girls (and boys)

An October weekend full of laughs, pedicures, haircuts, eating and eating some more, reminiscing and laying flowers on grave sites...yep, we covered it all and solved all the world's problems in two days! I always look forward to our October girls weekend and always come away feeling relaxed and ready to conquer the world. I love these girls!!!

(Thank you Todd for the basket full of goodies and wine waiting for us at the hotel!)

Graham kept himself busy by going with Todd to Wabash College and to his friends, Shelby's brother, soccer game at Muncie Burris.

And he went to youth.

The picture above is the boys small group that meets in the church nursery:)

I love that Graham is so involved with his youth group.

Just had to add "my boys" to this post. Doug and Vladimir got groomed before I left.

No Vladimir, Mommy is not going to get your chew toy!

He guards it with his life:)

in the news

Pendleton Heights' Graham McMullen returns a volley to Anderson's Brett Ellis during sectional championship action at Highland Junior High School on Saturday.

October 1, 2011

Anderson pounds Pendleton Heights 4-1 in sectional final

The Herald BulletinSat Oct 01, 2011, 11:31 PM EDT

Anderson boys tennis coach Jim Hostetler refused to breathe easy.

The Anderson Indians had already won both doubles matches against Pendleton Heights and were one point away from securing back-to-back sectional titles.

But the third point still had to be won.

A few minutes later, AHS’ Rishi Patel put the lid on a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brandon Hart at No. 2 singles, and the Indians could begin to relax with two matches still on the court.

“In a sectional, it’s always nice to get the third point. That way you know you’re OK. You’ve got that third point, and you can breathe a little easier,” Hostetler said. “There are still two matches out, but those are icing on the cake.”

Anderson recorded a 4-1 win over the Arabians and punched its ticket to the Marion Regional.

Anderson (19-4) will face Northeastern on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Before the match, the message to the Indians’ players from the coaches was simple: Play your game the way you’ve been playing it all year.

“I told the guys, ‘You just have to play like you have been the last couple weeks.’ Nothing fancy, just play your solid game,” Hostetler said. “The last three or four weeks, we’ve been playing very well.”

A windy day made things interesting depending on what side of the net the competitors were playing on.

Facing north, the wind was at a player’s back and the ball could sail a few extra feet. Facing south, a good gust could take some speed off the ball or cause a return to fall short of where the opponent thought it would land.

“If you can use the wind, it’s your ally,” Hostetler said. “Too many kids go out there and complain about the wind. If you use it, it makes you twice the player.”

Examples of players using the wind to their advantage came from: Patel getting a drop shot to land gently over the net while facing the wind. Bobby Moran hitting a low liner that found the space between Sam Dixon and Connor Wilson in the No. 1 doubles match.

Anderson’s No. 2 doubles tandem of Evan Dorff and Brady Reed downed Pendleton Heights’ Zack Wright and Ben Ausburger 6-3, 6-3 for the Tribe’s first point. Before they could get a postmatch drink of water, the No. 1 doubles match ended with Drew Hueston and Moran picking up a 6-4, 6-1 win over Dixon and Wilson.

“My doubles teams have been very consistent, and they want to set the tone for us,” Hostetler said. “They’ve been very strong. Getting the first two points for us gave us the motivation to finish it off.”

Brady Colip downed Evan Hart at No. 3 singles for Anderson’s fourth point after a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Then all eyes turned to the conclusion of the No. 1 singles match between Anderson’s Brett Ellis and Pendleton Heights’ Graham McMullen.

McMullen came away with a 6-1, 6-2 win in a match highlighted by long rallies and exuberant yells. Following the completion of the match, instead of the postgame handshake at the net, Ellis leapt over the net to the other side to shake hands with McMullen and then embraced his friend and competitor.

“That was just two good friends going at each other. They are good friends, they know each other’s games,” Hostetler said. “Brett played well. He made Graham earn this match.”

“They’re all good friends, good players,” PH head coach Royce Hammel said. “(Anderson’s) a good team, they’re well coached. It’s going to be a tough regional, but I think they’ll represent our area well.”

great job graham!

Sectionals were yesterday and our team lost to Anderson

BUT...

Graham won at number 1 singles! He gets to move on:)

Brett and Graham played on the same court that they met on 8 years ago.

Brett graduates this year so it was a little emotional when the match was over.

Graham and Rishi became friends that year too. He is also a senior at Anderson.

Brett and Rishi have gone to Fripp with us for the past two summers and I will sure miss that:(

Congrats to them for winning and moving on to Regionals!

Speaking of seniors...Graham was so happy that Zach decided to

come back and play for PHHS this year.

He once played with Evan at number one doubles. What an asset he was to our team!

We will miss you Zach:(

We will miss all of our seniors!

Great job this year PHHS...14-5 record!!

todd's weekend with evan

Todd went to SC to visit with Evan while I stayed here to enjoy homecoming festivities with Graham.

He picked Evan up bright and early (5:45am) Saturday morning...

...after a late steak dinner night in Charleston the night before... 

and headed to Fripp

for the day.

You can tell from the pictures that it is really early because

of the morning dew on the front doors.

He took his racquet so Troy could give him a lesson.

This must be afterwards up in Troy's office.

Todd said that Evan's strokes looked really good.

Later, Evan did some physics homework while Todd helped him out with his laundry.

Troy and Theresa got a new golf cart that Evan got drive around...

I think that he liked it;)

They all went to the Bonita Boat House for dinner and then made their

way back to The Citadel.

Evan said that he loved going there to relax and I am so glad that Todd could do that for him.

I'll see you in three weeks for parents weekend E!

phhs homecoming parade/dance pictures!

It's PHHS Homecoming!!!

Here is Graham and Shelby before going to out to eat

and to the dance.

But, it all started yesterday with the parade...

Lizzy!

All kinds of floats.

You can see the signs for Anderea,

a young woman from Pendleton who was injured in the IN State Fair stage accident.

Love this small town's spirit.

The Army

The theme for the floats was Rock and Roll through the Ages.

This is the Sophomore Class float.

We played Delta Eagles (conference team) and WON!

Here's Graham! He yelled so long and loud that he lost his voice!

It must have paid off because...

THE JUNIORS WON!!!

They did rock 'em sock 'em robots and played the song "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"!

I wasn't standing in a good spot to get the robots. The PH robot was punching (motor was moving the arms back and forth) the Delta robot which made the head of the Delta player go up and down.

They won because you have to have a movable part.

But, I did get another good shot of Graham!

Off to the game where the hittin' paid off!

This pirate plays number 2 singles for Pendlton and is enjoying his ride on the

Senior class float.

Graham and Shelby

Tonight was the Homecoming Dance. We went to Shelby's house to get some pictures

and then dropped by our house for some outside shots.

So pretty!

Inside and out, what a sweet girl!

Off to our house and then to Houlahan's to eat.

I love Homecoming in Pendleton!