Kailea Playing in Montana State Volleyball Tournament

The second weekend in November, we flew up to Montana to watch Chelsea's younger sister, Kailea, play in the Montana State Volleyball Tournament.  Kailea, a senior at Glacier High School in Kalispell, was the starting Libero (plays backrow only as a defensive specialist) for her team.

Chelsea found a really good deal on tickets ($270 round trip!) to Montana and convinced Jon that they should go.  Chelsea had never seen Kailea play in a varsity volleyball match in her high school career because Chelsea has always been busy with volleyball herself either at Concordia or at Raymond Central.

We didn't tell anyone we were coming up to Montana except Chelsea's parents, so it was extra special to not only surprise Kailea, but also to surprise Grandma and Grandpa Reiner and Heidea.  G&G Reiner were down in Nebraska visiting 5 weeks before so it was great to see them again.  Heidea, who had just been down in Nebraska at our house four days before, was especially overwhelmed when she saw Chelsea again.  :)  She had been pretty emotional when they had to leave to go back to Montana and it was really hard for us to NOT tell her, "It will be okay, we'll see you on Thursday!"

We flew into Billings and Amy, Jon's brother's wife and our closest sister-in-law in age who is married to Jason and mother of Jaden and Cody, (IS THAT ENOUGH CLARIFICATION??? :) haha  

Anyway, Amy picked us up from the Billings airport and it was nice to go over to their house for lunch.  All four of us commented that it would be awesome to be able to have lunch together whenever we wanted during the week!

After playing with the nephews and catching up with Jason and Amy, we borrowed their smaller car to drive 2 hours to Bozeman where the tournament was being held at Montana State University.

The ground looked a little different than Nebraska's.... :)

Some of the gang before the first match began.
Front Row (L to R): Grandpa and Grandma Reiner, Chelsea
Back Row: Reggie Blunk, Mom and Dad Vaudt

Jon and Heidea.  She was so excited!

Ready to cheer on the Wolfpack.

Kailea warming up.  She is in the back row, closest to the rail.

Kailea with the ace!

The other team called a timeout after Kailea's ace.

Back to serve.

Kailea is in the white jersey.

Reggie and Grandpa after the game.

Heidea was so happy to spend more time with Chelsea.

Playing Wizard with the group at our hotel.

Kailea was so happy to have her oldest sister
there to support her at state.

Sister Shot.

Our trip to Bozeman was really fun and it was great to watch Kailea play in three games.  Glacier won their first match, and then lost the next two in the double elimination tourney.  Kailea earned 1st Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-State.  In the State Tournament, Kailea led Glacier in digs in all three matches with 9 against Bozeman, 19 against Flathead and 16 against Helena Capital.  Thanks for some great memories and great job Kailea!  We love you all and can't wait to see you again soon!

Dad, Mom and Heidea Vaudt Visit

On Halloween, the final trick or treater we had at our door was an extra special one. Heidea Vaudt, Chelsea's youngest sister, came all the way from Montana to our house.  Heidea was accompanied by her parents, who came to Nebraska to watch another sister, Lindsea, in her final two volleyball games of her career at Concordia.

It was extra special to have them with us since it was the first time they had seen our new home.  It was also fun for Heidea to spend a lot of time with Ace!  One of Heidea's favorite hobbies is training dogs and she enjoyed working with Ace.  We played a lot of games and talked and it was a very relaxing weekend.  Chelsea also took the family to see her school, and Heidea wanted to go to school with Chelsea on Thursday.  :)

Lindsea's first game of the weekend was on Thursday night.  Then on Friday night, Ashlea and Ben Anderson, came down from Sioux City, Iowa for the evening and for Saturday's volleyball game.  It was fun to have almost a full house on Friday night where we played games and ate dinner.  Chelsea made chicken lasagna for the group which everyone enjoyed!

Quite the feast that Chelsea and her mom put together!

The whole gang.
From L to R: Mom, Ashlea, Lindsea, Heidea, Rose, Brad, Ben & Chelsea

Ace loved all the new people to play with; he was never alone.

Ben and Ashlea in their matching Timberwolves jerseys.

Playing some Whoonu.

Heidea enjoyed having cousin Rose with us as well.

Chelsea playing Archeology with Heidea and Rose.

Playing some Catch Phrase.

Ashlea was really anxious while Heidea was describing the words.

Mom making sure Heidea is describing the right word.  :)

Senior Night at Concordia

Lindsea was so happy to see have her parents there.

Lindsea was one of the captains of the team this year.

Lindsea got the start in her final game. 

Receiving her senior award.

Playing Pinochle on Saturday night. Mom and Lindsea
destroyed us... :)

Sister Time.

Mom loved being with some of her older daughters.

Thank you so much for coming to visit us, Mom, Dad and Heidea.  We loved having you here and showing you our home!  We love you!

Andy & Beth Visit and Nebraska vs. Michigan Game

The last weekend of October, Jon's sister and brother-in-law, Beth and Andy, came down to Nebraska to visit for a fun weekend.  The main reason why Beth and Andy came down from Minnesota was to attend the Huskers/Michigan football game on Saturday.  Beth, who grew up in Michigan, is still a faithful Wolverine fan and Andy, who grew up in Nebraska and attended college in Nebraska and earned his Master's from the Univ. of Nebraska, this weekend had been marked on their calendars for a while.  Jon was able to get four tickets together for this highly anticipated game through a coworker at the Lincoln Racquet Club.  The seats were amazing!  On the 45 yard line, 32nd row behind the Nebraska bench.  (The pictures below do not do it justice... We could see everything perfectly.)

We also enjoyed hosting Beth and Andy and showing them our new house but also showing them Chelsea's classroom and school.  Andy, who went to undergrad in Crete, Neb., (45 minutes away from Lincoln) was able to meet up with some former professors and friends in the area still which was also nice for him to be able to do.

Worth more than gold.

Chelsea made chicken tetrazzini for Andy and Beth on Friday.

Anyone who knows Jon understands this photo.  His meal
included beige colored foods and all carbs.  :)  With a side
of a salad as well that isn't pictured.

Beth proudly showing off her Michigan gear.

Siblings who grew up in Michigan supporting Denard!

Good thing Jon has Husker clothes too! Beth = not a fan.
(Ironically, Andy bought Jon this sweatshirt before his first
year at Concordia. Andy wanted Jon to have some NU gear
if he was going to be in the state... :) )

Before going into the stadium, we listened to the Husker band.
They were pretty talented and we enjoyed the music.

It was a pretty cold afternoon/evening and Jon was freezing.

Beth being Vanna White with her semi.  :)

Beth and Andy loving the pregame. 

Awesome.

Big N on the field.

Tunnel Walk

This guy had the seat next to Beth and he was crazy.
He had on awesome red pants as well and was all decked out
with his Husker stuff.

Nebraska ended up winning the game 23-9. 

It was too bad because Michigan's star quarterback got injured in the second quarter and did not return to the game...  I think it would have been closer had he been able to finish the game.  Andy left happy and Beth was disappointed but at least they both left on talking terms.  :)  

Thanks so much for visiting us that weekend and we loved having you here with us.  We are excited to see you both again in December for Christmas in Michigan!