Marathon for the Cure.

As many of you may already know, the past few months I have been training to run my first marathon. I (along with Shaun and Meagan) will set out to complete the 26.2 mile run on December 5th at the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in Las Vegas! In collaboration with my marathon, I have decided to also raise money for breast cancer research through Susan G. Komen's Marathon for a Cure in honor of Mom's 12-year battle with the disease. Help me reach my goal of $1000! For more details check out my fundraising page at: Lauren Wied's Race to Raise!. Thank you for your support!


Love,
Lauren

Save the Date!

Howdy Ags! For all of you who have been anxiously awaiting a date for Parent's of the Year Weekend, we finally have it for you! Parent's of the Year Weekend will be held the weekend of November 5th and 6th, the same weekend that the Ags BTHO Oklahoma! We haven't been given many details yet, but we do know this is the weekend that Dad will be speaking at Midnight Yell and also when he will be introduced at the football game on Saturday. Hope to see many of you there. If we receive any more details, we will be sure and update all of you!

Love,

The Wieds

Sweet Summertime

After a three month hiatus, we are back! Wow, talk about a crazy and hectic summer! Time sure flies when you’re having fun and this couldn’t be truer in describing the many adventures we’ve had since our last update. So much so that I don’t even know where to start.

One of the biggest events that ended the school year for Ryan -- not to mention an era that spanned eight wonderful years for all of us -- was Final Review. It was back in the Fall of 2002 when Shaun and Michael embarked on their first semester as fish in the Corps that truly started this all. Who knew it would lead to so many wonderful experiences like football game march-ins, Parent's Weekend, parades and friendships that will never be forgotten. All these great times were culminated into one last Hoorah with Ryan’s last Final Review. It was a bittersweet event for us all; the Corps was the main focal point around most weekends spent in Aggieland. It will be a new adventure as we come into this next year without a Wied in the Corps of Cadets. All in all, this is a good thing; it means we’ve all actually moved forward and it looks like Ryan will actually graduate in a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately A&M won’t let you stick around forever and we all know Dad’s wallet is getting pretty thin!





No sooner was Ryan done with Final Review and he was off to El Campo for his summer internship. He officially had his first job working for the local Farmers Co-op scouting crops, working in the sales department as well as any other tasks that needed to be done. It was a great learning experience for him and has the potential to lead to a job upon graduation.

On to the next great adventure…
Right at the start of the summer, Michael switched jobs and headed north to Amarillo. He’s currently working for Texas Farm Bureau as a Field Rep covering 11 counties in the panhandle. He basically spends all day driving around meeting with County boards and with anybody associated with agriculture. Not one week later, Shaun moved to Houston to work for Chase Bank after spending 3 ½ years in S. Texas. Talk about a crazy week trying to get Michael and Shaun moved in two completely separate directions, but after 2 months now they’ve settled in well and both are happy with their moves.

Even with all the commotion going on over the summer there was still plenty of time to make it to the lake. We’ve been all over the place from Del Rio, to Austin, to New Braunfels along with Dallas. Although we might not be the world’s best water sports family, we sure have fun trying. The boat has been the best tool to bring us all together for a weekend.






As summer comes to an end, there was one other occasion to celebrate. Keri and Josh welcomed a new addition to their family with Selma Elizabeth Wagner on July 29th. Dad took advantage on this slower time of year between planting and harvesting to take a week-long trip to Peoria, IL to visit Josh, Keri, Evan and Selma. There’s no doubt he probably taught Evan a few new tricks to the dismay of Keri when he wasn’t spending time with his new granddaughter.




As you can see it’s been a very busy summer for the entire family, but you all know us well enough by now that we aren’t much for sitting around. I’m sure there will be more exciting news in the months to come. And Aggie football is right around the corner!

Until next time, Gig ’Em!
The Wieds

Remember the Alamo!

We have had quite a hectic last couple of weeks. Most notably, we all ventured to San Antonio for the Battle of the Flowers parade that Ryan and the Cav were in. It was a quick trip, but enjoyable nonetheless. We made it to San Antonio just in time for hamburgers with the Cav and the Cav parents on Thursday night. We hung around at the fairgrounds (the Cav's five-star accommodations for the night ) for a while visiting with everyone. It was good to catch up with everyone! The next morning was the actual parade. A few pictures are included below, although unfortunately we were unable to get a photo of Ryan in front of the Alamo. Dad's cousin, Ted, was also in the parade close behind the Cav. Nothing like holding up the parade to get in a quick hello!





As soon as the parade was over, we booked it back to Shaun's in Poth to load up the dogs, headed to Michael's in Luling to pick up Meagan, and then finally on to Marble Falls to spend the remainder of the weekend with the Askew family. Dad and his college buddy, Doug, also packed up after the parade and headed to Lake Hubbard for a weekend of fishing. Needless to say, between the five of us, we traveled across Texas. The weekend was fast and furious but really enjoyable!

While we were in San Antonio, Dad also told us about his Muster experience this year. The Lubbock Aggies Muster was held at Cagle's and their speaker this year was Lt. Col. Jay Brewer ’81, the voice of the Aggie Band. He had announced Dad's name in Kyle Field at Parent's Weekend and wanted to meet him. It's safe to say that Dad has become something of a celebrity these days. In their conversation, Dad told him how impressed he was with the Aggie Band, never seeing a halftime performance he didn’t like. All flattery aside, these comments were quickly followed with "I'm just glad my son made it down there so yall [the Band] would know when to start." We're sure the LTC was none too pleased with this remark.

The President of the Lubbock Aggies emailed us a copy of the photo. "We were honored to have you father at Muster with us and very moved when he lit a candle and answered, “Here” for his wife."



Being the red-ass Aggie family that we are, it should come as no surprise that we will be heading to College Station this weekend for yet another Aggie gathering: Final Review. Can you believe it?! No, we can't either. Although I'm sure the shock will really set in football season, when there will no longer be a Wied running around the Quad -- hands in the air screaming like a fish, skidding down the ramp in their senior boots, or otherwise. Looks like we'll just have to spend a little more time at the office (in Dad's own words), the Dixie Chicken.

We hope that this update finds each of you well. Drop us a comment (the link can be found below this post) and let us know what is going on with each of your families. We would love to hear from you!

Gig ’em & God Bless,
The Wieds

A new chapter.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Howdy friends and family and welcome to our blog! Our hope is that this blog will be a way to keep each of you updated on all of the exciting things we have ahead. So without further ado...

As most of you now know, Mom and Dad were recently selected as the 2010-2011 Texas A&M Parent's of the Year. The announcement was made on Sunday at the All-University Awards Ceremony. Needless to say, Dad was completely shocked. He was of the understanding that we were attending the ceremony because Ryan was receiving an award for his leadership in Parson's Mounted Cavalry (to which he now says, "that should have been my first clue").

We are so excited that our application was selected. While the recognition is bittersweet, we can't think of a better way to honor Mom's memory. What a testament to the woman (and Aggie Mom) she was.

Texas A&M put out a news release this morning. For the full story, follow this link: http://tamunews.tamu.edu/2010/04/19/wilson-couple-chosen-%E2%80%9Caggie-parents-of-the-year%E2%80%9D/


With the 2009-2010 Parent's of the Year, Johnny and LeeAnn Walker.


Our extended family. So glad you were able to share this with us.

To say we had a very eventful weekend would be quite the understatement. We kicked off the weekend at The Association of Former Students, where Ryan and Natalie received their Aggie Rings! The last Wied (for now anyway) to get the bling! The rest of the weekend was filled with various Corps events, the Maroon and White game, and of course a few visits to the Dixie Chicken or as Dad refers to it, the office.





That is just a glimpse of our whirlwind of a weekend. Before we end this post, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your continued support and prayers during this difficult time. Words can never express how truly grateful we are to have you in our lives.

Love,
The Wieds