2021 Misty Run Wildlife

Heron, egrets, turtles, muskrats, rabbits and deer, as usual, but new this year were turkeys, a giant snapping turtle we had to transport to safety... a few weeks of three "bambis" finding their footing in our backyard daily.

Our Xmas

Santa was pretty good to the Backer family this year... 

A Dr. Dish was the "big gift" and by a mile the biggest hit on Christmas morning, but thoughtful, independently-generated ideas all around.

Merry Christmas!

Xmas with Nana

We hosted Nana, Greg and the sibs this year for a day of Christmas food, fun and late night drinks. The ham was delicious, the kids were all smiles (and noise!) and the time all under one roof, the first in ages, was priceless.

Happy Holidays!

For our family, to yours!

Happy 45th

Donuts with Sossy at HyVee, drive-through coffee with Evs on the way to school, chasing squirrels in snowy woods near WHS with Buster Bear, a belated beer with my mom, and dinner and a UST campus tour, lots of college Q&A and a women's game with the family (with E & S as the halftime entertainment).

Not a bad way to celebrate my 45th trip around the sun.

7A @ All Iowa Attack

E's squad took their talents to Ames, Iowa's All Iowa Attack facility to take on some of Iowa's best.  Iowa has year-round club ball and is arguably more competitive basketball at the youth level than MN and all other neighboring states... so, we went in ready to take our lumps (while dishing some out along the way).

The team went 1-3 on the weekend, and learned a ton. Most notably for E, she learned to float to spots and get her shot up quicker... and did so to the tune 2-3 buckets/game (including one "NBA three" from deep). 

(Sawyer and Elyn, along for the ride with no games to play of their own... were less amused with the weekend.)

Choir Girl

Find E in this sea of black and white, and tell me if she's lip syncing or not..

5A @ Stillwater

S & company finished 2nd at Stillwater losing a close one to Lakeville North in the championship game, though admittedly were emotionally drained for that matchup after a huge double OT win vs. arch rival Lakeville South (after beating Centennial in the first round).

In that LS classic, Sawyer had quite a memorable stretch, closing regulation with two clutch FTs to tie the game and a big block on one of South's knockdown shooters... and then forcing double OT with a buzzer beater three-pointer off an assist from Brielle.

7A @ Roseville

E & team rolled over 8A competition from Lakeville North, Spring Lake Park and Orono on their way to a Roseville Holiday Classic title.

5A @ Mahtomedi

S and her 5A team took home their first 1st place finish of the season after beating Stillwater 5A, Champlin Park 5A and Centennial 5A at the Zepher Classic.

Sawyer played center for a stretch and showed off a few of her post moves during the Stillwater game.

7A @ East Ridge

E & WGBA's 7A squad finished second in the ER Raptor Tourney playing up again in the 8A division, with tough wins over Stillwater 8A and Eagan 8A... and a roller coaster of a loss vs. Waconia 8A (where the team cut a 22 point deficit in the second half to 3 in the final minutes).

DTB Xmas

Sawyer's AAU club celebrated landing their final piece, Lyla from SLP, and the holiday season with a Secret Santa pizza party at Giordano's in Robbinsdale.

Cannot wait for the spring/summer season!

BDO 2021

The annual Boys Day Out game day was a blast as always, but a different kind of special this year with a HUGE 23-21 win over Wisconsin to reclaim The Axe for the first time at home in 18 years. Naturally, we had to join in the field rush celebration... the second time our foursome has done that in the 12 years of this Gopher game day tradition.

Paddle ball at Minikahda prior, the Initials Game at the VFW and bowling at BLB after (duh).

Fun times, fellas.

Thanksgiving

Plenty to be thankful for with this crew. We celebrated Turkey Day this year by hosting G'Tom, Bob & Lind for bowling, pasta and BBQ before heading to Fairmont for turkey and games.