Weekend soccer.

Damn, will I ever tire of watching my girl play soccer??  I love it. LOVE IT. Watching her succeed with her passion is such a rush for me. Today? She scored her first goal of the season. She has not played forward for almost 3 years - but she has been working hard, moving around a lot the past 4 months, defender to stopper to attacking-mid - and this weekend: forward. Emma is so versatile it literally boggles my mind. I think it's because she is so determined, and has consistent, aggressive play (in a good way). She is still a heading fool, and today she drew a couple of good fouls and a PK.

I particularly love this last photo. Emma had a really great drive toward the goal on a passed ball, she was like a locomotive - unstoppable. After the play, she was getting ready to throw in and the A/R talked to her for a moment before giving her a high-five. She said later that he told her it was the best through-ball he had seen so far this season - and she was beaming that he stopped to tell her that :)

We stayed at Deanna's house in Kennewick (near the game in Pasco) and Dawn/Amanda drove down to Spokane to join us. They all came to the Saturday game, which unfortunately, was a loss. Not all was lost though, as a visit with our cousins is always enjoyable. I sure miss those girls, it was so great to sit out on the patio and enjoy a bottle of wine with them. It is amazing how much our lives have paralleled each other - we all got divorced after approximately the same amount of time married - within the past 12-18 months. We were a good support unit for each other through it all. I definitely want to make more time for visits with them in the future. The kicker? They are actually Carl's cousins, but they are family to me :)

We had the most beautiful drive today from Kennewick to Wenatchee - up some country farming roads, through a valley, along a river, through some small towns - just a lovely drive. We listened to some classic Van Halen and AC/DC, and then threw in some current pop for good measure. Emma and I talked the whole way home about school, soccer, life. She reminded me that in two days it will be 13 years since I gave birth to her... damn I'm so lucky :)