Fort Night and Beef and Boards

A couple of weeks ago, some of the fellas from the AU soccer team decided they wanted to come over to our house to build a fort. Yes...the kind you used to build in your parent's living room with all of the blankets in the house when you were eight years old. So on a Wednesday night, they came over, hung out for a little while, and then got to work on their masterpiece. It was rather hilarious to watch...they took apart our sectional couch, turned the pieces on their sides, and said things like, "this will be the living room...this will be the foyer....this will be the game room...this will be the bedroom..." They draped the blankets everywhere, and even stapled a few sheets to the wall! Here the boys are...super proud of their finished product:






Don't they look like little boys? So cute...


Eating their Taco Bell in the game area/kitchen:


All playing around on Facebook in the "bedroom":


The finished product:

They definitely ALL slept in the fort (including Benny) and probably got a whopping 4 hours of sleep. I think they're all excited about doing another "Fort Night" sometime soon!


Friday night, we went with Benny's Dad and his wife to watch Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at a fun dinner theatre place in Indianapolis called "Beef and Boards." We had a yummy dinner, and then got to watch the show!


The dining room/where we sat for the show. They took away the buffet tables and the stage slid out to where the buffets are now.


We'd never been to a dinner theatre before, so it was a great new experience!

"Pickle in a Pouch" and A Day of Soccer

(First a picture of our house with the pretty fall trees:)


Last Friday night we took two girls out to dinner: Betsy (who you've heard about before) and Abbey (one of the women's soccer players). This was no ordinary dinner...this was Abbey's "new life in Christ celebration dinner!" (Betsy led Abbey to Christ Thursday night at the donut shop!) After dinner, we were sitting around talking, and somehow a conversation started about "pickles in a pouch." You know, the ones you can buy in the candy section of Blockbuster. Well, we all decided that even though they sounded disgusting, we needed to try them, so we did! Before eating our pickle in a pouch: (Benny, Abbey and Betsy)



And after: (They were AWFUL! The saltiest thing that I've ever tasted, but a funny memory, none the less!)


Saturday was our "day of soccer." We left the house at around 9am and drove down to Indianapolis. There were two games going on at one of the high schools for semi-states that Benny watched for recruiting. Game #1:


Game #2:

Then, we drove to Cincinnati for some AU games. First, the girls had a game:

#12 is Abbey!

The guys warming up:

And the men's game:

On our way to the fifth game of the day, we drove past an Ikea! And because I have the greatest husband in the world, after simply pointing at the sign, he pulled off of the highway and into the parking lot. We didn't have a lot of time to shop, but were able to find a few great buys, and it was worth every minute!

Benny recruiting at the lat game of the day:

We got home at around 10:30pm and it was definitely a long day, but totally worth the time I got to spend with my hubby!

AU Homecoming 2009

So I had to start out this post with a couple of pictures of the beautiful fall leaves.
(I'm a big nerd...I know :)

This tree is in our neighbor's front yard:


In downtown Anderson:

God's creation is SO amazing!!

Anyway...onto AU Homecoming!

The weekend of October 9-10 was Anderson's homecoming. This year marks the 20th anniversary for the AU soccer program, so Friday night we went to an anniversary banquet. Here's where I brag about my husband for a minute: :) The head coach (who has been around since 1989 when the program began) honored two all-decade teams--one with players from 1989-1998 and the second from 1999-2008. There were 12 or so men on each team representing the best players from that decade...Benny is on the all-decade team for 1999-2008!! Benny's really humble about this sort of thing, and didn't even tell his parents he'd won the award, so I've decided it's my job to let people know about it! Here's Benny accepting his award:


Here's the current team, watching the ceremony from upstairs on the jogging track:


The whole group of alumni players that returned for the banquet. It was great for Benny to catch up with these guys, and fun for me to meet them!


Saturday was the homecoming game against Transylvania University. I got to watch Jared climb up and slide off of this rock several times during the first half. The first couple of times he climbed up the rock, he kept saying, "I know I can do it...I know I can do it...I'm almost there." Precious, absolutely precious.


Alison (one of the college students I mentor) and me during the game.


Benny and Jared after the game:


Adam and Jared Galema, Benny and Travis Taflinger. Travis was at AU with Adam and Benny, and lives in Kokomo, IN. He works for a ministry called "Bridges" that comes alongside urban kids in Kokomo. He just happened to be at KAA with a group of kids in 2008 when we brought kids from Ruston. It was great to reconnect with him, and I can't wait to meet his wife and kiddos some day!


Benny and Matt Mason. Matt was a freshman on the soccer team Benny's senior year.


Yeah for Homecoming!

Autumn

I love the fall...the cool, crisp air, the leaves changing colors, drinking hot apple cider, buying pumpkins... I think I appreciated the changing seasons a little bit when I was growing up, but I think that spending three years in Lousiana where there were only two seasons: "really hot" and "not quite as hot" has made me appreciate the four distinct seasons offered in the midwest even more.

Here's an update of the last month or so:

A trip out to eat with the Galemas: Benny with Cassity and Jared in the back of the van.


We had dinner last weekend with our new, wonderful friends, the Canfields. Afterwards, we played Scattegories, Dance Dance Revolution, and Rock Band. Here's our awesome band (Troy, Katrina, me and Benny):


Betsy (one of the girls I mentor) is in Anderson University's production of the musical "Into the Woods." We went to see her on Friday night, and she did an amazing job!


Fall for the Bennisons definitely means lots of soccer! Benny has been super busy with games, practice, and recruiting (and his classes for grad school), but he always does an unbelievable job being intentional to find time for us to spend time together. It's been really great to be so close to campus and the game field...he can zip over after practice to see me before I leave for work, and I've been able to walk to all of the games! Also, we've been blessed to be able to open our home to lots of the students for dinner, and three of the soccer players live across the street! The next group of pics are from the first half of the soccer season:

Our new friends from church, the Holzworths came with their kiddos to a game a few weeks back. Me and Christy:

Todd and Benny:

Betsy and me during halftime of one of the women's games:

One of our good friends from Ruston had a week of meetings in Muncie, IN (which is only 20 or so minutes up the road) so he came to a game with me, and we got some great hang out time with him when he was finished with work stuff. We were so thankful we got to see him. And he probably has one of the greatest laughs we've ever heard! We miss you, James!

The men's soccer team heckling the opposing team during a women's game last week:

Benny addressing the team before their game on Saturday in Hanover, IN.

Benny and Coach Fridley watching the game. I love that whenever I catch a picture of them standing by eachother, they're always posed the same!

Wendy (coach Fridley's wife) and I rode with the team on the bus to the game against Hanover this weekend. We left at 8:30am and got back at around 9pm. It was a long day, but we enjoyed the time with our hubbies, and we always enjoy our time together! I am SO thankful for her!

I hope you are enjoying and appreciating your fall...and thanking God for His awesome creativity!

Higgings Lake, Michigan

So I've noticed a trend with my blogging...for some reason I wait about two weeks to post the pictures I've taken. I'll try to get better, but for now... TWO WEEKENDS ago, Adam, Leslie, and Ryleigh Galema went up to Higgins Lake in Michigan with us. Benny's Dad and wife, Leta have a house on the lake that we were blessed to enjoy.

Here's a couple of pics from the shore at sunset:




The view from the back porch:


Adam and Leslie relaxing on the beach Saturday morning:


Busting out my Kanakuk counselor skills on the kayak. (I felt like I was breaking a rule by not wearing my "C.O" hat...all you Kanakukers know what I'm talkin' about!)


Benny coming in from a fun ride on the jet ski:


Saturday night, Larry and Leta took us out to dinner at "Fred's Fine Dining and Bowling." That's right... fine dining AND bowling! One half of the building had a restaurant with yummy food, then the other half was a bowling alley! We definitely took advantage of both! Leslie and I forgot to bring socks with us to the lake, so we purchased the most beautiful ones we could find across the street at the Dollar General:


A little close up: (Leslie definitely tight rolled her pants)


After dinner and bowling, we made a campfire down by the lake for s'mores!
Leslie and Adam, by the campfire:


Benny and me:


Adam and Benny roasting our 'mallows for our s'mores:


Leslie being all "out-doorsey" with her citronella candle:


Playful Benny with his silly Dad:


Larry, Benny and Adam.


Larry and Benny, acting a little more normal:


Me and Les:


And of course, our precious baby Ryleigh. She was SO good on the trip!


We were so sad we had to leave Sunday afternoon, but can't wait to go back again! It was so relaxing and such a great time with Adam, Leslie, Larry and Leta!