Birthday Celebration

We spent Saturday celebrating my birthday. We first met Sharon and Brad at City Limits cafe for lunch. Afterwards we headed out to Opryland Hotel; I wanted to see what changes were made since they re-opened after the May flood. It's a gorgeous hotel and they did an amazing job on renovations and reopening just five months after the flood. Of course it didn't have the same atmosphere as it would if we were there at night, but it was pretty nonetheless. After being at Opryland we went to downton Nashville and had dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville restaurant that's only been open a few months. The atmosphere was fun and the food delicious! We topped off the evening by getting ice cream.

Seth's 16th Birthday

Seth had several parties for his 16th birthday. On Saturday, October 16th, he had a combined party with his marching band section mate, Emily. Emily turned 16 on the 19th and since they have many of the same friends from band, they planned a combined party at Emily's house. There were about 28 kids who came to Emily's house to celebrate and have fun. In lieu of gifts, Seth and Emily asked the attendees to bring donations to Hope House, a battered womens and children's shelter. We were overwhelmed by the response of the kids to this request as were the folks at Hope House when Emily and her mom delivered the donations on Tuesday morning. They were so impressed that the kids did this for their 16th birthday that they're going to write an article for the local newspaper.

On Sunday, October 17th, we went to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Brad's house to have a family celebration. Grammy was in town from PA for this celebration. This year Seth requested that Uncle Brad make beef tacos and chicken enchiladas for his birthday dinner. Mom and Grammy made apple pie for dessert.

On Monday, October 18th, Seth celebrated his birthday with his friends from church at their Core meeting that evening.

By the way, Seth did get a car for his birthday - a [matchbox] BMW.

First Band Competition of 2010 Season

The marching band had their first competition of the season this past Saturday in Waverly, TN. The theme of this year's show is "Pandora's Box". It's a great show with a lot of intricate footwork and lots moving around the field. Our band placed 2nd in class and 3rd overall. They also had the highest music scores of all the bands that competed that day.

Steve, Jenna and I went along as pit crew members. We're responsible for loading and unloading all pit equipment on and off of the semi truck as well as getting it onto and off of the field during the time our band is competing.

It was "all hands on deck". Jenna went along as a pit crew member.

Cross Country Update

I took Jenna to the doctor on Tuesday and he gave her clearance to run. She ran in the cross country meet this past Thursday and said her knee did not bother her. She's still doing home exercises and goes back to the doctor again this coming Tuesday. She was so glad to be able to run again. Tuesday was a half day of school, so after getting clearance from the doctor in the early part of the afternoon she went to school for a 2:45 practice and started running as soon as she could.

Another Cross Country Update

I took Jenna back to the doctor yesterday and he is very pleased with the progress for her knee. He said the inflammation is down so she no longer has to ice it. He took away one home exercise and added another one. She doesn't have to go back to see him again this week, so we'll go back again next Tuesday, September 14th. He may release her to run next week which was music to her ears. Please pray that one more week is all she needs to rehab the knee and she can run in the last two meets of the season.

Cross Country Update

After finishing in the top five for her school at the first two meets, Jenna now has to stop running for two weeks. She's devastated. Her right knee has been bothering her since almost the start of cross country. On Monday of this week I took her to an orthopedic doctor. He took x-rays of the knee, said he didn't see anything wrong, she could continue to run to tolerance and sent us for an MRI. Before we had the MRI the lady at registration told us that our out-of-pocket expense would be $1900. I about fell off my chair! Thankfully she told me that BEFORE the MRI was done. I told her thanks, but no thanks. We then came home and I called a place called In Motion here in Spring Hill that several people from our church go to. They specialize in chiropractic and deep tissue massage for sports injuries. We went there Wednesday morning and the doctor said Jenna has patellofemoral pain syndrome. This is where the knee cap has shifted and is grinding against the femur. Also, her right hip is too loose and her quad is too tight. He told Jenna not to run for two weeks which is hard for her - especially with cross country being a short season. The doctor gave us home exercises to do as well as ice the knee twice a day. She also has to go for therapy three times a week. So pray for Jenna - she's not one to sit still. The doctor did say she can bike and swim so that's some good news. We're trying to help Jenna see the big picture and help her understand that by getting this taken care of now, she'll feel better in the future and will be ready for spring track.

Marching Band

This year for marching band Seth switched from trumpet to contra (marching tuba). Here are some pics from practice last night. I'll get better pics later in the season when he's in uniform, but this gives you an idea of the instrument he's playing.