November 2021

Brinley's softball team had their final Halloween themed tournament cancelled due to weather. They never got to wear their Halloween costumes. So, instead they had a party to celebrate their season. 

We even played a kids verses parent game. Coach Trey even came up with the idea of having all the girls take batting practice with fruits and vegetables. Every girl got to take their pick of produce. I filmed all the girls hitting their food in slow motion. Briley hit a lime. You can see in the picture on the left what it looked like upon impact.

Olivia came down for a visit and was excited to pick up the kids from school and play out on the trampoline.

 The girls got their first win ever in the tournament and came up just short of winning the whole thing in the championship game.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Andrea and Olivia all came to see Brinley play in her final fall softball tournament. 

Landon's core group of soccer buddies got together for another season of indoor soccer. The scorpions were a force once again. Landon loves playing defense, but not necessarily goalie. He has gotten better every season and has really developed into a good player. Excited to see him develop his skills and game even more. 

With Brinley's softball season over a couple of the girls decided to get together and run once a week for fun and to get some team building exercise in. Landon ran with the girls too and a couple of them had a goal to try and beat him. Unfortunately for them, Landon never plans on losing anything. I was so proud of Brinley for pushing herself to get better in the off season.

Although not the reason we wanted to be making a trip back home but it was so nice to see all of my cousins and their kids. My Aunt Mary Ruth had been such a blessing in my life and always a joy to be around. She will be extremely missed, but I am glad she is no longer in pain here and instead rejoicing in heaven.

Not the circumstances we wanted to get everyone back together, but I really enjoyed getting to see all of my cousins. This group of people were a huge part of my childhood. I am so grateful to have lived close to them and be a part of their lives.

Landon had another great game at indoor soccer (futsol). The team was finally given their medals for last season since the final game got cancelled due to weather. I am very proud of the team player he is becoming. He is a heck of a defender.

The kids school cross country team had a celebration at Urban Ninja. They had a blast running around and playing with their friends. I am so glad that we signed the kids up for this group. It was a lot of fun running with them and hope to get the team back together again next season. 

The kids finally got their first COVID vaccine! To celebrate the kids wanted a treat from Dairy Queen. They were so excited to being one step closer to getting rid of the mask. 

I was very thankful to be able to get my third COVID vaccine dose. I again had no side effects. Glad that I could do my part to help us get through this horrible pandemic.

Jennifer and I had a day off together so we headed to one of our favorite spots, the Red River Gorge. We had other things to do for the day so we just hiked up to Natural Bridge. I always seem to be a week behind on trying to see the all the leaves with all the different colors. I will try again next year. 

I am so happy to call this beautiful lady my wife. 

We for sure had to get some pizza at Miguel's before heading back home to Lexington. I have persuaded this beautiful lady into liking my own pizza concoction of BBQ sauce, bacon, chorizo, and sweet potato pizza. It is delicious!

I was also very happy to be able to donate blood. This donation was a part of Big Blue Crush where we have a competition against Tennessee as to who can have more blood donations. I am always happy to try and beat the Vols at anything. More importantly I want to try and help people any way I can. 

Brinley said she was interested in playing the violin at school. So, we headed downtown to pick one out. We just rented one because apparently violins can get pretty costly. We will see if this is something that she likes to do. 

Brinley and I had a nice father daughter date night to watch the Wildcats play. Brinley doesn't enjoy the game as much as I do, but she enjoys some time with her old man so I will continue to take her with me. 

We began our date night with some Goodfellas and ended it with ice cream on the way home from RUPP.

Jennifer and the kids came to see the Wildcats play football in their final home game of the season. It was a complete beat down of New Mexico State. The kids got so many treats to eat throughout the game. I have no idea how they ate that much food!

While we were at the game I saw that I also had some friends in Kroger Field. We went to find them because we hadn't seen them since the pandemic started. It was so good to catch up and see their entire family. They sure have grown up.

I took the kids through the training facility and showed them the trophy that they helped cheer the CATS to victory at the Belk Bowl almost 2 years ago. 

The whole golf cart crew together for the last home game. These are some awesome guys and it has been fun working with them the past two years. We also ran into Lynn Bowden as he was leaving and I had to tell him thanks for winning me this bowl ring from 2 years ago. I also got to see Luke Fortner, an offensive lineman, who is just an awesome guy. Before COVID he came to the hospital every Tuesday to see patients. I just wanted to tell him thanks too for all that he did for my patients. 

The kids were given off the entire week of Thanksgiving so we decided to head down to Nashville to visit with Uncle McKinley and Taylor. McKinley took us out to a local hiking spot and the kids had a lot of fun hiking off the trails around the little pond. 

Jennifer decided to walk to the car while McKinley and I took the kids on the long way around the pond. She spotted some friends on the way back. She got a pretty awesome picture of the deer.

Landon thinks of Uncle McKinley's house as a big playground. Just look at that wall of board games. Landon is always excited to play some new games when we get together. 

Uncle McKinley also took us out to a milkshake bar. The girls got a s'mores, Landon and I shared a strawberry candy, and McKinley got a salted caramel chocolate one. They were good, but they were overpriced for the actual shake. You were paying for the flair and decoration.

We stopped by to show the kids the Parthenon replica that is in downtown Nashville. We had some time to just play so we threw football out on the lawn. They we headed back to Uncle McKinley's house. I decided to help clean up the front yard leaves. Then I realized that the kids had never in their life jumped in a pile of leaves. We have small trees in our neighborhood and only one in our yard. So not a lot of leaves to make a pile with at home. The kids loved it!

More pictures of us playing at the Parthenon. Jennifer said it was too cold and she sat in the car and watched us. We also saw this painted wall that said "It's gonna be O.K.".

Brinley spent a majority of the time at Uncle McKinley's trying to get Lexi to play with her. Lexi is McKinley and Taylor's cat and she might be terrified of Brinley. 

Taylor had already put out all of there Christmas decorations including there elf. Taylor didn't apparently remember the rules of the elves and had touched Elfie. Elfie had to leave a note to make sure that nobody did it again.

McKinley and Taylor weren't going to be able to come to Lexington so we celebrated Thanksgiving a little early. Grandma and Grandpa came down for the party too. We played games and then went totally off the wall with the food. Everyone got to pick something they loved and that's what we had. Panda Express, Giordano's pizza, and an Outback bloomin' onion all made the Thanksgiving menu. 

Whenever we get together it is a given that we are going to play some games. This time was no different. McKinley introduced us to a few new ones and we also played some of our favorites too. 

On the way home from Nashville we stopped by Aunt Sarah and Uncle Nick's house to see the kid's newest cousins, Millie and Myles. Brinley was super excited to see the babies. Landon was just happy to play video games with Elam. 

We started out Thanksgiving with our Grassroots friends. We played in the Turkey Bowl. I might be getting too old because I came away with a couple new injuries. Then we had to get home to start cooking our Thanksgiving meal. Brinley decided to help out in the kitchen this year. 

Maitland-Heflin Thanksgiving. We were glad to have everyone at our house for the holiday. Only people missing were McKinley and Taylor. 

What a difference in Thanksgiving plates. The left is our meal in Nashville with all of our favorites. The right was a huge milestone for me. After 36 Thanksgivings I finally tried ham for the first time. It was actually pretty good. I can't believe that I have missed out on 36 years of it. 

McKinley's roommate JK gave us this Superman puzzle so we went ahead and put it together. It was only 500 pieces so it wasn't too bad. It is actually double sided and the opposite side is just a huge Superman logo.

Landon has become my new sports watching buddy. He knows all the players on the team and he has become a huge fan of Oscar Tshiebwe. He even brought some of his leftover Halloween candy to munch on during the game. He also always wants some Goodfellas if he is going downtown.

Jennifer's older sister Julie and her son Micah came to a UK game too! It was good to catch up and see them for a while. Micah even got to get Coach Cal to sign his basketball. 

After the final home football game the guys I work for in recruiting asked if I wanted tickets to the Louisville game. Of course I did. Jennifer had to work so I only asked for 3 tickets for myself and the kids. It was honestly one of my most favorite sporting events that I have ever been too. Both kids were into the game, until it became a blow out in the second quarter. 

Everything about the night went as well as it could go. From the parking to the security guards it was all great. We couldn't find parking and I had never been to the stadium before. I followed some other cars and they pulled into a lot so I just parked. Turns out it was a lot for staff. I just told the kids to keep walking. I thought there was a slight chance we might be towed, but it was a risk I was willing to take. Next the kids brought in more Halloween candy and small Gatorade. The security guard who looked through our bag asked and I told him the truth. He looked at me and the kids and said have a great night. 

L's down all day everyday! I was literally on cloud 9 with my two kids being into the game. It made me so happy seeing them have fun and cheer on the CATS!

The Heflin kids taking some naps. Brinley fell asleep on the way to the game and Landon fell asleep on the way home. 

Jennifer and I got to go out on a date night to see the CATS play. Still not Jennifer's idea of a great night out, but she enjoys spending time with me. 

November was filled with lots of memories and a lot of sporting events, which really benefits someone like me who loves all athletic games. We also got to spend time with lots of family and friends, which is something that I am very thankful for. Thanks for reading and God bless!