The big news this week was Anna getting her driver’s license. She had her test on Thursday morning and she passed. She was understandably thrilled with this achievement. Then Friday morning Marcy took her to the DMV where she came out with her temporary license.

This weekend Anna has enjoyed her newfound freedom. She has gone to visit friends, taken herself to work and cheer practice and gone out for lunch. Marcy and I joked that we wouldn’t see Anna much once she gets her license and that is proving to be true in her first few days of driving.

On Saturday night, Anna and I continued our tradition of going to see an Air Force football game. We have done this several times now and it seems like it is always on a cold night. It is a great spectacle with the Air Force flyover and the falcon flying around the stadium at halftime.

This past week was Senior Night at South High School soccer. This is where they honor their seniors who are about to play their last home game for South. It was a simple and sweet ceremony with the captains taking it in turn to share their feelings about the graduating seniors.

With one game left in the regular season South are in line for a playoff spot, something that Jude has been focused on from the first day of the season. They play their last regular season game this coming Thursday.

Anna turned 16 on Monday of this past week. But the celebration started before that. Because her birthday fell on a Monday and she full night of cheer class and practice she wanted to do our special dinner on Saturday night.

She decided she wanted steak with beets and beet greens along with fresh-basked rosemary sourdough bread, which I was happy to do. It was a delicious meal that was topped off with Marcy’s apple crisp.

The big day finally came on Monday and we went out to the Original Pancake House on Belleview for breakfast. We spent many a birthday here at “berries and cream” when they were little and it was the perfect place for an early Monday breakfast. Anna then spent the day at school followed by cheerleading and then we around 9pm we gathered for the Happy Birthday song and some homemade cheesecake (Marcy’s cheesecake is the best!).

The celebrations didn’t stop there. When we asked Anna what she wanted for sweet 16, she decided she would love a trip to New York City. So, on Thursday night Marcy and Anna caught the red eye to Newark where they have been all weekend. They get back tomorrow.

So, with the girls away for a long weekend and Jude off school we decided to go down to Manitou Springs on Friday and do The Incline. We have done this hike every October for the last several years and this time Jude and I both broke our records. Jude broke 30 minutes for the first time (29:49 – quite an achievement) and I did 41:35. We had a great time.

Here is Jude’s senior photo for varsity soccer, where they are currently in the hunt to make the playoffs.