Soccer and Red Ninjas

Soccer at the Summit Tournament in Flagstaff

Picture by Cristy Zeller

Let's just say it's rained A LOT in Flagstaff this summer. Even with being gone for most of the monsoon season (in July), I was sick of the rain after about 3.4 days back home. It's just annoying and keeps me from doing the things I love most. If I wanted it to rain every day then I would move back to Germany. I live in the desert for a reason! And even after an incredibly wet summer, people still get ridiculously excited when they see a dark cloud over the city, snap a picture, and then post it on Facebook. Really? I don't get it. 

Noah is back to practicing soccer most days and his team played in their first tournament of the season a few weeks ago. After the long and fairly unstructured summer, it took him a while to get back into the routine of school and soccer but now he is used to it and seems happy. The boys had been playing on wet and muddy fields in the rain quite a bit up here in Flagstaff and that weekend was no different. I got so wet and cold on Saturday afternoon that I fell sick that very day and now, two weeks later, I am still dealing with a head and chest cold. But it was worth it. Noah has developed into quite the player and has scored more goals in games so far this season than all of last year. Not that we are counting or anything, but I am pretty sure. It's fun to see him play well. He even got invited to go down to Phoenix with the U9 team to play league with them last weekend and he was thrilled! Neither Karl nor I shared that feeling, so we found him a ride with a friend. We love soccer and I feel we are pretty supportive but it was late notice and the Valley is still extremely hot and we simply had other plans. It worked out well and he had a great time! Nothing like a little independence! 

the siblings stay entertained while the big brothers play soccer

Max is wearing Noah's #15

Max played soccer (AYSO) as well in August and the beginning of September. We missed most of his season because we spent all of July in Utah but he still had a blast. His team was named the Red Ninjas and, boy, did they ever live up to that name! It was quite the good little team but they very much behaved like any group of 5-year-old boys would. Kudos to their coach, Tarah, who did a great job with these rascals! 

Noah played AYSO as well but never went to any of the practices. He was sad about it but it was on the other side of town on a night when he was already playing with his club team. His team happened to be the best team in their age group and they won all of their games. Some by a rather large margin. The boys loved it and felt like super stars! Quite the difference to playing tournaments on a club team down in the Valley. It was good for Noah's confidence. Not that he appears to be lacking any when it comes to his soccer skills...

beautiful Sedona

picture by Bethany Skelton

Today Noah got to go down to Sedona to play one of their teams. I will take any excuse to go there. I love Sedona! I mean: Look at that picture! Blue sky, red rocks, green grass. Heaven! It was a good morning. The boys won their game, I got to go for a little trail run while they hung out and played with friends on the field, and it felt like summer still! Flagstaff is below 30 at night and in the mornings now and I am not a fan. 75 degrees was perfect! Karl, who got called to be scout master a while ago, had to stay home and drag boy scouts up to the top of Mount Elden. I am sure it was fun but this was much better! 

Here is to many more soccer games in the sun!