Puppy time!

We have a new member of the family--Brody. We surprised the girls Christmas morning. It wasn't easy keeping it a secret, but we pulled it off. It was a blast seeing the girls' when he came running out. They have been wanting a dog ever since Jake passed away. As you can see he is a golden retriever and everyone melts when they see him. I forgot how much fun it is training a puppy (ha ha!). Tracey and I are up again late at night, letting him out, etc. The girls are in heaven and Brody is not lacking for being held and cuddled.

 

 

 

 

Testing New Blogging Tool

I downloaded this program, now let’s see what it can do.

View Full Album

     

I just pulled some random pictures when Tracey and the girls went to Bishop’s Pumpkin farm. I was working and wasn’t able to go with them. This looks pretty basic so far. I’ll add some single pictures now.

So you can tilt the pictures, which is kind of cool.

Kick or Treat Champions

This past weekend Claire's team won the championship in the Kick or Treat Soccer Tournament in Fremont!

They played three games up until the championship game. They won all three and went on to win the championship game. Claire scored a goal in the second and third game. The third game was their toughest overall and could easily have been considered the championship game. It was 0-0 through the first half and most of the second. The girls were fighting hard on each side. With about 10 minutes left, Claire stole the ball and got a breakaway on the right side about mid field. She drove up the right side and took a shot straight into the back of the net over the goalie. The crowd erupted. It was an incredible moment and clearly was the highlight of the tournament. After the game her entire team surrounded her and hugged her.

This was after the third game. Claire carried the team flag across the field. They won the championship game 2-0.

Here they are waiting to get their championship medals.

Some Halloween hair!

Claire carrying the team flag

Tracey - Nike Women's Marathon 2009

Soccer 2009

Soccer season officially started two weeks ago, so I thought I would post the girls' pictures. Claire's official pictures haven't come in yet, but I took some during one of their tournament games. They are all having fun and we are having fun watching them play. Lilian scored her first goal of the season on Saturday! It's fun to see the different levels of the game from Sophie's young team to Claire's Select team with Lilian right in the middle.

Feather Falls Hike

Tracey, Claire, Lilian and I hiked to Feather Falls up in Oroville on Saturday. The weather was great and it was a nice hike. Tracey's brother, Steven invited us to go with their family and some of their friends. The hike round trip is nine miles. The elevation is 2500 ft. and the falls are 410 ft. high.

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Independence Day

America - Land of the free. Home of the brave.

Here are a few pics from the 4th of July festivities

This is past due, but Claire won the egg drop at her school this year. She had to build a container to hold a raw egg and then test it out. They do the drop the first day and then determine the finalists. She made it through the first day and wound up taking the grand prize. On the finals day, they drop the egg from a fire engine ladder. The key = floral foam. She was pretty excited. Her teacher was really excited as she had never had anyone from her class win. Grand prize was $20.

Santa Cruz Beach Soccer Championship

There aren't many places like the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. If my memory serves me, Dad and Mom went there on their honeymoon. We were within walking distance, which was great and added some mileage to our weekly log. It was a blast watching Claire and Lilian play. Playing in the sand is a completely different game. They both played incredibly. Lilian joined up with the Strikers. One of Claire's teammates sister plays on the team. They made it to the championship game and finished second overall in their division!! Claire's team finished 4th overall in their division and Claire scored the only goal in a 3-1 loss in the semi-finals. They played some tough teams. Sophie did not have any trouble finding ways to have fun. Look for her on the Tilt-a-whirl ride in the pictures. She isn't hard to miss since she is half the size of the rest of the people. It was a great weekend. Tracey and I have the sunburns to prove it!

Claire's Picture Collage

Some pics of Claire with music. This is all Claire's handywork...

Lilian's Picture Collage

Some recent pics of Lilian with music...

Sophie's Preschool Graduation

Yay! Sophie graduated from preschool. I can't believe my youngest will be in Kindergarten in a matter of months. Tracey and I are very sad, but Sophie is definitely excited.

Picture Test

Marley and my girls

Last night we had a large lightning and thunder storm. We haven't had one like that in years. I learned that my girls were frightened most by the thunder shaking the ground/house. Claire said she plugged her ears because she still wanted to see the lightning out her window. So we watched Marley and Me and the dog was scared by lightning storms, so thus the title of this blog.

Never underestimate the power of the brown bag...