4 on 4 Tournament

What do you do when your are on break? Play more hockey...And you win the tournament...Undefeated. Yeah, Baby!

Matthew had a great time mixing it up and playing with friends that he doesn't normally play with...they were a great team...and the hair! Look at all that hair!

It's a Beautiful Day!

Christmas has come and gone...there are no obligations on my calendar this week. I can just breathe. I can lounge in my pajamas until noon. I have leftovers from Christmas and my birthday to graze on for days. Life is grand.

Our walk up on Monte Sano was beautiful Lauren even spotted a deer. I missed it. Like usual. I was busy taking a picture of moss on the rocks. Silly, I know but if you grew up in the desert, you would totally understand.

Christmas celebrations at Church is my favorite time of the year. Our church believes in doing everything with excellence to honor Him. I put "learn to play" drums on my bucket list after seeing the cool drum at church and then when the snowflake drums dropped, I moved learn to play drums to the top of my list.

Giving Hope was a blessed day. 107 kids received gifts for Christmas. The families were given lunch and then the parents "shopped" while the kids played, we wrapped, loaded the gifts, and sent the families on their way. One family left without their ripstick and one of the families helping with wrapping drove the gift to them (and they didn't live close by). The mom said "God must want them to have a special touch of love from us. You will see from the "store" our church members were generous with their donations...you don't see all the bikes and toys in back room to make sure families "shopping" later in the day had plenty to choose from. It was a really great day.

Lauren gave the kids a Star Wars extravaganza for Christmas. They had a blast...

I have some photos from the beautiful breakfast and dinner my two fabulous daughters made for me. A few pics from my birthday walk on Monte Sano. Very few photos from Christmas...I slacked in this area. I will have to try and make up for it on the birthdays that are just around the corner.

All in all, a very blessed Christmas Season.

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Mini Tournament

Hannah's Middle School House League Team won their mini-tournament this past weekend. I'm so proud of this girl!

Hat Trick

v 04 Duluth Phoenix - Game 1, 12/10/2016 Bice, unassisted 3 from Ben Faulds on Vimeo.


v 04 Duluth Phoenix - Game 1, 12/10/2016 Bice, unassisted 3 from Ben Faulds on Vimeo.


v 04 Duluth Phoenix - Game 1, 12/10/2016 6-Bice, unassisted 1 from Ben Faulds on Vimeo.

Proud Mama

I am busting at the seams...I may have to stop stranger's on the street...yes, I'm that proud...my little hockey playing daughter (all boy team except her) was just voted Assistant Captain. Is that not awesome? She has only been playing since January. I tell I am proud. So proud.

Hat Trick

Third Period and 1-2-3!!! Boom, boom, BOOM! Three goals by my D-Man and I wasn't there to see them. (Greg and I were at a Church Conference)  His first hat trick! What an exciting day. His team won the game 3-1. That's my boy.

I am thankful for his sister to chauffeur, feed, and document the day for me.

I should probably miss more games because we made it to the second game and our D-Man had 3 penalties. Whoops. 

Team Christmas Party after the game. The men got the seat by the fire...the women and children got the seats by the drafty pull down garage door-like windows. Matthew was thrilled to the get the "Dirty Santa" gift we brought...it was a black mug with hockey tape. The boy loves to tape his stick. 

A blessed day for everyone.

Let the Season Begin!

This past weekend came and went like this "Whoosh!!!!" Lauren, Matthew, Greg, and I served setting up for our Church's Giving Hope which occurs on December 17. All the gifts had to be unloaded, sorted (This storage area you see in the first picture was filled to the top with bags of donated gifts.) and organized.

Hannah helped with the annual figure skating program doing hair, makeup, and running errands

Matthew helped scrape ice for the UAH hockey game (Hannah was asked to do it but she was already engaged, see above)

Yep, stole this from Instagram

Lauren supported her girl! She is in Lauren's Small Group for Middle School Girls and decided she wanted to be baptized.

Greg had to take Matthew to spend his Christmas money from Grandma. They may have come across Bark-Lee, the closest thing we will have to another dog since my cat/dog allergy shots do not seem to be working very well.