Big Life Things for Lynsey!

Looks like April is somehow half over, yikes! We've had lots of volleyball to keep up busy, as well as some exciting news on the Lynsey front:-). She got her first job! She got hired part time at Farine bakery, and she started last week! So far it's been going well, she is bussing tables and bringing food out to patrons. She has really only worked one shift so far (the rest was orientation) but she seems to feel like she's getting comfortable. They are promising to be flexible around her plans this Spring and Summer, so she can still come with us when we got to Alberta. Getting a grown up job, big step towards independence!

Another big thing - she's chosen her University for this Fall! She is going to U of A in Edmonton! We love this choice for her, although it is slightly less convenient than U of C would have been:-/. Now we just need to get her housing sorted out for the year, it's looking like she has it narrowed down to just a few options. I am so excited for her to begin this new stage of life, although I know we will miss her so much! Thank goodness for direct Alaska flights between Edmonton and Seattle:-D.

Lynsey also just played the last club volleyball game of her youth career, so sad! The team played their last tournament this past weekend and actually did really well to go out on a high note! I wasn't there because I was at a tournament with my 16s team, but Brian was able to watch the last few games. So glad she got to play this season and have some fun with her team. I hope she chooses to keep playing on rec teams or even maybe a club team (not sure what U of A offers in this area but I hope she seeks it out because it's such a great way to meet people and stay active!). She improved so much even just this year, she will be a force to be reckoned with this Fehr family campout!

My volleyball season with my team has had it's ups and downs this year. This past weekend we were in Centralia for the Hub City tournament, and the team played so well! We ended up making it to the Gold final and losing to Malu, a team we had played before and lost to (barely). They just didn't seem to have it in the Final, but second place is such a great finish they can be proud of. This past weekend we had a Power League and didn't do so well, lost some close games and went 1-2 in pool play but because of tie breakers we ended up 4th, ugh. The bright side is the girls came out and fought hard to win that 4th place crossover and go out with a win. We had several girls out sick and it was a long day, great finish to the day. 

Brian and I had a really lovely anniversary dinner last week at El Gaucho, and yesterday we left the kids at home alone and had a night at the Salish Lodge and Spa by Snoqualmie Falls. It was such a nice little getaway! It's a beautiful hotel and we got Club access that had a few extra perks, got to hang out in the hot tub area with a sauna and steam room this morning which was really nice. Things at home went pretty smoothly, Adam doesn't love when he has to rely on his brother and sister for everything but we are trying to get him used to it so we have more freedom to do more things like this in the future. He was just fine and he can actually do a lot himself, too, so it was all good - he was just a bit complainy at times. 

Tomorrow our family is heading up to Whistler to hang out with Brian's parents for a few days. A little family getaway! Looking forward to a relaxed few days, I've never been to Whistler so looking forward to exploring the town and not doing a lot of cooking for a few days. 

 

Spring but without the Spring weather:-/

It's April already, why doesn't it feel like Spring yet:-S. The weather hasn't exactly been wonderful, just a few nice days here and there, but hopefully that will change soon!

The rest of March was pretty low key, we had some lazy weekends at home which was kind of nice actually. Nathan had his piano recital on the 23rd and did fantastic as he always does! He played a really difficult song and did so well, so proud of him. We went to the Kraken Oilers game on the 27th and watched a literal meltdown by the Oilers in the second period of that game. Quite the spectacle to witness, didn't know if I should laugh or cry lol. It was still a fun evening, and a good lesson for Nathan who was very upset at the loss. I told him if he's going to be an Oilers fan he's going to have to take the good with the bad and not take losses too personally. He had never seen them lose in person so it was a tough pill to swallow for sure. Thankfully they are back on track since Leon came back Saturday, things were looking pretty dire there for a minute!

This past weekend Lynsey had a tournament Saturday and I had one Sunday. Lynsey's team did pretty well, they got second in their pool and then lost the crossover match. My team didn't have their best tournament and we ended up third in our pool, then losing the crossover. It had been five weeks since our last tournament which was really too long. We have been practicing hard this week and will hopefully be ready for the weekend tournament in Centralia! Lynsey's team is playing too, hopefully the schedule works out that I can watch some of her games.

Lynsey just got her first job! Very exciting for her - and for us, as we had been pushing pretty hard for her to find a job with all her free time:-/. She will be working part time at Farine, a bakery that makes delicious lattes and breakfast sandwiches. I am not sad that I will have an excuse to visit them more often:-). Very proud of her for acing the interview and landing the job! Welcome to the working world! She is also in the middle of making the all important decision of where she wants to go to University, she has acceptances to UBC Kelowna, U of C and U of A. I think she is zeroing in on her top choice so hopefully I can announce that soon once it's finalized. So much exciting stuff happening for her! She also decided she is going to go to Prom after all (she wasn't going to go at first), she's going with her old friends group (they invited her to come which was really great of them to do). I'm glad she will have this very American experience before she leave the US behind and doesn't look back :-D.

 

Three Teenagers in the house - here we go!

It's official - I have three teenagers! Yikes! Nathan turned 13 on the 28th and we are in the thick of it over here:-D. He had a very low key party with just two of his friends, they had some fried chicken and ice cream cake, and then went to do an escape room as an activity. It was a fun evening! Lynsey and Brian joined them for the escape room (for minimal support) and they were able to solve it at the last minute.

Lynsey had a power league tournament the next day (Saturday the 1st) and then another tournament this past weekend, both Saturday and Sunday. So it's been a lot of volleyball for her lately! The team has it's ups and downs, but actually finished pretty well both days. I think she's still enjoying the experience which is of course the most important thing! So fun to see her really blossom and get more confident in her hitting especially, she continues to improve.

My team hasn't had any tournaments since February 23rd so we are just practicing a lot. Some days I really enjoy it, other days it's a bit of a drag to go to practice as you would expect at times. The team is great and I know I'm super lucky to have these girls. Our next tournament isn't until the 30th so lots of time to work on lots of things in the meantime!

Adam is just plugging along, not really much to update there. He seems pretty happy these days which is always nice. Thinking about going on a family outing this weekend to see the Titanic museum, not sure what he will think of it but I think he will tolerate it. If we end up going, I will update here of course!

 

Big win for Canada! And more volleyball!

The month of February has been all about more volleyball and of course the exciting win for Canada over the US in the 4 Nations tournament! Lynsey had a Power League on the 8th and then she played in the Presidents Day tournament, which my team also played in. Brian and I went to watch a few of her games on Sunday morning since I had afternoon wave. Nice to see her get stronger and stronger in her hitting! My team did pretty well in the tournament, we played some really strong teams and had a great showing. We ended up getting second in the silver bracket which is a great finish for us considering the level of teams represented there. Lynsey's team had a few wins which was nice, they really still need another player to join their team though. They had a 15s player playing up with them at the tournament, and while she did really well considering, it's really not the ideal scenario when you are playing 18s teams. Hopefully they can find a good hitter to join their team soon so they can finish the season strong!

I've been enjoying coaching, although it certainly is challenging at times. I've got a really great group of girls and I know I am very lucky that they have come together so well and seem to all get along really well, but it is still a group of 11 teenagers with strong opinions and different perspectives and sometimes it's overwhelming trying to do my best for the team and for them all individually. I have set a really high standard for myself in that I don't want to just go through the motions, I want to actually be good at this. These families have sacrificed a lot of time and money to be on this team, and I want to give them what they are paying for. I've definitely made some mistakes already, but I am learning and I hope they all see that I am trying to keep improving as a coach. We had a tournament day yesterday and ended up finishing pretty well, third in our flight so I think we will move up to the next flight on the next power league (and we did it with one of our best defensive players out sick so I was really proud of how everyone came together!). I do wonder if I am putting too much focus on winning, there are a few girls that don't get a lot of playing time compared to the rest of the team. They do play, they basically share a middle position so they each play half of one set each (and then if the set goes to three then I choose which one that I think is playing best to play the third). It's so tricky to balance winning with development of skills, I sometimes wish I had someone telling me exactly the right way to do it. But then I think there probably isn't an easy answer to this and each coach is just doing the best they can. Anyway, I'm enjoying the challenge and really proud of how the team is coming along!

Lynsey got another college acceptance the other day! She got accepted to the UBC campus in Kelowna. She didn't seem to care all that much about it, mostly because I don't think she really is considering it as a serious option, but it's nice to know that it's there if she changes her mind. It's hard to believe it's really only a few more months until she graduates high school! 

Nathan's birthday is this Friday, I will officially be the mom of 3 teenagers! Yikes! He's having a small party with two of his friends, they are doing an escape room which should be a fun time. 17, 15 and 13. Back in those days when they were 4, 2 and newborn I never thought I would see this day. It's so much fun some days, so hard other days. We have all been sick over the last several weeks (well all of us but Brian who somehow escaped this plague) but everyone is on the mend now. It's so hard when Adam gets sick, he's not as whiny about it as he used to be but he's taken to wiping his nose on his sleeve instead of getting a tissue which is just great:-/. I'm so glad he's on the other side of it now. Hopefully we can stay healthy the rest of the winter! 

 

Visit from Andy, a snowy week

Well, snow has arrived in the Pacific Northwest and the kids have been off school for several days now. They did have school Monday and Tuesday but with a two hour late start, the last few days have been cancelled altogether. I guess we've been lucky the last few years to not have too many snow disruptions, but still a pain.

What has been happening! Lynsey got her first official University acceptance letter from the University of Calgary, yay! She already got an email but it was nice to get the hard copy letter confirming it:-D. Lynsey and I also got our Twilight Lego set this past weekend and got to work on it, so fun! We've been watching some more fun Oilers hockey (first in the Pacific?? Yes!) and our Australian friend Andy was in town for work and he stayed with us. I also had a tournament with my team this past Sunday, we went 4-0, woohoo! And that's with two pretty important players out sick! The team once again banded together and did what was needed, so proud of how versatile they are. Brian and I also went to a Cirque du Soliel show this past Saturday, Kooza. Always a fun show, they are just so incredible to watch. I do get a bit anxious when they are doing crazy things though, I mean they have to be a bit nervous about falling, right?? 

Here's hoping this snow nonsense is mostly over and done with so we can go on with our lives. There is some more in the forecast for Saturday but Lynsey has a tournament Saturday so I'm very much hoping it doesn't materialize! We shall see!