Cougar Volleyball

Hayley plays JV volleyball on her school team, and we're at the end of the season. The team started off a little shaky, but they worked hard, pulled together and made it to the playoffs! Yesterday was the first playoff game against Linfield Christian, and we WON!!! It was an awesome, nail-biting game. Seriously, my heart can barely handle it. Our next game is on Wednesday. Can't wait!

I have to take a moment to brag about how awesome our girls are. The Cougars have always been sort of the underdogs. They're playing against schools that have state of the art gyms, and year-round practice. We don't have a home gym, so our girls have had to practice in 90 degree weather on blacktop, and even had to cancel a few practices because of the heat. They practice seasonally, not all year long.  But there is something our girls have that I've noticed most other teams lacking, and that is awesome team spirit! Good volleys, bad volleys, great serves, not so great serves - every play, good or bad, the girls would high five, cheer and encourage each other. They didn't make each other feel bad for missing a serve or not getting the ball over the net. They had the best sportsmanship out of all the teams out there, and it made all us parents proud.

They also have two fantastic coaches, Ed and Lyn, whose dedication and words of encouragement helped take these girls from the underdogs, to the team to beat! I'm so proud of the team, and proud of Hayley. I took some shots of the game but the lighting was too low for any quality pics. Here are a few shots of my girl! 

Austin Turns 6!

I can't believe our baby boy is six years old! Austin is growing up so fast, and growing out of things faster than we can keep up. He is so fun to be around and have a conversation with. He is our family clown and keeps us laughing with his funny perspective of the world around him!

Austin has been counting down toward his birthday for two weeks, and today was finally the day! He was very excited about his birthday, so much so that he reminded me of it over and over, starting at 6:30 this morning. We had a special day planned, starting with a trip to every child's mecca, Toys R Us.


Austin took his time in carefully picking out two toys on his wish list, and then we went home to hang out for a while until dad got off of work. When we got home, there was a package waiting for him on the doorstep from Pop & Grandma Lorraine. He was SO excited to have mail with his name on it! He opened it and was happy to find two books on BUGS! There was also a package from Grandma Myrtle. She sent each of the kids an electronic money bank that they were in awe of when we visited her this past summer. Of course, now they want money to fill them up with, and immediately came to me for their first deposits!

Later in the afternoon, we were off to his favorite place in the world to eat, Souplantation. He was happy to get a special birthday treat of a bag of chocolate chip cookies. Chris and I were a little disappointed to learn that now he's six, he bumps up to the next pricing level on the menu. Darn!

After filling up on salad, pasta and blueberry muffins, we headed over to Build-a-Bear, where Austin outfitted his favorite turtle, Optimus Prime, with new warm winter clothes. He also scored a new box to keep him in, which he was really stoked about.



After Build-a-Bear, we headed over to Nana and Papa's for some yummy birthday cake. Austin was tired after the long and busy day (and so were were we!) so he spent the night at Nana and Papa's. Tomorrow, they are taking him for his second round of birthday shopping! All in all, he had a great day, but he was a little disappointed that there would be no birthday tomorrow. Let the new countdown begin!

Adventures in Ocotillo Wells

This past weekend, the Vista FD families got together for a little campin' in the dirt. A big circle of trailers, ATV's, a roaring bonfire and some great food were enjoyed by all! Hayley graduated from her 90 quad to the 400, and the boys took turns on the 90, each doing really well (naturally, Matt was the bravest daredevil). Of course, now they each want their own for their birthdays. Not gonna happen, though it was fun to hear all the things they promised if we gave in!

Wherever we go, if there is a bbq grill, Chris will somehow find himself behind it. This trip was no different. Despite the fact that there were at least a dozen other guys hanging around, it took no time at all before there he was, bbq tongs, headlamp and obligatory beer in hand, grilling the sausages and peppers! The highlight (or should I say lowlight) of the trip was that some gusty winds rolled in early Sunday morning, and by dawn we were in the middle of a gnarly wind/dirt storm. The wind was so strong and the dirt blown around was so thick that it literally hurt to go outside. We managed to eat a nice breakfast (thanks to Chris) and then headed outside to quickly load up and get out of there. It was probably the quickest we have ever packed up the trailer! When we got home, it took several hours to get all the dirt and sand out of the trailer, the quads, the gear, and our hair. The pelting rocks ruined a side view mirror on the truck we borrowed from our neighbor, so we have to replace that. Needless to say, it was a LOT of work for ONE day of fun in the desert. I told Chris that in the future, we should just stick to Glamis. At least the sand doesn't hurt and it isn't as messy!