These Guys Showed Up

To answer the question posted in my previous post, the guys highlighted in this very hastily assembled photoshop job showed up to the alumni match. To be fair, I have no team picture from my freshman or sophomore years, but no one from those years showed up who wasn't already represented in these two pictures. And obviously there were buys from other years. And girls, too...
I had a very good time and got a very bad sunburn.

Alumni Match

Tomorrow I am playing in the Bethel College alumni tennis match. How many of these guys will show up?
Hopefully lots!

Breaking News: Roger Federer Loses Match

We are living in a time period where it is actually a major news item when Roger Federer loses a match before the final a grand slam, which he did last night for the first time since May of 2005. That ends his streak of 10 consecutive grand slam finals. To put that in perspective, the next closest person made 4 consecutive finals (Agassi & Laver). I know it is presumptuous to talk about "unbreakable" records, but I can't imagine anyone ever even coming close to this one. The way the game is today, with all the different surfaces, with specialized players and incredible depth, it's virtually impossible to play at a high level at every event over numerous years. I suppose every streak must come to an end, but it's sure going to be a weird Australian Open final...

A Fun Week

We're back from our vacation and have lots of catching up to do...

Today is Nancy's 29th birthday. She now has only 365 more days to make fun of me for being 30, and it appears as though she is going to take advantage of that opportunity. Nonetheless, Nancy has a husband and a daughter who think she is the best wife and mother in the world.

In case you missed the match this morning, Roger Federer won Wimbledon for the fifth time in a row, beating Rafael Nadal in an amazing 5 set final. I can't say this was the best he's ever played, but it is the best he's had to play at Wimbledon. There are few things in life that I enjoy more than watching this guy play the game of tennis, and as it turns out, I get plenty of opportunity. He has made the last 9 grand slam finals. Not only is this a record, the next closest, 7, happened 70 years ago. He is dominating our sport in a way that that lacks any kind of comparison.

We had a very, very nice vacation, with the highlights as follows:
-Nancy & I spent our anniversary weekend in Chicago, taking in the town and going to a Cub game (as discussed in our previous post). This was the longest, and first overnight, that we had been away from Sophie. We really made the most of our time there; our 30 hour trip seemed more like a week. Thank you so much to both of our parents for watching Sophie and allowing us this opportunity!
-I played plenty of disc golf, getting smoked on a daily basis by my brother. I think I am going to have to start cheating like crazy. If anyone is aware of a performance enhancing drug of some kind that helps with disc golf, I am most definitely not interested, but may have a friend who is... I was also able to reconnect with Dan Weiss and get in a couple of rounds and a lunch with him. It's amazing how easy it is to let even the best people fall out of your life. I am very thankful for the opportunity to reestablish that friendship and hope that I don't let that or any other friendships vanish out of inconvenience. God is working in and through Dan & his family, and I'm excited to see what else He has in store for them in the future.
-We were also able to visit with Jason & Andrea Gingerich for a brief time on Thursday afternoon. I try to hook up with Jason every time I'm back in town, but when we saw them at Christmas, they weren't able to see Sophie. So, we decided to try to get both of our families together, which we were able to do. After visiting a bit, Jason, Asher & I went to see Transformers (which I highly recommend). Good times.-On Friday, we went to casa Peterson and visited Matt, Carrie, Brian, Carrie II, Corrie, Oliver, Dan & Linda (whew). The babies swam in the baby pool with the coolest mechanical fish, while the adults talked about the babies swimming in the baby pool with the mechanical fish (among other things). I always enjoy visiting with Matt, if for no reason other than the unpredictability of it. Love you brother!
-The highest highlight of the trip was watching Sophie interact with our families. It was such a joy to see her spend time with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-grandparents, great-aunts & uncles, first cousins once removed, second cousins, and all of the above-in laws. Considering the limited amount of time we have to spend with our families, it is such a relief to see her enjoying and bonding with them. Hopefully she can have much more time with them in the future!