Tennis Team Banquet

Last night, we hosted the Tennis Team banquet here. About 50 people gathered in our home to celebrate the boys' accomplishments this season with a party.

They placed at the top of their league (they won), and they did it by playing fair and working hard.  We are very proud of them, and especially of the quality of their character - individually, and as a group.

This is the largest group of people we've ever had inside of our house, and it was so crowded that I had trouble getting good photos. During dinner, some of us had to stand, and it was difficult to walk around, but I loved feeling the warmth and happy energy in the house. The boys roamed around, ate voraciously and then we gathered to hear Coach address the crowd. Each player received a certificate, a Varsity letter, an award, or some combination of the above. Coach made a comments about each one of the team members, his contributions, character and progress this year. I appreciated this greatly, as I couldn’t have done that for 20+ boys – and  I loved learning a bit more about each one!

I took the photos during Coach DeVries’ speech, trying not to distract people, and listening while I snapped away. Now, I wonder, am I allowed to post photos of other people's kids?

David received an award:  The Viking Award.
 
You may recall the he received this same award last year. It’s given to the athlete who embodies the qualities of scholar, athlete and excellence of character. Our high school’s mascot is the Viking, since we live in a town that was settled by (and is still populated by a lot of) Norwegians. Grandpa G., Gregg  and David have all been Viking athletes,  but David holds the award, for the second time. We love him, and we admire his character and the values that he holds and embodies. David is his own man, and he is a good one.

I am thankful to God that He sent us the two wonderful people who are our children. And I wish Katie had been here to enjoy the party (and all of the handsome boys who were all over the house) – she would have loved it! (One small photo of a part of the group can’t hurt, can it?)

Since you asked:  we took a lot of shortcuts, to make this as easy on everyone as possible. (I used to be able to host 30+ people without difficulty, but my brain doesn’t work the way it did in the past in multitasking.) We bought five lasagnes from Costco, paper plates and napkins, plastic utensils (sorry, Suz!) and soda, sparkling  juice and water (we did recycle these containers). We served coffee (if it hadn’t been a school function, we would have served wine, too, but we couldn’t). I bought 4 loaves of French bread, sliced it and made garlic butter, which was brushed on and then baked into it. Our guests each signed up to bring either a salad or a dessert. It was perfect! Plenty of food, and even some leftovers. With Gregg's and David's help, the house was cleaned up and things were put away by bed time. Thanks, guys!

As a group, we purchased gift certificates for both Coach DeVries and Covey, for use at  Burrata Bistro (our neighbors’ - Kim & Alfonso’s - restaurant). Both coaches have very young children, so we figured they could use a quiet, romantic, delicious dinner that they don’t have to cook!

It’s hard to believe that four years of high school tennis are already at an end. It was a wonderful experience for David, and we are thankful to the coaches and other team members for making it so.