The return of Friday night football.

Hallelujah! It's time for Friday night lights!

 Game 1 featured RHS hosting BHS.

 Touchdown REBELS!

 At halftime we got to watch the other school's band. I thought it was cool that some of the drill team members also marched in the band.

 Then it was time for OUR band!

 See our boy?

It's so good to get back to football, even if it means we're back to cleaning the stadium after games...

And again we begin.

First day of eighth and 10th grades

Since Ryan's high school starts at 7:30, we left the house before sunrise!

Many times I've wished I'd been more consistent with these first-day-of-school photos. Some years Ryan has been on the left; other times it's been Katie. This year I decided to let technology fix my error. Behold: Ryan and Katie's First Days.

Last summer Saturday.

It was our last Saturday before the start of school, so of course, we felt the need to indulge. Tea and Donuts was just the ticket.

My fave: Hibiscus mint iced tea

Ryan's: blueberry and chocolate glazed donuts

Katie's: chocolate-banana smoothie

Our son, the baritone.

That's my boy.

He has earned his spot on varsity.

He's marching baritone now!

This August camp was especially brutal, 

considering our record-breaking heat wave.

But Ryan and the rest of the 

RHS band toughed it out.

The days (and our shadows) were long,

but our bari player stands tall.

At the end of August camp, Ryan had plenty of reason to be proud.

I, on the other hand, only managed to embarrass myself during the annual "show the folks how hard marching is" part of the evening:



AAAaaaarrrrggghhhhh! Awful, awful, awful. And I have to wait a whole year before I can redeem myself! Good thing Ryan's the one on the field and not Old Mom. (Video provided by my "friend," the band director.)

In spite of my attempts to sully our family's good name, we capped off the evening with ice cream.

Birth announcement.

 The Dubs are proud to announce the arrival of our latest bundle of joy:

Volume 3 of Classic Home Video Games!

 Almost eight months after shipping his manuscript to his publisher, Brett received copies of his latest book.

We should be used to this by now, but wow, is it exciting to see book #3 on the shelf!

Happy birthday to Brett!

 And just like that, it's time for another birthday!

 We celebrated Brett's 44th birthday with cards and cake on his "true day."

 It takes a lot of wax to celebrate birthdays in the Dub house these days.

 A few days later we celebrated with Brett's mom and dad.

 Another day = another cake!

 Another birthday = another picture at the bar!

It was a delicious meal and a nice way to celebrate the life of one amazing man.