Friday, October 26, 2012

RCS Fall Festival

 This afternoon the middle school took a break from their regularly scheduled programming and held their annual Fall Festival.  The title "Fall Festival" causes my heart to beat a little faster because of the memories of previous Fall Festivals in Visalia which fell on Grandparents Day and held a huge amount of work for us teachers...But anyway, this fall festival is an afternoon filled with fun competitions for the 6th through 8th graders to compete in.  Kamryn is on the leadership council (or whatever it's called) and got to be a part of planning and preparing for this event.  There were activities like relay races with a huge ball, eating gross things as quickly as possible, pumpkin chuckin', and pulling each other as hard as possible around a garbage can trying to force the others to let go of the towel. (There's got to be a better name for that one.).  In true Elgersma form, Kamryn was out to win, and actually for the first time in recent school history, the seventh graders did pull out a win!  This honor is usually given to an eighth grade class, but 7b worked together and came out on top.  Here are some highlights.





Sunday, October 21, 2012

First Game Back

Under stern warnings to take it easy, we let Troy play in his soccer game this past Saturday.  It was so fun to watch him back playing his favorite sport.  It was also fun that he got to play against his good friend, Matthew.  Troy's team was excited to have him back.  Troy desires to win, and loves to score, but he's also great about setting up passes to his teammates so that they score too.  Troy and the Dragons had a great game and also their first win of the season!  (Shhh, don't tell the Doc!)







It's Off!

Just a couple of quick shots to show that Troy is now free of his cast!  It was a LONG eight weeks.  He was quite patient and learned to function very well with his left hand.  It's been interesting to watch as now he is still favoring his left hand.  We are under strict orders from the Dr. to be VERY careful.  He has a splint to wear to school which will be a good reminder to Troy and others to stay clear of his arm.  She also told us no sports, but I think we are going to let him play...


Sunday, October 14, 2012

Wonderful Get-A-Way

We were blessed with a little "get-a-way" to the desert this past weekend.  It was a wonderful time away spent with our family (minus Katie) and some friends. We definitely felt spoiled and now feel ready to face another busy few weeks!
 Troy mastered swimming with his cast up in the air!





 Who knew Pastor Scott gave swimming lessons?!


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Kamryn Elise

Just a little update on our middle child...Kamryn is now the proud wearer of soft contact lenses.  She has traded in her glasses for the work of getting lenses in her eyes each morning.  She also is a newly elected member of the student leadership team for her middle school.  Only two kids were elected from her class.  I honestly was a little surprised when she told me she was going to "run" for office.  We loved her speech as it was pure "Kamryn."  She talked about working to bring back powder puff football and to fight for equality in their math class (there's a story behind that).  She also talked about using her gifts for the Lord and not making "empty promises."  Well, it must have worked because her classmates voted her in!  Great work Kam!  We're proud of you and it's fun watching you grow up!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Tomorrow we will celebrate the life of our friend, Tom.  Tom and Vera and their kids and grandkids have played a special part in the life of our family.  Tom was an elder in our church in Visalia who helped guide a young, sometimes "radical" youth pastor named Scott.  Vera hosted a baby shower for us when Kamryn was born.  We were included in their family Thanksgivings and Fourth of July celebrations.  Katie and Ashlyn, their grand-daughter, have been good friends since kindergarten.  We have many great memories of a healthy Tom.  At family gatherings, he was often found sitting in his chair by the computer desk in the family room chatting with different people.  He always had on coordinating outfits (bought by Vera, I'm sure.)  I always appreciated his quiet nature.  During our conversations,I could count on him asking me how teaching was going and how my parents were doing.  I can still hear him chuckle at something one of the grandkids or Scott would say.  After Tom was diagnosed with Leukemia, we made a stop in Visalia to see him after a tough round of chemotherapy.  He was in a lot of pain and we couldn't get too close.  He sat in his chair and we talked and Scott read scripture and prayed.  As soon as we sat down to visit, though, Tom wanted to make sure that Scott was doing OK in his new church.  Tom felt after reading Scott's Christmas letter that Scott just wasn't his carefree, happy self.  He said, "I always knew that Scott was a bit radical, so I was kind of worried."  We quickly reassured him and Vera that we were doing fine and that things were going quite well, actually.  I just thought it was funny that here he was so sick, but was worried about us being OK.  It also meant a lot that in one of their visits to So. Cal. last spring after Tom was feeling better, they wanted to come to our church and to our home.  This summer we were able to attend the wedding of one of Tom and Vera's grand-daughters.  Scott had teased Briana several times that one day she would marry a "hairy man,".  Scott was overjoyed to see that this actually came true.  It was kind of little joke at the wedding and Tom thought it was hilarious!  It is a great memory to think about laughing with Tom about Scott's joke with Briana. We have been so blessed by this man of God and are thankful that he was a part of our lives. We know he is in a wonderful place, but will miss him!