Sunday, April 3, 2016

Update April 2016

 
Alot has happened since my last updated post back in the Fall.  We had a great Thanksgiving (visits from my parents, brother and niece), Christmas and New Year.  That brought us to Callie on the ski team for the second year.  Emily decided not to do ski team this year.  Callie did well overall. As much as I love to watch her I am always happy to see this sport end.  It is a stressful sport for a parent.  Between Todd and I we were able to get to most of the meets.  Even Emily made it to one. 
 
We lost a great friend and mom last month  We met the Schaub family back when Callie was in first grade.  Their daughter Courtney and Callie have been friends ever since.  Even though they don't hang out with each other as much as they did when they were younger due to different activities and sports, they have remained friends and still get together now and then outside of school.  Michelle was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer Winter 2015.  She was being treated for back pain when they discovered the cancer.  After a year of a good fight, Michelle lost her battle with Cancer at the beginning of March 2016. Every time I ran into Michelle around town she always had time to chat and always had a smile on her face.  Even when I saw her right before Christmas.  She didn't look like her old self but she was smiling and happy and looked amazing!  She is missed by many.
 
Next up was the Spring Fling dance sponsored by the senior class.  Emily was off on her own with her friends but I had the pleasure of taking pictures of Callie and all her friends before they headed off to the dance.  A good time was had by all.
 
On March 14th, Todd and I watched Emily receive a Scholar Athlete award.  It is awarded to students who play two or more sports and keep their grade point average above a B+ average. We were very proud to attend the ceremony in Concord, NH. Below is a short video of the Merrimack kids receiving their awards.  As they called their names their senior pictures appeared up on screen for all of us to see.
 
Another thing that kept us busy was following along with the Varsity Boys basketball team.  Emily was front and center at all the games along with Callie somewhere in the crowd with her friends. Emily made news clippings, and videos cheering on the team. Todd and I jumped on the bandwagon half way through the season attending the home games.  It led us to attending the play off game then onto Durham at UNH to watch the team play in the final four game and then onto the championship game.  It was very exciting!!  Below is a picture of some girls I took up to Durham to watch the quarterfinal game.  Riding in the car with all those girls (two were not in the picture) was just as much fun as watching the game.  The team lost by 2 points in the championship game but we are all so proud of them!!  It was so much fun to watch and cheer them on.
 
Yesterday we attending Accepted Students day at UNH with Emily. It was a day filled with a lot of information.  We toured the science buildings, labs, several dorms, a dining hall where we had a great meal, met a new friend, caught up with an old friend and had some great ice cream that they make right there with the milk from the cows they have on campus.  Emily has made her decision to attend UNH in Durham, NH, Fall of 2016!!
 
So that brings us to now.  Well, LAX tryouts have come and gone with Emily making the Varsity team and Callie has been picked to be a swing player for both JV and Varsity.  What this means for Callie is that she will practice with Varsity, dress for Varsity, play in the first few games with JV and will get pulled up before the end of the season to play with Varsity.  What that means for Todd and I?  Well for at least the first few games we will be at the field for both games with a packed dinner picnic so we don't starve!!!  We are very proud of both girlies!!
 
Callie is back at King Kone working and Emily is currently looking for a job. 
That is all for now and I warn you, there are a lot of pictures on this post.
 
 
 
 
 Callie finishing up a race.
Callie on the race course. 
 About to come to the finish line.
 Tucking it all in for the finish.
 
 Ski team friends
 Emily trying to keep warm while watching her sister race.
 These two!!  Callie and her friend, Maddie.  Love them!
 Just some of the kids on the team.

Warming up after a race
 Callie and her friend Courtney.

 
Callie and her friends went to cheer on Courtney at her basketball playoff game.  We all wore pink in  honor of Courtney's mom who had just passed away days before.

 Spring Fling dance March 2016
 
 Callie with Kait and Courtney
 Raina, Kait, Courtney and Callie
 Alicia and Callie
 The original four soccer players!  Love them
 Kait and Callie
 Callie, Imane, Alicia and Kait
 Courtney, Callie (who always finds the cat), Alicia and Kait
Love the dresses on all these girls and I just can't believe how grown up they all are!!!
 
 
They found each other at the dance!!! I didn't realize when they bought the dresses how similar they were.  
 
 

 Emily with her Scholar Athlete Award!
 Video of ceremony
 The Merrimack Senior students that won this award!!  They are pictured with Governor Maggie Hassan.  Psst....the boy in the back row second from the right is Ian, Emily's boyfriend.
 The crazy Merrimack Tribe girls I took up to Durham for the basketball game.  So much fun!!
 Emily at the University of New Hampshire!!
 She made a new friend from another town in NH.  They hit it off right away.  Hopefully this girl will make her final decision to attend UNH. 
 Here they are in front of the Wildcat!!  Legend has it that if you rub his nose it is good luck.
We were lucky to meet up with a friend of Emily's who graduated from Merrimack last year and is now attending UNH.  Always great to see Julie!  She was able to give Emily a lot of good information!
 
Until next time........
 
 
 
 
 

Winter break Feburary 2016

 
I know most of you saw these but I wanted to get it on my blog for my memories.  We had so much fun this day.  It was Winter Break from school at the end of February and it was unseasonable warm.  The girls were feeling unmotivated to do anything so I made them get dressed and go to the park with me so I could take some pictures and practice with my zoom lens.  They warmed up quickly to the idea and I got some great shots of them. 
 
 


I was walking ahead of them from the car and I turned around and this was happening.  They were talking a picture of themselves!