One Sport Done....on to warmer weather

I thought it was time I should update the blog. Things have been busy as usual. Basketball finished up for Mason. He ended the season placing second in the state school tournament for Urbandale. It was an amazing tournament! In the semi-finals Urbandale was down by 1 point and there was 8 seconds left in the game. The other team blew the throw in and gave Urbandale the ball. Our boys get the ball in and passed in to Mason. He shoots up a three pointer and it swishes with 2 seconds left in the game. The other team couldn't get it down in time and Mason's team won! That was awesome! That put them into the final. But it wasn't meant to be and they couldn't pull off the third win of the day. They did qualify for Nationals this summer because of their high placement at state. We aren't sure if the team will be going though. The game is in July and that is when the boys are usually wrapping up baseball.

Mason will be playing both little league and AAU baseball. Baseball started in January and the games start in March. He is very excited about that. Jayde is registered for softball as always so she is very excited about that. She gets to perform a dance routine at the Iowa Energy Basketball team. That is on April 2nd. She is SO EXCITED! If I can get some good photos I will post them of the dance. Her spring recital is in May. I am very excited to see her routines she is working on it. She loves it.

I am one class away from finishing my Master's degree!! Happy Dance! Eric is currently battling a flu bug so that isn't good. We celebrated our 12th anniversary last weekend. I was knocked over with a feather when my hubby surprised me with roses! WOW! He never does that. I in turn took him out to Texas Roadhouse for a thick juicy steak. We both win! HA! Here is a photo of our wedding day. We look so young!!!

Busy Busy

Hey there. Finally got a chance to download some photos from the camera so I figured that I better update the blog :) The kids have been busy as ever. Mason is wrapping up his rec basketball team and still is playing AAU basketball. He has also began practicing baseball so it is a very interesting balance act. Jayde is still in her two dance groups as well. She has performed a couple of times at basketball games and has recently signed up for softball. I am looking for the warm weather that typically comes with baseball and softball. Mason's rec team won the league and his team won the championship as well. Mason was also nominated to the All-star team and his team played a bunch of 7th graders. His team won that as well. It was VERY exciting!

Eric and I are about the same. I am wrapping up my final class in my Master's program so the end is finally in sight. Eric has been down and out since the accident with his back and is now getting back to normal since it is healing. He has been struggling with a sinus infection as well so it has been a good time for him ;)

Anyhoo- no time to write more but here are some photos to enjoy!

Much Ado about Nothing

I don't really have much to report but was tired of looking at the Happy New Year page on my blog so thought I would ramble about nothing. January is really about nothing don't you think? No one gets overly excited about January unless your birthday is in that month. It is usually to freezing cold to do anything- yep that is happening right now although today was a balmy 30 degrees with 100 mph winds!

We had the joy (actually Eric since he was driving) of driving in the winds to and from a basketball tournament in Harlan. It is about an hour and a half east of des moines. We played in a 7th grade (our boys are in 6th) tournament and ended up taking 7th. Not too shabby considering those boys made Mason look short. Guess I can expect him to continue to grow like a weed in the next year. Great!

Jayde made it through her recital. She did a fantabulous job on it. She was in two routines. I will post pictures when I get them downloaded. We finally got our camera traded for a new one since it was defective. So, the pictures are much better quality now ;)

We will be traveling to Kansas City next weekend for a tournament there. It will be nice to get away and spend a night in a hotel. Mason can hang out with the boys and Jayde can swim until her heart's content. As long as she doesn't try to drown and make me jump in fully clothed again, I am cool with her swimming! HA!

Update you all soon!

Happy New Year!

We wanted to wish you and yours a Happy and Blessed New Year!~

Love the Walters-

Eric, Tiffany, Mason, Jayden and Oscar!

Bring on 2009!

Here is the kids with their "big" gift from Santa. Oscar got a new hooded sweatshirt- he loves it if we don't put the hood up :)

I don't know about you but I am ready to say "see ya!" to 2008. It hasn't been a horrible year mind you but the economy has everyone in a tailspin! It seems like we are on a roller coaster that none of us really want to be on. 2008 started out pretty good as Tiff got a promotion to work in a new area within the Principal. We moved into our new home in February. It has been a great blessing living here. After the economy nose-dived, job security is a new mounting concern. Eric has had a close call with being laid off. Thankfully as of right now- we are both gainfully employed.

Christmas was a fun time. Tiff performed at church with a girl's group. It was a lot of fun. We traveled to Guttenberg to spend time with the Walter side. All of the siblings were there at once. That was nice. For once in a year we were able to get photos with both sets of siblings.

The kids had a good time opening gifts and spending time with cousins. They get to hang out together during the break. With all of the new gadgets they have, they should have NOTHING to fight about right??!! :)

The Accident

So when we were coming home from church on Sunday another person slid out of their parking lot straight into us. It crunched up the front of the van. None of us were injured at the time but Eric's back began hurting a few hours later. Thank the Lord it wasn't worse. We are now driving around in a nice loner SUV called a Dodge Nitro. It is WONDERFUL to have all wheel drive- I do say! :) It sounds like it will be a while before we get the van back. Possibly sometime early next year.

We enjoyed another basketball tournament for Mason- his team took 2nd. There was some pretty tough competition so it was very fun to watch. Jayden had her church Christmas program. She was a sheep. It was very cute.

We are very blessed this Christmas. We have been able to take time off of work to spend time with the kids and hang out as a family and not have to run any where. We will be taking off for Guttenberg on Christmas day. The kids are excited to see Grandma and Grandpa :)

Here are some photos of the happenings as of late! Have a Merry Christmas!

Sorry!

Yeah I have been a little busy- sorry! I haven't had time to blink let alone get my blog updated. Oh well. What is a gal to do? :)

I have been busy wrapping up my classes for the year. Lots of presentations and papers and I CAN'T WAIT for March- did I mention I can't wait until March???!!!! UH! It is going to be such a relief to graduate. Whether or not it is with honors remains to be seen! :)

Eric had a job scare earlier this week. Principal cut some jobs recently and originally it was believed that Eric's department was one that was affected. We had sent out a prayer request and spent time praying ourselves and amazingly we were ok with the fact God had planned a little something different for Eric. Turns out, God changed His mind-and Eric's job was saved. It is nice to see prayer at work!

So, that is settled for the moment. Enough excitement on that! The kids are busy as usual. Jayde performed a few times for dance and did a terrific job. Mason has played several tournaments and his team has won many of those tournaments. That is a lot of fun. He is having fun and learning a lot as well.

Here are some photos.

My brothers and sisters and Mom at Thanksgiving.

Grandma Judy and all of her grandkids and great granddaughter.

My nephew Caydn and Oscar. He loves that dog!

I finished the Christmas letter and will be sending them out this week. Until then, I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!