Legacy Soccer Awards

Here is a picture of the motley "C" team for Legacy High School soccer.  This was the awards ceremony night, and it was great to get the kids together to celebrate all of their accomplishments as well as have a kind of crazy potluck meal with everyone.  Gavin didn't win any specific award but was definitely a key contributor to his team.  We are so proud of him!
 

Corver Soccer Games

Over the fall break, Gage was invited to play with some friends in a Corver skills tournament as they needed a goalie.  He was excited to jump in with this mixed group of 2009s and 2010s.  It was also one of the first times that he had been able to play with some of his friends Gavin Hood and Gabe Allen.

The interesting part of this was that it had several different skills games that the teams competed against each other in.  There was a small 4 v 4 game, but the next session was a 1 v 1 game with each kid having to go.  This was likely the first time that Gage had to compete on his foot skills in quite a while!

They did a great job supporting each other and cheering for each other as they progressed through all of the sessions/stations.  What a fun day of soccer for these guys and thanks to the Hoods for the invite!

Thanksgiving in Dillon

With Tara's Brother and family closer to home these days, we joined them at their Dillon house for Thanksgiving.  One of the great things we have found to do there is a fun 5K Turkey Trot.  At altitude, this is no joke!  I think this shadowy body in the picture above is mine coming across the finish line.  Zach pulled away from me in the last mile and was able to capture the rest of us coming across.  We also did a slower "Round 2" so that we could cool down and also grab some of the epic personal pies that are offered on course as you run around.

Here are the boys relaxing on the couch after the morning's running festivities.

Always enjoy the mountain views from their place.  A little bit of snow and cooler weather and some very pretty sunrises and sunsets.  Thankful for the invite and the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with family.

AGO Anniversary Banquet - 25 Years!

It is truly hard to believe that we have been out of college for almost 25 years, but apparently, we are getting old, and it is time to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of AGO at CU Boulder.  The banquet was held at the CU stadium in what used to be called Dal Ward.  This picture is from out on the patio overlooking the field and was pretty awesome.

Attendees included current AGO members and quite a few from the past 25 years.  It was really great to see everyone come together and hear about how the fraternity is still making a difference in the Greek system and the campus overall.

Many, if not most, of the founders made the trip for the milestone and we shared stories both old and new about what people are up to these days.  I think the banquet was a great opportunity to look back to the past and laugh about old times.  The impact is still being felt today of our effort and the presence of a Christian Fraternity on campus is a great opportunity to reach students at CU and continue to make a difference.

Frozen Soccer Nights

I am not sure that soccer in November in Colorado is a great idea.  Actually, sometimes November can be amazing...but this night it was hovering right around freezing.  Gage's Broomfield Soccer team tries to get any practice time it can over the winter.  Apparently, that includes night soccer under the lights on a softball field in arctic conditions.  I think he had fun...but it was really, really cold.

Gavin's Art

I think Tara and I both appreciate that Gavin still loves to do art even through his busy schedule.  This often comes out in funny ways like a school project or some doodling in between classes.  It has actually been quite a while since he has taken any formal art class, so this is all mostly just self-taught with his creativeness and imagination.  I am not sure what was the inspiration for this piece, but I think that it is really neat.

Boston Heart Checkup Trip - Day 2

Here we are in front of the hotel as we head out for my appointment across the street at Boston Mass General.  Besides just being the roughly one year follow up, I was really hoping to get better clarity about what going forward really would look like as I have stabilized a bit.  From an appointment standpoint, I repeated the exercise stress test that I performed a year prior and then spent about 90 minutes with Dr. Churchill covering a variety of analysis and questions that I had.

The results were as follows of the exercise stress test: VO2 54 mL/kg/min (135% of predicted) up from 51.8 in February 2022.  ST segment depression at peak exercise that resolves within 15 seconds of recovery an.  LDL was 37 down from 56 in February 2022.

Overall, Dr. Churchill reassured me that I am able to proceed with exercise and that the actions we have taken are addressing any primary risk that I have from cardiovascular disease.  Additionally, he said that he is happy to continue following up with me but thought it might be more economical to find an appropriate Doctor closer to Colorado as I have mostly stabilized.  This was the kind of confirmation and confidence in my long-term health prognosis that I was hoping to get when I started coming out to see this practice.  The care at this cardiology practice continues to be the best medical care I have ever received and could not recommend it more for anyone having significant issue that they need to address!

The appointment took the better part of the morning into the early afternoon.  Unfortunately, that meant our time in Boston was quickly coming to a conclusion as our plan was to fly out later that night and get back to Colorado.  We did have enough time to continue walking around and seeing this amazing city.  Here we are up on the waterfront as we trekked back to my favorite Italian restaurant in the area.

Here we are at Carmelina's where the Bolognese is absolutely amazing.  This place probably only seats 18-20 people in total, but we were able to grab some seats with a middle of the afternoon late lunch.

After lunch we continue to walk around the North End and saw several historic sites like this statue commemorating Paul Revere.  Not far from here was where his house was that we saw last time.

One final picture before we get to the airport and fly home.  I am really thankful for great medical care and the peace of mind that it can bring.  Also, I am so thankful for Tara and all of her support through this journey.  It ended up being a great adventure and also provided confidence that I am on the right recovery path.

Boston Heart Checkup Trip - Day 1

What a difference a year makes!  Tara and travelled to Boston for a follow up appointment with my Cardiologist (Dr. Churchill) at Boston Massachusetts General hospital.   We were last here about nine months ago for my initial consultation and I have to say that November is beautiful here compared to February.  After flying in the night before, we searched around for the best breakfast places in the area and ended up at Cafe Bonjour.  This place was amazing as you can see by Tara's face.  The wait was crazy, but we finally got in and were not disappointed.

As with most of the shops in this area, they are all somewhat long and skinny, so this was quite the tight venue that was fully packed out.

After catching breakfast, we walked around the Boston Common Park and just enjoyed some of the older history that you can see in this area.  We debated taking a tour, but it seemed a bit formal, and we just decided to look around ourselves.

Once back at our hotel (The Whitney Hotel Boston), Tara inquired about these bikes out front, and they are free to borrow/use for hotel guests!  We both were excited to take them out in the afternoon for a spin alongside the Charles River.  The Charles River is this main river that flows through Boston in this area and borders many Ivy league schools including MIT and Harvard.  It is also just an amazing place to be able to run.

Here we are cruising on the dedicated bike paths.  It was still sunny but starting to get a bit chilly.  We probably cruised around for an hour or so around all of the surrounding areas.  Every mile or so there is a bridge that crosses the river and there were tons of people out running and biking.  I think this is my kind of vibe!

Here is one last picture as the sun was starting to get low in the sky.  The wind was starting to pick up a bit as well.  What a fun time the day before my appointment.