Aubrey's 15th Birthday

 Aubrey's birthday was at the tail end of the snowstorm. We pushed her party back to the evening in order to give the snow and ice time to melt. Our walkway was not safe, though, so we started shoveling and trying to break up the ice. It was slow going until I had the idea to pour hot water on the walkway. The temperature was above freezing at that point, and it worked! It took many trips of hot water, but we got it clear enough for grandparents to come to the party and not slip on their way in to the house. 

The snow storm messed up plans for Aubrey's friends to celebrate with her, too, so we had her friends come the same night as the family party. Everyone else left, and the girls had a great time talking and laughing and just being their silly selves. God has brought some wonderful friends into Aubrey's life this year. Some of them are old friends who she was able to reconnect with, being at the same school and playing water polo together and some are new. We're thankful for the choices Aubrey is making and for the friends God has given her. Her freshman year is going well!

Snow Days

The school district dismissed school early due to snow, something that I remember only happening one other time since our kids have been in school. The snow started falling and then just kept coming. The announcement came at 11:30am, for dismissal at noon. It was a crazy and exciting half hour, with kids throwing snowballs in the courtyard and everyone rushing to get out of the parking lot. As I was leaving, I saw a teacher in a little sports car having trouble getting up the little incline in the parking lot. Two other teachers and I tried to help and push her, but her tires just kept spinning, so eventually, she gave up and one of the teachers offered her a ride home. My friend, Jana, happened to see us and took a photo to document the day. We got two and a half snow days from that storm. Woo-hoo!

Our dryer broke the week before, and the new washer and dryer set that was supposed to be delivered got delayed because of the weather, so we had to dry the wet snow gear (and our other laundry) the old fashioned way for even longer. 

Joel Bruin Basketball

Joel played on the JV basketball team this year, and he loved it. He got to play with some friends and got to play a lot every game. Their team went undefeated. 

We went to A LOT of basketball games this season with both Aubrey and Joel playing and then watching the varsity games, too. Grant doesn't love basketball and would often bring a book. :-)

February This and That

A smattering of February happenings: 

We got some photos from the weekend Ashlynn spent with Kari down at CBU.

I captured some beautiful sunrises on the way to work in the morning. 

Worked on a fun puzzle.

Had jury duty--two days but I didn't get called! Phew. And on the second day, I got to go home at 10:30am. Got a bunch of papers graded in those two day. 

Aubrey Bruin Basketball

Aubrey's freshman basketball season was rough. So much so, she decided at the end of the season that she is done playing basketball. She made the JV team with several of her basketball friends but ended up playing with the JV2 team for most games and then playing a tiny bit in the JV games. At Barlow there are only three girls teams, not four like the boys, and the talent pool is much more shallow, with big gaps in skills. The JV2 team was not good and some of the girls were decidedly not nice. Aubrey got to know a couple girls who were nice, and she persevered, but she just didn't enjoy it. The coaches had Aubrey playing down with JV2 to help them out and to give her more experience and playing time. Some of the girls had never played basketball before, though, and it was frustrating when the girls couldn't get to the ball down the court. They lost most of their games and by a lot. The worst one was 5-51--just painful! So, it just was not a fun season. She decided she'd rather focus on water polo and tennis.