the tadje family: September 2023

September was full of sports! Literally it was one of the busiest craziest months we've ever had! I felt like I was driving constantly to practices and games and it was BUSY! Then throw in Graham's health journey over the month and it was a lot. But with all of the crazy, there was lots of good.

Aiden did his first season of cross country at Lehi High School. He did awesome! He trained all summer long and worked hard. His improvement over the season was amazing! He got faster and faster and really thrived. He did have some issues with his knee and ankle and lots of aches and pains from training so much. But luckily he was still able to race for each race.

Brennan played both tackle football for the first time. It was a HUGE time commitment and he pretty much practiced every day. But it was the best thing for him! He THRIVED! Even though it was his first year playing, he memorized all of the plays and since he's such a talented receiver, he got a lot of playing time. Most games he played the entire time - both offense and defense. It was fun to see his progress over the season. He was a little timid on tackling at first but improved over the first few weeks. His coaches and teammates were top notch! A lot of his best friends were on his same team and that was really special! He never complained of the long, hot practices or complained of being sore. He's one tough kid! I was always nervous about tackle football for different reasons, but it was the right fit for B this year. He also played flag football! He was on the same team he usually is on and he had a blast doing that.

Callie tried cheer for the first time and loved it! Her team and coaches were so positive and taught her so much! She was usually a base and she picked up on the cheers and routines so fast. She continued doing three days of dance too so it was BUSY! But she loved it and never complained at all. She is really talented and picks up on things fast!

And Graham began playing flag football but after we learned of his enlarged spleen, he had to sit out for the season. Nate was the coach so we still went to games and occasionally Nate would allow Graham to catch a pass or two when we needed a touchdown. He never cried that he couldn't play but he cheered on his team and was so optimistic.

Aiden's cross country team is full of kids that are the best of the best! Here they are kneeling together before a race to pray.

Our view most Saturdays...

Graham's hospital stay was the week of Labor day. So we missed races and games for a week while we took care of him. I journaled all about his health stuff in the previous post.

It feels weird that life goes on when ours seems to pause. But after Graham got out of the hospital, we picked up right where we left off with life and sports and everything else.

I love that these friends are all on the same team!

With Graham's health still being unknown, he stayed home for a while from school. We had fun hanging out with just me and my little bud. And I think he liked some undivided attention. And more time on the Switch since he had to take it easy :)

We went to the ward party and although Graham couldn't run around and play, he enjoyed the treats!

More friends and football...

More races...

We didn't do professional family pictures this year, but one night Sheridan snapped our family picture and we snapped hers just over in Lehi.

We went on a double date with the Brewers to see Clue at the Hale in Orem. Always a fun time with them!

I'm realizing pretty much all of our pictures in September were of sports. But here are more I took on one of our busy Saturdays as we raced around from game to game.