Merry Christmas Everyone!

We didn't get to cut down and decorate our Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving as usual. But we still couldn't go to a tree lot or use a fake tree...Heidi wouldn't allow it. So we visited the tree farm the following weekend and picked out the perfect (aka crooked) tree.

Nathan, Allison, and Heidi next to the tree we picked out...
Decorating and eating pizza, our little tradition...
Even Zoe got into the Christmas spirit...

After running all over the state in the worst weather I can remember, we had Christmas at the Weiss'. Unfortunately, we missed Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa McDaid's due to the ice. But Brian McDaid still stayed with us Chrismas Eve and Christmas morning which was nice. Bubba, Papa, and "the girls" came over Christmas Day to play with all the presents. And we had Christmas with Mom, Ken, and Brian yesterday. Now that all the parties are over we can try to find our house again and start to get back into the usual routine.

Nathan with his gift from Santa - mini hockey nets (the goalie set was from Allison). He didn't even wait to finish opening presents before starting a game.
Allison with her gift from Santa - a Hannah Montana electric guitar.
Breanna, Kelsey, Nathan, and Allison McDaid

Up North, Hockey, and Awful Driving Conditions

Since Nathan's games were both up north (Cadillac and Ludington) over the weekend we stayed up at the trailer. That was the first time Heidi and the kids had been up there since October because we've been so busy. There was plenty of snow and the kids got to play in it for a few hours before we had to make our trips to hockey games.

Allison posing on Scott's snowmobile (no, she didn't drive it... but Uncle Scott gave her a ride).

Allison and Maddeline in the trailer. Trevor and Maddeline stayed with us between the Cadillac and Ludington games. The boys lost to Cadillac 2-4 (only had 7 skaters) and then lost to Ludington 2-5 the next day.
Zoe staying warm. Must be nice to be able to relax!

Nathan and Trevor hamming it up for the camera.

Nathan learning the fine art of "donuts and fish-tailing" on the driveway ice.
The drive back from Ludington on Sunday was AWFUL! Blizzard conditions made it a very long ride. The roads weren't really that bad but the blowing snow made it difficult to see more than 10ft in front of the van. Luckily, we all made it back safe and sound... now bring on Christmas!

He Shoots....He SCORES!!!!!!!

Hockey results were a bit mixed this weekend. The boys played a non-league game at the Battle Creek Bruins on Saturday night. We were up 3-0 early but they battled back and tied it up 3-3 midway through the game. Then, BC scored in the third period but Trevor got a breakaway and tied it up 4-4. With time running out, BC put on some serious pressure but the boys held them off. They had the puck deep in our zone and at one point, one of their players was coming around from behind the net for a game-winning wraparound and Nathan got there just before the BC player and knocked it away to save the game! That happened with 20.5 seconds left (I know because I immediately looked at the clock thinking... they were about to win the game right there). Anyway, the game ended in a tie. The kids skated well enough to win but couldn't seal it.

Then, this morning, we hosted East Kentwood who we'd beaten 3-1 at their place last month. They were a good team back then and showed they were even better now. Our boys have really be skating well the last few games and are doing a great job of attacking the puck. Nathan has been itching to score a goal all season. He's had a lot of chances but hasn't been able to sneak one by the goalie. Today was different though. We were down 2-1 and Trevor was off on a break-away. Nathan and a defender were right behind him and they were all skating at top speed. Trevor tried to go high, glove side. The goalie made the stop and Nathan was right on the rebound. He got some good wood on the shot and the goalie got a piece of it but Nate shot it hard enough that it deflected up and over the goalie and into the net to tie the game at 2-2. We went NUTS!!! Everyone has been rooting for him to get his first Squirt goal and he's been skating really hard. He definitely earned it. He learned today that it pays to "crash the net". He actually had a couple other chances for goals today but they couldn't find the net. We ended up losing 3-2. Another good game that could have gone either way.

Coach Lou made it a point to give Nate the game puck and now he's planning on using some of his saved money to buy a little display case for it (too funny..). The team manager made sure to get a picture of Nate with his puck after the game for us. It's below (click to enlarge). Next weekend will be tough. We play two very good teams (Cadillac and Ludington). Go Hawks!

Blast From The Past

As promised, here's a little gem I stumbled across while backing up photos from the computer. This is a video clip from Pat & Anna Weiss' wedding reception back in August of 2005. Allison was a dancing machine at the reception and had us all stunned. She was only three at the time but she clearly has some rhythm... Enjoy!

Just Checking In...

With everything that's been going on lately, I haven't had a chance to update with what we've been up to. Basically, we've stayed busy doing the same things we've been doing the last couple months: work, school, dance, and hockey.

Parent-teacher conferences went well and both of the kids are doing a good job keeping up with their school work.

We finally got to put up our Christmas tree last week. Traditionally, Heidi insists that we go get it the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, we were in Lansing for the tournament so that didn't work out. But fear not, it's up along with the lights and endless decorations. I still can't believe Christmas is in two short weeks. Where does the time go!?

Allison is enjoying her dance practices and is getting ready for her competitions coming up in March and June. She may also be performing at Festival in downtown Grand Rapids but no details on that yet. She's competing in three different routines: tap, jazz, and hip-hop. I don't know how she keeps all those moves straight. When you see her, have her show you the "freeze" move they do in hip-hop... too funny. Heidi has been able to see her do the jazz routine a couple times and said she does really well. I guess I'll have to wait until the competitions to see it. Also, stay tuned 'cause I've got a really cool "blast from the past" to post soon...

Nathan is having a great time with his hockey team. I think he really has a good time with his teammates. Since the Lansing tournament, the team beat Southside 4-2 and then travelled back to Lansing and dropped another game to Capital Pride 2-4 on Sunday. This week has been the play-down against the other HAWK teams to see who will go to the district tournaments. Monday, we beat Hawk #2 3-1 and tonight beat Hawk #3 6-2 so we'll be heading to the district tournament at the end of the season. That's about all I know about that at this point. Overall, the kids are really starting to skate as a team and play aggressive hockey. I just commented to Heidi at tonights game that Nathan has been improving every game over the past month. And it's showing. He's got 5 assists in the last 4 games.

Tournament Action Shots

As mentioned in the previous post, a bunch of the parents went together and got a whole CD of pictures taken by the tournament photographer. Here are a few shots of Nathan during the tournament games... click to enlarge.

Versus Capital Pride (first meeting)

Versus Soo Burger King (Canada)

Tense moments in semi-finals versus Capital Pride

Versus Capital Pride in semi-finals

2008 Turkey Roast Tournament

This weekend was the 2008 Turkey Roast Tournament in Lansing at The Summit at Capital Center. There were 5 different divisions in the tournament and Nathan's Hawk #1 team was in the Squirt "B" division along with two other Hawk teams, Lansing Capital Pride, Kensington Valley Cavalry, and Soo Burger King Flames (from Canada). The boys started slow on Friday against Capital Pride and ended up losing 6-2. They seemed to have some dead legs. Saturday started out better with a 5-1 win over Kensington Valley but then we played the dreaded team of the whole tournament in Soo Burger King and got beat 11-2. They were definitely a "travel" team playing in the wrong bracket. That score was typical for every game they played. Even though we only had one win, we ended up being the third seed for the semi-finals due to point differentials and ended up playing Lansing Capital Pride (2nd seed) on Sunday morning to see who would go to the finals against Soo.

The boys seemed very determined prior to the game. We'd lost to Capital Pride twice now and know they're beatable. They play rough hockey but our boys were ready for them. I had a good feeling about the game before it started... here's what happened: First off, the kids skated their butts off. After two periods, the score was 0-0 and the Lansing team was getting very frustrated. Then, our top player took a breakaway down and scored to make it 1-0. About a minute later, their top line came down and shot one past our goalie to make it 1-1 about half-way through the third period even though we'd been shorthanded 4 times and killed off each of the penalties. A couple minutes later, Trevor was skating through center ice and was taken out by two of their players (one high, one low). Somehow, the refs didn't see it as a penalty and they took the loose puck down and scored on a wraparound immediately after that to make it 2-1. with about 2 minutes left in the game. Then, with time running out, we were circling their net and Trevor somehow snuck a nice backhand through a ton of traffic in front and scored the tying goal with 4.5 seconds left. Everyone was going crazy and we now had a chance to get to the finals! The score was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation but less than a minute into overtime, Lansing got a breakaway and made a nice shot to score the game-winner. I felt so bad for our kids. They really played a great game and with a couple bad bounces ended up losing one they definitely should have won. But they ended up taking 3rd place out of six teams in the tournament. The boys will get another crack at Lansing next Sunday in a league matchup back at Capital Center.

I never realized how draining a weekend tournament would be! We only played four games over three days but everyone was exhausted when it was over. The Holiday Inn was overrun by HAWK players. Besides our team, the other two squirt teams stayed there along with at least one Bantam and one Pee Wee team. Since all the squirt teams practice together on Mondays, there were plenty of familiar faces to play with. When the boys weren't playing hockey games on the ice they were swimming, running around the hotel, playing mini's (mini-hockey) in the Holidome or hallway or just hanging out having fun. It was great that they got to spend some time together away from the ice. All the players get along really well. Nathan seemed to hang out with Trevor Z. and Trevor C. mostly. And Allison played with their sisters most of the time. It was also nice to sit and talk over drinks with some of the parents. All in all it was a fun, but tiring, weekend. Next weekend we play at Southside and at Lansing. Current Adray league record is 6-1-1 and overall record is 8-5-2.

Go Hawks! Pictures below, click to enlarge... We're also getting a disk of action photos of the team during their games. I'll post some of those when we get them...

Playing "mini's" in the Holidome. The boys were having a blast doing this. And it was nice because they were all in one location and the pool was right next to where they were playing. At one point, the boys were told they couldn't play in there. Then, a few hours later they were allowed to again since they were running the halls when they couldn't play and there must have been some complaints. Where are the parents of these kids?!
More mini-hockey with teammates
Madeline and Allison
Josh, Dyllan, Nathan, Matthew, Trever C. and Trevor Z. before the Kensington Valley game
Headed to the ice...
Matthew, Trevor Z. and Nathan prior to the rematch with Capital Pride. Matt wore the "C" and Nathan wore the "A". The boys rotated for each game.
Rachel, Madeline, and Allison doing crafts (P.J. Party)

Notre Dame vs. Syracuse

Heidi and Allison took their annual trip to Chicago with Bubba and the girls this past weekend so Nathan and I travelled down to South Bend to watch the Notre Dame v. Syracuse football game. We tailgated with Brian, Mark, Keith, Pat, Anna, and the Brian's kids. It was a very cold day and the South Bend area had gotten about 10" of snow the day before. The stands were full of snow as you could see by the number of snowballs being thrown. The only thing colder than Nathan's feet (which were in tennis shoes for some reason!) was the Irish offense. We were leaving the stadium as the Orangemen scored the winning touchdown. But at least we got out before all the traffic. Some photos of the day...

Tailgate dancing (Beezer, William, Brady, Noah, Nathan)...
Football, of course...
In the stadium... it was C...O...L...D...!!

Deer Camp 2008

Now that the leaves have all fallen and the cold winter has arrived, you knew the firearm deer season couldn't be far off. Last weekend was our annual getaway with the guys up north in Bitely chasing the great whitetail deer. A typical deer camp involves drinking, eating, shooting, laughing, drinking, hunting, eating, and drinking. This year was no exception. All the traditions were there. We took a trip to Johnny's in Custer for live music, drinking, and dancing. We had a good time watching some football. But most of all, we hunted. This year was a big question mark with the baiting ban in the lower peninsula. Heidi's brother Scott had just bagged a doe from his tree stand. I bow hunted the night before the opener and saw two doe but couldn't get them to come in close enough for the shot.

Saturday was the opening day of gun season. We'd gone out the day before and setup our ground blinds, made shooting lanes, and prepared for the great hunt. That night, we had a bonfire, salmon on the grill, a few drinks, and played guitars around the fire. Fittingly, though I didn't know it at the time, we ended the night with a rendition of Fred Bear on the acoustic guitar. "Let's go huntin' baby..."

The opening day forecast was nasty: snow and rain all day. The reality was it turned out to be a nice opening day for hunting. It was a bit windy but no rain and very little snow. It started out as most hunts in Bitely do, no deer. But then it happened. As I was sitting in my doghouse blind scanning the horizon, the BIGGEST buck I've ever seen in my life appeared out of nowhere. This thing looked like the king of the woods walking wherever he wanted. He wasn't concerned about much of his surroundings. He had his head held high and his rack looked like a bright crown. When I saw him, I said under my breath "HOLY $#!^". Brought my gun up and found him in the scope. He was walking but at a pretty good clip. I followed him with my crosshairs hoping for an opening but none came. I new I didn't have much time so I looked ahead of him, found a clear shooting lane, put the scope on it, and waited for him to walk into it. About three long seconds later, he did. I squeezed off the round and down he went in a giant heap. I racked another shell and grabbed my cell phone to call Scott who was only a few hundred yards away. As I did, the beast jumped up and ran back toward where he came from. I dropped the phone, raised my gun, and as I found him in the scope, he dropped again for good. At this point, I knew the deer was big but I hadn't had a chance to count points. I called, Scott answered. "Was that you?", he said. I replied, "Dude, I just shot the biggest &$*%#! buck I've ever seen in my life!" With that, Scott ran (not walked) all the way to my stand to check it out. We walked out to where I saw him drop the first time and found no blood. Looking over toward where the buck headed, he'd made it about 15-20 yards before finally dropping. And it's a good thing too because there was no blood to be found. Turns out the shot (about a 70-80 yarder taken at 9:58am) exploded both lungs and went right through him. All bleeding, it seems was internal. Turns out this buck was a big 8-point with a nice bright, high rack. Definitely not the type of deer we're accustomed to seeing in Bitely. Here are some shots of my buck of a lifetime. It is now at the taxidermist for a shoulder mount that's gonna look really nice in the cabin. I can't wait to get it back!


Two days and about three inches of snow later, my buddy Dave sat in the exact same stand and had a nice 7-pointer eating about 60 yards out from him. Having never shot a deer before, Dave was understandably nervous and fighting off some heavy breathing. At one point, he put his gun down, (P.S. Dave, don't EVER put your gun down when there's a buck standing in front of you!!!!!!) got his breathing under control and again took aim. He squeezed the trigger at 8:20am and dropped his first deer ever. A second BIG deer for the area we were hunting and his first ever. Here are some shots of Dave's deer.


Overall, it was a fun camp. And it didn't hurt that we had a little success this year. Within one week, we took three deer from the small area we hunted. I'd imagine it will be quite a few years before that will ever happen again.

Hawks are 6-1

This past weekend was a tough one on the ice. Nathan's team played Kentwood at Kentwood Ice Arena on Saturday. We knew going in that they were a good team. The boys played very hard and were able to stay out of the penalty box but Kentwood couldn't. Nathan even got checked into the boards from behind once which resulted in a penalty. He's also got a nice bruise across his leg from a slash. We ended up winning 3-2 but it was a VERY tight game.

Sunday was a home game against Capital Pride (Lansing). We knew they were a good team too since they beat Kentwood 2-1. But they came out flying and really pressured our team and seemed to be a step ahead all game. The Pride were winning 2-1 with about 4 minutes left and beat our goalie to go ahead 3-1. They then took a penalty and we pulled our goalie for an extra skater to try and get those goals back. Nathan had a real nice chance in front of the net during that power play but couldn't get it through the mass of kids diving in front of the net to block the shot. We didn't get a goal and the Pride ended up scoring on the empty net to win 4-1. Tough first loss. But the boys are back at practice right now working to improve for the next time they meet. We may see that team again in the Turkey Tournament in Lansing the weekend after Thanksgiving and we play at their place the following week.

This weekend's matchups are at WMU vs. Kalamazoo Saturday and at Holland Sunday. Go Hawks!

Hawks are 5-0!

Well, we've only had one game each of the last two weeks but Nathan's Hawk Squirt #1 team is unbeaten in five games and 3-0 in Adray League play. So Nathan's team is up near the top of the league standings but have only played three league games. The last two games were a home and home against GRAHA #3 Griffins over the last two weekends. The Hawks won 5-1 at Patterson Ice Center and then hosted the Griffins the following week at Walker Ice & Fitness and won in a 3-2 barnburner. The Griffins pulled their goalie at the end of the game for an extra skater and came very close to tieing it a couple times. I think we probably had our biggest crowd at that game.

This weekend will be a tough test as the Hawks will be playing Kentwood and Capital Center (Lansing) who are both pretty strong teams. Lets hope the boys can hold their own and come out with a couple more W's.

FYI.. you can always check the latest Adray Standings by clicking here and selecting West Squirt. Nathan's team is Hawks #1 and plays in the White division. And if you'd like to watch an exciting game you can view the schedule here. Go Hawks!

Happy Halloween!

We were lucky enough to have some great weather for trick or treating this year. Allison dressed up as a Hollywood Starlet in a pink dress fit for a walk down the red carpet. Nathan was going to dress up as a football player but changed his mind at the last minute when he found a mullet wig at the Halloween USA store. He ended up being a cross between Joe Dirt, Larry The Cable Guy, and Billy Ray Cyrus... complete with sleeveless flannel shirt and tight-rolled jeans. Cousin Breanna came over to join the kids for trick or treating wearing her poodle dress. Even Zoe got into the spirit wearing her Superman costume. The kids got mostly treats and a couple trips through the neighborhood haunted houses. We've all eaten way too much candy. There was a parade at school to see everyone's costumes and parties with games in their classrooms. Here are some shots from the day.

The costume parade at school...
Classroom party...
Abbi, Danni, and Ally
Nathan, Breanna, Allison, and SuperZoe
One more shot of the costumes before trick or treating...

Fitness Fun Run

The kids had a challenge in their gym classes this week to run 1 mile as fast as they could. Allison's grade had to run for a set time instead of a mile. She said it was fun but her and Danni (friend in her class) skipped toward the back of the pack and took their time. She's never been a fan of long running. Nathan, on the other hand, was pretty pumped up to see how well he'd do in the mile run with all the hockey and dry land training he's been doing. When he was training for his triathlon last summer he was running the mile in about 12 minutes. He arrived home the day of the run and called me at work to let me know he ran the mile in 8 min 37 seconds and came in third place in his class. Needless to say he was pretty proud (as was I)!

Then, a couple days later, the Jenison schools held a 1 mile fun run prior to the Varsity football game to promote fitness with the kids and collect canned food for a local food bank. Allison went to a movie with her friend and Heidi was in Florida for work so I took Nathan to the race. It started near the entrance of the football stadium, circled most of the high-school grounds, and ended with a lap around the track while the football teams were warming up. I'm not sure what "place" he took but I'd guess only about 10-15 kids finished before him. But the coolest part was he ran it in 8 min 14 seconds! Way to go Nathan! That dry land training is paying off for more than just hockey...

Warming-up on a cold, rainy night...
On your mark... get set... GO!
Finishing on the track

Allison Gets Published

We have a local weekly newspaper called the Grand Valley Advance that covers happenings around the area. Allison always looks just inside the back page to see drawings that kids have sent in. Sometime this summer she decided to draw a picture and send it in hoping they'd put it in the paper. She has always been a big fan of drawing and coloring (and oddly enough, Nathan has started doing it too...). Anyway, I opened the paper a couple weeks ago and saw they had published her drawing of a ballerina with roses and told her to come look at the drawings in the paper. She casually looked around the page at the drawings and when she saw hers she said, "That's MY drawing!". That page of the newspaper is now hanging up in her room and below is her picture to be stored in cyberspace.

Hawks are now 3-0!

This afternoon was Nathan's third hockey game of the young season and their first ADRAY (West - Squirt - White Division) league matchup. They were playing the KOHA Flames from Kalamazoo. Rumor had it this was going to be a tough game and rumor was right! This was the most exciting game yet. The Flames were good skaters and were good at taking people off the puck. The Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Flames answered with four unanswered goals of their own by the end of the second period. Then the Hawks finished strong with three goals to win 7-4. Nice way to start league play. Nathan also got his first point of the season, an assist with a real nice pass from the corner to one of his open teammates in the slot for a onetime shot over the goalie's shoulder. Nathan also had two shots on goal. One of which was a solid wristshot that the goalie barely stopped and then covered to stop the play. Nathan skated better in this game than any of the others so far. I never knew the games were going to be so exciting this year. This was a very fun game to watch. The Kalamazoo goalie robbed one of our better players of a shot with a glove save. Next time down the ice, our goalie stopped a 2 on nobody breakaway. Then, he robbed one of the Flames with a glove save up by his shoulder. They were both really nice plays.

Nathan had an entire cheering section to himself today. Aside from Heidi and I, Allison actually watched the game (now that she knows what the scoreboard means). Bubba and Papa Weiss were there for for their second game. And Aunt Liesje came to watch her first "squirt" game. I think everyone agrees these games are much more fun to watch than cross-ice were.

My cousin Erica Denman, her husband Andy, and their kids Josee and Nathan (born on the same day as our Nathan) came down to Grand Rapids today because Andy ran the Grand Rapids Marathon this morning. What a perfect morning for a run! They stuck around to do some shopping and stayed to watch Nathan's game. They sure saw a good one and joined us for dinner at Logan's. Thanks so much for coming guys! Overall, it was a good (although tiring) weekend. Next week the Hawks play another GRAHA (#3) Team... first away game. Go Hawks!

Bird Hunting

After a nice "up north" breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns, Scott stopped by the trailer to see if we wanted to go bird hunting with him and his dog Remy. Nathan was dressed in his warm clothes with hunter orange vest and gun loaded in the truck before I knew what happened! Too bad he can't move that fast any other time we want him to... Nathan took his BB gun and I just went along for the walk and to scout for deer sign. Remy flushed one woodcock three different times but each time it went up in front of me (and of course I didn't have a gun with me). About 50 yds from the truck Remy started acting very "birdy" and was on a scent but couldn't find it. Scott saw some movement on the ground and was standing about 3 ft from a woodcock spread out on the ground looking right at him and trying to hide from him. Remy was still on the trail and finally flushed the bird up into the air and Scott went 1 for 1 on shots for the day. Nathan took a crack at a couple tweety birds but wasn't able to put one in the bag. But he enjoyed the adventure anyway. When we got home, we found a woodpecker digging a hole in the side of the kids' shack. Uncle Scott gave Nathan orders to get rid of it because it was doing some pretty serious damage. Nate got one crack at it but didn't hit it. He did scare it away for awhile though. Maybe next time we're up there he'll get another chance. Below are a couple pictures after the hunt.

Nathan, dinner, Remy, and Uncle Scott after the hunt...
Troy, Nathan, dinner, Remy, and Scott...

HAWK Squirt #1 is 2-0

Nathan's hockey team had their second game of the season this morning at 8am at WIFC. They actually had their real uniforms for this game. Nathan is #15. The Hawks were facing the GRAHA #2 Griffins from Grand Rapids and were wearing their home white jerseys. The boys were controlling the puck for the majority of the game but were having trouble finding the net. I don't know how many shots went completely over the goal. The score was tied 1-1 until about 6 minutes left in the game. Then the Hawks scored two quick goals to seal the win. Coaches said there will be some shooting practice this week! Nathan had two good scoring chances but wasn't able to get the puck to settle down on either one for a shot on goal. After the game, we headed up north to try and get my first bow hunt of the year in. The good news... I saw four doe. The bad news... they were all while I was driving to/from my stand. Maybe next time... I think the no baiting rule this year is going to result in fewer deer taken during bow season.

Dance Like Nobody's Watching...

That's what Allison's T-shirt said this morning. How appropriate! Allison signed up for a one night "dance camp" at school on Wednesday night led by the Jenison High School dance team. And today, all the girls got to do a performance at halftime of the cub football game at the Jenison High School football stadium. They danced to the Hannah Montana song Rock Star. I have to say for only practicing for 2 and a half hours, I was pretty impressed with the routine. Allison loved it. The girl has got some rhythm. After the dance, we headed over to the next field to see a couple other cub football games for kids we know. It was a really nice day and we even got a little sun burn! Crazy. Here are some pictures of the big day...

Warming up & last minute practice...
The big moment... (Click to enlarge. Allison is in front just to the right of the 50 yard line. Look for the long white sleeves)