What a Huge Honor

As many of you know my dad is being inducted into the MO Coaches Hall of Fame this December. It's a big deal! Last night at Homecoming they surprised him and named the Seneca football field, "Tom Hodge Field"!!!! I could tell it meant a lot to dad. The crowd was cheering and I think all of the coaches' allergies were getting to them. They all seemed a bit emotional.

Since it was a surprise we didn't tell Dad we were coming. Cole saw Pops for the first time while he was on the field and he ran out to him. They presented Dad with a nice plaque then they told him to look down by the scoreboard and they cheerleaders held up the banner that said "Tom Hodge Field". They are planning to put up a permanent sign soon.

Charity told Bud, "Sorry you didn't win the trophy". We all met at Mom's before the game. Cole did not want to put on the jersey. I made him anyway and he eventually got over it. He hates crowds of people he doesn't know so the game was pretty much a nightmare for him. He liked it better once we got back to Nana's after the game.
Grandpa Boots (who is 89), Aunt Sue, Aunt Patty, Uncle Charlie, Mom, Charity, Bud, Bomber, Hayden, Brewer, Brad, Zoe, Cole, and I all walked over to the game together. Blake was with Dad at the game and my cousin Felicia stayed with Hadley at Mom's. Michelle is in New York. We were bummed she wasn't with us. She would have LOVED it!
Zoe was excited to see all of her friends at the game. Mallorie was adorable. She ran and jumped on Zoe and wrapped her skinny little legs around Zoe's waist and gave her a huge hug. It was so good to see everyone. I forgot how much I missed knowing everyone when you go somewhere.
Zoe spent the majority of the game walking around looking for Mia. She wanted to call her ahead of time to see if she would be there, but we didn't want to ruin Dad's surprise. We didn't get to see Mia, but we'll make sure we do next time!Don't be nervous, Michelle! The Hodge kids buddied up with the police officers. They were giving away suckers and stickers.We LOVED seeing Steph, Matt, and Taya. I hated that we didn't get to visit with them though.We were all really proud of Dad. He is an amazing man and deserves this honor. Thank you to all the people who put this together. It was a fun night!!