OUCH!!!

Well, if you haven't heard by now we had a little excitement with our travel to Bloomington, Illinois in December for the Twisted Athletics Cheer Competition. We were all enjoying a nice ride and we were just about 45 minutes from our destination as it started to snow and the next thing you know we were fish-tailing down the highway before losing total control and spinning down the highway and I was just doing my best to steer into the spins until we came to a stop.  Just before we came to a complete stop we were facing back into the traffic that was coming at us and another vehicle couldn't stop and struck the front end of the Jeep and spun us around one more time and we ended up in the median.  Somehow I was able to drive it out and we contacted the people that hit us and exchanged information before driving the remaining few miles into Bloomington.  As we were sitting at the traffic light waiting to turn into the Hotel parking lot - a young teenager was driving in the snow for the first time and unable to stop rear-ended us. YES... two accidents within about 30 minutes of each other.

Luckily there were no injuries to any of us involved and we were able to drive the Jeep home after the Cheer Competition without any further incidents.  We then took the Jeep into the local body shop on Monday to get it fixed as we just bought it in July and planned to keep it for a while.

After we went through the whole insurance mess and them finding out that there was more damage than we originally thought, they decided to total it and we negotiated with them for a few weeks about the value of the vehicle - we finally settled so we could get on with finding another vehicle since it is not practical for a family with two kids and all of their activities to just have one vehicle.  Wow - so much excitement in one weekend!

Beauty and the Beast

Wow - What a performance!Brittany Hill Middle School performed the musical Beauty and the Beast this past weekend.  Friday during school hours they performed for the other 7th and 8th graders, Friday and Saturday evenings they performed for the public and Monday morning they had their final performance for the 6th graders.

 Lizzy played three different characters and done a wonderful job at each one of them.

They had a sold out show both evenings that it was available for the public and she had lots of family and friends there to support her each night.  I think I can speak for most - it was an incredible performance!

Bears Football Season

Kendall had a wonderful football season and I wanted to put together a movie clip of his season highlights.  They ended the season at 5-2 just losing the last regular season game to the Wildcats and then after a first round bye week in the playoffs they lost to the Lions. I was so proud of all of them this year, it was so cool to see how they all grew up so much and really learned the game of football. What a team effort.

Go Bears!

Tactical Dispatch Training

I recently had the opportunity to attend a Tactical Dispatcher Certification class in Papillion, Nebraska to prepare myself for my role as Tactical Dispatcher with the Blue Springs Police Department STAT Team.

We had the chance to learn procedures for assisting the tactical team on High Risk Search Warrants, Hostage Situations, Active Shooters along with running a Command Post for all major incidents.

Twelve dispatchers from the Omaha area and myself were certified after the class.  We spent three days in the classroom and finished the class with a day doing live scenarios utilizing the Sarpy County Tactical Team.

Marching Band...?

Could Marching Band be in Lizzy's future?
The Blue Springs Golden Regiment, a band that I have looked up to since I was in
Jr. High Marching Band?  Possibly... we'll just have to wait and see.

The Brittany Hill Middle School Band had the opportunity to march at the Blue Springs Wildcats vs. Lees Summit Tigers Football pregame with the Golden Rigiment earlier this year.  A High School Band that has a long standing tradition of being not only one of the best programs in the area but in the midwest.  We will see if she decides to choose to be involved in Cheerleading or Marching Band in the next few months.

Either way, we were very proud of her on her marching debut.

Defeating the Storm!

Literally the Bears defeated the Storm last night 40-0 in a makeup game that was rescheduled after mother nature brought in a storm of her own on Saturday.  The game was postoned until Tuesday after lightning and large hail chased us off the football field this weekend.  After a few days of hibernation the bears came out to play.

The Bears are now 3-0 after defeating the Lions 30-6, the Titans 39-12 and the Storm 40-0.

Kendall ran the ball successfully on two great carries as the Bears really spread the ball around to a variety of running backs and kept the Storm Defense off guard.

On defense the Bears held the Storm to very few positive plays in the first half. Kendall made a few great open field tackles and was able to contain their running game on the right side of the field.

During the second half the Bears moved players around to different positions to allow some other players to carry the ball and Kendall was moved to the Offensive Line where he was a little outsized to say the least but he still did a great job of blocking.  He also recovered an onside kick to give the Bears the ball back at midfiled.  This weekend they face the Brigade and we hope for another victory.

Da Bears vs. the Lions

Sweet Revenge...

The Handoff

The Bears have been waiting since last November for the rematch of last years BSAA SuperBowl teams.  Coming off an undefeated regular season last year to finish the season with a loss to the Lions in the SuperBowl - they felt that they had something to prove. They have been preparing for this one since the first day of practice.  All of the hard work has paid off, they came out to play and the team effort was incredible. The 2nd Grade Bears beat the Lions 30-6 last night in the first game of the season. Now they just have to keep up the hard work and prepare one week at a time to get to the title game again. 

Around the End

Kendall had a great game. He carried the ball a few times and made some key blocks for the other running backs when he was not running it himself.  Defensively, he also made some good tackles and one incredible hit on special teams. I love his intensity and dedication when he plays not only football but any sport. 

Finding the hole - cutting upfield.

Giving it all he has....

Game Face

Let's keep it going Bears...!!! 

Are You Ready For Some Football???

Warming up - if that is necessary the first week of August.

The Second Grade Bears football team is gearing up and preparing for another fun season. The Bears went undefeated in the regular season last year and ended up losing in the Super Bowl to the Lions which they had beat twice earlier in the year.  The majority of the team is back and ready to play, and it looks like we picked up some talented players in the draft. This will be the first year of tackle for these boys and after the first night of full pads they are starting to get a little more aggressive.

Hitting the Dummy's - no pun intended!

We have had four practices cancelled by the league because of the Heat, when the Heat Index is over 105 degrees at 7:30 pm the league bans any practices for the safety of the players.  Since this has happened for two straight weeks, the league has decided to back the season up by one week to hopefully get in a couple more practices.

Finding some running room in the open field.

It is amazing how this team has matured this year, the boys seem much more focused and they all seem to get along very well together.  I think they look very balanced this year and it is starting to all come together as a complete team.  It's a good thing since we only have 12 players - there won't be much time to rest. 

Showing off the tackling skills to Coach Will.

Kendall will split the load of running back and slot back with two other boys this year and with his size I think that is a great idea.  The other two boys are slightly bigger and will take the brunt of the power running and Kendall will mix it up with some speed to keep their defense off guard. 

Showing a move or two - catch me if you can.

On defense Kendall will be mostly playing corner back and handling the plays to the outside and an occasional rush of the quarterback on passing plays.

The annual Parmerlee Tournament, which is a short scrimmage against three other teams will be August 21st and then the regular season gets underway on the 28th when we kick off the season against the Lions. 

GO BEARS!!!

Go Tigers!

Kendall just started his first year of Machine Pitch Baseball as part of the Blue Springs Little League Program. He was drafted by the Tigers and truly loves playing the game! Unfortunately the last two games have been rained out so he is looking forward to getting back out there and showing off his talents. I know it may just sound like a proud Dad talking about his son - but he is a natural at this sport. He was so ready to move up from T-Ball and has made the transition to machine pitch without a hitch. He is a star at the plate as well as in the field.

Let's Go Tigers!

Our All-Star

Lizzy spends all year working out and practicing at the Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) with her All-Star Cheerleading Team. She was a leader on the Sizzle Team this year and again made us so proud with her leadership and talents. Although they had somewhat of a disappointing Competition season, she is very dedicated to being the best.

Not only does she practice 6 hours a week at the gym for Cheerleading, she is on Student Council at Brittany Hill Middle School, Second Chair Flute in the 7th Grade Band, BHMS Volleyball Manager, and very active with BHMS Forensics Team. We are so proud of her in everything she does.

The Little One...

Well, I haven't posted in a very long time but I thought I would post a few updates to keep you up on what the kids have been doing.

During the winter Kendall played Basketball at BVAC with a few of his friends from his football team. You could tell that they moved up a level and were the younger kids of this age division as they were the smaller and less experienced players in this years league. They still had a great time and learned some valuable lessons about the game and Team Sports.

Kendall always makes me so proud no matter what he is involved in as he gives it 110%. He may be one of the smallest guys on any team but gives it everything he has at all times.

WOW!!!

Well, we made it through another crazy weekend with everything possible going on - 1st Grade SuperBowl, Wedding, LSAM State Volleyball Tournament and a Cheerleading Competition....

To start the weekend off, I had to photograph about 20 Jr. High Volleyball Team Pictures for the start of the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament and then I rushed back to Blue Springs where Kendall was playing in the BSAA 1st Grade SuperBowl. It had just started when I got there but we were already down by one touchdown and a missed extra point 6-0. It wasn't too long before the Bears came back to tie it though. The Lions had us figured out though and they were getting through the line to stop us in the backfield on numerous occasions. In the second half each team scored another touchdown but the Lions were successful on their extra point and the Bears were not; so the Lions beat us 13-12 in the SuperBowl. We had defeated the Lions twice during the regular season and it is very tough to beat a team three times in one season. We had a great year going 6-0 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs for a 7-1 record overall.

Saturday morning, Fonda and Lizzy headed to Topeka, Kansas for the first Cheerleading Competition of the season and it started incredible. The "Sizzle" got 1st place in their category and Lizzy was on cloud nine to say the least. They work so hard throughout the year and it is so exciting to see the reward. I wish that I could have been there!

Fonda then rushed back from Topeka to help me photograph a friends wedding. The Bride had told me several years ago "if, and when she ever got married that I had to photograph the wedding!" She was beautiful and it was so much fun - like we knew it would be.

Well, after a late night at the wedding we got up early on Sunday and headed back to the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament to photograph the final 16 Volleyball Games to complete the tournament with all the action images and to sell the Team Photos. Finally we packed up from there to get home about 7:30 and unload the van and post about 1400 images to our website so the players could start ordering their pictures.

Wow - What a weekend....!!!

Competition Time....

It's what they've been practicing for all year...

It's Competition Time!

Lizzy's Cheerleading team will start their Competition season this weekend in Topeka, Kansas at the Twister Jam Competition on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, Fonda and I will not be able to attend this one as we have prior commitments to photograph the LSAM State Volleyball Tournament on Friday and Sunday and a friends Wedding on Saturday.

She has moved up at the gym to the next level team called the Sizzle and they have been challenged with lots of illness throughout the team as well as many injuries. We were able to see their routine at the annual GAGE Cheerleading Pep Rally a couple of weeks ago and it looks like they are on their way to another great season. Good luck to all the GAGE Cheerleading Teams that will be performing this weekend in Topeka!!!

Super-Bowl Bound!!!

First Grade BEARS are Super-Bowl Bound!!! Well, I haven't kept up blogging about the happenings with the Williams Family lately, but I thought I would share the latest news. Kendall's Football Team is undefeated and will be playing in the Blue Springs Athletic Association Flag Football SuperBowl on Friday Night. They started the season very well and just kept building on their experience as the season progressed. There were a few weeks that they scared us by playing pretty bad, but as all good teams do - they found a way to win. The Bears will match up with the Lions in the Championship Game this weekend which we played in the opening week and week four of the regular season.

Kendall has had a great season and is contributing on both sides of the ball. He has scored several touchdowns and pulled lots of flags. He has played almost every play of the entire season and has played all over the field from Quarterback, Running Back, Receiver, Cornerback to Safety. We are very proud of him and his dedication.
We have also been challenged with lots of cold, wet weather but the boys have handled it very well throughout the season. This weekend is supposed to be one of the warmest games we've had all year, so the weather should not be an issue. We want to wish the Bears the Best of Luck on becoming the First Grade Super Bowl Champions!

Blue Springs Cardinals

Take me out to the Ballgame!!!

Kendall had his first T-Ball game of the season last night and made Mom, Dad and Lizzy very proud. He started off playing at second base and only had one ball come to him but made the play and recorded the out. During the Third and Fourth inning, Coach Rick moved Kendall over to play First Base and he had the first ball come right to him as a line drive and he knocked it down with his glove but was unable to make the catch in the air as I think it startled him. After that, he caught a few throws from other fielders to make the three outs that were needed each inning. The next inning Kendall played Pitcher and did a wonderful job, fielded almost everything that came his way and made some great throws to first base. The last inning, Kendall played catcher so he didn't get much action but he sure looked cute in that catchers mask. He had four great hits and made it on base every time he batted.
After the game, coach huddled them up and told them all how proud he was and decided to give the Game Ball to Kendall as the MVP of game one. He wants to write the date on it and put it on his dresser with the rest of his trophies and medals.
Go Cardinals!!!