Basketball Fun

We have a friend...

who happens to be a great basketball player,

which has made us more enthusiastic about basketball 

than we might otherwise be.

We all love Amanda... especially my daughters.

We love her whole family. They've been our friends and neighbors for more than six years.

Because of Amanda, we couldn't resist getting tickets for Iowa State University women's basketball this season.  It's her freshman year, and her years of hard work and dedication are really paying off.

We are so happy for her!

I grabbed my camera for one of the games a couple of weeks ago.  

It was a "pink out" for breast cancer awareness.  

Here's the family at the game:

It is so fun to take our kids to games at our school.

Iowa State women's basketball draws huge crowds, which is pretty unusual for women's teams.  

We watch the away games on television and can't believe how empty their auditoriums look.  

Hilton Coliseum gets really loud! It's a fun place to watch and play basketball.

They call it Hilton Magic!

Here's the ISU pep band and part of the student section:

Iowa State beat Baylor.  Here's the giant scoreboard to prove it:

Besides the fun we have had attending games,
we have enjoyed Sunday morning visitors a couple of times in February.
We got to sit down for breakfast with Annette (Amanda's mom), Amanda, Anna, and Whitney
for some post-game talk.
We talk about lots of things besides basketball...
things like ear lobe massages,
softball, and the Iowa State Fair. : )

They signed posters and sweatshirts for my girls:

Ellyn, Whitney, Amanda, Meggan, Anna

We had a short, impromptu music party after breakfast.
(Whitney, thank you for sharing your beautiful song.)

And a group hug with Meggan before they headed out:

We are really enjoying watching the Cyclone ladies this season, 

and look forward to watching these girls play for the rest of their college careers.
We are having so much fun and
 have made two new friends as well. (Hi Anna and Whitney!)

Thanks to all three of you for being great roll models for so many girls.

===============

Dear Amanda, we are so proud of you.  

We don't love you because of basketball, 

we love basketball because of you!

We think you are a fabulous young woman.

It is so fun to make family memories with you.