2024-2025 Catch Up

 This is a very late update of this year because we’ve been busy living and having a great time!  You made the JV tennis team for Chapin HS as a 7th grader and had a great season! You continue to dominate at your clinics and lessons, and we are working on making you more aggressive in match play. Once that clicks, you will be unstoppable! We are so proud of how hard you’ve worked! You played in your first solo tournament recently and it was a tough but good experience. You lost some matches that you could have won and had to deal with the emotions of that. It’s tough, but was a great lesson and you walked away with a good attitude after some tears and are ready to play another tournament next month! 

You also had a great church basketball season. You had to play multiple positions as we were short on players this year, but you were consistent and strong and lead the team! 

You are having an amazing year at school making all A’s (even in the high school level Algebra 1 class you are taking!) You continue to amaze us with your work ethic, tenacity and drive. We just pray that you won’t be too hard on yourself and allow yourself grace as you are a bit of a perfectionist (except for when it comes to clearing things, Ha!) 

We enjoyed a good football season at Clemson, hanging with your best bud as often as we could. Thanksgiving and Christmas were pretty low key this year. We went to Uncle Mitch and Aunt Stacey’s for Thanksgiving and had a quick visit from Uncle Rob on Christmas Eve, but we mostly enjoyed quality time as a family of four. We all missed everyone else but enjoyed the memory making together as well! We are headed to DC for Spring Break in a few weeks so I will do a separate post with those memories.

Here are some pictures to sum up our year so far:

Summer 2024

You finished your sixth grade year with straight A’s and we are so proud of the hard work you put in this year. You are excited to be at the middle school next year! You are working hard at tennis even in the crazy summer heat and looking great. I can’t believed you’re trying out for the high school team in a few weeks! You spent 10 days at camp Gravatt (longest time away and I’m not sure how I feel about it) and loved it! Can’t wait to see the amazing things you will do this coming year!! 

--

 

Catch up post Maddy

Time has slipped away but only because we’ve been having so much fun. I have not posted in a very long time, so I am going to do a quick catch up post and then hope to stay more up to date moving forward. 

 We spent Fall break at Legoland in Florida with Grandmommy and Grandaddy and had a blast. The rides were a little too small for you and a little too big for Andrew, but everyone was still able to find something they loved. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the time!

You had a great start at your new school! I can’t believe you are in the 6th grade! You had a little bit of a tough time transitioning from your old school, but have met new people and are really doing well. I’m so proud that you’ve dived head first into your studies and are maintaining great grades and developing great study habits! You come home on the bus for the first time all by yourself and complete studying and homework without having to be reminded. Your responsibility and dedication amaze us! 

Thanksgiving was fun this year. We made the trek to Michigan for Uncle Chris to host and enjoyed hanging out with family, a yummy meal, and a hockey game. It was so fun to see all the cousins spending time together!!

Christmas was a whirlwind. We started the season with The Living Christmas Story at church where you were in a shop one night and a reluctant angel the next. You were a good sport and as always it kicked off the season just right. You were treated with a special gift from Aunt Stacey of going to see Wicked on Broadway and a trip to New York for the day! It was a trip of a lifetime that I know you will never forget!

We then had a fun time with Grandmommy and Grandaddy doing fun things like seeing the lights at the zoo and Saluda Shoals! Christmas Eve was spent at church (with you lighting the advent wreath- you were nervous but did it with poise and grace) and then over at Uncle Mitch and Aunt Staceys and then the day after Christmas Uncle Rob came since he had the flu on Christmas. Your gifts from Santa this year were an apple watch and some on cloud shoes. I can’t believe you are old enough to want such grown up presents now, but your kind and humble attitude and gratitude for all you get makes us proud!  You were such a great helper over Christmas break, often cooking or cleaning without being asked to do so. 

Tennis continues to go well for you. You are now splitting an hour lesson each week with another player and enjoying getting “real” playing time. I can’t believe you will try out for the high school team this summer! You work hard and have a good attitude and we are proud of you!

Spring update

 It is already springtime and it’s so hard to believe! You have had a great fifth grade year overall. You’ve struggled with math this year (well, you’ve done great, but haven’t had much teaching and we’ve struggled with that part). But through this, you’ve learned a lot of important lessons and we are confident that you will do well next year with some new beginnings in the teaching department. You are growing up and maturing and helping out around the house. You are making goals to study more independently and preparing for middle school. You still don’t love to read for fun, but I’m not giving up that easy! Ha! Currently, you want to be an athletic trainer when you grow up. You just took your fifth grade field trip to Caper’s Island and had a great time! There may or may not be a new crush in your life and something may or may not have happened on the bus to or from this field trip (you have a phone now and we monitor your correspondence, but try to give you some privacy unless something looks inappropriate) It’s very hard to let go and give you space, but we know it’s healthy and we are proud of the young lady you are becoming and know we have nothing to worry about! We just took a Spring break trip to visit Grandmommy and Gradaddy and had a great time riding bikes, swimming and sightseeing around Central Florida. So much to be thankful for and so much fun stuff happening! We can’t believe your fifth grade graduation is just around the corner!!!

Grammy

 We lost Grammy this year on January 20. She was diagnosed with leukemia and had a short battle; her body was just too weak to fight and handle the chemotherapy. Grammy had a tough time the last few years of her life with failing health and memory issues from a previous brain aneurysm. We are so sad to see her leave this earth, but we are happy that she is at peace with God. You kids were so great during this tough time, and really helped us (especially Daddy) get through it. Your Grammy loved you so much and is so proud of you two and will be watching over you as a special angel! We want you to remember her funky spirit and loving personality. We want you to think of her when you draw and paint like she loved to do. We want you to have your own original style like her. We want you to make the best out of situations that are tough like her and live for the moment! Most of all, we want you to remember that because of Jesus she is in heaven and we will one day see her again. 

Basketball

 This was the first year that you were old enough to join the church basketball league and you decided to play even though you’ve never really played basketball of any kind before. You took to it naturally and quickly became a huge help to your team. You learned to be more and more aggressive as the season went on and it was so cool to see you girls learn together and work as a team. We encountered some unsportsmanlike conduct this season in other teams, but you all should be proud of the kindness and respect you showed all players and coaches at all times and the team spirit that you had. We are glad that you want to play again and think you are going to be a great player! 

Christmas photo dump

 We had a great Christmas with lots of fun. We made cookies and the girls took a day trip to tour some old homes and have lunch downtown and we went ice skating in addition to our usual drive through the lights at Saluda Shoals. Santa Claus was good to all. Favorites this year were new room stuff and a hoverboard for Maddy and a trumpet and guitar for Andrew.