2003 Sports Highlights Busier Than Ever And Loving Every Minute Of It! Another busy year in the sports world of the Allen home! You know, we are constantly running the kids here and there, but it is so much fun for all of us! We so enjoy watching the Lord use the sports world to mold our children and "grow" them. Just as much fun is watching God work in the lives of those around us and watching Him "grow" them right alongside of us.... In our last website story we told you all about the exciting 2002-2003 hockey season. Michael's team had an incredible year and went to tournaments all over the state and even to Niagara Falls, Canada. Lindsey, after a bit of apprehension, decided to "try" the world of ice hockey and joined a team in late January. Within less than 2 weeks, she fell in love with the sport. She has yet to change her mind and went into this season very excited about playing with the boys again in the "Pee Wee" league;being able to "check" this season is a real highlight for her, if you can believe that! This past fall, right before Thanksgiving, Grandpa and Grandma Hilaski came up to watch Lindsey and Michael play in Midland. Michael changed schools this year and got to play on the school football team. He played in several positions both offense and defense. He injured his back and missed half the games, but he is already looking forward to high school football next year! (Did I say "high school"?! Where are the years going?) This falls challenge of football practice every day, football games every week and hockey practice and hockey games every week, put a stress on all of us when report card time came. We are happy to report that Michael was able to pull through with good grades the first semester but we learned out lesson and although he tried to get us to change our minds, we have prohibited him from playing both basketball AND hockey this winter! Lindsey had a great swim season last year. She went to the championships and placed in every event that she swam. She took the summer off and started swimming again this past October. She has attended a few swim meets and she enjoys the sport, but hockey seems to be occupying her thoughts more and more these days. Lindsey also played basketball on her school team this past fall and did really well. She also gave volleyball a shot when she participated in a month-long volleyball clinic at the nearby Community Center. I guess we are all waiting to see what Lindsey will decide that she enjoys doing the most! Actually I think if we would let her do it, she would be happy to just sit around all day and "Instant Message" her friends on the computer! As a result of "graduating" from Little League Baseball, and not being able to start his baseball season until later in the Spring, Michael decided to try travel hockey last Spring. We traveled to Holland for a tournament in April and were able to spend time with Grandpa Hilaski and Uncle Terry and Cousin Seth. It was the first time that Grandpa had ever seen Michael play! Michael really enjoyed the players and the coaches on the new team and thus tried out for the team this fall. He is now playing with that team and is enjoying it quite a bit. He likes the challenge and the speed of the game. He travels all over the state and enjoys the travel because it allows him to play against better teams and get his homework done in the car ride to and from the games! (How is that for "time management"!) Renee is still running 3-4 times per week but mostly on the treadmill in the basement. She says that she is too old to battle the heat and cold outside anymore...besides most of the time she is running at "weird times" during the day when the roads are too dark ....every other moment is spent working or doing "kid stuff"! Believe it or not, Mike has even taken to using the treadmill a few times per week....could it be a "midlife crisis"? We think that it is just the perils of having an "office job".....a job where you sit on your bottom all day! :)