December 5th - Bill Coaches All-Star High School Football Game

Bill was given the opportunity to help coach the Florida State High School All-Star Game. He had 3 players in the game, spent a week coaching them up, and then won 42-14!

December 6 - Visiting Santa

I love this sweet tradition of going to see Santa at Bass Pro. Thankfully, the Bass Pro in Fort Myers had a Santa just like the Bass Pro in Alabama did. Eli and Brady both asked for football cards and Major asked for an electric scooter. I guess now we just have to see if Santa grants their requests!

Eli's 13th Birthday - December 1

My big guy is 13 years old! It's so hard to believe my first born child is now a teenager. Is is strong, smart, thoughtful, displays wonderful leadership qualities, loves God and loves people! I am so thankful he isn't your typical "teenager" as so many people lament about. He is a wonderful upstanding young man and I am so thankful to be his mother. We spent a great day together as a family to celebrate Eli. And even at 13 years old, he isn't too old to get his birthday spankings and his pinch to grow an inch from his father. :)

November - Eli's First Middle School Basketball Game

Eli made the Varsity Middle School Basketball team this season and is a starter! They are 3-3 right now, and all their games have been good ones! Eli is really showing himself to be a leader on the court as well as in the classroom. It's so fun watching him play! Just like in football, there is no elementary basketball league, so Brady has been out practicing with the Middle School Junior Varsity Team. Once again, Brady shows his amazing attitude and his love for sports by practicing hard every day and knowing he will never play in a game!

November - Family Time and Thanksgiving

First picture: Brady was selected to give a speech about Operation Christmas Child for the entire school. Operation Christmas Child is an organization what delivers shoe boxes filled with Christmas gifts to impoverished people all over the world. Brady delivered his speech with poise and confidence in front of the whole school-kindergarten through twelfth grade! he did a great job!

Second picture: Our family was given tickets to the UCF-Cincinnati football game. It was the big college game of the day. ESPN was there and it was a sold out crowd. UCF won the game.

Third and Fourth picture: Our friends, Tara and Patrick Osbourne from Montgomery, came to Florida to visit her family and took some time out to visit with us! It was so great to see them. They have two boys, Cooper and Carson (and their cousin tagged along as well) and their boys are good friends with our boys. We miss these sweet friends!

Picture 5: Turkey bowl! This took place on Thanksgiving Day. For the first time, the boys actually beat us! It may be all downhill from here. :)

Picture 6: We had a Friendsgiving with some of our new friends at Southwest Florida Christian Academy on the day before Thanksgiving. It's hard to name all the people in the photo in their exact location, but it was hosted by Mike and Holly Marciano, and our principal Emily Pigott was there with her husband, Gene. Mike Marciano's parents were there, and Mike and Christy Curtis (Mike Curtis coached with Bill). The last two couples were our Spiritual Life Director and his wife, Jordan and Marissa Harrison and our Student Life Director and her husband, Jenna and Corey Roberts.

November - End of Football Season

Bill's first football season at Southwest Florida Christian Academy didn't end with a winning record, but they did make playoffs for the 2nd time in school history. He only had 4 seniors (as seen below). The team is young and there is lots of room for growth! We are excited to see where the future takes this football program!

Rachel's Trip to See Rebecca in Dallas, Texas - October 18-21

Rebecca Pace was my best friend when we lived in Sugar Land, Texas. It has been 5 1/2 years since we've lived there, and I've only seen Rebecca a few times since we've moved. The last time was almost 3 years ago, in January of 2016, and that was only for a few minutes because we weren't in Sugar Land for very long. For my birthday, Rebecca flew me out to Dallas to spend the weekend with her. It was such an amazing time. We watched lots of movies, ate lots of delicious food, got our make-up and feet done, and shopped, shopped, shopped. I cannot explain how great it was to be with her again. I miss having a best friend like that. Here are some pictures from our amazing weekend in Dallas!