Back to School 2013

First day of school....2013.  It seems like every year at this time I freak out like just a bit.  With each passing year, they seem to pass faster than the last.  This year we have 2 in middle school!!  How can that be?  Nicholas and Cody are both at Kastner together and Brett is bringing up the rear at Nelson in 5th grade.  Nick and Brett were very excited to start school, but Cody was a bit more apprehensive, not knowing what to expect at a bigger school with more kids and 6 classes! But Cody never ceases to amaze me.  I am so proud of him, who he is and who he is becoming. 

Cody is the most determined boy that I have ever met.  When given a challenge or a competition, he will work for hours or compete to the death.  :)   He has been known to spend 8 hours in one day working to put together a model car, only to take it apart and rebuild it because it was not quite right.  He decided to run cross country again this year (he has not run since 4th grade because he played football in 5th and 6th grade) and in only his 2nd race, he took first place in the district against all of the other 7th graders! He has decided to take up tennis for real this summer and begs us to go play every day.  He is small but mighty and I know that God is going to use that determined heart to move mountains for Him!  Cody also continues to grow in his love for Jesus, acknowledging him first in any Block N acceptance speech and always mentioning Him as the most important in all of his first day of school papers.  I am so proud of my fierce yet tender hearted, sensitive warrior that God has blessed me to raise.  Although he is stubborn, he still gives the best hugs!

 

 

** I am not excluding my other boys.  I wrote some nice things about Nicholas last year as he entered middle school and Bretty will get his fair share when he does too.  :-)

Summer Recap

This summer went by in a blur.  With all three boys playing all star or travel baseball again this year, I estimate that Neil and I watched approximately 2,318 baseball games this summer.  Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but some weeks it felt like it.  Yet, we are not complaining.  We enjoy packing our beach chairs to sit in the outfield with our seeds and our diet pepsi's watching our boys do what they love. 

Brett's All-Star team actually made it all the way to the State Tournament in Bakersfield!!

Brett had a great season and it was so nice to see him get to compete again. Thank you Jesus that he has fully recooperated and you cannot even tell he was ever in an accident!!

 

 This is a picture of the boys running through the dunes in Pismo at sunset.  Brett and Cody's team had a tournament in Pismo and the boys had lots of fun after the games with their friends on the beach.

Brett got to experience Wagon Train up at Hume with some of his friends from school.

Mommy and daddy were able to find 2 days to escape for a little to celebrate our anniversary early.  18 years! Wow! I feel old!!

 And of course we capped off our summer with our annual trip to Cayucos to enjoy great friends, great food, great memories and lots of relaxation! We took a trip to visit Hearst Castle for the first time and also hiked in San Simeon. 

 This year we were so excited that our cousins were able to come and stay with us for a few days too.  We loved having time to play on the beach all together!

Cody Turns 12!

For Cody's 12th we celebrated at home with the family enjoying a great night of pizza and swimming.  For his 12th, as was the case with Nicholas, Cody got his first cell phone.  Of course, he chose a Jayhawk blue color!

Cody wanted to decorate his own cake this year

After Lincoln blew out the candles, we relit them for Cody.



All the crazy cousins....so thankful for this bunch!!

Cody after his last baseball game as a Nelson Roadrunner his 6th grade buddies

Quick Visit to Paradise

Cruisin around the island

I was very blessed this week to go along with Neil to his teams' conference tournaments. Did I mention that the tournament was in Hawaii?? It was such a nice time for the two of us to get away and have fun.  Although Neil still had to work, I had plenty of time to go for runs on the beach, shop, relax in the spa, and get lots of rest.  I have not had an opportunity like this since before Nicholas was born so I must say that I enjoyed and cherished my time there.


Climbing to Maakapuu Lighthouse

At the top of the mountain with a 280 degree view of the ocean...breathtaking

Tennis Banquet

My view while in the sauna

View from our hotel

On our 6 am walk on the beach...we were still on CA time

Spring Break 2013

This year for Spring Break, we were able to get out of town for a couple days.
Neil and I were both embarrassed to admit that although we have both lived in the valley our entire lives, neither of us had been in to Yosemite National Park to do the Yosemite thing.  And, aside from one visit to Badger Pass, our boys had also never been in to experience Yosemite.
So, we decided to take a day trip and do the Yosemite thing.  We drove up in the morning, hiked to see some of the waterfalls, had a picnic in the valley, and enjoyed some great time together.

Then, later in the week, we decided to take a spontaneous trip to the beach.  We branched out and instead of visiting the central coast, we decided to experience Manhattan Beach for the first time together as a family.  We played volleyball on the beach with friends, visited the Santa Monica pier and Third Street Promenade at night, and even played a round of golf with the boys on our hotel's golf course.

My morning run.....heaven

As the boys are growing older and the finish line is beginning to come into view of how long I get to have them at home with me.  It makes it all the more clear that we need to take advantage of every opportunity we have to spend time together making lasting memories and laughing together.

Nicholas's Baptism

Since entering middle school this year, Nicholas has had the opportunity to attend FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at Alta Sierra Middle School with Coach Paul Babcock.  To say that Nicholas enjoys attending FCA would be a gross understatement. Nicholas is always inviting his friends to attend and he demands to go each week.  In fact,  the only time he missed this year (the day we celebrated the one year anniversary of Brett's accident and the miracles God has blessed us with) he went down with a fight.
Because of Nicholas's involvement with FCA, we have seen him grow in his walk with the Lord, develop greater understanding of the Bible's truths and really learn to trust God in hard situations.  So, it really was no surprise when he came home a couple of weeks ago to inform us that he wanted to get baptized.
Although this was no surprise, it has been a prayer of mine for years and years that my children would develop an authentic faith of their own.  That they would not choose our "religion" because that is what our family does, but that they would really truly love Jesus and desire to follow him with all of their heart.
So, when Nicholas made this decision as a 13 year old, in middle school, when professing your faith is not the most "cool" thing to do, I was very proud.
My prayers will continue...that Nicholas continues to grow in his faith, that he would learn to trust and obey God no matter what, that he would know God's love, His mercy and His grace and that he would seek Him above all.
But, for today, I will take a moment to just say, "Thank you, Jesus.  Carry on."

The Happiest Place on Earth

Enjoying the happiest place on Earth...

 

Of course the boys chose to go on the Rip Roaring Rapids first thing in the morning!!  Why oh why did I even bother straightening my hair??

We even got daddy to go on the swings with us on this trip....by the end of the ride his knuckles were white from holding on so tight!

 

Every time we go to Disneyland we try to do one thing we have never done before...this trip we did three new things...

we rode the canoes for the first time....

we went on the Cars ride for the first time (despite the 2 hour wait!!)

and Nick ate a turkey leg for the first time.  (We all tried a bite and it actually wasn't half bad.)

The Hunts and Casarolis joined us on the trip and all of the kids had a great time together as always...

Check out Nick being a poser on Splash Mountain.

My favorite parts....priceless time with my three favorite boys and

the firework show and snow on Main Street. 

Christmas Highlights

Some Christmas highlights from this year....

 

This year our sweet neighbor, Miss Opal, moved into a retirement facility.  It had been quite a while since we had seen her so we surprised her with a visit and had a fabulous time.  She is the most precious 90 year old who is constantly praying for the boys, telling them they need to follow Jesus and encouraging them to learn to play the piano.  We love her.

Another family tradition....pj's, hot chocolate and Christmas Tree Lane.  This year the Lane was so packed that it took us about 2 hours and the boys fell asleep on Christmas Tree Lane under the blankies in the back of the Suburban.

The best part of Christmas....Santa's visit to Noni's house.  Everyone loves this time, except for Lukie this year.

 

 All of the great grandkids posing for a pic on the couch.

 Noni sitting on Santa's lap.

 

 I love it that my baby boy still likes to sit on Santa's lap!

 

Christmas morning at Mimi and Papa's house...all the kids got animal hats and loved them!

Fall Sports

 Wow...this fall when by like a blur and now looking back at all the pics, I can tell why.






As soon as Bretty was released for full activity, we left the hospital and he went straight to Cross Country practice.  He could not wait to compete!!  Although his first few races were tough as his legs were very weak, he was determined in every race and won the most inspirational runner this year.  (There were often people cheering for him with tears in their eyes!)
I was the proudest mommy out there!!

Cody played soccer for Nelson with his buddies again this year and had a great time on the field.   

Cody played football for Nelson and they took home the area title going undefeated all season!! Cody's favorite thing to do was take a hand off, run all the way down the field and score touchdowns or come from behind the quarterback, sneak up on him and sack him. 

 

Nicholas played on a Crossfire team with some of his buddies from Kastner.  They had a great year and Nick's game improved a lot playing mostly mid field or defender.

 

Cody ended up the year playing basketball for Nelson.  Once again they had a great year and missed the area title by losing one game!!  It was a big bummer, but great year none the less!

 Lastly, Nick tried out for the Kastner 7th grade boys soccer team....they had 40 boys trying out and onlykept 18!  It was a real accomplishment for him just to make the team.  Even though they did not win one game, they had a good time trying and fought hard on the field.