Football...I'm a fan!

One of the fun things about the football season is the evening when everyone gets to don not stinky (I mean awesome LOOKING!) football pads and jerseys, but instead dress up for the end of season football banquet. As a senior mom, I got the chance to put together a memory board for Jeffrey that was displayed at the banquet. Here's the one Jeffrey and I put together. What fun to pull up all these pictures and put the board together. Shout out to Tony and Gin-Gin for the cute Christmas ornaments that found their way to the board! :-) See the one with the boy in a cast? It reads "Jeffrey football 2016". Yep, that sums it up. What isn't shown in the board is how proud we are of Jeffrey for his stellar attitude after what was potentially the worst and hardest season of his life. We ALL had high hopes and were so excited to watch Jeffrey play his senior season. It wasn't meant to be, and Jeffrey handled it all like the champ that he is! Jeffrey, you da real MVP! 

Here's what it looked like on the table at the banquet. 

 Every banquet has a few things in common: A highlight video that the seniors put together. It was a fun one, as always.

Jeffrey introducing the highlight video that the seniors put together every year.

Another great thing each year is letter jackets being awarded to seniors or players who have completed at least two years of FEAST football. Guess who got one this year??!! At long last...it's Josiah's turn! And as God would  have it, the evening of the banquet a super cold front came through. Temps in the 20s! Just in time for a nice warm letter jacket! Josiah was super excited that he finally has a Patriot jacket! Looks good, doesn't he?! Josiah's grown up a lot this season, and not just in stature. This football season was filled with a lot more than just football for him. Lots of helping Michael pick up the slack at home, play nurse, cook meals, fold laundry, etc. Josiah, we are so proud of you and the young man you are and are becoming!

Here's a proud group of underclassmen who were awarded their jackets. 

Another great moment in the banquet is when THIS guy, the amazing Coach Dagerath, personally speaks to each senior, share their stats, personal memories of them and tells which character trait (that the boys have studied all year during the "half time of practice" devotional times) that senior especially exemplifies. Michael does such an amazing job at this task! He takes such time to think about each player before the banquet. I've seen him do it for years. He's such a great coach! And it's always special when he is talking about one of our boys! 

We had possibly the largest senior class in FEAST football history. But here's my favorite senior...

 Here's Jeffrey listening to Michael share his thoughts about Jeffrey this season. There were tears! Jeffrey's character trait was "Dependability: Fulfilling what I consented to do, even if it means unexpected sacrifice." This was certainly a season of unexpected sacrifice! And Jeffrey was an amazing captain for this team, even when he had to be absent from the field. Proud of you, Jeffrey!

I'm so grateful for FEAST football and the opportunities that it has given our boys to be mentored by amazing men! Sure, there's football and that's fun. Sure, it's fun to win. But the bigger life lessons are worth so much more. Thank you, Michael, for investing in not only our boys, but so many others!

I know there will come a day when my garage isn't hosting stinky football pads and helmets, when dinner each evening from August-December isn't a green smoothie at 9:00, when Friday nights aren't already booked, when Michael comes home straight from work and spends the evening at home, when HUDL and watching film aren't a constant, but that's not now. And honestly, I'm very glad! I'm such a FEAST football fan!