Nail Biting Crusader Game

Great blocking Nate!

We won! 9-6 score against C4 in a hard fought battle.

Random Photos

The end of the summer bounty from our garden.

Abby's first watermelon of the summer!
Love this photo.....
and this one too!

New Market Day and then The Girls visit Aaron!

Christian, Aaron, Megan, Bekka & Leslie
Pretty girls at the VMI Game

Isn't he handsome?
New Market Day

The family photo is from the New Market Picnic where the VMI Cadets reenacted the Battle of New Market. We had a picnic with Aaron and the rest of the cadets and family.

A week later the girls (Megan, Bekka and our friend Leslie)and I went down to Lexington to watch the football game and spend the weekend with Aaron. We picked up Christian Roden and went out for pizza.


SEPTEMBER 29, 2007


Well, it has been so long since I last posted and there has been so much happening! First of all the birthday kids, Megan who just turned 21 on September 20 and Aaron who turned 19 on September 22.

Jeff and I went to Oxford to celebrate the big day with Megan. We surprised her with a lovely pair of diamond earrings. After all, it's not every day that you turn 21!! I think she liked the earrings. What girl doesn't love diamonds?? Took her and roomie Elisha out for dinner and met Aunt June and Uncle Gene who came along for the birthday dinner! We took the pictures with her camera.....so if you are reading this Megan, you are in charge of birthday pictures!

We then left on Saturday morning, Sept. 22 to drive to Lexington to visit with the other birthday kid! We arrived on post around 2 p.m. and picked up Aaron. We stayed at the Natural Bridge Hotel for the night. Just wanted to get him out of Lexington for a little break. Hotel was just "okay" but the restaurant was fabulous! After Aaron took a much needed nap, we had his birthday dinner there and we all loved it. It was so nice to just relax with him and get an update on everything that has been happening at VMI. We strolled down the path to get a view of Natural Bridge, which by the way is breathtaking, and then stopped for ice cream to go with the birthday cake that I baked for him. It's hard to get him any presents since he just cannot use a thing while still in his rat year. So the cake was much appreciated. We took him back to the barracks for the night, and picked him up again in the morning to take him to church! He attends a wonderful PCA church in Lexington. Felt like we were home when we walked in and saw the Roden family! They were in Lexington with Christian celebrating Tim's 50th birthday. Christian is doing well at W&L. (Funny, that rhymes!) Lots of other cadets were there worshipping which was wonderful to see. Had lunch at a cute restaurant there....can't remember the name. But again, a great visit with Aaron. So hard to say goodbye, since we won't see him again till parent's weekend in October.

We found out yesterday that the VMI football team won their game against Robert Morris, 40 - 13! Hurray Keydets! Aaron called today and said the coach was buying pizza for the team to celebrate. This is only their 2nd win so far but what a win it was!

Megan came home over this past weekend and we had so much fun with her as usual! Spent Saturday shopping of course! This time daddy went along and bought the clothes for the little princess. She of course needs clothing for her job :) To go along with the diamond earrings?? Love you Meg!

Will try to post the latest pictures of everyone. We have an undefeated season for Nate's Crusader team. Was a VERY close game on Thursday with our team winning by 3 points. Nate did a great job of blocking for the quarterback. Final game is on Tuesday and if we win this one we will go on to play the Championship Game with Fairfield Christian. Great Job Nate!

Bekka is loving her Sociology Class at CState. She is surprised that she likes it so much since she was totally prepared to hate it! She's very busy with her classes at Veritas and CState and with her new job. She is a receptionist now at an Optometry office in Delaware. She said it is stressful but she loves it. I think she loves the freedom of having a driver's license AND having her own car! Pretty independent too.



Abby got to go shopping with Daddy too and managed to get her own little stash of clothing and jewelry on Saturday. Quite the clotheshorse! She's getting ready to start the basketball team at the YMCA. Our superstar basketball player and we are expecting great things for her again this year. This is our first year for the Y team but she has played the past three years with UPWARD which has been a great experience for all of us. The second cooking class begins next week at Veritas!! Abby has become the cook extraordinaire! I love it! She helps me so much with the cooking. With our hectic football practice schedule, eating has become last priority in our house.

VMI Parade & Football Stadium

This is the view of the cadets marching down the hill in formation to come into the football stadium.
On the field, in formation, ready for the National Anthem.

The Band, with the Pipes and Drums! For some reason, we couldn't convince Aaron to take up the bagpipes!

Pictures of the cadet parade before the football game. About 1600 or so cadets take part in the parade.

Football Weekend with the Family

We went to the first VMI football game! We had a blast and got to spend alot of time with Aaron. Football game on Saturday was a huge victory for the "Keydets":

20-0 against Lock Haven University

It was a gorgeous sunny day in Lexington with a full stadium of VMI fans. So much fun seeing Aaron in his football gear and ready for action on the field. Nate and I surprised him by waiting at the entrance to the field for the linebackers to come out (with my camera of course). The look on his face was priceless!! Big smiles from Aaron and I am, of course, proud mother. Nate got a high 5 and I got......pictures!


Abby, Nate, Jeff and I went to the game after tailgating and watching the parade on the parade grounds. Awesome parade...pictures to follow of course. Aaron doesn't have to march in the parade since he is on the football team but it was fun watching the rats march with the upper classmen. The band with the pipes and drums was great!

We got to the stadium to watch the cadets march in together with the band. They did a formation on the field and the band played the national anthem.

While we cheered the Keydets on to victory, Megan and Bekka texted us to let us know that they got to the OSU game safely and were happily seated on the 50 yard line, six rows up from the field!!!!!!!!! These are our season tickets for this year. Everyone is sooooo happy. Of course, they kept us posted as to the scores for the game as well as the scores for the rest of the Big Ten games. We did the happy dance when we heard the final scores for the Michigan/Appalachian State Game!!! Jeff's only comment when he heard was "Life is good!" Victory for VMI, Victory for the Bucks, a BIG LOSS for Michigan!!!!!

Updated Photos..Crusaders!!!

Nate Weiland #55

Another Football Player in the Family!

Here's our boy Nate, #55 on Crusaders Football.
First year on the 7/8 team. This is Nate's 5th season of playing football!

Weekend At Last!

And This is What I was served on Saturday
morning:

A Grande Latte!

My husband is the most wonderful guy in the world!!

A day in Oxford with our sweetie.....Megan. We had such a fun dinner together at a german restaurant. Then ice cream at Cold Stone!

Got to see her new apartment and it is so cute.

Here she is with her boy. Aren't they cute??

Football!

Our football player at VMI

Matriculation at VMI

A visit with our son at VMI. We are thrilled for what the future holds for him.

Pictures!

New Beginnings! Our Family Blog

I have decided to begin a blog to keep you up to date on our family adventures! We have had many this past summer. Most recent, of course, is to send our two eldest off to college. Megan, a senior this year at Miami University of Ohio, and Aaron, a freshman (or Rat as they are called!) at the Virginia Military Institute. I will keep you posted as to their progress.

On the homefront, Bekka got her license, Nate has started Crusader Football, and Abby has hosted at least 2,000 kids at our house for slumber/swimming parties! We are loving our new swimming pool and Jeff and I find our solace there.

We began our summer with our two week trip to Scotland. A fantastic family vacation which we will never forget. I will try to add some pictures later. We returned home to Aaron's graduation and send-off to his Summer Transition Program at VMI. He spent the month in Lexington, VA playing football and studying. The rest of our summer has been jam packed with events, including trying to plan a wedding for Megan and her fiance', Avi . Wedding date is tentatively planned for August 15th of 2008.

Jeff and I managed to get away to NAPA Valley for our 23rd Wedding Anniversay. It was wonderful.

The girls and I picked Aaron up from Lexington Va at the end of July, only to have him with us for one short week. Jeff returned him to VMI for a two week football camp in August. This past weekend we again made the trip to Lexington where Jeff and I got to spend a very short time with Aaron. We got to watch him practice football. Aaron is sooooo excited! Our hearts were heavy as we said our goodbyes and watched him march off with his cadre for the beginning of "hell week". (Their term for an intensive bootcamp-like training: "sweat parties, little sleep, marching for hours in the hot Virginia sun, and heavy physical training/workouts military style.) Not what I would like to do for the rest of my summer, but PERFECT for Aaron who loves this! We will keep you posted on his progress.

This was also the weekend for Megan's move-in at Miami University. A serious conflict in scheduling as she was quick to point out! Since we had to be in Lexington for Aaron's matriculation, it was the first time we missed move-in day with Megan. Fortunately, as a senior this year, she managed on her own with a little help from Avi!

Bekka, our grown-up little 16-year-old, managed the homefront with Abby and Nate! Thank you Bekka! She did an awesome job here at home and has decided she will wait awhile before becoming a wife and mommy! (I think all the driving to and fro for all the kids' activities as well as the cooking did her in!)

Pictures to follow, as soon as I figure out how to add them to this blog. We wish you all blessings and will add more as the year progresses.