......Pulls off the Win!



Elyse going up for outside shot.

 Elyse's freshman basketball team continues to be undefeated.  They are doing a fabulous job, playing team basketball, and look incredible!  It is awesome to watch them play, and hopefully they will continue to keep winning.  Elyse (and her cousin, Miranda) continue to dress for the JV team as well.  They get in randomnly.  The JV team is also undefeated.....looks good for Crestwood basketball!!!



The ball is almost there.......

 You have probably seen post in the past made on my blog page about Elyse's enemy from Oelwein.  She faces "her" in the high jump (Elyse beat her at conference meet), volleyball (both middle hitters), softball (both first base players), and of course basketball (both post players and both do jump ball).  Elyse gets pumped when she faces "her"; yet it also makes Elyse play even harder.  "Enemy's" number is 21.  I have posted three continuous pictures....elyse going up for outside shot, the ball going to hoop, and then it going in.  Yeah Elyse and team!!!



And it's good!!!!!

 Elyse is the blond in the white, number 32 on the outside of the team shooting the ball.  You can see her to the left of the box/hoop shooting.  She is not the one standing under the hoop...she is shooting (just to clarify for my uncle Dennis as he needs help finding her. :)  The "enemy" is the blond guarding her all the time or vice versa.  Elyse looks forward to the next 4 years meeting "the enemy" in every sport she plays.  Of course, again, Crestwood came out the winners!!!!

Who are These Gorgeous Girls????

I thought I would share a few pictures taken last night of Elyse and some of her friends before they went to the dance. They, along with most others, decided to dress up. I have to admit, I got a little teary eyed when I was taking the pictures because the girls look so much older than 8th grade! One of them said, "Kim, this isn't prom so we don't need so many pictures." Of course, I take total claim on the tall blond in the middle! Not sure I am ready to send my soon to be 14 year old (birthday next Saturday) off to high school looking like that. Just kidding. The girls had a great time, spent the night following the dance, and had a great time. They didn't give me many details when I picked them up, but there sure was a lot of chatting going on downstairs afterwards. hehehe. Wayne was ice fishing with a friend and his brother that evening, and he called three times from 10 PM to midnight asking if I overheard anything about the dance and who they danced with. I know I am not ready for her to grow up, but HE is definitely NOT ready!!!!

Enjoy these gorgeous girls! Their names are from left to right, Hannah, Rachel, Elyse, Molly, and Maddie. Elyse's other good friend, Megan, couldn't make it because her uncle past away. (Sorry for her loss and send our love).

Elyse's Little Friends and Basketball

It's been a while since I have made a post. Busy! Busy! as usual. I thought I would write about Elyse this morning and share how she is doing and then make a post about Alex this afternoon.

I have included some pictures of the two adorable little ones Elyse babysits. They both came trick or treating, and Elyse had Halloween baskets with little gifts in them for each of the kids. Their names are MacKenzie and Isaiah, and their parents are very good friends (Michelle/Brian and Kelly/Jason for those who know them) of ours. Elyse loves babysitting both of them and the pictures were too cute so I had to post them. She spent Halloween night babysitting Isaiah and then ventured down to a friend of her's for a sleepover in the middle of the night - or what was left of it. She was glad to spend time with Isaiah and also her friends. It's still so hard for me to see her growing up so quickly right in front of my eyes. So proud of her! She is so independent yet still needs big hugs from her mom and dad.

She started basketball last week. They played in New Hampton against a school that has 12 girls total on their 8th grade team. We, Crestwood, are used to playing 3-4 games (A,B,C, and D teams), but New Hampton could only play one and a half games due to their limited numbers. Elyse started the A team and did very well! Scored points, played awesome defense, and ran faster than I have ever seen her (yes. . . .I am talking about Elyse :)) Very fun to watch her and her teammates. Let's hope everyone stays healthy as schools are having a hard time making enough teams due to players being ill with flu etc. Elyse has developed quite the cold this weekend. . . .game tomorrow on Monday so hopefully she can shake some of it off before then. Anyway, she did fabulous and is really getting into her basketball, which we are excited about!!!

Oh Yeah. . . .Guess how tall Elyse is???

Forgot to mention the news: Elyse had physical yesterday. Measured at 6 ft. 1/2 inch!!!! The nurse told her she is the tallest 13 year old she has ever seen. Elyse is excited about it! I said, "Well now your dad can not argue that he is still taller than you. You can for sure call him Shorty". Elyse turned to me and said, "And I can call YOU Shorty too." I just nodded my head. :)

Elyse and Upper Iowa University Basketball Camp

Elyse returned home today from a great 4 days of workout at Upper Iowa basketball camp. After getting used to the bed and little sleep the first night because of it, she adjusted, learned a lot, met some more friends to add to her Facebook, and did very well! Her team got first in league play but were beat in the tournament. You can pick her out in the picture of her team- yep - she is the tall one and proud of it! They have an awards ceremony at the end of the camp, and Elyse took first place in two individual competition! One was called the "mican" and the other competition was "speed layups". I guess she made 14 baskets in 30 seconds for the "mican" and I am not sure how to describe the "speed layups". Anyway, I have enclosed her getting the recognition for those two first place competitions. We are glad to have her home and very proud of her. Now comes doing all the laundry. . . . :0)