Iowa Western Here She Comes!

As Libby was preparing to move her stuff into storage and come to Seattle for the summer, her coach at Indian Hills dropped a bomb on her.  He wouldn't be offering her a spot on the team next year.  

In many ways this wasn't a surprise.  She wasn't his favorite on the team.  Maybe for lots of reasons.  She was actually recruited by an assistant coach who ended up leaving before the school year really got going.  After her injury at Nationals (where she didn't place) I think she kind of stopped going to things, like practice.

Anyway, while her world was rocked, Derek helped her draft an email to other coaches to look for a spot on another team.  She really wanted to stay in Iowa.  So, she sent an email to Iowa Western.  They called her back within an hour.  Then, as soon as the year was up and she was officially free to talk to them, they offered her a better scholarship than she had at Indian Hills.  Luckily Libby had a teammate that was driving to Seattle area with a uHaul, so we were able to hitch a ride for most of her stuff.  

As I write, we're sitting in a hotel in Des Moines, having done the dorm clean out yesterday. (Move out was actually on the 14th, but I didn't want to miss 3 days of school to move her out on a Thursday, so I ended up having to pay 2 nights "hotel" stay in the dorm.). Anyway, I am learning a lot through this process. 

We went to church in Centerville today so she could say goodbye to the White family--and so we could ask them to drop the car with the transport service whenever they manage to find a driver.  I'm a little worried about this.  When they picked up the car from Seattle that happened really fast.  (Then there was the crackdown on making sure transport drivers actually have CDLs :/.) 

Anyway, now she needs to find a JOB ASAP.    Iowa Western starts earlier than Indian Hills, so she doesn't have a ton of time to make money! 

Libby giving Jane a hug after church. 

Look how clean this dorm room is!  She had packed most of her clothes, so it really didn't take us too long.  My original plane ticket was just for Saturday and, note to self, we could have done it. 

Libby's name tag from move-ins was still on the door. 

She had a good time celebrating her friends that graduated

Libby is excited about her new school.  It much bigger, and in Council Bluffs--a real city.  They have a Target. (Nationals was in Council Bluffs, so we've been there!  It's right next to Omaha where we stayed with my cousin Stephanie and family.  We really liked it there.) 

  

May Part 1...

 May has been busy, but also with a whole lot of little things.  So it' didn't feel blog worthy, really.  But of course as I'm making Ben's photobook I'm reading back through the year and realizing how much I forget if I don't write it down.  So I need to write, even the little things.  And even if I don't get good pictures.

Ben went to Freestyle state the first weekend in May. We didn't go--it was all the way in Spokane.  He won a match, which was his goal (maybe he needs to set a higher goal next year?). But since we didn't put a lot of emphasis on Freestyle this year, it was good that he went and competed. 

We celebrated Geneva's birthday, then hosted the gang for Mother's Day/Alayne's birthday. 

We're working on making space at Grammy's for Libby--where we've been planning that she'll live for the summer.  Not sure if we'll get it ready in time, but we're still trying.  We actually had a great time cleaning off a couple of book shelves and cleaning out a closet. She let go of 5 boxes of books.  I was very proud of her.  And my students were super excited about the ones that came into my classroom! 

We did find some pellet guns in the closet in Derek's old room, and the boys had fun shooting them on Mother's Day.

We did some summer clothes shopping last weekend.  Ben is all about the "jorts" (jean shorts).  

This weekend I'm in Iowa picking up Libby.  It's been a bit of a roller coaster week for her...but that gets its own post. 

Sarah's summer clothes (how did I not notice the strip of tummy in the store?  Sigh.)