Last Soccer Game of the Year

Well, we woke up on Saturday to some patches of blue skies, but by game time we couldnt avoid the rain. Lucky for Team Quicksilver, they play really well in the rain. It was Maddie's last game of the year as we cant make it for the official final game of the year. Maddie gave it her all and after 2 or 3 great shots on goal in the first half, she broke through, off a a great pass from her best friend Mikayla, to score an awesome goal in her last game. No surprises on this one..she drilled it home!!! We are super proud of Maddie and how she, and all the other girls, played this year. They played with good spacing, great passing, and worked well together. Here is a little video of our end of the game tunnel. Special thanks to Coach Erik for helping the girls do so well this year.

Here are a couple pics from today as well.

Before you know it...

We always joke early in the year that "It will be Christmas before you know it"...well guess what, it will be Christmas before you know it. We started going through our calendar, and starting with this weekend we have something going on all the way until Christmas. Not saying that is a bad thing, but is always seems to sneak up on us. In addition to busy weekends, this week marked the start of Bball seasons. First practice was on Wednesday and we have some more practices next week. It is looking like we will have a 7th and 8th grade team again, and all the kids are excited for the season. We will be posting updates throughout the season....go Eagles!

Exceeding Expectations

Well, a year's worth of work is finally over. Last night was the Hope School auction that Steph, Julia and crew have been planning for a long time. It was a year ago when Steph and Julia agreed to co-chair the event and suggested moving to this Fall. With these two in charge, there was not a lot missed. Every detail was accounted for, everything organized, volunteers lined up, etc. It all came to life yesterday. We started out with "car loading" at 9:30 and we finally made it home at 12:30am. It was a BUSY BUSY day...however, one that was an amazing success.

All in all, over $80,000 dollars was raised (gross)!!! Aside from raising a bunch of money for Hope, it was just a GREAT night. Everyone was excited, the venue was buzzing...the auctioneer even had to Shush the crowd 3-4 time because everyone was just enjoying themselves. We have been trying to lay low today and tie up loose ends here and there, but the buzz is out there that this was one of the best (if not the best) event ever for HOPE. We have heard that from a number of people, ran into people at the grocery store, received emails, etc.

Hats off to Steph who put everything she had into this to make it such a great event. It is extremely rewarding to see all the hard work pay off, and for it to be appreciated. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, donations, etc. We appreciate it, Maddie and Kenzie appreciate it, and Hope appreciates it!

The New Classroom(s)

This morning we had the chance to be there for the "dedication" of the new classrooms up at Hope. It was almost like an Extreme Makeover moment, as Lisa and staff "got the key" on Thursday and spent all weekend getting moved in. Kenzie's preschool class moved from the church basement into their own room...while Kindergarten moved right across the hall. The 8th graders moved to a new room upstairs (they had been on table in the fellowship hall), and the 1st graders moved back to their room. So, as you can tell, a lot of moving and shakin' the last few days. I was able to snap some photos of the new Preschool and Kindergarten rooms as well as some of the activities. This was a HUGE milestone in the Church/School building projects...next step is to finish off the new driveway and playground while also finishing off the connection between Church and School.

She shoots...she scores!

This weekend marked a milestone for Maddie....after weeks of hard shots, missed shots, hitting the post, Maddie finally broke through and knocked one in. She has been SOOO CLOSE the last few weeks, and as it goes, this goal was probably from one of the harder angles than any other shot she has taken. But she took her time, sized it up, and hit it through. She actually surprised herself! Not sure if this will open the flood gates to become a scoring machine...probably not....but it was great to see her hard work pay off. Way to go Maddie!

The Final Countdown

No, I am not talking about the popular 80's song, or the movie...Rather, the home stretch to the Hope Auction. The Jensen house is all a-buzz with Auction activity. Steph is doing an AMAZING job with this. She is clearly putting her talents to use and doing something tremendous for the school.

Today is the unofficial/official deadline for donations, but between you and me, more great stuff will come in. If you have it in your heart to donate something, just let us know. Maybe there are some Hawks or Dawg fans out there that want a little tax write off by donating some tickets..while also saving themselves some more agony! Reservations are still flowing in as well, with a number of table captains (people who commit to filling a table of 10) still out there.

This has been an amazing experience to see it all come together, the tremendous generosity from families and the community, and all the support of parents/family. It will be a great event..for sure.

Hard Fall

No, I am not talking about the sudden wind and rain storm that hit Seattle this weekend. Unfortunately, it was a scary fall that Maddie had today after Church. This weekend we were watching 2 of the 3 Doerr kids so that Cary and Julia could celebrate their Anniversary and her Birthday...and after morning waffles we headed to church. With the construction at Hope we have been up at SLHS gym. After Church, the kids do their thing, running around and playing. While we were talking I glance over to see Maddie tumble off of a 6ft high ledge. Her arm/shoulder/side braced her fall...but it didnt look good. After a few minute of thinking we were heading to the ER, we (I) calmed down and everything looked to be A-OK. She escaped with a scrape on her chin and cheek, and a big scrape on her arm. VERY VERY Lucky.

Ironically the message today about Faith, talked about Faith in the good times...the fact that she escaped with no injury I would categorize as "in the good times"...a little bit more of a drop, or different angle, and she could have been really hurt. The key is that in the good times, we need to take the gifts were are given and share them with others. So, as we digested all that happened today we talked with Maddie about how she is going to share with others after receiving her gift...and us as well.