Great Weekend for the Kopp Athletes!

This pic is from summer softball - look at the detemination!

Kels and the 12U Peppers Orange team went 2-0 this weekend in Jordan. Kels played/pitched GREAT! The team really stepped up (except for a few "bonehead" plays). It's neat to see how much Kels has matured as a person and a player. She is definitely a leader on this team.

Lil' TK and the Sports Institute Lions won thier first football game of the season beating the Steelers 14-6. Lil' TK was the QB for the 1st touchdown and scored the extra point. Had an AWESOME tackle right in front of Ang and just played great. Him and his Center (and best friend) "Bang" worked great together. After the disaster that was the 2008 season...it was great to see this team have more confidence and show that in their play on the field. Big TK is one of the Head Coaches on this team and though a few play calls didn't go as well as envisioned...he did a  great job helping to prepare the boys for this and keep them motivated.

School's almost here

So - with the fall air refreshing everything here in beautiful MN, the anticipation of school starting is in high gear. Lil' TK could care less...Kels is very excited to get back to school. Wish her enthusiasm for education would rub off on Lil' TK...but if it doesn't have anything to do with sports, he's not all that interested.

Another thing that fall brings is Ang starts looking for places, ideas and poses for pics of the kids for Christmas cards. Ang loves how fall makes such a colorful background for posed pics. Now - to get Lil' TK and Kels to mellow out enough to stand/sit next to each other for few minutes without erupting into a screaming/hitting match. Aren't 11 1/2 years olds a blast?? yikes.

Speaking of Christmas cards...Pear Tree Greetings is a company that is part of the group Ang works with. Cute stuff. Cool site for designing photo greeting cards and  just playing around with colors and designs. Check them out! http://www.peartreegreetings.com/

Peace - Out...

Fall Softball

Kels' Peppers Orange team went 1-1 today at their first double header of the fall season. They lost 3-2 to the Prior Lake Blue team (who pitched their #1 pitcher from summer ball) and beat the Orono team 9-6 (Kels pitched). Great start for a team with a lot of girls who don't have much Peppers experience. Big TK said he had a couple parents from both opponents come up to him and ask him if Kels was his daughter and tell him how good a player she was. Pretty darn cool.

Band lessons start for Kels tomorrow...clarinet. Ang played saxophone and Big TK played percussion so this is new for us. She seems to really like the instrument though and can already get a decent sound out of it most of the time. So - we'll see how this goes. Lil TK isn't gonig to do band. He doesn't have the patience for it and he wants to focus on sports.

Got both kids' reports in from 5th grade on the big testing they did. Smart little turds! Both above benchmark in every area. Now...to get them back on track when school starts and focused again.

ChChChChanges...

Ang saw leaves turning colors on some trees already.
Too weird.
Of course, then August had to make up for the cool summer with 90 degree days and humidity.
The back and forth in the weather is giving Kels fits...stuffed up all the time. Allergies?

Lil' TK got his football gear. Brand new Riddell helmet like the HS players use. It's "sick" to quote him. Very shiny, very white, very new pants too. Ang is hoping to get pics of him in it before "tryouts". This year...the football teams are made based on tryouts...not sure yet if it's an A/B type thing or just to have even teams. Either way...Lil' TK will love the chance to make some new friends and play with some people he hasn't had a chance to before.

Kels started practices for Peppers Fall Softball. Likes her new coach. And gets to be on the same team as one of her best friends. Coach Joel likes to work on fundamentals...which confuses Kels (why do we spend so much time on catching and throwing drills?) but Big TK and Ang are thrilled...fundamentals are key. Yeah!

Ang is no longer employed by MAGFA - Mankato Area Girls' Fastpitch Assoc. - as Organization Manager. Position eliminated. It's sad and it's a relief at the same time. While with MAGFA...a lot of really positive changes were implemented and the Mintz and Stars programs were starting to show some great progress. Not that Ang did it all herself...but did do a lot of the work to get new things implemented and will miss seeing the progress in all "her girls". But its a relief not to have to deal with all the politics and ego trips on the board. Big TK resigned as Equip Mgr and Chair of the Finance Committee as well. It was time. We are worried that Mankato Girls softball will be taking some steps backwards now without someone with true dedication willing to spend countless hours being involved but hopeful that someone (either on the board or the good Lord above!) will be watching out for the youth who enjoy the sport.

We are Familyyyyyyy

Brody was too cute NOT to take pics of! Bean Bag Tournament was a hit!

Uncle Greg doing the happy dance...

The Casio side of the clan.

The 19th Adrian Family Reunion was held on the coldest flippin' day in August ever. Saturday, August 1 did not cooperate for this get together. But the food was good, the company was awesome and the bean bag tournament was a huge hit.

The Adrian's are Gramma Nita's side of the fam...her mother was one of 5 Adrian sisters who are "honored" each year.