Tuesday, August 29, 2017

A gift from a friend

Amanda from confirmation sent me a rosary she made for me on the last day of the retreat when I was gone. The color of the rosary she made was orange which represents the fires of the Holy Spirit. It was a nice surprise that she was thinking about me after all that time. She wrote on the letter that there were many things that were said about me. Anyway it put a huge smile on my face when I received her card and gift! I miss my confirmation class/family so much, it's probably THE biggest thing I miss from Houston! I hope to start taking another class in Colorado or get started in their youth group but I don't think it will ever compare to what we all experienced together for confirmation. Thank you Amanda!!

Advantages and Disadvantages of having a blog

Advantages:
  • If I ever start going down the wrong road away from God later in my life, I can always go back to my blog and read how good and purehearted I was. Also, remember all the many cool things that I did. 
  • Kids might think twice before starring at me once they know how to read my blogs. 
Disadvantages:
  • Sometimes when I'm writing, I would get major writer's block. It is a little harder to focus in the apartment than our old home because I hear every sound outside my door. 
  • Caleryn might get mad at me when she gets older and starts reading my blogs and see that I called her a Tasmanian devil.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Going to visit the family in Nebraska part 3

     On the way back from power soccer camp we stopped at a few places before we got back home. First, I have to tell you that we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and as my dad was getting me out of the truck, my G-tube ripped out of my stomach because I was still attached to the feeding thing. He was of course rushing because he had to go pee really bad and forgot to check it. I tried to tell him but it was to late. I swear that he's just like his mother. They both have pea sized bladders! After my dad ripped the G-tube out of my stomach, he sat left me in the front car seat without the seatbelt on and the door hanging open and went into the restaurant to go get mom for help. First off, does he not know me and know that I startle with loud noises and could of fallen out of the truck? Hello? When they came back and my mom saw the damage that had been done, she didn't really know how to put it back in because the doctor didn't demonstrate it yet for her to know. Then my dad swooped in, brainstormed for a little bit and saved the day. Luckily I was okay. In fact, I thought it was funny when l looked back at it once we sat down at a table. The part that was not funny is how it felt when the G-tube came out. It was a major pull. While we were waiting for our food, Vicki texted my dad and told him to take our time. Then my dad responded back by saying, "Yea, I probably should I just ripped the G-tube out of my kid". We all laughed at that. After we ate we started heading towards the town of Griswold in Idaho.

     When we first started passing through the town, my first thoughts about it was very old and rustic, especially all of the buildings. My mom went into a store looking for shirts for Papa and I. Then we stopped in Red Oak to see the house where my Papa and his brother and two sisters grew up. Finally, we stopped by the cemetery where Granddad was buried at Elliott. My dad got out of the truck to see if he can find Granddad's grave before he got me out of the truck and put me into my mechanical wheelchair. My mom of course had to help him because he's so blind! Once we found his grave site and I went over there, I saw two generations of Broyles, Archie Broyles and Granddad right besides each other. My dad said that the military came to his funeral because he was in the military. Archie was in the military too, back in World War I. My dad was the only one of all of us who went to his funeral. So it was pretty cool getting to see Granddad's grave and Archie's grave along the way to Lincoln. I bet they were both very happy and was smiling down from heaven when we came to the cemetery. We said a little prayer for them and we were back on the road.

     When we finally got to Lincoln, Nebraska and parked the truck at Vicki's house, my dad had to walk me in because there was stairs. Once I got inside their house, my dad sat me down in a regular chair. As I was waiting for my dad to bring the mechanical wheelchair up the stairs, my mom and I was talking to Vicki, Valerie, Leah and Tara. Vicki called Rowen and Wyatt to come and meet me. Leah said to my mom that Rowen was the one who is crazy and Wyatt is the calm one. Rowen reminded my mom and I of Caleryn a little bit. If she had been there with us, she would've dumped the basket full of toys in the living room and then spread it all over the place! Anyway, about fifteen minutes later my dad showed up with my chair. When dinner was ready I pulled up to the table while mom got food for me. Once everyone got settled, Leah was the star of the show, she's hilarious! Most of the dorky things that she said was in one ear and out the other, even though I laughed. The only thing that I do remember Leah saying was that her mother-in-law collects creepy baby dolls and has them all over her house. I laughed so hard that I almost choked on my food. I should have asked Leah if she thinks her mother-in-law has Slappy the Dummy from the movie Goosebumps but I didn't. After I was done eating and we had a nice visit, we said bye to all of them and we went to a hotel to stay in for the night.

    The next day we didn't stop at anywhere cool. Although we stopped and got a bite to eat twice. It was a very boring drive. My mom and i started to break down after hours of driving. That was when we ate for the second time. After we all ate we were in a better mood. We were very uncomfortable and tired of being on the road. Once we finally got home I could not wait to get into my F-5 power chair. I was very glad to finally be home, even though it is small but at least we are all comfortable.

     I had a great time at Vicki and Valerie's house. I think we all did. The drive really sucks but it's nice to be able to stop and see family. There were lots of laughs in the mix too. We are definitely going there every year after I go to power soccer camp. Hope to play better next year too.















My first practice with my new team...Rolling Rapids!

Last Thursday night we had our first practice with the Colorado Rolling Rapids! My dad and some other guy has been working to secure a weekly facility to practice, which is Craig Hospital. It is supposed to be a top rehabilitative hospital in Colorado with a gym. It was quite nice! It was my first time being there. The Colorado Rapids haven't played in a long time since their coach left the team two years ago. My parents were anxious to get me playing again so my dad has stepped up to get the team back together, set up a practice schedule and coach the team. My dad wanted to get there early to set things up like a dork. Well, we got there WAY too early. I had about 45 minutes of playing time before the first person came in. We ended up with three players that showed up Natalie, Carson and Bjorn. I guess because it was the first day of school or something for some players so it wasn't the best night for a large turnout. It was pretty cool to get three players for the first practice though and a few others will be at the next practice so I think we are going to have a good team to start with. My dad let them all warm up and I had to turn the speed down on my chair before I joined in. They all thought my chair was pretty cool and they wanted to see me do a spin kick. My dad is going to try to work on getting some sort of funding to get metal guards for everyone's chair since it's kinda dangerous to practice with plastic guards. After we all warmed up, we played a little dodge ball., something we played at power soccer camp. They all had fun especially Carson and Bjorn kept on thanking my dad for being the coach for the team which I thought was really nice. Next, we did some drills. The first drill that we tried was weave through the cones. Next we did the zigzag drill that me and my dad learned from the power soccer camp. I had the most trouble doing that drill because my Strike Force chair is a rear wheel drive. Everybody else did better than I did because everyone else had front wheel chairs. After that we did stop play scrimmages. The star of the show was Natalie. She even got a goal on me! My dad thinks that she'll do really well in a Strike Force chair. After everyone left, my dad and I thought that it was a successful first practice and everyone enjoyed it. I can't wait until next week, four more players will be there!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Power soccer camp Part 2

This blog isn't going to be long because I don't really want to share anything that that we were taught because it was really a lot. I think my favorite person was Riley from Team USA because he controls the ball so well with his chair. It was as if the ball was glued on to his guard. Pete, also from Team USA was very nice and helpful when I wasn't sure if I was in the right place. I'm telling ya, being in all the coaches presence was really intimidating especially when you're really not playing your best and everyone is better than you. Towards the end of the camp I finally started playing aggressive and more like myself. I went up against him during the scrimmage and I got a goal. I had so much fun at that camp and I learned a ton!

















Thursday, August 17, 2017

The trip to power soccer camp Part1

I haven't played power soccer in 7 months, so I wanted to go to this camp to get back in line before my first practice with my new Denver team The Rolling Rapids on Thursday, August 17th at 7pm.  

     Two weekends ago, I went to power soccer camp in Minnesota with my parents. Caleryn didn't go with us because she would not have lasted the thirteen hours in the truck and my mom thought that she would be so bored at the camp too. Honestly, I think she would of been too naughty. So my dad flew with Caleryn to Nanna's and Papa's house beforehand. While Caleryn and my dad was away, my mom started packing. I was trying to finish the blog about the atv ride. Unfortunately I didn't get that done before my dad got back. The next day, my mom and dad packed the rest of the stuff we needed, including my mechanical chair and my Strike Force power chair into the truck. Sadly my F-5 power chair wouldn't be able to fit 😟, which also meant I most likely would be uncomfortable all week.

     Once we finally got everything loaded, we stopped at La Peep for breakfast and my dad looked up directions to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and finally we got started on the road. At around two hours of driving I got tired of sitting in the truck with no sound, you see, my dad broke his antenna so we have no radio in the truck. I told my dad to put on some music so my dad asked the Siri  for Bluetooth audio and when she repeated it, my mom made fun of her because of the way she says the word Bluetooth. It sounds like Bluethooth. My favorite songs that I like to listen to is the Guardians of the Galaxy songs vol. 1 and vol. 2. When we got to Nebraska, my dad turned on Don Williams because there was nothing but corn fields. After he did that he said, "good luck not going to sleep". It was so boring! I eventually got tired of listening to that music and told him to change it to something else. We started seeing some Indian Reservations and housing which was different. And that's when my dad got pulled over for speeding through a town with a 25mph limit. Luckily the police officer just let him go and didn't even ask for his license. My mom kinda got mad because we really did everything last minute with this trip and she likes to stop at interesting places. She realized that we were semi close to Mount Rushmore but it was in the opposite direction that we were going. We really didn't have a lot of time to waste so we kept on going and finally arrived to Sioux Falls at around 12am central time. Part of the reason we got there so late is because my dad just passed by the town on the highway. He thought that there was going to be some hotels further along the highway, but there wasn't. Although, we did see one hotel and my dad went inside to see if they have any rooms but they were booked. It was probably a good thing because while we were waiting in the truck, there was a big group of people gathered outside the hotel and two of the guys started fighting and pushing each other. The check-in lady said to my dad that there might be something back in Sioux Falls. So my mom made my dad do a big loop back to the town. By the time we found a hotel and my dad hooked me up with an accessible room, everybody was dead tired especially my dad because he had drove for ten hours.

     On the last day of our long haul, we took our time because there were only three hours left to go before we got to the power soccer camp. So we decided to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then check out the Falls in Sioux Falls. The Falls were pretty cool for pictures but that was about it. When we finally got to the camp, my parents started unpacking all of the luggage into the cabin that we were going to stay in. The only problem was that the cabin was the furthest away from the cafeteria and gym and down a big steep hill, a little too steep for wheelchairs. Luckily my dad would sometimes drive us over there in his truck when it was a little rainy. All of the cabins were pretty big because it was a family camp. Later on, my old rival from San Antonio, Corey, came in the cabin with his coach Jennifer and his parents and said hi to me. He also said that they drove in all the way from San Antonio with a trailer. He was able to bring his F-3 with him. That evening we just stayed in our room and rested. We could have gone to the camp fire and had smores after our dinner but nobody really wanted to because we were all kinda exhausted and I needed to get some gbutton food for the energy. The next time we drive to camp hopefully we will have an accessible camper so that we will be comfortable during the long drive cause I definitely want to go again next year...more to come on Part 2!