The Royals . The Adults . The Huskers

What a weekend of celebrations!

The fun began Thursday evening with Reagan representing her senior class on the homecoming royalty court. She was super excited to get a free ticket to the dance. I guess it's the small things. 

Friday was Reagan's 18th birthday. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of my girl over the years. Happy Birthday Sweet Girl! You are an adult in some states but not yet in Nebraska! :)

18 YEARS OLD!!

Friday night after realizing her driver's license was expiring we headed to Lincoln for Reagan's Official Visit to the University of Nebraska. Wow! This is really happening!

Team dinner and a night at the Basketball Red-White scrimmage followed by a Rick Ross concert. Who is that you ask? I asked too and when the extremely loud nasty "music" began most of the adults in the building flooded the exits. 

The recruits have known each other for a couple years, playing together twice a year at camps and keeping in contact via social media. But the parents all met this weekend. Chris and I are looking forward to doing soccer life with these people over the next 4-5 years.

2020 Recruiting Class

Saturday was filled with tours, meetings, uniform sizing, team meals and lots of fun.

Saturday evening's itinerary included an all sport UNL recruit/parent dinner and then the Husker Football game vs Ohio State. Instead of the game Reagan squeezed in homecoming dinner, pictures and the dance back in Omaha.

pinning on a flower isn't so easy

Colton & Reagan

Colton and Reagan have known each other for years, growing up in our church youth group. Two kids in different high schools playing sports at a very high level keeps them busy. I love the friendship they have and the understanding of commitments to school, sports and friends. They had a funny disagreement about flower color...blue for Creighton Baseball or red for Husker Soccer.

MW Soccer Besties
They sure do clean up well!

The Gang

Sunday morning we were up bright and early, back to Lincoln for breakfast with the team, pre-game workout and meeting.

Recruits on Hibbner Soccer Field

And our final celebration was on Monday night. Family steak dinner at Texas Roadhouse means the birthday girl gets to sit on the horse saddle and yell "Yee Haw"

Texas Roadhouse Celebration

Reagan's birthday gift is coming later this month...pictures to come!

God Protects

Oh how I love this precious girl! I don't know if it's straight up protect or a sign that we need to slow down a bit but a couple weeks ago we had a scare that could have been a real nightmare! Saturday evening on the way home from work, Em found herself in the middle of an intersection with a smashed up car, pounding head and filled with anxiety. Oh that feeling of a car accident is terrible!
.
Been there!
.
Done that!
.
We are now almost a month out. Kevin (the car) has probably been torn apart and sold for parts while Emma is recovering from a concussion and whiplash. Praying for this girl to heal quickly and learn a whole host of life lessons in the meantime.

Today I write this as I remember my friend, Loni. September 5th was the 4 year anniversary of the tragic death of her precious 15 year old son in a relatively minor car accident. Why? Why would Nick die? Praise Jesus that Emma is ok but why? Why did this accident happen and why was her life spared? I won't ever know these answers but I trust our Lord God to be sovereign and just. It's like a kindergartner asking a neuro surgeon to explain the functions of the brain and nervous system. The doc might spell it our but the child will never comprehend the words. That is me asking God to lay out the plan of who lives and who dies. I can't see what he sees, I don't know what he knows and never will. Praise be the one who created us, loved us first and will be there with us until the end.

20th Annual Raabe (Ray.be) Reunion

Summer post July 2019...not September

MEET THE LEADERS OF THE FAMILY

Siblings Helen, Dean and Lois

First, I have to give a huge shout out to my hubby for finding an amazing reunion location! If I am going to be honest, I was worried that MAYBE Chris found a place that fit all his requirements but maybe not those of some of the pickier people (I am one of those pickier people). I didn't want to hear complaints. However, over 30 people together and no one complained...not even me. That's what you call a miracle! Thanks Chris, you did a fantatsic job finding our family reunion spot.

This crew comes from DesMoines IA, Omaha NE, Kearney NE and Kansas City MO. It's tough but we try to find a location that is a reasonable drive for everyone without breaking the bank. Tucked away in small town Iowa there is a fantastic B&B that sleeps over 30 people. We had a big house and guest house, lots of green space, pool tables, ping pong, a huge fire pit, 2 small lakes for fishing, swimming and kayaking and a homemade breakfast each day. It was nearly PERFECT! 

 The whole crew. Both Lisa and Emma came late.

Lou & Lois plus their crew of 10

Dean & Linda plus their crew of 9

Lynn & Helen plus their crew of 6

The Dean Raabe Family

THE  BOCCE TOURNAMENT

It's all fun and games...well sort of. We had all kinds of measuring devices out to check and recheck who had the closest bocce toss. And in the end it was a team of in-laws who won it all!!!

Paul you were a great partner!

C H A M P I O N S

The kids had a blast in the water. I just couldn't bring myself to get in there. 

snapping turtles . slimy moss . snakes . who knows what else

Late Night Pool

Big UNO tournament

Girl cousins catching frogs

Arm Workout

Giant Slip N Slide

After 20 consecutive years of reunions with the whole crew, I understood this one to be the last. My family LOVES our long weekends with family so in no way were we ready to let it go. Don't get me wrong, it has been a challenge some years. We have active kids and busy schedules but Chris and I made this a priority for our family. There are some branches of the family who are in those tough years of youth sports and vacations. Every family chooses where their priorities are and we move on. I am thrilled that we have a deposit down for one more year!

This place was great but had it's problems, we are off to southeast Iowa next year. It's going to be a longer drive for us and much longer for Emma. (insert sad face) Here's the issue...what seemed to be a friendly visit by the neighbor turned into a weird interaction with a felon who was most likely high and capable of being dangerous. Geepers, you never know what or who you will run into.

I know not every family is so lucky.
We love each other. We love the Lord. And we know how to have a good time.