The end of summer...

When the older girls stopped gymnastics recently they decided to get more involved in tennis. Alex played in 2 tournaments this summer and didn't do well at all. Chris was very frustrated so he decided to dust his tennis racket off and help the girls with their tennis. Chris played some college tennis but he hasn't played in 25 years. He has had a great time playing again.

Last Saturday both Chris and Alex competed in a tennis tournament. (Taylor isn't quite ready to compete yet.) Alex has tremendously improved in the last month. She actually looked like she was playing tennis! She even won her first match which advanced her into the winner's bracket. She then lost her 2nd match. But, both tournaments she played in this summer she had lost her first match which then had her advance to the consolation bracket. So, there has been a definite improvement.

If you ever have wondered where our girls get their athletic abilities from it is from Chris. (I wish I could claim that talent but I can't.)After not playing tennis in 25 years Chris goes to a tennis tournament and takes 2nd place. How disgusting is that? He was shooting for 1st place but had to forfeit the finals since it was on Sunday and he had church meetings to attend. We were all proud of him and his accomplishment. What a stud. It was fun to watch him play too. He was playing guys literally 1/2 his age.

Chris with his 2nd place trophy

The first day of school 2010. Alex-8th grade, Taylor-6th grade and Lauren-3rd
Alex and Taylor both had a good first day of school. Lauren griped for 20 solid minutes about school and everything about it when I picked her up that day. I finally had to tell her that if she couldn't say anything positive I just didn't want to hear it. She was making me crazy. She is sooooooooo dramatic about everything.

Nick loves to wrestle. He was trying to take Lauren down before we left for school.

Nick wanting a "first day of school" picture.
We are off to camp this Labor Day weekend. Nick is so excited I think he might bust. He normally is very cranky in the morning (not a morning person at all!) but not today! This morning he talked non-stop about camping and what he needed to pack up to go.

In terms of Nick's health the cardiologist told us a week ago that he typically doesn't see such a favorable recovery after an infection like Nick had. He also told me that when a child with a VSD gets endocarditis that once the infection is resolved they usually have to have surgery to fix the VSD. The cardiologist is so pleased with Nick's recovery that he still wants to just "watch" Nick. So...no surgery....for now at least. We are going to keep praying that he continues to have a great recovery. He is our miracle boy.