Racheal's soccer

Racheal's 1st indoor soccer season is over. They went undefeated the whole season and are planning on moving up to the next level next season and play with the high school kids so the games are more evenly matched. She is already looking forward to the next season that starts in 2 weeks. Here are a few videos and pictures of her last game.

Racheal scores! She is on the far side, gets a pass, shoots and scores!


Racheal's assist video, she gets the ball on the far side and then passes it to the middle for a score!


Racheal and Colby (he helped coach)















Racheal juggling the ball during half time.













Racheal pacing back and forth waiting for the ball.














Sarah, Haylee and Alissa on the bench watching the game.

Miley's Christmas

Miley was dressed up to play the roll of Santa, she did not appreciate it one bit. HaHaHa! You know Build a Bear clothes fit cats really well and even have a hole in the pants for their tails.
















Here she is laying on the presents Christmas morning. (glad all the Build a Bear clothes are put away)

Miley likes to jump up on the banister and hang over the edge and play with the garland. The jingle bells were her favorite.

Christmas

Our Christmas was really nice and low key. We stayed home and opened presents and played games, had a turkey dinner and watched movies. We also had plenty of snow to keep us home. I just love a white Christmas.

Ashlee's stockings

I finished Ashlee's stockings I was sewing for her, here they are...I still need to sew the tree skirt. I made one extra in case I can finally convince her to have another baby, if not they can use it for the dog.

Random Pictures

Look...Racheal and Alissa really can be friends!

















Stockings I am making for Ashlee's family, these are just the sides. I have made the inner lining and I am ready to put the top cuff, the lining and the sides together.






















Miley helping us put the tree up, we would fluff up the branches and then she would lay on them and make them flat again. Oh well!






















Racheal and Haylee

What is a dad to do?

So Alissa has this 'friend' at school who is on the football and wrestling team and the wrestling team had a wrestling night at school last night to determine who is on JV and who is on the varsity team. Anyway...so we (Colby and I) have not yet met this 'friend' so I was waiting for his name to be called during the introductions so I could see what he is all about. (Colby and I went because Alissa and Racheal wanted to go and most of Colby's YM are on the wrestling team) Well it took Colby a little while to realise that this GUY we were looking at on the wrestling mat is Alissa's 'friend'. Boys and crushes are a big topic in our house lately, but I still had pictured these scrawny little middle school boys in my mind. And umm...that is not a scrawny little middle school boy...YIKES! This is a HIGH SCHOOL GUY!!!!! So Colby realized who this GUY was and did a double take and turned to look at me with his mouth hanging open...like "ohhhh...we are in trouble" I just smiled and gave him a pat on the arm. LOL So now we are not only talking about boys and crushes, but guys and meeting up at the movies. And so it all starts...the end of Colby's peaceful night sleeps. It really was a classic moment in the life of a father of all girls. LOL

Soccer

Racheal had a really fun and fast paced game on Saturday...they played a boys team their same age. They still won 18-12 but it was close all throughout the game and it was a rough game. Racheal did great and scored several times.

Ashlee photo tagged me...

So you are suppose to put the 4th picture in the 4th folder into your post...so here it is.
This is a picture of the 3 girls on our trip to Washington for last Thanksgiving...we had stopped somewhere in the Blue Mountains for a break and took this because of the snow.

More about Twilight

I tagged along with Ashlee and some of our friends from church to go see the movie Twilight on its opening night. We had about 5 adults and 4 teenagers (Alissa and Racheal came) The movie was soooo good, I really liked it even though I hadn't read any of the books then. So after the movie I decided to read the books and I hate to admit it but I read all 4 books within 1 week. AND... I was able to host Thanksgiving dinner at my house, which includes cleaning, preparing and cooking for days on end as well as read the books. So there were many late nights reading with a flashlight in bed so I wouldn't have to keep the lights on so I wouldn't disturb Colby's sleep. So that is what I have been doing...LOL

Indoor soccer

Racheal is loving indoor soccer at the local college. How nice to be inside watching a game and not outside freezing. Anyway...their team is doing great (maybe even a little too good) They won their first game 20-1 and their second game 12-5 and their third game 16-9. She is playing goalie every other game and is really liking the fast pace of indoor soccer. Her foot work is getting better as well. Sarah had a chance to play in their second game because they were going to be short players because of Thanksgiving and she even scored 4 goals. Needless to say Sarah wants to play indoor soccer now too, so we will sign her up in January when the next session starts.

It's a miracle!

Alissa had expressed some interest in reading "Twilight" ... so what is a mom to do but pick it up during our next shopping trip. She has not finished a whole book since the 3rd grade, so when she expressed interest in this book I was hoping she would like it. So it's a week later and she has finished it! Which is not a small task seeing as it is about 600 pages. She is already reading the next one. WooHoo! I didn't want to force her to read when she was younger because then I thought she would hate it even more, so I am thrilled that she decided she was ready to read something and actually finished it!

November already?

Where does the time go? October came and went so quickly! Let me see if I can remember what we did in October.

Racheal finished up her ref job for soccer, she did not have as much fun as she did in the spring, but it was a paycheck and a great opportunity for her to learn some responsibility. She was always very professional on the field and everything ran smooth for all her games.

Racheal and Sarah's fall soccer season ended. I think our final record was 4 wins, 1 tie and 2 losses. Racheal and Sarah both scored during their last game, it is always fun to end on a good note. Sarah had a kick that went up and over the goalies head and into the far corner of the net. She is doing great playing with all the older kids. We are already looking forward to the spring season.

Racheal is also playing indoor soccer this winter at the local college. She is getting closer to high school and is very excited/nervous already about trying out for the high school team so we thought this will give her some more practice before she tries out in a year and a half. Never to early to plan ahead. LOL

Sarah played coed volleyball for her school and also wants to play basketball come January.

Alissa is still enjoying her dance classes and is doing great. I ran into one of her teachers at a craft day at our church and she couldn't say enough nice things about Alissa. I was so proud.

Halloween came and went,and as the kids get older Halloween seems to go by without much notice. The 2 older girls went with some of their friends trick or treating together and Sarah went out with Ashlee and Gerrit and their kids, so after the trunk or treat that our church had Colby and I found ourselves home all alone. So we turned off the porch lights and had a nice quiet evening. Alissa just threw on a crown and called it good, Racheal dressed up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Sarah was a bride.

Now that soccer is over Colby has gone fishing and camping every weekend, he occasionally takes 1 or 2 of the girls and they always have a good time. He just got back from a steelhead trip in Northern Idaho but he didn't get anything.

I am already working on girls camp for the 2009 summer and we decided on a theme and are getting names turned in for people to help us and I am also looking forward to the upcoming holidays. Timory and Tyler (Colby's sister and brother) are coming to join us for Thanksgiving so we are excited for that.

More soccer...

I am just so proud of my 2 little soccer players. They had so much fun last night at their game and they even won 2-1. Racheal scored in the first half and then Sarah had a big collision with a bigger girl from the other team, she got kicked on the inside of her right knee and body slammed all in one. So she was not doing well and trying to hop off the field, so they stopped the game and Racheal ran over to her (they were both playing forward) and checked on her and she tried to carry Sarah off the field. It was pretty cute, she was trying to carry her but Sarah was too big for Racheal to carry so Colby had to go help them. Anyway, Sarah sat out the rest of the 1st half and she was ready to go back in after half time. Racheal and Sarah had so many shots on goal the last 10 minutes, they were trying so hard to get one more goal that they needed to win. Eventually another of our players scored to make it a 2-1 win.

Sarah was so excited to play this game too, most of her friends from school play on the other team so I know she wanted to get right back into the game. They both did great!

Another year older for both of us

Colby and I both celebrated our birthdays this past week, woohoo, another year older. Colby was busy with his YM on his birthday but we still had a family dinner and his favorite cake, cherry chip with vanilla frosting and of course presents for him. Then on my birthday I was able to sneak away and have dinner with some friends, then went shopping with them. Then came home to spend some time with the kids before bedtime and had a little party.

Dinner out with Georgia, Ashlee, Sheryle and Coralyn

Soccer - off to a great start

We've had 2 soccer games so far and they were both great! Racheal and Sarah both scored in the first game, the score was 11-1. And of course I forgot my camera for that game. Sarah was pretty nervous playing her first game on the bigger field with older girls so we gave her a little pep talk before the game. Well, Racheal had already scored earlier in the game and then Sarah scored in the second half. It was a great goal with lots of power behind her kick and some nice air. So after Sarah's goal Racheal went over to her and put her arm around her while they were walking back to mid field to kick off again. It was so sweet to see Racheal tell her good job and then Sarah felt better and more confidant about playing on the big field. And I forgot my camera!!! But I will always treasure that memory.

Our second game was tied 2-2, I remembered my camera so here are some shots from warming up and then actually playing the game.

Colby assigning positions before the game














Racheal stealing the ball from Coach Tim














Racheal on a fast break away














Sarah waiting to see where that throw in will land














Sarah (far left) trying to sneak around the three defenders and the goalie

Dance Class

Alissa is taking a teen ballet class followed by a 'turns' class. She looks so cute in her outfit, the first time I saw her I almost teared up. She was actually changing in the car on our way from a soccer game to her dance class, so I didn't get to see her until she got out of the car to walk into the dance studio. So anyway...here is our little ballerina. I was teasing Alissa that I was going to look for an older picture of her when she was 5 and in ballet and post that as well, but I won't.

Surprise Party

Well, Racheal's birthday was Wednesday and she was begging us for a party. Being the kind parents that we are we said no, in the mean time we were planning a surprise party for her for after her soccer game on Friday. So we sent Colby and Racheal to get pizza for dinner after her game and all her friends were waiting at our house for them to come home. All the friends came a half hour early to decorate. Ashlee was kind enough to skip out on the soccer game and stay and help the friends decorate. So when Racheal came home all the family and friends yelled surprise and scared her pretty good at the front door. LOL So they had pizza, watched movies, ate popcorn, had root beer floats, jumped on the trampoline and then had cinnamon rolls, pancakes and eggs for breakfast. It was really a fun night and I know Racheal was very surprised. I wish I would have taken a picture of the family room floor the next morning. There were candy wrappers, popcorn, movies etc all over the place. Oh what a mess, but all the girls woke up and cleaned it right up even before I said anything, they were so helpful. The funniest birthday present was a pair of fuzzy footy pajamas from Ashlynn. And of course Ashlynn bought herself a pair as well so they could match.
Racheal with her friends right when she got home, we decorated everything with Hawaiian decorations.







Opening presents







Pajama twins













Dancing on the bed

Happy 13th Birthday!!!

Racheal finally celebrated her 13th birthday yesterday. She's been waiting and counting down the days until her birthday and it finally came. Horray!!!! She went to school (she asked if she could stay home for her birthday, but I said no) then we had pizza for dinner and she went to mutual and they had a swimming party. Then when she got back we had her little party and cake. Here are a few pictures from yesterday. (I still can't believe I now have 2 teenagers in the house! Yikes!)

Disneyland 2008

Racheal had so much fun at Disneyland with Grandma Jill and her Aunt Timory. They took her for her 13th birthday. Here are a few pictures from Racheal's trip.

Where do I send my letter?

I would like to officially declare that horse jumping should NOT be an Olympic event. I mean who is the athlete here, the horse or the rider??? Who gets to keep the medal??? Who does all the hard work??? And I bet the horses didn't even get invited to march in the opening ceremonies. Sooooo unfair! That is all! (alright I feel better now, what are the chances that a member of the International Olympic Committee will read my blog?)

Back to school

Yesterday was our first day back to school, I can't believe I have a 9th, 7th and 5th grader. They are all at different schools this year, so that will be challenging getting to every one's school events. The first day went great, nobody got lost (which is always a big fear at a new school) and sounds like everyone likes their teachers so far. Alissa was a little surprised to find there are more juniors and seniors in her math class than there are freshmen (only 4 freshmen), so that will take some time to get used to having much older kids in her classes. I just love having a routine back, normal bedtimes and normal school days, ahhh I love it!

Soccer also started this week, Colby is coaching with another Dad from our team from last year and I get to be team mom instead of head coach. Hurray! I have never been team mom before and I am looking forward to cheering on our team and getting to know the other moms on our team. The last several years when I was coach I hardly had a chance to talk to any parents and I couldn't match up kids to their parents, so I am looking forward to getting to know everyone on the parents side of the field this season.

Racheal and Sarah's team uniforms (we heard through the grape vine) are peach tops and purple shorts. Blahhhhh! But anyway...they were trying to think of team names and the team really wants "The sour pits" LOL, Colby asked them to keep thinking and they will re-vote next practice...I guess he doesn't want to coach a team full of sour pits. LOL We will see what else they can come up with.

Girls Camp Again

I forgot to update the blog that the stake young womens president asked me to be the stake camp director again next year. So yes, if you are counting, this will make it 5 years in a row as stake camp director. And then the year after that Sarah will be 12 so I might as well do it one more year...LOL...so I can go to camp with all 3 of my girls. I guess the only way to get out of this calling is to move, but we don't have any plans to move so I will keep serving where our Heavenly Father wants me.

Science Center

We also visited the Science Center, not a lot had changed since we were there 7 years ago. Sarah really enjoyed everything and jumped right in on all the hands on exhibits.
Here is Sarah playing with the star fish and sea anemones

The three girls in the dinosaur exhibit.

Entering the bug exhibit



















Racheal inside the butterfly house posing with a butterfly.















Racheal, Alissa and Sarah tired of me taking pictures, but smiling anyway in the butterfly house














Sarah trying out the rock wall



















The three girls just wanting icecream, but smiling anyway. And yes, we had icecream too.

Seattle Trip

When we were in Washington visiting Grandma and the family we were able to go to Seattle and play for a day. We saw the Space Needle.


















We rode on the rides at the base of the Space Needle, they only had about half as many as they did when I was younger, but enough that it kept us busy and having fun. Here is Colby and Alissa watching the Merry-Go-Round.


















Sarah and Racheal are in the 2nd row and Lacy is in the 3rd row riding the roller coaster. We could not get Colby and Alissa to ride it, so they got to take pictures of us on it.














Racheal, Sarah and Alissa in front of the Pirate Ship ride, that is their favorite ride, they went on it several times.














Sarah, Racheal and Colby on the river ride.