Sunday, November 16, 2008
Reflections of a Basketball Mom
For as long as I can remember wintertime has meant basketball season. We have spent our time from mid-October through February and sometimes into March consumed by basketball. Dave has coached. All three of the boys have played pee-wee ball, middle school ball and high school ball. Last year we had one at each level! This year though things are a little different and I am still trying to figure out how I feel about it! Dave decided this past summer that he was not going to coach this year. Between teaching, his responsibilities at church, department chairing, coaching, fathering, and husbanding he was feeling that something need to be released and he opted to let go of coaching. That was not too big of a deal because the boys would still be playing so there would be lots of basketball games to go to. But as the Middle School season approached Micah decided that he would do drama instead of playing 7th grade basketball. They practice at the same time so he was forced to make a choice. He opted for drama and will have a large part in the upcoming Middle School play. He has been very happy with his decision and is looking forward to his starring role. Shortly after that decision the time came for the high school season to start and Caleb also decided he would sit out this season and cheer on his team from the stands. This has probably been the hardest for me to take because I love to sit in the stands and watch him play. He felt like he wanted to try his hand at some other things and that basketball simply did not allow him the time to do that. He loves photography and is seriously considering pursuing a career in photography so he is hoping to work with the Art teacher at school to put together a portfolio and possibly start an online photography business. He is also performing in Harvey....the fall play at the High School as well as taking some pretty tough classes. I of course completely support him in his decision not to play ball but I will miss seeing him on the court this year! Joshua is our lone basketball player this season. He has been waiting to play Bear ball for 3 years now and is very excited. As most of you know he has some challenges to face in academics and in athletics but he is out at practice every day working as hard as he can with a great attitude. He will find out on Tuesday if he made the C team. I hope he makes it. I can't wait to see him in a Bear uniform!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Random Pics Explained
Have I mentioned on here that my camera was stolen? Well, in case I haven't....my camera was stolen off of a picnic table in Leadville, CO last August when Dave and Josh were on the Youth Road Trip with our church. This frustrates me. I like my camera. It is simple. I could point and shoot and get some pretty good photos. I could plug my camera into my laptop and download those photos pretty easily. I could then upload those photos right onto my blog or facebook page....all without any issue. I liked that...but then...my camera was stolen...hence the lack of photos on my last few posts. Now Caleb is a budding photographer and he also has a camera. But...it is not a nice simple camera that allows me to just point and shoot. I like taking pictures with his camera but getting the pictures from his camera onto my computer has not proven to be a simple task. And since it is not simple it is a task I have not spent time trying to achieve. However, this weekend Caleb was doing some work with some of his photos on Dave's computer and I saw my opportunity to get some photos of things I have blogged about from his camera to my blog so I seized the moment. However in my seizing of the moment I did not take the time to caption the photos I got thinking I would just go back later and do that. However that was not a simple task either and thus avoided. Instead I just decided to do a new post to explain the photos in the old post....the simple way!
From top to bottom here is your friendly photo explanation:
1 - A family photo taken last June at Horn Creek....our family camp. My boys are getting taller than me!
2-4 - These pictures were all taken at Sylvan Lake. Sylvan Lake is south of Eagle. We had never visited there before but found ourselves there via a Geocache. It was a beautiful fall Saturday. We had to go to Vail for a soccer game and decided to do a little geocaching on the way home. This is where we wound up. Wow! It was so beautiful. We will go back and hopefully do some camping there soon!
5 - Dave leading the Victory chant at the Rifle High School homecoming game. The Bears did go on to victory....beating Battle Mountain by a score of 53-6!
6-7 - On Monday of Homecoming week Caleb came home thoroughly disgusted that he had been nominated by his class to be on the homecoming court. He was not looking forward to any of it but I think as the week went on and the homecoming spirit took hold he did become more excited and decided to have fun with it. It helped that he got to ride in the homecoming parade in a Solstice. He ended up being chosen by his class as the Junior Attendant on the Homecoming Court. The girl with him was also chosen by the Junior class as the attendant. It was fun to see him get all spiffed up. I believe he was quite dashing :). For those who have asked....not a girlfriend....just a friend in his class...and his partner for the Homecoming court....placed together alphabetically and coincidentally both chosen as the Junior attendants.
8 - Micah as Arty the Alley Cat in the community play "The Floating Princess". He was fantabulous!
9 - Josh at the Homecoming football game cheering the Bears to victory.
10- Josh as the Gingerbread Man in "The Floating Princess".
There you have it...captions to go with the pictures...just a little late and a little more wordy! Oh...and if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas....a camera would be nice!
From top to bottom here is your friendly photo explanation:
1 - A family photo taken last June at Horn Creek....our family camp. My boys are getting taller than me!
2-4 - These pictures were all taken at Sylvan Lake. Sylvan Lake is south of Eagle. We had never visited there before but found ourselves there via a Geocache. It was a beautiful fall Saturday. We had to go to Vail for a soccer game and decided to do a little geocaching on the way home. This is where we wound up. Wow! It was so beautiful. We will go back and hopefully do some camping there soon!
5 - Dave leading the Victory chant at the Rifle High School homecoming game. The Bears did go on to victory....beating Battle Mountain by a score of 53-6!
6-7 - On Monday of Homecoming week Caleb came home thoroughly disgusted that he had been nominated by his class to be on the homecoming court. He was not looking forward to any of it but I think as the week went on and the homecoming spirit took hold he did become more excited and decided to have fun with it. It helped that he got to ride in the homecoming parade in a Solstice. He ended up being chosen by his class as the Junior Attendant on the Homecoming Court. The girl with him was also chosen by the Junior class as the attendant. It was fun to see him get all spiffed up. I believe he was quite dashing :). For those who have asked....not a girlfriend....just a friend in his class...and his partner for the Homecoming court....placed together alphabetically and coincidentally both chosen as the Junior attendants.
8 - Micah as Arty the Alley Cat in the community play "The Floating Princess". He was fantabulous!
9 - Josh at the Homecoming football game cheering the Bears to victory.
10- Josh as the Gingerbread Man in "The Floating Princess".
There you have it...captions to go with the pictures...just a little late and a little more wordy! Oh...and if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas....a camera would be nice!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Who Am I? by Caleb Ziegler
Caleb recently had an assignment in his Junior English class. The assignment was to write an essay entitled Who Am I? I wanted to share it with you.
Who am I?
Who are you? she asks.
Am I supposed to answer that question? Any judgment or opinion that I give about myself is going to be flawed because, just as I believe that I sing well, the sad fact of the matter is, I sing terribly. So, in order to answer this question, I must appeal to a higher authority. Society might be able to offer some insight into the matter. However, upon further examination of society as a whole, I find that it is flawed as well. The words of popular opinion bring condemnation upon themselves. Society would not be willing to answer this question in the first place because it believes feelings to be higher in the moral hierarchy than truth. Also, the basis of society’s definitions of truth, ethics, and morality cannot be traced back to any authority except that of the opinion of man. As a result, I will not appeal to society to answer the question: “Who am I?” Instead, I choose to appeal to an authority that is definite, constant, and higher than any other authority. A power such as this is able to answer this question definitively. I appeal to heaven and to God.
The one true God of the Christian faith has, in His infinite wisdom, left His followers a book that intentionally and explicitly answers the question above, the Bible. Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, it can be used to find His opinion on the matter of who I am. First, He says that I was created in His image but, unlike God, I have a sinful nature. This inherent wickedness was brought about by God’s willingness to give mankind freewill and its abuse of this privilege. As a result of my sinfulness, my just punishment is an eternity in hell. However, because of God’s awesome grace and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, as a Christian I have been gifted with an eternity with God in heaven. Now, because of the gratefulness I have, I have an aversion to sin and a desire to serve God and to do His will. This influences everything else about me. The actions I choose to participate in are first interrogated by the question of whether or not they are in accordance with God’s will. My concern of other people’s opinions is regulated by the knowledge that God is sovereign and that people have no eternal authority over me. My fears, from the fear of death to the fear of spiders, are dampened by the assurance that God’s will prevails and his plans cannot be changed. The value of my life and of other people’s lives is increased in my eyes because I know God created every one of them and that He loves them. I know that whether I am blind, deaf, and unable to walk, or I am strong and able to run for ten miles straight, it doesn’t matter because I have the same value in God’s eyes and when I reach heaven, I will receive a perfect body. Finally, the eternal future of other people is brought to my attention and my life goal is to see as many people into heaven as I can.
Who am I? I have appealed to the highest authority and He has said that I am His child and that I am going to heaven. Everything else that comprises who I am is used by God to glorify Him and to do His will. My values are concrete, my physical characteristics and my social status are unimportant, and my purpose is divine.
Who am I?
Who are you? she asks.
Am I supposed to answer that question? Any judgment or opinion that I give about myself is going to be flawed because, just as I believe that I sing well, the sad fact of the matter is, I sing terribly. So, in order to answer this question, I must appeal to a higher authority. Society might be able to offer some insight into the matter. However, upon further examination of society as a whole, I find that it is flawed as well. The words of popular opinion bring condemnation upon themselves. Society would not be willing to answer this question in the first place because it believes feelings to be higher in the moral hierarchy than truth. Also, the basis of society’s definitions of truth, ethics, and morality cannot be traced back to any authority except that of the opinion of man. As a result, I will not appeal to society to answer the question: “Who am I?” Instead, I choose to appeal to an authority that is definite, constant, and higher than any other authority. A power such as this is able to answer this question definitively. I appeal to heaven and to God.
The one true God of the Christian faith has, in His infinite wisdom, left His followers a book that intentionally and explicitly answers the question above, the Bible. Since the Bible is the inspired word of God, it can be used to find His opinion on the matter of who I am. First, He says that I was created in His image but, unlike God, I have a sinful nature. This inherent wickedness was brought about by God’s willingness to give mankind freewill and its abuse of this privilege. As a result of my sinfulness, my just punishment is an eternity in hell. However, because of God’s awesome grace and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, as a Christian I have been gifted with an eternity with God in heaven. Now, because of the gratefulness I have, I have an aversion to sin and a desire to serve God and to do His will. This influences everything else about me. The actions I choose to participate in are first interrogated by the question of whether or not they are in accordance with God’s will. My concern of other people’s opinions is regulated by the knowledge that God is sovereign and that people have no eternal authority over me. My fears, from the fear of death to the fear of spiders, are dampened by the assurance that God’s will prevails and his plans cannot be changed. The value of my life and of other people’s lives is increased in my eyes because I know God created every one of them and that He loves them. I know that whether I am blind, deaf, and unable to walk, or I am strong and able to run for ten miles straight, it doesn’t matter because I have the same value in God’s eyes and when I reach heaven, I will receive a perfect body. Finally, the eternal future of other people is brought to my attention and my life goal is to see as many people into heaven as I can.
Who am I? I have appealed to the highest authority and He has said that I am His child and that I am going to heaven. Everything else that comprises who I am is used by God to glorify Him and to do His will. My values are concrete, my physical characteristics and my social status are unimportant, and my purpose is divine.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Rifle's Secret Mountain Treasure
Ok...so maybe it is not such a secret but it has been unknown to us for the past 7 years. Who knew that Rifle had Colorado mountains only a few miles away? Now for those who have visited Rifle I know you are rolling your eyes thinking right....there are no mountains in Rifle...only hills and lots of sage brush. Mountains have aspen groves and tall pine trees. That does not exist in Rifle. Up until a week ago I would have agreed with you. Don't get me wrong there is a lot of beauty in Rifle but I would never have classified Rifle's beauty as being the beauty you find in the mountains...it is more like a desert kind of beauty but better. But I am here to tell you that there is mountain beauty in Rifle...or at least close by.
The boys and I first experienced Rifle's secret mountain treasure a couple of weeks ago. The boys had a Friday off from school while the teachers worked so we decided to get out on a beautiful fall day and explore a little trail we had just heard about...the Beaver Creek Trail. We headed south of Rifle up Taugenbaugh Mesa onto a little dirt road that led us straight from the desert into the mountains in about 20 minutes. We went from sagebrush to aspens that were arrayed in their full autumn glory. We found the trailhead and set out hiking through aspen groves and huge pine trees on a trail that was littered with golden leaves. It was beautiful! Glorious! Caleb enjoyed being out in the woods taking pictures. The dogs had a blast running free in the hills and the rest of us just enjoyed being outdoors taking in the day.
We had so much fun in fact that we decided we needed to take Dad to experience our treasure. He was all for it so yesterday morning we decided to head back up to the trail again. We knew some weather was coming in but decided if we headed out right away we would beat the weather and get to enjoy the day! Our friends, the Johnsons joined us and off we went. The aspens were a little more bare. The leaves were a little more brown but the beauty was still awesome and the adventure was spectacular. The adventure began when Joshua, who has provided us with numerous stories of adventure in his short life, got ahead of us and took a wrong turn on the trail. We actually found him fairly quickly but not before Dave had taken off and jogged about 2 miles along the ridge in search of him. Dave did not find him but he did find a large fresh print on the trail that belonged to either a bear or a very large mountain lion. After we finally were all together in one place again we stood on the ridge overlooking the valley below for miles and watched the storm move in. When we begain to feel the snow we decided it might be best to head back to our vehicles. As we were making our way back down the trail a huge microburst of wind swept across the mountain. We could hear the wind coming long before it reached us. The trees were groaning and banging against each other so loudly that it sound like thunder rumbling through the hills. When the wind arrived we could see the trees bending and swaying and groaning and suddenly about 100 feet in front of us one huge pine tree could withstand the wind no longer and with a huge crack came crashing down in front of us taking an aspen tree out on its way down. It was amazing. We stood there in shock and awe to see this majestic mighty tree lying across the path in front of us and praised God that we were not under the tree when it fell! We all made our way over the tree and finally arrived at our vehicles thankful that none of the pine trees surrounding our vehicles had come crashing down. There were other trees that did not survive the burst of wind though....3 that fell across the road that we needed to take to make our way back down into Rifle. Thankfully working together we were able to remove the trees from the road and get back to Rifle before the storm hit! It was a wonderful time with friends enjoying the beauty of God's amazing creation in our own little Rifle mountain treasure!
The boys and I first experienced Rifle's secret mountain treasure a couple of weeks ago. The boys had a Friday off from school while the teachers worked so we decided to get out on a beautiful fall day and explore a little trail we had just heard about...the Beaver Creek Trail. We headed south of Rifle up Taugenbaugh Mesa onto a little dirt road that led us straight from the desert into the mountains in about 20 minutes. We went from sagebrush to aspens that were arrayed in their full autumn glory. We found the trailhead and set out hiking through aspen groves and huge pine trees on a trail that was littered with golden leaves. It was beautiful! Glorious! Caleb enjoyed being out in the woods taking pictures. The dogs had a blast running free in the hills and the rest of us just enjoyed being outdoors taking in the day.
We had so much fun in fact that we decided we needed to take Dad to experience our treasure. He was all for it so yesterday morning we decided to head back up to the trail again. We knew some weather was coming in but decided if we headed out right away we would beat the weather and get to enjoy the day! Our friends, the Johnsons joined us and off we went. The aspens were a little more bare. The leaves were a little more brown but the beauty was still awesome and the adventure was spectacular. The adventure began when Joshua, who has provided us with numerous stories of adventure in his short life, got ahead of us and took a wrong turn on the trail. We actually found him fairly quickly but not before Dave had taken off and jogged about 2 miles along the ridge in search of him. Dave did not find him but he did find a large fresh print on the trail that belonged to either a bear or a very large mountain lion. After we finally were all together in one place again we stood on the ridge overlooking the valley below for miles and watched the storm move in. When we begain to feel the snow we decided it might be best to head back to our vehicles. As we were making our way back down the trail a huge microburst of wind swept across the mountain. We could hear the wind coming long before it reached us. The trees were groaning and banging against each other so loudly that it sound like thunder rumbling through the hills. When the wind arrived we could see the trees bending and swaying and groaning and suddenly about 100 feet in front of us one huge pine tree could withstand the wind no longer and with a huge crack came crashing down in front of us taking an aspen tree out on its way down. It was amazing. We stood there in shock and awe to see this majestic mighty tree lying across the path in front of us and praised God that we were not under the tree when it fell! We all made our way over the tree and finally arrived at our vehicles thankful that none of the pine trees surrounding our vehicles had come crashing down. There were other trees that did not survive the burst of wind though....3 that fell across the road that we needed to take to make our way back down into Rifle. Thankfully working together we were able to remove the trees from the road and get back to Rifle before the storm hit! It was a wonderful time with friends enjoying the beauty of God's amazing creation in our own little Rifle mountain treasure!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
God is in Control!
This landed in my email box today. I am not sure where it originated by I wanted to post it on my blog as a reminder that my King is in control. It is He who appoints and removes leaders! He has a plan and I WILL trust in Him!
TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION:
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?
(Amen!)
TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION:
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
ISN'T IT GREAT TO KNOW WHO IS STILL IN CONTROL?
(Amen!)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Ramblings
Wow! I just realized that the last post I wrote was before school started and now here we are...2 months later! Hmmmmm....where did the time go and what happened to my blog...clearly my blogging has gotten lost in the whirlwind of activity that has swept us up with the beginning of a new school year. So for those who do actually check my blog to see what is happening with our family I thought I would jot down a few of the highlights of the past two months.
The Floating Princess!! The weekend before school started Josh and Micah got to perform in a community theatre production. Josh was the Gingerbread Man and I believe definitely had the best costume in the play. His head however did prove to be somewhat of an impediment in getting on and off the stage! Micah played the talking cat that belonged to the evil Princess Viv. From a very objective perspective this mom believes that Micah as Arty the talking cat and his buddy Chris as the other talking cat stole the show....completely objective mind you!
Caleb Ziegler....Junior at Rife High School....Caleb started his junior year with a tough schedule and lots going on! He started out playing soccer but was injured early on and has not really been able to practice or play in any of the games. He is hoping to be healthy and ready for basketball season which starts in November. He also decided that he would go out for the school play and landed the role of Dr. Sanderson in the play Harvey. He is pretty excited and looking forward to his moment to shine on stage. He is also now driving which I have to say that as much as I dreaded it I am now loving it! So nice to have someone to send on errands and to play chauffeur to his brothers!
Joshua Zieger....mighty Bear at Rifle High School! Josh started his freshman year at RHS and even two months in he is loving being a Bear! It has been quite a transition and adjustment for all of us but I am so glad that he loves it there and is making friends. We have slowly tweaked out some of the issues of communication with his teachers and home and he is doing well. Thankfully Dad and Caleb are both there and a huge support to him. I think it helps a lot that he is Mr. Ziegler's son!
Micah Ziegler....7th grader at the Happy Heart Homeschool....hehehehe....he hates it when I call it that :). Micah is doing great with all of his classes and we are really liking all of the curriculum so far. Since there was not a soccer team for his age group this fall he opted to join a Boys Gymnastics class which he is loving. He is also getting ready to try out for the drama at the Middle School and he is loving his first year in youth group.
Well...that is a quick update for now on what is happening in the Ziegler home. We are enjoying a beautiful Colorado fall and have managed to get out and take in the amazing colors and sights of the season. God is SO amazing. His creation is awesome. He is a mighty and glorious God. We are so greatful that He is our King!
The Floating Princess!! The weekend before school started Josh and Micah got to perform in a community theatre production. Josh was the Gingerbread Man and I believe definitely had the best costume in the play. His head however did prove to be somewhat of an impediment in getting on and off the stage! Micah played the talking cat that belonged to the evil Princess Viv. From a very objective perspective this mom believes that Micah as Arty the talking cat and his buddy Chris as the other talking cat stole the show....completely objective mind you!
Caleb Ziegler....Junior at Rife High School....Caleb started his junior year with a tough schedule and lots going on! He started out playing soccer but was injured early on and has not really been able to practice or play in any of the games. He is hoping to be healthy and ready for basketball season which starts in November. He also decided that he would go out for the school play and landed the role of Dr. Sanderson in the play Harvey. He is pretty excited and looking forward to his moment to shine on stage. He is also now driving which I have to say that as much as I dreaded it I am now loving it! So nice to have someone to send on errands and to play chauffeur to his brothers!
Joshua Zieger....mighty Bear at Rifle High School! Josh started his freshman year at RHS and even two months in he is loving being a Bear! It has been quite a transition and adjustment for all of us but I am so glad that he loves it there and is making friends. We have slowly tweaked out some of the issues of communication with his teachers and home and he is doing well. Thankfully Dad and Caleb are both there and a huge support to him. I think it helps a lot that he is Mr. Ziegler's son!
Micah Ziegler....7th grader at the Happy Heart Homeschool....hehehehe....he hates it when I call it that :). Micah is doing great with all of his classes and we are really liking all of the curriculum so far. Since there was not a soccer team for his age group this fall he opted to join a Boys Gymnastics class which he is loving. He is also getting ready to try out for the drama at the Middle School and he is loving his first year in youth group.
Well...that is a quick update for now on what is happening in the Ziegler home. We are enjoying a beautiful Colorado fall and have managed to get out and take in the amazing colors and sights of the season. God is SO amazing. His creation is awesome. He is a mighty and glorious God. We are so greatful that He is our King!
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