Christmas 2025

The tree was set up prior to Thanksgiving when the schedule was not as hectic.  Ralph and Henry both spent a little time putting up a few ornaments.  Ornaments this year were mostly ornaments grandma and grandpa gave them each year with their photo, handprints when they were babies and a few other random ones.  

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning started a little late as Ralph went to midnight mass and wasn't in a rush to wake up.

We opened gifts at home then went to grandma and grandpa's to open gifts and have dinner.

Henry: Celebrating 16 years!

Henry spent his 16th birthday yesterday at a wrestling tournament in Kansas.  The celebration had to wait until December 7.

Henry is now close to 5'7".. 

Henry hasn't changed his clothing preferences - pants with an adjustable waist (size 18) and solid colored tshirts (size 18).  When at home or grandma and grandpa's he can usually be found in jammy pants, a tshirt, and his robe.

Lately, breakfasts are usually a greek yogurt or egg burrito; supper could be a chicken taco, pizza wrap (marina sauce, pizza toppings, and cheese rolled on a tortilla shell and "grilled" on the George Foreman).

Henry spends his free time on his computer - current games he plays are Heart of Iron 4, Bannerford, and Mini Motorways.  He is also doing a "football simulation thingy"

He has most recently watched the Fallout TV series and finished the Oppenheimer.book.

Henry: Eagle Board of Review

Ralph had turned in his Eagle Scout application at the end of September and had his Eagle Board of Review on Thursday, October, 23, 2025.

Once paperwork is signed off at nationals he will officially be an Eagle Scout with a Court of Honor to follow in a few months or more.

1st day of school: 2025-2026 School Year!

Ralph is now a senior and Henry is a sophomore!  They humored me with the photos this morning and the afterschool treat and I more than appreciated being able to treat Ralph to his last "first day of school" after school treat (and luckily Henry was game to tag along - he had already made it known he didn't want to go/was going to start curbing the treats but didn't have to twist his arm too much.

Both were hoping to make some schedule changes and couldn't get an appointment with their counselor until the 2nd (Ralph) and 3rd (Henry) day of school.   Update: Ralph couldn't do the changes he was hoping to do due to limited times the classes were offered; Henry was able to make the changes he wanted to with the exception of moving his lunch period.  Ralph: Advanced Weight Training, AP Physics 1, AP Calculus D, AP Lit/Comp, Lunch, AP Macroeconomics, Orchestra, and AP Psychology.  Henry: Advanced Weight Training, Spanish 3, Biology D, Lunch, Precalculus D,, English 10D, Ap Computer Science Principles, and AP World History 

Then and Now . . . so many thoughts on this year.  He has started to work on his personal statement for college applications and is signed up to take the ACT one more time.

 . . and comparing last year and this year's 1st day . . he has had some growth spurts the past year.

Philmont Trek

From mid-July to early-August the boys ventured to Philmont Scout Ranch.  The first stop was in Colorado for a few days to acclimate to the elevation then on to New Mexico.  After a few days at base camp they went on their 12 day trek

While in Colorado they . . .mtc

Summary of Summer 2025

Henry kept busier than Ralph this summer though Ralph was busy shuttling Henry around.

Henry started summer with summer school.  He completed e-health in less than a week.  He did have to go to Lincoln High to take the tests but otherwise did the class remotely.

While finishing up summer school he took drivers ed.  Luckily the online portion opened up the weekend prior to the driving portion and Henry was able to get a good portion done early.  The driving portion was for 2 hours each day Monday-Saturday with the last day being the driving test.  During the two hours Henry would drive for an hour and his driving partner drove the other hour.

After Henry completed the driving test that Saturday morning we left for a quick family trip to New Orleans.  We left Lincoln as it was raining and it continued to rain though Kansas City - sometimes very heavy.  We spent the Saturday night in Little Rock, Arkansas thanks for the Embassy Suites in Lincoln and a raffle I entered at their recent renovation open house.  Sunday morning we drove  to a Dillards outlet in Vicksburg, Mississippi then onto Vicksburg National Battlefield.  We arrived in New Orleans in time to have supper at Clesi's then found our hotel (Homewood Suites on the perimeter of the French Quarter).  After breakfast Monday morning we did a cemetery tour, walked around a non-vibrant French Quarter (since it was early), found the St. Louis Cathedral, found out the old Ursuline Covenant Museum was closed on Mondays, watched the boys have a mid-morning snack at XXXX, went to mass at the St. Louis Cathedral, had lunch at a Cafe Beignet and ice cream nearby at Kilwins, went on a Steamboat ride, found some pizza for supper and went on a ghost tour.  We went back to the hotel after the tour; Ralph went back out for a bit trying to find a shop he saw on the ghost tour.  Tuesday morning Henry and I went to the World War II Museum while Mike & Ralph went to the Covenant Museum, spent some time on their own, went to mass then lunch at Cafe Mespero.   We left New Orleans by 2 pm on Tuesday and headed north stopping for the night just on the northwest side of Little Rock and made the rest of the way home on Wednesday.

Henry spent much of his summer working on his Eagle Scout project and summer conditioning for wrestling as well as wrestling practices at the club in Omaha and a few team wrestling team camps (Kearney, UNL, and South Dakota)

Ralph spent 10 days at the end of June at NYLT (3 days preparing for the participants and 7 days as a staff member).

From mid-July to early-August they both traveled to Philmont Scout Ranch.  The first stop was in Colorado for a few days to acclimate to the elevation then on to New Mexico.  After a few days at base camp they went on their 12 day trek

Then a week after returning home it was time to go back to school!

Henry: Celebrating 15.5 years!

 Henry turned 15.5 years old nine days ago.    Henry had had a busy week prior to June 6.  He started eHealth, his summer school class a week and a day earlier and finished up after five days later.  He had to go to Lincoln High to take the tests and was slowed down a bit over the weekend since he couldn't take any tests over the weekend .

June 6 was close to the end of his Drivers Ed class - he had already finished up the 20 hours of online instruction and finished up the driving portion on June 7.  He did pass; now he just needs to get more time on the road practicing in anticipation of December 6. 

Henry had his yearly physical in early May.  He had grown nearly 3.5" since his last physical in May 2024. 

Henry had braces put on his top teeth in February; he thinks he may get the bottom ones on this month.

2024-2025 End of School Year

The 2024-2025 school year has come to an end. The last few weeks have been busy with AP tests and finals of varying importance.

Ralph's AP Spanish test was his last final today (10:40 pm - noon).  The final consisted of going to Mazatlan, ,a nearby Mexican restaurant for lunch and conversing in Spanish.  He was too full to join us for the end of school treat.  Henry chose Yogurtini.

 

Strings in the Spring

 The spring semester brought a few different Orchestra events.

The yearly Cadenza concert was in February and had an Asian theme.  Orchestra members were encouraged to dress for the theme with solid warm accents.

There was an orchestra concert/clinic in April.  This concert is usually prior to the Contest to prep the Varsity Orchestra for the District Music Contest but due to other activities' schedules it was a post-Contest concert.  East Varsity Orchestra was one of 2 schools to receive a "1" Superior Rating from all 3 judges at the District Music Contest the week before - and only 1 point away from a perfect score from all 3 judges.

The school year ended with a orchestra tour that included visiting 3 elementary schools, including the boys' alma mater Kahoa Elementary, the first few weeks of May.

Henry: End of Season Wresting Banquet

The "End of Season" wrestling banquet, our 1st wrestling banquet, took place on March 20 after being rescheduled a few times due to weather.

The banquet included a potluck with Subway sandwiches followed by recognizing the wrestlers and their accomplishments from the past season.

As the coaches called each wrestler's name the included 3 words that described that wrestler. Henry was described as committed, wise, and savy.

Henry was 1 of 6 wrestlers to receive the "guts club" award for being at every practice and competition.

Henry made the top ten list in all the categories noted in the recap of the season for the JV team. He had the most wins, led in nearfalls, and scored the most team points.

Ralph: Celebrating 17 years

The week or so before his birthday Ralph began to experiment with cooking steak and chicken over Spring Break. 

Ralph's focus during Spring Break was ACT prep.  He spent his mornings at the "On to College" John Baylor class.  The ACT test is in April.

Ralph's spring semester classes include 3 AP classes, orchestra, weightlifting and 2 Diff classes.  Ralph and Henry are in the same weightlifting class.

Ralph's clothing choices have not changed much and include gray sweatpants and a tshirt on most days.  A hoodie is included on the cold days.

Most school days he grabs a protein shake before leaving the house and then has a school breakfast.

  He leaves for school by 7 am to beat the crowd and get a preferred parking spot.

He is staffing at  NYLT again this summer and has had some meetings/overnights in preparation of that.  He is also a crew leader for this Philmont trip this summer and has had some zoom meetings in preparation of that.