Not This Time.....

After losing in the championship last year, the Lady Bulldogs wouldn't let that happen again. Emi and her team won the State Championship this last weekend. They did amazing and played some of the best volleyball I've seen them play all year long. They swept the tournament, winning each game in 3 matches.

Their first game was against Southeast. After getting out the first game jitters, they played great. It was over in a hurry. Emi did great and had a solid game, but what else is new!! Luckily her first game was late enough that Dani and I could make it in time. I had a test that afternoon, so we couldn't leave until 2:00. Her game wasn't until 4:30 so we made it in plenty of time.

After the game that night, we headed back to the hotel to eat pizza and hang out. Before we settled down for the night, Dani and I took some sugar cookies (which are Emi's favorite) that we made over to Emi's hotel. We ate some pizza for dinner with everyone outside of my parents hotel room. To finish off the night, Dani, Melissa, and I had a late night hair coloring session. It was great to spend time talking and just spending time together.

For the semi-final Emi played Wright. What a sweet game that was to watch, since Wright was the team that beat our girls in the championship last year. It was a bit scary because the first two games, Wright jumped out to a 8 point lead. The girls worked hard, didn't panic, and slowly chipped away at their lead. All the girls stepped up and played together extremely well. You can definitely tell they got into the Wright girls heads and easily beat them in the third game. Needless to say, Emi was a little relieved. She had so much stress on her, and nobody thought that they would make it to the championship after losing such a big senior class last year. I knew they could do it, and the team peaked at exactly the right time. They played their best games at the state tournament, and everything just clicked for them.

Before the championship game, the whole herd of us (we have been referred to as the birthday party as a matter of fact) went to eat at Olive Garden. We checked out of the hotel before the game since my dad had to be home for meetings the next morning. Darius's favorite thing about our hotel was the "bucking moo" in the lobby at the Come On Inn. I loved seeing the little munchkins and getting to play with them all weekend.

For the championship game they had to play Big Horn. The girls were ready and you could see the determination on all their faces. It was awesome to see them play. A lot of people came down from Lovell to support the girls. I love being from small towns, where everyone loves to support the high school athletes. They came out swinging and dominated the game early. Emi played like such a beast. Between the Wright & Big Horn games, Emi had 39 kills!! I wish I had 1/3 of the skill that she has for the game. I was so excited for Emilee when her and her team won, that I doubt it would have been possible to be any happier than if it had been me that had won.

Dani and I were going to head back to Laramie originally, but after Emilee won the championship we couldn't miss out on getting to "honk" them in that night on the firetruck. So instead, we came to Lovell for the rest of the weekend to get to support Emi a little more and also spend time with Liss the last day she was here.

As if winning the championship wasn't enough, Emilee was also named to both All-Conference and All-State team. She was also interviewed for the paper after winning the semi-final game, and interviewed for the Casper news after they won the championship. The next morning, Lovell was on a full page cover of the Casper Tribune celebrating their win!!

Emilee has had an amazing season, and I can't believe how much she improved throughout the year (not that she wasn't a stud to begin with). Her team definitely couldn't have done it without her and her leadership. Even though she's only a sophomore, her team looked to her and she was always very consistent. I'm so proud of my baby sister and all of her accomplishments. Congratulations baby sister, you deserve it!!!

Fan Section.....

One of the best things about being the baby of a big family is that you have a huge fan section. This weekend at Regional Volleyball, Emi had all the nieces, nephews, sisters, parents, one brother-in-law, an aunt, and an uncle. We even heard people that were in awe of how many people were there for one girl.

We had shirts, bracelets, and signs. It's sure fun to cheer for such a talented girl. She played amazing, and keeps improving each game. I am amazed by the talent that Emilee has. It was a great weekend to get to see everyone. Melissa and her kids even get to be here for State this weekend too.

I can't wait to see her play again this weekend and get to spend time with the whole family. I'm so proud of Emilee and her team. They placed 3rd in the tournament, and I know they will do great again this weekend. Good luck this weekend Emi-Chelle!!

Candy Bar Letter.....

This past weekend when I was home for Kristen's wedding, it was also Homecoming Weekend. Last year, we made the whole team treat bags, but instead of doing it for the whole team we made Emi a huge candy bar letter. We sure do love our baby sister and are so proud of her in everything she does. We wanted to do something fun for her, but didn't want to do the same sayings as we did last year, so we came up with new ones!

Hey "M&M"!!

We know you're a "Sweetheart" "Now -but- Later" play "Extra" hard and "Crunch" the competition. Be careful and don't "Twix" your ankle. You're the team's "Lifesaver" when you go on one of your killing "Spree"s! Play like a "Smartie" and "Shock" the "Kats"! Try not to "Snicker" when they "Rolo" over dead. Don't ever "Take 5", but "Skor" lots of points! You're a "Star" and worth "100 Grand"!

Love you to "Pieces"!

Love Your "Airhead" Sisters 

(Beth & Dani)

I wish I would have been able to watch her play. She's been doing amazing this year, and has gotten better & better each game. I sure do love you Emi-Chelle and love cheering for you!

Wedding Decorations.....

This past weekend was Kristen's wedding. I was a bridesmaid, and was constantly running around doing whatever Kris needed me to do, so I don't have any pictures of the ceremony but will post some after I get them from the wedding photographer.

Her wedding was beautiful. She's so creative and made a majority of the decorations herself. Her pastor made a beautiful wood arbor, cross, and pulpit for the ceremony. She was a beautiful bride, and I am so happy for her!

Kristen & Calvin love the outdoors: fishing, hunting, you name it. Her wedding was up at the Circle J Ranch, which is at the foot of the mountains outside of Ten Sleep. What a perfect location! Her wedding decorations were amazing and totally reflected what both Calvin and her love to do.

Calvin and Kristen make the perfect couple, and I'm so happy for them. Her wedding was amazing, and I definitely plan on recruiting her when it's time to decorate for my wedding when that day comes!

First Attempt.....

Well tonight I made my first attempt at making caramel popcorn. I'm proud to report that it turned out great! I only had to make one call to my mom to find out what it meant when it said cook to softball consistency.

Dani and I have been hanging out at home and decided we wanted to have a movie night, since that's pretty much all we ever do on the weekends! We got the movie, What to Expect When You're Expecting. We're going to spend the night watching movies and chowing down on one of my favorite homemade treats.

Making my mom's caramel corn is super easy. Thanks Aunt Cathy for giving the recipe to my mom, it's the best stuff I've ever tasted. It's pretty easy and quick to make. Here's the recipe for the best caramel corn ever:

Caramel Corn

2 Cups Brown Sugar

1 Cup Karo Syrup

1 Cup Butter or Margarine

Dash of Salt

**Cook to Softball and then Pour in 1 Can of Eagle Brand Milk. Pour over popcorn**

Volleyball Weekend.....

After going to class for 3 days, Danielle & I decided it was long enough and headed back to Lovell Thursday morning. We just missed making that drive and didn't want to wait until the end of the month to make it again!

We came back on Thursday morning and made it to Greybull in time to watch Emilee play her first conference game of the season. They played well and won in three sets. 

After getting back to Lovell, we headed out to Kara's house to celebrate Jacob's 7th Birthday. He's so handsome and I can't believe how big he's gotten! In just one year he'll be old enough to get baptized. He's such a sweet boy who loves everyone. I'm so blessed to have such a great nephew. I sure love my Jacob Brent!!

The Montana/Wyoming duels were this weekend in Billings, which is why we came home. We knew that we'd have a chance to watch a ton of volleyball! She had 3 games on Friday and then 3 games on Saturday. Since the tournament started early Saturday morning, we stayed overnight at the Big Horn Resort. Emilee played amazing, just like she always does. It was fun to see different teams that we don't see anywhere else. 

It was awesome to watch so much volleyball, and it was definitely worth it to endure the 6 hour drive to support my baby sister! I couldn't be more proud of her and can't wait to watch the rest of the season!