Sorry we haven't posted in a while but school has started and volleyball is in full "swing." Last year, the volleyball team at Raymond was 5-20. So far this season, Chelsea's team is already 4-4. Chels is doing a great job but is very busy. For the entire month of September, she has a game on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week... She is excited about how well her team is playing so far and can't wait to see how they do in the conference this year. One difficult thing she is facing is the challenge to stay ahead on teaching and lesson plans. However, she is balancing both jobs very well and rarely complains about being tired or feeling like she is behind.
Anyway, after moving in to our house at the end of July, our first overnight guests were Jon's parents who came to stay with us for three days. They came the second week of August and it was nice to have them here post move but they were also a great help in Chelsea's classroom as well, as school started the third week of August.
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| Chelsea and Mom putting together dinner one evening. |
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Sorry for the poor uploaded photo but here we are playing
some cards and Dad is finishing up his blueberry dessert.
Chelsea sure knows what her father-in-law's favorite desserts include! |
The second day, Jon and Dad went to Menards and bought several items that were needed for first time homeowners. The shopping trip was very successful! Some of the items included: hoses, sprinklers, extension cord, broom, weed puller, work gloves, silicon sealant, furnace filter and the huge shelving unit for the garage.
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| Thanks Mom and Dad for the housewarming gifts! |
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| Chelsea in her classroom by one of her bulletin boards. |
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Mom worked hard on another bulletin board in Chelsea's classroom.
She cut out the letters and stapled them on and it looks great! |
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While Chelsea and Mom were working on bulletin
boards, Dad built Chelsea's bookshelf for all of her
books that had accumulated over the past year. |
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| It looks great and fits nicely in the back of the classroom. |
Another part of Mom and Dad Schleicher's visit included watching three softball games on Wednesday night. Chelsea and Jon played on a Co-ed Church League Softball team with their Bible Study this summer and the Semifinals and Finals of the end of the year tournament were that night. The team consisted of members of their Bible Study, Young Roads, which Jon and Chelsea lead on Tuesday nights. The team had some ups and downs during the regular season but when the tournament came around, the team was unstoppable!
After suffering their first loss in the 2nd round of the tournament to the #1 seed (the other team from Christ Lutheran), Young Roads had to work their way through the losers bracket as every game was a win-or-go-home situation. On this Wednesday night, games were played at 6, 7 and 8:30 p.m., with the 7 p.m. game being the Championship Game against our friends from our church's second team. Of the 10 total teams in the league, Christ had the two best teams, and we all were pretty proud of the fact that either way, our church was going home with a $250 check. :)
Back to the action, in Game 1 of the Championship, Young Roads got down 4-0 over the course of the first three innings. In the home half of the third inning, Jon came up to bat with the bases loaded and dominated a ball over the fence for a Grand Slam! It was his 3rd HR in 4 games and was his second of the night as he hit one in the semifinal game to help get Young Roads into the Championship. The rest of Game 1 was close and Young Roads were down by one heading into the final inning. Securing the game tying run, Young Roads and Christ 1 headed into extras!
In the extra frame, Young Roads held Christ 1 to only a few runs and then it was their turn to have some magic. Chelsea, EASILY the fastest woman in the entire league, flew down the first base line to beat out a infield single to keep the team alive. This started the momentum swing and the team was able to link a few more singles together to secure the 15-11 victory.
Then, Game 2 started. Christ 1 had not lost a game in the double elimination tournament and that meant that Young Roads would need to beat them again. (Young Roads had lost to them in the regular season and the 2nd round of the tournament by several runs both times, so they were thankful to avenge those losses.) Heading into the second game, the momentum and confidence was with Young Roads as they were the younger, fresher, overall more athletic team top to bottom; with the oldest person on the team only being 28, they had the upper leg.
Game 2 got off to a fast start as Young Roads led from start to finish. The final score was 8-4 and in the final inning, Jon turned a double play at short to seal the deal. The team pulled together at the right time and played the best softball of the year in the two games of the Championship.
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| Our first Championship Plaque! Currently in our basement... |
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Lincoln Church League Champions 2012
Christ Lutheran Church - Young Roads Bible Study
Back Row from L to R: Manager Benjy, Chad (Our Ace in the Hole),
Dustin (D-Town), Bryan, Aaron, Jon, Nate and Jimmy.
Front Row from L to R: Tanya, Valerie, Britney, Michelle, Bre and Chels. |
It was so much fun having Mom and Dad Schleicher there to cheer us on and to celebrate with us in victory. Dad got pretty into the game and a few times he would walk from the bleachers over to the bench to talk to some of the guys about what was happening. :) Thanks for watching almost 4 hours of softball on uncomfortable bleachers and for going out with us and the team afterwards! It was fun for Jon to relive the days of baseball growing up and to have his Mom and Dad be there to watch. Thanks for a great visit Mom and Dad Schleicher and we are excited to see you again soon!
