At home, we’ve been busy with Baylor’s cross country, Finley’s dance and soccer, and Atticus’ soccer and flag football. Baylor’s season has been a mix of highs and challenges—he set a new personal record and pushed through some injuries. He’s more motivated than ever heading into the offseason and is training for his first half marathon in a couple of weeks. Finley has been living at the dance studio—Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings plus weekend classes. She couldn’t even make soccer practices this year because of dance, but that didn’t stop her from leading her team to another division championship. Atticus’ soccer team struggled this year, and he got frustrated at times, so we may look at other options next season. His flag football team, on the other hand, had a great year, and he loved playing running back.
Labor Day weekend was spent back in Kirksville, and Baylor’s girlfriend Dorothy came with us. The kids soaked up cousin time, went to a football game, and spent an afternoon at the Cleavers riding go-karts and playing pickleball. It was the perfect summer send-off. The following week, we drove to Omaha to watch Briley in her first college race—she finished first on her team and set a new PR! In September, I cashed in my Father’s Day gift and took Baylor and Dorothy to see Nate Bargatze. It was such a fun show with plenty of belly laughs. The Thursday before my birthday, we headed to Columbia to watch Briley race at Mizzou. She ran Friday morning, so we stayed with Asa, Kelsey, and Seger Thursday night, which was great—the kids loved their Seger time. Friday morning, my mom, Allison, Julie, Mike, and Rick all came to watch Briley run. She was thrilled to see everyone and had a great race. Afterward, we celebrated my birthday with lunch and then brought Briley home for the weekend. She was so excited to sleep in her own bed. That night we had Martin City for dinner and apple pie for dessert. The next day, we watched Baylor run and capped the night with dinner at Bamboo Penny’s.
October took us back to Kirksville for Mike and Karen’s wedding (finally!) and my 25th class reunion. Mike and Karen had a sweet backyard ceremony followed by a small reception at The Wooden Nickel. It was the perfect celebration for two amazing people who finally made it official. My reunion that night was a blast—it’s amazing how easy it is to pick up where you left off with some people. Last weekend, the Taylors and Lissy came to town, and we spent the weekend lounging, eating, and tackling Jared’s home improvement projects. The kids were nonstop with their cousins, and I even had dinner with our old neighbors. That group has always been Autumn and my support system, and it was so nice to catch up.
This past weekend, we went to Omaha for Briley’s conference championships. It wasn’t the race she wanted, but we weren’t there for the race—we were there for her. We hit Topgolf, did some winter clothes shopping, and enjoyed plenty of good food and time together. We also surprised Baylor in a big way. With him needing a car soon, we decided to shuffle things around: Briley gets my Atlas, Baylor gets Briley’s car from last year, and I’ll drive the Suburban until I find something new. Briley was thrilled with the upgrade, and Baylor was over the moon about his first car.
Now for some more big life news—I’ve started dating and am in a serious relationship. Her name is Danielle Eils (Riekeberg). She’s originally from Kirksville but lives just a few miles from us in Overland Park. She was a freshman when Autumn and I were seniors, so while we knew each other, we never really hung out. Jared and Danielle’s mom, who is one of Jared’s clients, introduced us, and from the start, it’s been an instant connection. Danielle has two kids—a 9-year-old girl and a 6-year-old boy—and they’ve bonded so well with mine over the past couple of months. Danielle is an amazing mother and person with a huge heart. She embraces the fact that Autumn will always have a place in our hearts and wants to join us in honoring her memory. It feels like such a perfect match—I know God’s hand is at work, and I truly believe Autumn is smiling down on us.
