Happy St.Patrick's Day

We celebrated St. Patty's day with the traditional "Great Grandma Elliott's" corn beef and cabbage but with my own twist in a crock pot.  Tonight the boyz have Maverick Hockey tickets for the playoffs.  And we are all set up for our next blizzard.......seriously I don't see me planting potatoes on Good Friday this year.

Is it Spring yet?

Well we have sprung a head the clock but mother nature is still behind a bit!  With wrestling season behind us we are looking forward to a great spring season.  Tanner will be doing both track and baseball and let's toss in trap club for good measure.  And yes he is counting down the days until graduation.  Dalton is doing a count down as well...... days until the brace can come off is at 35 days!  We are moving a head with muscle treatments and is up to 7 miles a day on the bike.  Tabor  has been traveling MN and Wisconsin for his job and is loving it.  Sounds like he will be in Nebraska for Easter ( road trip to warmer weather maybe)  It is great having a little break between sports seasons and Dr. visits so to relax the whole family is so addicted to PINTEREST!  Oh my gosh Darin is working on a wine cabinet and boyz and I search for new recipes(pretty sure the only use for a peep) and really bad jokes to share!

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Yeah Bubba is 20  today!  Wow where did the time go? Tabor has some exciting news.... he has accepted a job with McCormick Construction, a company based out of Greenfield, MN and they Manufacturing facilities.  For the next three weeks they are working for Cargill in  Mankato.  Then they will be off to Nebraska for several months to build a new shuttle loading elevator.

4 weeks

Well it has been a long time since the Elliott family had this feeling..........The same feeling you have before a big football game........the hype.....the anxiety...the intensity....the determination and above all the excitement.  Something that we haven't had with any other sport!  It has been four weeks to the date around 4pm when we found out Dalton had a broken neck.  Today it comes full circle........the finals for the teams chance to go to state are at 4pm TODAY.  Dalton has taken on a coaching roll and Tanner is wrestling not only for his team but his family.  Wrestling will be on the radio KNUJ 860 am check them out on-line.  Just  a pin away from STATE.

Warmed heart

Phone call today

Me:Hello
Derek: Mom, it's Derek.  In school today we were given a paper heart.  We were told that we couldn't talk to any girls or we'd have to give them our heart.
Me: Oh?
Derek: I want to talk to girls Mom, but I want you to know that you're the one that has my heart.  Ok?
Me:  I love you son.
Derek: Love you Mom.  Bye.

From the time this boy was born he has known how to warm my heart.  I  LOVE that kid!!

Pin Pin

Tanner recorded his fasted pin this season in 10 seconds in the first period.  LCWM Area nailed down the Valley Conference championship.  Thursday night we take the first step in the quest to state.  Three weeks left of the season that has aged us all 10 years.  But the strength and determination we have gained is remarkable.  Now if we could just get "Mother Nauture" to see it our way and spare us the ice!

Update on Dalton

 Well we are making progress the first two weeks of Dalton's injury!  We are now able to have Dalton get some exercise on a recumbent bike.  And on Friday we will have our first acupuncture treatment on our fingers and wrists.  We will visit with Dr again on Monday and continue the x-rays.  Lot's of firsts for us......and the biggest first for Dalton is using a comb for his hair!  If you know our boys always have very short hair and we can never take the collar off so the hair has to grow.

super hero day

Today was Dalton's first day back at school after his injury.  Snow week is this week at school and today was superhero day.  His t-shirt and socks all had red capes.  Plus everyone knows superman always gets his powers back!

JCC- Look out we are coming to get you

True Winners

Nevertheless, the definition of a true winner is one who can lose everything, suffer disappointment and go all the way back to the beginning and still muster the courage to begin again. This kind of disappointment is like a major injury or illness. Anyone who has had one knows injury or illness can quickly render you helpless. The muscles dwindle and atrophy quickly. But, the body and mind are amazing and little by little we mend and can be strong once again. It is all a part of the journey.

If you commit to taking a risk and pursuing your goals, you will understand how families come together in victory and defeat. You will learn that endurance gives you abilities to deal with things you never thought you could. You will be taken to places emotionally and physically that you never knew existed. Most people will never know this destination, but you can. These places are not found on any map and others can’t take you there. They can only point you in the right direction and the rest is up to you. You have to find this place on your own, and when you do, you’ll know it’s worth it.

 

Lately...

 Kinsey may be my only hope for an athletic child.  At least one that wants to try.  Club volleyball has been taking up a bit of her time lately.  I can't say that I mind.  She's better than I was at her age.  I'm hoping she'll catch the "bug" and love it!

 Shay had a very special date recently.  Her Papa and his brother (Uncle Dave) invited their oldest grand-daughters on a double date.  They wanted to show the girls what to expect from a gentleman.  Here they are getting ready to leave.  They went bowling, to dinner and ice-cream.  Over dinner Papa presented Shay with a document he and Uncle Dave put together- "What to look for in a spouse"  It listed characteristics to look for and some red flags to watch out for.  It also talked about how important it is to BE the kind of person that you are be looking for.  That is the purpose of dating after all.  What a treasure.  Hopefully it will be awhile before she makes THAT decision.  But in the meantime, I hope she gets lots of practice "looking" and striving to develop her own gifts.

Speaking of looking for a good spouse....Steve and I just celebrated 21 years of marriage.  What a blessing it is to have married such a kind, funny, fun, good man.  I hope and pray that my children find a spouse that treats them as well as mine treats me.  Here's to eternity!

Update on Dalton

Today we spent the day in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic of Neurology.  Dalton has cracks in his C5 & C6 vertebra and a bruised spinal cord.  But the great news is no surgery needed! He will need to wear the collar 24/7 for the next 3 months.  Lot's of calcium and vitamin D and some time the outlook looks great.  We just need to find a rhythm and a sleep pattern things will turn around quickly.  Thumbs up Dalton!

wrestling

the boys have been on a hot streak....things were starting to click
 Our bright spot Tanner took home the championship and had a huge pin to win yesterday. Way to go Tanner keep up the fight!  Unfortunately, Dalton and I were not there to see it.  Dalton was grabbed with both hands from behind and dropped on the base of his neck.  Breaking a few vertebra and has contusion on his spinal cord.  reality is setting in and we are home with a neck and head mobilizer.  We head to the Mayo Clinic so see the neurologist and more tests on Tuesday.  The last photo in the blog shows how you should properly lift and put down a wrestler.  We haven't been able to look at the photo's from yesterdays match.  But we want the team to get ready for a big fight to get Dalton to the state tourney to be on the Xcel floor with his teammates.  LCWM  AREA Team will prevail

the boyz

Oh we found some old photo of the boys from 4 years ago and thought we had to share!  Oh is it just amazing how much they have grown.