Ryan's 9th birthday party (part II)

Alex's self portrait

A little birthday cake in the face!

Apparently if you lay down on the ground after throwing the ball you get a better result ;)

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

from L to R: Austin, Mason, Tim, Alex, Ryan and Hunter

What a whirlwind these past couple of days have been! Yesterday we brought the boys home from hockey camp. They had a great time and are even talking about heading back there next year. They did call home each night saying they missed us and wanted us near, but apparently were able to work through that quickly. :) Yesterday as the camp was wrapping up Alex asked Dave Hakstol (UND head coach) if he could take his picture with him. That is the photo you see in the previous post. Ryan Duncan was also in the training room and Alex wanted to have his pic taken with him as well, but I told him he had to wait for his brother to get out of the locker room. Well, Ryan Miley took too long and Ryan Duncan left just a couple of minutes before our Ryan got out of the locker room. I feel really bad that he missed that opportunity, but they did get to see him and he did sign their hockey sticks earlier in the day.

Today was the start of the Brookings Soccer Tournament and the day we held Ryan's birthday party. The boys won both of their games and will play the third and final game tomorrow. This evening we went to the bowling alley for Ryan's birthday party. We bowled, ate pizza and cake and now we have 3 boys sleeping over. They are playing Nerf gun war right now and I hope to get them to bed fairly soon...wish me luck with that!!

...and they're home!

The starting line ups

Nice game bro!


Alex and Coach Hakstol next to a photo of the NCAA championship trophy.

The boys with the MacNaughton Cup (the WCHA regular season champion cup)

Walsh Hall

Ryan and Alex in front of their dorm. Luckily they got a first floor room so it's not so hot, plus we left them a fan so that should make them more comfortable too.

Roommates!

the boys are off to college...

...well, for a week. On Sunday, Ryan's 9th birthday, we took the boys up to Grand Forks to attend UND's hockey camp. It took us about 4 hours to get them completely checked in. We started at the Ralph where they received their locker room assignments. Everyone had a name tag above their locker and a jersey hanging in it...very cool! They decided to change into their gear and skate a bit since they haven't been on the ice for 3-4 months. They chose to do a little shooting instead of scrimmaging. The shooting happened to be on the 'big' ice (the sheet of ice the UND players use for games) so they were pretty excited about that. Unfortunately it wasn't painted with the logo - just white ice with the lines - but still a neat experience. We ended our time at the Ralph in the Sioux Shop purchasing a couple of caps and a sweatshirt and as we were walking out of the arena a Sioux player was walking in. Ryan knew who it was and was grinning from ear to ear. Then it was off to Walsh Hall to get settled into the dorm. Upon walking into their room Ryan's first question was "where's the tv?" We had to break the bad news that there wasn't a TV in every room and that they'd have to go to the commons area. He was baffled by that but eventually got over it. After the beds were made and the room set up we took the boys out to eat. After supper it was a final look over the room to make sure nothing had been forgotten and then Kevin and I had to hit the road. I got the boys to go to the commons area as we left so they could try to meet some of the other players. They have fooseball, ping pong, a TV and some other games to keep them busy in the evenings. I have a feeling they're going to be pretty wiped out as their day starts at 7:30a and they go until 6:15 at night. After that they eat supper and then it's back to the dorm to finish out the night. Ryan called earlier today and told us lights out is at 11p. A tad bit late in my opinion but obviously the University has done this before and is well aware of what does and doesn't work. Hopefully they'll have a great time and learn a thing or two while they're there!

moving in

a future Fighting Sioux player?...you never know

Alex was sick of me taking pics

Ryan on the NHL rink

"Really mom? I'm trying to get on the ice here!" Needless to say he wasn't impressed about yet another photo. Notice Ryan in the back. He wouldn't come forward for the picture.

Happy 9th Birthday Ryan!!

Mom and the birthday boy.

Everyone say 'cheese'

On Ryan's birthday we dropped the boys off at UND's hockey camp. Here we are settling them in to their dorm room. We'll be having his birthday party on Saturday at the bowling alley.

Montana Summer 2009

Alex pulled a croppie out of Fresno....a rare catch!!

Fireworks and a full moon.

Our skateboarder

Home sweet home!!