S is for…

For April I’m challenging myself to an A-Z photo a day excluding Sundays and in addition to any regular posts that come to be.

Today is Tuesday, April 22nd, and we are on the letter S.

S is for Soccer and for Seattle Sounders Soccer Team

A couple of Joshua’s teams.

A couple of Dan’s teams.

Katie’s team.

There were a couple years in Junior High and High School that the boys played on the school team together. That was a fun treat.

It’s no secret that I have been a soccer fan since our kids started playing in their early years and continued into high school.

World Cup 1994 was in the United States and that solidified our national and international love of the sport. World Cup is coming back to the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026.

After their soccer glory days were over we became fans of the Seattle Sounders and our son has had season tickets from the beginning, since 2009.

img028In 1994 our boys were 15 and 13. We flew to Southern California to catch all the World Cup excitement we could. We found the U.S.A. training facility in Southern California and were able to see some of the team practice and get an autograph.

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After finding the training ground we also found the hotel where they were staying and managed to meet up with most of the players who were very approachable and happy to sign the team poster.

Dan and I were able to attend a game between Brazil and Cameroon at Stanford Stadium.

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Josh had tickets for games at the Rose Bowl.

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Participating in this historical event was thrilling for our family.

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After World Cup the boys still had years of soccer left to play before their Soccer glory days were over.

Since 2009 we’ve enjoyed professional soccer in person in the United States, Canada, in England and Scotland and Italy. Whenever we travel to the United Kingdom with Josh and Laura, a futbol match is in the itinerary.

Josh and Laura have been able to attend a few Major League Soccer Championship games along with regular games in several states. I was able to attend two of the championship games that ended up being in Seattle, 2009 and 2019. In 2009 Seattle hosted but didn’t play. We’ve all been to Seattle Sounders games but Josh and Laura have enjoyed the most games in person.

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Josh and Laura trying not to freeze in Toronto in 2016! We won the championship!

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Then in 2019 the kids got me a ticket to enjoy the MLS Cup Champions game and Seattle won again! It’s amazing to win a championship on your home field!

And now I get to watch our ‘Grands’ play soccer.

Great Uncle Arnold wrote this poem in a letter to Greg’s mom about our boys playing soccer. 

Playing Soccer in the Rain

It’s raining steadily and hard,
So puddles, growing in the yard
Spill over, and run down the street
Past where this street and others meet.

The boys play soccer in the rain
They run and strive with might and main
To kick the ball into the net
In spite of getting soaking wet.

The teams they play on won 1st prize
It’s good that they could realize
Success for all the joy and pain
Of playing soccer in the rain.

The letter S was covered satisfactorily here today.

Hope your week is starting well.

Rain Won’t Stop…

…our parade!

We had a full day of celebrating this past Saturday and we didn’t let the pouring rain dampen our spirits or our celebrating.

sounders-Wilma1Opening the game with the National Anthem and all the branches of the military represented is one of my favorite parts of being at the game instead of watching it from home. Our soccer crowd sings along and it’s great to hear close to 40,000 people singing.

sounders-Wilma3There are lots of creative ideas to get the fans behind the team and to keep us cheering. The blue and green plastic squares were in our cup holders and they had blue sections and green sections and had us all hold up our squares at once. Fun times. At every kickoff the green streamers fly. Our most expensive player, Clint Dempsey, has lots of fans and someone created a Dempseyland banner using Disneyland printing. Fun times.

P1040873We are fortunate to have our season tickets under some cover so the rain does not fall freely on our heads. If the wind picks up we can get some rain blown our way but for the most part we stay dry when others in the stadium get soaked.

Of course it would have been a bummer if after all this we would have lost the game but I’m happy to say we won. It took till the very last minute of the game but we won and we left elated and ready to face the horrible downpour and slick roads home. Once home we got ready for our next fun event.

P1040898Our Laura’s grandmother, Wilma, turned 90 this week and we all got together to celebrate her 90 years at her favorite restaurant.

sounders-WilmaWilma is such a sweet lady and we are so happy to have gotten to know her since Josh and Laura got married.

P1040896Isn’t the cake great?

These two events on the same day really brought a lot of sunshine into my world.

I’m linking up with Sunlit Sunday  at My Little Home and Garden and Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

What is brightening up your world these days?

The Season Begins…

Although we didn’t win it was nice to get rolling again. It was especially nice to enjoy the game with 3 of our 5!

For those of you who aren’t major league soccer fans this was the Seattle Sounders opener against Toronto. It was nice that Katie could join us while she is in town.

We’ve gotten to be friends with the season ticket holders around us. It comes in handy when you want them to take a photo, too!

I love that we always begin with National anthems and that the military in our area is so well represented. I’m a little partial to the Marines!

Since we were playing a Canadian team, their flag was represented, too. We listened to a beautiful rendition of “O Canada” in English with some French thrown in. They could have been better guests, though, and let us win. Aye!

Another fun season of “raising our scarves”…and wearing our rave green!

Our Emerald City Supporters really go the extra mile. The other Major League Soccer clubs have learned a lot from our Seattle Sounders supporters. This next photo does not represent most of the fans.

I don’t know how they were able to fall asleep but I’m glad I was able to catch them in the act! Speaking of sleep, I’m going to be sleeping at our son’s home in Eastern Washington for the next couple of nights so you probably won’t be hearing from me.

Have a great week!