Merry Christmas

All except for one day where it was in the 30s the rest of the week has been cloudy or rainy and daytime highs are in the 70s. Weather in Louisiana is quite strange.

The boys had a blast over the holiday.
They received many thoughtful gifts from friends and family and are happy with their haul. I have many photos that will have to wait for another day to get off a friends camera.

Today was Jeff's 18th birthday, we had a party for him and tons of his friends. They just left for the Trans Siberian Orchestra with Mitch and his girlfriend Monica. Mitch gave him the tickets for his birthday. What a nice brother!

Tucker is enjoying life, his dad Christopher is here for a two week visit. Tuck has conned him into playing games for hours with him and keeps trying to get him interested in World of Warcraft. No luck but Tuck keeps trying. Other than that Chris runs around and keeps fixing things at the house, all that know the house can understand there is so much to do I am glad for any help I can get. It has been a really nice visit overall.

ALL DISTRICT ALL BOSSIER

It's been a rough week, both Jeff and Mitch have been extremely ill. First Jeff with strep throat which kept him out of school most of the week, and then Mitch who has the stomach flu.

On the brighter side Mitch has not only made the All District First string offensive tackle but has now made the All Bossier team as well. He went to get his photo taken for the paper just before the flu hit him. So we will be buying out that issue for all the family to see.

Mitch fought through the season with a torn MCL and finished on top. He managed to achieve every goal he set for himself this season. Here are some pics from the season just to get into the spirit.






By the way we are sorry the northwest has been buried in snow we sure feel for you as our temp for the last few days has been in the low 70s. It does not feel like Christmas will be here next week. Well tomorrow it plummets into the 40s for our high and then into the 60s through Christmas so I guess we will light a fire tomorrow and enjoy it for the day. Happy Holidays!

Space Shuttle

Check out the view above Tuckers head it's hard to see being all white.

Craig told us last night their was something on base that we had to see and as usual he was right. Space Shuttle Endeavor riding on the top of a 747 right on the flight line. This is one of the really great things about having base privileges all of the cool things like this. I mean really how many people can drive for 5 minutes and check out a real Space Shuttle. Mitch and Tuck loved it unfortunately Jeff and Snapp had already left for the wrestling meet or I would have drug them along for the ride as well.

Tucker being silly as usual;



Jeff getting amped up for his matches;



Jeff leading the before match workout;




Jeff on the mat for one of his matches;


The camera battery died at this point so I have absolutely no more pics (sorry Snapp). Jeff was victorious in his two matches and had a great night.

Snapp and I ended up in the ER for X rays. He pulled / tore muscles in his right arm. He is going to be fine but he needs to rest it and they put him in a sling for a few days. He was bummed but we were both really glad he did not break it. It would be hard to be in a cast for Christmas.

The Lights

The boys did a great job sparkley bushes and all! It is a very festive sight although the daytime temp here was 70 and raining, ohhh how I wish for snow but not the cold. By now I would probably freeze to death.

Lights

Jeff and Mitch spent Sunday on the roof working out our exterior illumination for the holidays. The house looks great, all white lights and I am so grateful to have the boys take charge.

During the construction phase;







Now the nickname for Mitch makes complete sense (Roof) at least this time he did not fall off!

1st Wrestling Match of the Season

All of the boys are in wrestling this year, Mitch is not participating in any matches due to the knee, but he goes to support the guys and does all practices with the team. I have never been to any meets, tonight was my first. It was great, unfortunately due to Snapp going first and a train I missed his match, luckily Saturday is an all day event so lots of photo opportunities.

I was able to get pics of the boys in their outfits though, quite a change from football jerseys!
Snapp at the meet;



Jeff's match;



Tucker watching Jeff;



Mitch focused on the match;



Snapp watching the action;



Jeff after his big win;





The whole family after Jeff's win.



Snapp was overturned and unfortunately lost his round (Mitch said the guy was on the juice!) I know he will have a better round on Saturday.


Jeff was at a higher weight class tonight and he won. Very Nice!

I am very very proud of Snapp and Jeff this is alot harder than it looked to me at first. They had to work their tails off!
Tonight they were playing against Airline who has a big team and are pretty good, I am really looking forward to Sat, although not football this is really fun.
Any chance to watch the boys do something they love is a great day for me!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas!

I would not usually go for the fake tree, but down here it can be so warm that the one year I had a real tree it died. All the needles fell off and we were afraid to have the lights on due to the fire hazard, so, because I love a fire going and sitting to look at the lights on the tree we have the fake tree. It's not the same but what can you do? All have been around to decorate including Monica (Mitch's girl) who did more work than he did. Anyway we had the fire going and watched its a Wonderful Life while working on the tree.



Yes the tree is crooked, but I decided not to mess with it yet for fear of toppling over. That's what happens when you ask from under the tree to the boys "is it straight?" They just don't really care!





The fireplace all ready for Santa.



Tonight we are working on exterior illumination, Jeff is the head of that project and he claims to want our house to look like the Griswalds from X mas Vacation.Works for me.

For those of you who voiced concern over the quantity of food I cooked for Thanksgiving, let me reassure you. After the football players left that night We barely had enough turkey left for a sandwich. I really love boys!

Thanksgiving

Every day around here there are moments, moments where I just sit back and am amazed and grateful for the life and boys that I have. Today's was very special, I have been dressing up for any and all reasons that I can come up with. Today was no different. The boy's came down for dinner like this;




The dog Texas looked like this; (Houston has nicknamed our dog Ladybird from King of the Hill)



Anyone familiar with the boys knows that the idea was Jeff's but they all got into it just for me.

By the way, it was in the 60's today, nice and cool (warm for you Washington folks) it does not seem like the end of November here at all. We are becoming inundated by the inflatable Snowmen and Santa's, that's what they do down here where we have no snow. Anyway, I digress.
Today, I cooked a 22 lb turkey with all of the sides and 8 pies, lucky for me my favorite football players are here for second dinner. I hope your Thanksgiving is as special as mine.

Senior Pictures

The boys had these pics taken by a wonderful photographer who not only waived any fees but did a group photo shoot so I could have pictures of all of my boys together. There are way too many great shots to post them all so I will just do my favorites.

MY BOYS





JEFF AND ROOF




ALL THREE OF THE BOYS ACTING AS THEY USUALLY DO, VERY FUNNY AND SILLY, DEFINITELY BEING THEMSELVES.







"GO GO GOMEZ" AKA JEFFREY GOMEZ Who Michelle and I have decided should be a model for Hollister.







"ROOF" AKA MITCH RISINGER Who loves the photos with a serious football face the best.








"SNAPPER" AKA SNAPP KING WHO DOES PHENOMENAL FLIPS (SELF TAUGHT) ANYWHERE.





This is a year of change. Soon the boys are all moving on to different Colleges and lives. I am very thankful to have these moments with them. I am seizing the opportunity to host a major graduation party for the boys, I hope to have all of the invites out in January so anyone who wishes to come has time to plan for the big event. I know it is very hot here in Louisiana, but May should be beautiful early summer swimming weather and not too terrible.

Senior Game

All of the seniors were on the field as captains for the coin toss, which we won.



Both Jeff #20 and Mitch #70 are in this photo, Mitch is a little hard to see as he gets quite low in his stance.

After an amazing first half of the last season game we were overturned and lost by a touchdown. The boys played well and Tucker and I were very happy to be there. I was lucky enough to escort Jeff and Mitch across the field for their Senior game. To say I am proud of them would be an understatement. The whole night was surreal, no more high school football games, I don't quite know what to do with my Friday nights anymore. After the game Tucker and I just looked at the Stadium as everyone left, I am so lucky to have such wonderful boys who make life very special.

Sunday in Louisiana

It was a beautiful Sunday in the 80s down here and we enjoyed every minute of it. I sparkled out the car (wash, wax, and interior) so it now looks like this.



Hunter and Tucker had a blast in the pool, Yes it was November 2, and they were in the pool. Boy am I glad I neglected to winterize it early!


Poppa and Oma brought us these chairs, they are just the right size for a couple of 9 year olds.


While I was busy running around cleaning Mitch was working hard on the yard.



Jeff cleaned all of the leaves out of the pool so the little boys could enjoy the beautiful day.


I am very thankful I have the older boys help for a little longer (college soon) I could not have done it on my own. A perfect day.