Grammy's Surprise 80th Birthday party

 On Wednesday, grammy's actual birthday we pulled off an awesome surprise party for her.  I had started planning about a month and a half ago.  I emailed with my siblings and their spouses to compile an invite list and decided what and how we should do it.  We decided on Market Street Grill for a served sit down dinner.  We were going all out for mom.  We kept it to about 35 close friends.  We also decided to do adults only, so no grandkids.  In some ways, I'm sad my kids missed it, but in other ways, it was nice to have an adult party.  The whole thing turned out so perfect.  Rebecca and I worked on the invitation and we got it sent out in plenty of time for people to rsvp with their order.  Nina was able to come in town for it and my cousin Kristen came in town for it which was super awesome.  Rebecca and David flew in with Pierce and Vaughn, they left Farrah with a friend for the 28 hour trip.  Rich and Ryan flew together from LA.  Susie, mom's sister was with her, and I was able to coordinate with Susie (behind my moms back) to make sure she would be home on her birthday.  I can't believe it, but mom was totally surprised.  We did it!  She was totally shocked.  I told mom that we would meet Russ and Ali at Market Street for dinner Friday night.  When I picked up Susie and my mom I told her that Shawn was just going to meet us at the restaurant.  When we got to the restaurant I told mom that Shawn had texted me and they got a table upstairs.  She didn't seem too fazed by that, but we have NEVER sat upstairs.  We walked in and the people that are closest to mom all yelled "Surprise".  We were able to chat for a bit and then we all sat down to eat either Halibut, Filet, or vegetarian, served to us from the wait staff.  The food was really yummy.   When we were part way through dinner I got up at the microphone and thanked everyone for coming. I then shared a memory of mom of when she hit a speed bump and the kids and I went flying. My brother and Rebecca and several other friends shared funny and faith promoting stories of mom.  It really was perfect.  I started to worry because on the invitation we asked everyone to bring a story or memory to share about mom-and I started to think, we will be here all night.  But luckily it kind of naturally stopped-even though everyone didn't share.  I walked away so happy and filled with so much love for everyone that was there. It truly was a special evening.  A perfect 80th birthday party for my mother!

This is a picture that Wendy sent me.  I did hire a photo/video guy and I can't wait to get what he took.  More photos to come!

Lexi is playing CLUB soccer

 Lexi's team has started the fall season as a new club "Stars FC".  Her team had a game on Friday night and Saturday morning.  Both games were tough, but both games the Stars won.  Lexi is a super tough player.  She actually got hurt (which doesn't happen ofter).  She slide into a girl to stop her from shooting (which she did stop the player) but Lexi really hurt her ankle in the process.  She sat out the rest of the game on Friday night but they were ahead 3-1.  By Saturday morning (after ice and ibuprofen) her ankle seemed better.  She is a tough little player out there.  Her team is playing other teams that are 2010 birth year (in club you have to play the birth year of your oldest player).  Lexi is 2012 birth year, so she is playing girls that are 2 years older than her.  I am really proud of her!!!

Parenting Class

 

I signed up for a 6 week parenting class every Monday from 12:30-2:00.  I love what I learned last Monday.  To boil it down - really simply put we are all victims.  Things happen in our lives where we are all victims.  What is important is to not stay in the victim cycle -blame, make excuses, self pity, rebel, or escape....Instead ask, what can I do?  I love the message!!!

Adidas Cup for Alegra's Team

 Alegra's Team played in the Adidas Cup the first week of school.  Our team lucked out because they were not scheduled for any games that conflicted with school.  Her team was unlucky because weather happen to be an issue for 2 of the 4 games.  The first game it just dumped on them.  The field was so wet and muddy but they toughed it out. They dominated the whole game but literally the other team had 2 breakaways the entire game and they scored on both breakaways, so we lost 0-2.  

The game Friday night and Saturday morning were much better weather wise and the girls showed up to play.  They ended up winning both of those games.  We had to wait for a game to be played at 2 to find out if the girls would make it to the championship game at 6.  The 2 p.m. game went the way it needed to go for our girls to be able to play in the championship game.  We showed up and you could just see the dark clouds moving in.  By the time the game started there were close to 70 mph winds and it started to drizzle.  It was crazy weather.  Right after half time, with the score 0-0, there was a huge lighting close by.  All the games in the complex were cancelled immediately and people were asked to hurry to their cars.  The outcome of this game was determined by a coin toss.  The other coach called heads and it ended up being tails so we won the championship for our age and division.  Rocky told the girls we will verse that team in a few weeks and we could wait to determine the medal at that game. I am proud of Alegra.  Her and one other teammate voted this way -she thought it was the most fair.  The rest of the girls voted to get the medals and be called the winners! Either way, they played great and had a fun tournament.  

Their teammate Laila moved to Hawaii for the year and she is #13 -they represented her at the championship game.  Super cute!

Medals handed out at the Monday practice after the tournament!

Ruki had a pool party for the girls the Friday following the tournament and after GL training.  Love that these girls have each other as friends and teammates.  

Covid Tests

 

Remembering back to our time 3 weeks ago when Shawn and the kids were getting tested a ton to see if I had passed Covid on to them. Luckily, I was the only one that got it!! Pretty amazing!

Back to School

 This kids went back to school yesterday, August 16th, 2021.  My momma heart was nervous but they all came home happy!!!

Cruz - 1st day of 9th GRADE or FRESHMAN YEAR AT BRIGHTON!!! We have a high schooler!!!!

Alegra - 1st day of 6th GRADE - ALBION MIDDLE SCHOOL - Can't believe she is in Middle School!

So glad she saw Bella as she walked in!

Lexi- 1st day of 4th Grade - Granite Elementary - Ms. Nicolich's class!

Had to get a picture of her BIG backpack.  She had lots of her supplies and supplies for the classroom!

Lexi was so excited to ride the bus this year.  Even though Covid is probably worse this year (last year I didn't have the kids ride because of Covid) she really wanted to ride the bus.  

Picking up my handsome boy after his first day of High School!

I forgot I bought this cute board in the dollar section at Target....so we took 2nd day pictures of the girls!

Tough girl~

I love having my kids home for summer and it is always an adjustment to go back.  But getting into a routine and getting a schedule is good for them. Praying and hoping for a great school year!!

Freshman Orientation

 Cruz had Freshman Orientation on Friday.  Jake's mom came and picked Cruz up!  Its crazy to think he is in High School.  I hope he has a great year!!!

Cruz is now taller than grammy!

We had 3 beautiful Bucks in our yard on Thursday night.  

Lexi and Dad drove up to Swan Valley this Friday (yesterday).  They are having a great time together and getting some wakeboarding in!!

Our California Trip in Reverse order

 

I am not sure why blogger does this but sometimes it will load my pictures correctly and sometimes it goes backwards. So, Ill tell you about our trip in reverse order.  

Saturday August 7th - we spent the morning in San Clemente eating the best donuts and walking down the main street in San Clemente.  Then we drove up to LA -on our way up we stopped for In n Out.  We first went to Rich and Katies house to say hi and see the plans for their future backyard and remodel. Their backyard is going to be amazing!!!! Then we drove down to Ryan and Naomi's new home. It was incredible. It has taken 5 years to build and it was pretty impressive. I wish I had taken more photos. The kids jumped in the pool and we hung out by the pool and ordered food in. It was a nice relaxing night.  We them jumped in the car at 8 and drove to Barstow to get a head start on our drive.  

Saturday Lexi and Shawn took a spin in their Porche

Friday August 6th - Friday morning I met my friend Lindsey to walk the beach. It was so fun catching up with her. I love it because it always feels like no time has passed when I am with her and she is just easy to talk to and I can totally be myself.  I hope she feels the same way about me.  We went and grabbed Bagel Shack afterwards - the yummiest bagels ever!!! It was still overcast in the morning so Shawn and I took the kids to the outlet mall that was in San Clemente.  Ryan and Naomi were both busy with stuff. At about 2 the cloud cover burned off and we took the golf cart to the beach.  We had so much fun just relaxing on the beach. Ryan and Naomi joined us at about 3:30 and we all hung out.  We decided to pack up and go get some yummy Mexican food for dinner since that was one of Cruz's requests while we were in California.  We love San Clemente!

Thursday August 5th - We had a lazy morning because we were all super worked from our Disney Day.  Naomi and I were able to go for a walk on the beach and then grabbed some grocerys and donuts ifor the kids.   That afternoon we went to the beach.  We met our friends the Claytons for some good beach time!  It was so fun seeing the Claytons and getting to catch up! We stayed at the beach till after 7:30 -those are my favorite nights, just chilling at the beach.  Shawn took the train to the San Clemente stop from Irvine and then walked down to met us at the beach and got a ride home on the golf cart.  That night Naomi whipped up a bunch of meat and veggies, it was so yummy!  

Wednesday August 4th - DISNEY DAY!  -Seriously the best day ever!!!!  We were able to have a guide thanks to Ryan and Naomi. That was the coolest thing ever. Even though Disney was crowded we barely had to wait.  The longest we had to wait was about 30 minutes on the new ride in the new Star Wars area.  We basically did all the big rides once, which was amazing.  This picture below is trying to get our 2nd ride in at Big Thunder, right before the park closed at 10 pm.  We were also able to eat a fairly quick dinner in the famed Club 33, which was a highlight, especially since Brooke Lopez (the Milwaukee Bucks Center) was there, and we had just watched him play a ton because the Bucks had just won the NBA finals 2 weeks before.  The whole day was pretty special and it was fun having Katie, Ezra, and Clara there too.  The kids all got along really well!!! Such an incredible treat!

Lexi and Cruz put their money together and bought this droid.  It is pretty cool!

Moms gone wild!!! :)

Tuesday August 3rd - We woke up pretty early in St. George and hit the road.  I had forgotten that we gained an hour so we were on the road by 7:30a.m. California time.  We made pretty good time, with a lunch stop in Barstow to try Cane's Chicken.  We pulled into San Clemente at about 2 with time to go to the beach.  I LOVE THE BEACH!!!!  

Canes Chicken

We left on Monday August 2nd after I took the kids to get covid tested.  We drove to St. George. The plan was if I got the results and the kids were positive for Covid we were just turning around and going back home on Tuesday.  But our results came in after we pulled into St. George at about 7 p.m and the kids were all negative. I was still double masking the entire time just because I was on day 10.  Supposedly at day 11 you can go out.  The kids swam at the hotel pool for a bit and then we grabbed Chick Fil A dinner and brought it back to our room and ate dinner and watched the Olympics.  We went to bed pretty early because we were all excited to get up and keep driving to California.  I was so excited to see all of their tests negative.  I had a pit in my stomach when I was opening their results. This trip ended up being so amazing and just what we all needed.  We loved our time in California at the beach, with family, eating good food!