Busting at the Heart!

There is so much love and pride in my heart for Aspen! Yesterday, I got to spend the day with her. She was invited to play with Varsity Volleyball in a local tournament. She was very excited; the coach told her beforehand that she would see very little playing time and that she was there as a support player. This was no problem for her. The team played very well and Aspen did get to play a little in a couple of games! With her first steps onto the court, you could tell she was VERY nervous. The last game she played in went well. She had a great hit and some really good passes. Overall, she did a fabulous job! Being asked to play on varsity is a huge deal! Her natural skills have been developing since she's been playing.

Along with Volleyball, she's been playing with the varsity basketball team since spring and presently is playing fall ball. Nate is the stand in coach, as the Varsity coach isn't allowed to coach until the season starts....anyway, Aspen and I left the volleyball tournament early so that she could make it to her basketball game. Good golly, you should have seen my girl yesterday!!! We arrived at the game a little late. Aspen was pretty warmed up from playing volleyball, so she put on her shoes and went right in. She was phenomonal, and she was exploding to the ball, making 3's, pulling down rebounds, getting good position, and dominating on defense!!! She had an amazing game!

When we got home, we were hanging out and relaxing, waiting for the pizza to cook. I heard Aspen sing a little tune quietly under her breath, and I told her how pretty I thought her voice was. She grinned and I said that she should try out for singing the National Anthem during a Liberty game sometime this year! Suprisingly, she said, "Do you want to hear me sing it? I'll sing it for you." She added, "You just can't look at me while I sing." :)

As I sat with my head buried in my hands, my sweet daughter sang her own version of the National Anthem. I started to tear up and get chills. Of course, I'm her mom and I thnk she is outstanding at everything she does, but yesterday, my heart burst with pride and was saturated with gratefulness for such a beautiful blessing of a daughter. God has given her such wonderful skills, talent, and beauty...inside and out. As I observe the way she carries herself, her incredible sense of humor, and the kind things she says to others, I quietly thank the Lord for her and pray that she will continue to grow and blossom in every way! It's so fun being Aspen's mom!

**Note: I'm just as proud of Keaten and will share the busting in the heart I'm having of him, too. It's just that this post was in reflection of the great day I spent with my baby girl yesterday! :)

3-Day Recap!

Greetings Family and Friends!
It's Sunday night, a week after the amazing 60 Mile-3-Day! I wanted to share a reflection on what a tremendous, incredible experience the 3-Day was! Here is a quick look!
Day 1-We started out at BCC and walked out off the campus with 3,299 walkers! The day was warm and wonderful. We enjoyed a beautiful route in and around Bellevue and Redmond. We were overjoyed to see our friend Susan at the first Cheer Station bearing gifts of our favorite walking snack, Fritos and a magnificant sign!! I also recieved wonderful phone and text messages from my sweet friends, Colleen and Laura. After many pit stops, stop and go's, cheer stations, and a delicous lunch, we found ourselves at camp...beautiful Marymoor Park. We were ready for a spaghetti dinner, showers, mail from the post office, and bedtime! A huge thank you to all of my friends and family that wrote me encouraging letters! It was the ultimate, settling in after a very exhausting day and feeling the support of family and friends! Thank you!
Day 2- We headed out early from camp and headed north. We enjoyed another beautiful day in Redmond and all around Kirkland, including the waterfront and lots of huge hills! After lunch, I was so excited to see one of my heros of the walk, fellow educator, friend, and survivor, Christine Cottom! Her decorated car, family, and friends cheered us on and put smiles on our face!
Our team started to feel the heat and some fatigue, but we forged on, as we anticipated seeing our families at the last Cheer Station of the day! As came upon the Cheer Station, my whole team was overjoyed to see our family members bearing more Fritos, water, Propel, and hugs! My daughter, Aspen, couldn't be there, but sent a fabulous text that lifted my spirits to the sky! Our last leg of day 2 was tons easier after the lift our family visit gave us! As we headed into camp, I had to take a pitstop at a portapotty and I urged my team to go on ahead. As I came into camp for check in, Andree' and AJ had gone and found the JOY flag (There are tons of flags bearing inspirational words as themes for the walk-Walkers get to carry them along the route)...anyway, Andree's mom's name is Joy, and she is a breast cancer survivor, and of course, it's my signature, so I was almost blubbering as we got a photo op with the JOY flag! After dinner and showers, my awesome roomie/tentmate, Susan and I hit the blow up matress for a good night sleep, while Andree' and AJ enjoyed the karaoke and dance party! Susan and I enjoyed it, too, just from our little, pink tent!
Day 3- After a really good night sleep, we woke before the birds and packed up camp, in the dark! We had a filling breakfast and got in line of 3,299 walkers to hop on a bus to take us across 520! We were dropped off in the Montlake area and headed out! We walked through U of W and got to walk through Greek Row...what a party that was! We walked all around Green Lake and ended up at Gas Works Park for lunch! My team and I felt really great overall, but I definitely started feeling the miles we had put on our feet! Walking along the waterfront was beautiful and so much fun, but I was ready to see the finish line and coming into the Seattle Center was euphoric! You want to cry and laugh at the same time!
We enjoyed a beautiful closing ceremony as we filed into the stadium and we had a chance to honor the survivors among us and those we walk for who were not with us. We screamed our lungs out as we were told that Seattle raised 8.6 million dollars!
I'm so grateful for the support from all of you and for the opportunity to do something that will help make a difference in the lives of those that need this support the most!
I feel great, in every way! I walked away with no blisters, aches, or pains...just a little tired and weary! Yahoo, for Journey II...as I finished a two-fer...will there be a 3-Peat?? We will see, but until then, please accept my sincere thanks for the amazing thoughts, prayers, encouragement, messages, letters, text and emails, and donations! Together, we all made a difference!

Catchin' Up with the Winegar Fam!

Aspen's first day in high school!
KJ and Mom on our first day of Middle School!

These past weeks have been full of changes and adjustments, mixed with fun and busy schedules! Here is a quick synopsis!

Good Golly, summer came and went. We had a great, relaxing summer. We enjoyed our backyard with the heated pool, lots of bbq, and never enough of family and friends.

September 3, the first day of school, came quickly and brought amazing changes for our family. In short, I LOVE my new job as a middle school humanities teacher! I love my schedule and I have the best group of 6th graders!

It's a different world than elementary, but I'm enjoying the challenge! I'm teaching health and 2 blocks of humanities, which is language arts and social studies. I am enjoying my new team and the entire staff is fabulous...kind, helpful, and they have been very welcoming! It's great, too because I know so many of the kids from Newcastle Elementary and from the community. My commute is the ultimate! We live only 3 minutes away! The very best news is that I'm home at a reasonable hour. I've actually made dinner and we've eaten around the table more in the past 3 weeks than we did all last school year!! I'm ecstatic and enjoying my new job!

The fam is doing excellent! Aspen has adjusted to high school and seems to be liking it! We are very proud of her. She has been working hard on her homework and being very responsible! She is playing JV volleyball and they are undefeated in conference play! She is doing very well!

Keaten has made the move to middle school with ease! He is doing well in his classes and is really working hard playing soccer for Greater Renton and he is doing Cross Country at school!

Nate, as always, is working hard and such a team player when it comes to the things that need to be taken care of at home, school, work, etc. He is amazing!

I did the Susan G. Komen 3-Day-60 mile walk last weekend and it was a tremendous experience. I will post my recap after this post! I just got back from my first indoor soccer game for fall season and enjoyed getting out on the turf again...I took the summer off and so, of course, I was sucking wind and wanted to throw up my dinner, but I held it together. We lost, but I so enjoy getting out there and running around with the girls!