11.28.2014: Cali Departures

On Friday morning, Scott came & picked up Brent to head out to the desert to start their ride.  Vince, Drake and I headed to Huntington Beach for the day & night.  Olivia, Alisa, and the kids went to visit their Grandma Katie in San Clemente.  Fri evening, the Riverside crew headed out to Barstow to meet Brent & Scott for dinner, then they moved on to Vegas.  Brent & Scott and crew stayed in Barstow for the night, then continued their ride to Vegas in the morning.  About half way thru the day on Friday, Brent had a pretty bad fall on his bike that really messed up his knee.  He finished out the ride though, taking it a little more easy than planned.  Pretty sore & swollen though from what everyone said. (Come to find out later that basically every ligament is torn and there are a few fractures throughout his leg bones.  Pretty nasty!!  I'm impressed and surprised he was able to finish out!!)

 



Here is a pic of the post race:

11.27.2014: We Are Thankful

On Thanksgiving, we spent the day at home relaxing and cooking and hanging out with the family.  The morning was pretty uneventful....getting all the food ready and setting up the table.  The kids played and enjoyed themselves outside in the Cali sun.  They had a job today though - they had to make the place settings for the dinner table.  So, they decorated and wrote everyone's names on them.  Nana helped with the cooking.  The boys played outside, and Avery entertained everyone. 

 

When Christina, Lex and Justice got here, they had a big announcement for us.  They are PREGNANT! Sooo exciting!  Justice even had a cute shirt announcing the turkey in the oven!  They actually told us by putting a picture of the ultrasound in Vince's birthday card.  Took a while for it to sink in! Haha!

 

After the big announcement, we had a little cornhole tournament in the backyard.  Always a fun little game at our house! After cornhole we took it inside to watch some football, eat lots of appetizers and drink!  The kids got busy preparing their dinnertime prayer for the group.  It was cute, and they put a lot of effort into it.  After dinner we moved back to the living room to let our bellys expand and watch more football, and drink more.  Wine turned into scotch and that is how we ended the evening.  We thought about playing some games, but we were too exhausted!  Some of us stayed up late laughing, and gossiping and chit-chatting as we usually do....the others turned in early, as it had been a long day!



 

Avery drew a picture of Lex on his card...she was very proud of it!  Can you see the resemblance?

Cornhole watchers

Drake getting some weighted (Nana) leg-lifts in before dinner

Kids bench

Dining room looks small when it is full of people and food!

Happy Thanksgiving All!!

11.26.2014: Road Trip to Cali

Road Trip!!!   I love road trips.... (most of the time!)

Brent, Alisa and crew came to our house so we could drive the 4-runner out to Cali for the weekend for them.  They were in the Tahoe with Brent's bike in tow (or hitch...whatever you call it). There was not enough room in one car for all of them, and Yukon....and Yukon could not head to Vegas with them for the rest of the weekend anyways.  So, we were going to be Yukon chauffeuring & pup-sitting for them while they hit Vegas. 

 

So the plan was to head to Riverside and spend Thanksgiving at Mom & Dad's.  At like 2am, Brent was being picked up by Scott to head to the desert to start their big 400 mile ride Vegas race.  Sounds so fun...and I'm so jealous! Although it is a beater...and tough!!!  (Brent has been training for weeks for it...and Scott, well, Scott is always training!!)   Later in the day on Fri, Mom, Dad, Alisa, Olivia, and the kids were going to head to Barstow to have dinner with Brent, Scott & crew....at one of the FINE dining establishments there :)  That was their halfway point.  After that, they were headed to Vegas to wait for the guys to show up on their bikes Sat afternoon.  Then, they all spend the night...then everyone heads home on Sun.  That was the plan.  The rest of the plan was that Vince, Drake and I were going to stay in CA & go visit Christina & Lex on Friday...spend the night there, then head back to Riverside, pick up Yukon Sat morning...then head back to AZ Sat afternoon.  We had one of our contracts ending on Sunday in Sedona so needed to be here to go close it out....so we missed out on all the Vegas fun :( 

 

So, plan was set....on the road we go!!!  This was my view for the next 5 hours. I memorized every piece of Brent's bike...and watched the gas swash around in the tank.  It was a lovely, consistent view.  Also, we got to listen to a variety of music from Brent's USB....since I couldn't figure out how to connect my phone Pandora to his fancy stereo.  I loved the new (old) tunes he had on there though...Vince, not so much ;)

 

We had the boys with us in the 4-runner (besides Brent)...the girls were in the Tahoe (besides me).  It was a nice drive...love the caravan thing...although stopping for gas/bathrooms becomes an event because everyone wants to get out and hang out!  As if we haven't seen each other in days haha!

 

My view for 5 hours

Half of the boys...

This is what was going on in the Tahoe.

11.22.2014: Its Always Football Saturday in Mesa

What is a Saturday these days without a football game?  Another gorgeous weekend in AZ...another weekend starting out with some fun with the kids.

 



 

Who can resist this face?!

And this one!  Gorgeous Nana

And the game...

11.14.2014: Cambridge International Night

Headed out to Mesa tonight for the kids International Night at school.  Each classroom is transformed into another "country".  This year, Andrew's class was Italy, and Brianna's was Mexico.  The kids decorate the class with appropriate décor, and bring in foods from the country for the guests to sample.  It is actually very cool and a lot of fun.  Also, each class performs a song from their assigned country and Brianna's dance group also performed their Rio routine.  The stage was SUPER small compared to what the girls are used to practicing (and performing) on.  They had to make quite a few adjustments and cut out & add some parts.  For only 2 days of practice on the revised routine, they did an amazing job!  Got pretty crowded up on the stage...but, as professionals do, they worked thru it!!

 

I have YouTube links to the actual performances below.   They are all worth watching, but I think Andrew's is the most entertaining!  Andrew volunteered to lip sync "It's Amore".  It is absolutely hilarious!!!!

 

Here are the links: 

 

Brianna's Rio Dance:  http://youtu.be/aG0ou8dWDb0

 

Brianna's Class Performance (Mexico):  http://youtu.be/uEy12IMcR04

 

Andrew's Class Performance (Italy): http://youtu.be/ThQ2dNmFue8

 

 

My camera assistant - again with the "Avery Smile" face I get from her

Brianna's classroom

Andrew's classroom & letter

11.08.2014: Mesa Veteran's Day Parade

 

After the football game we all caravanned to downtown Mesa to get ready for the annual Mesa Veteran's Day parade.  The Cambridge Dance Team was performing in the parade and marching the 2 miles (or however far it is...I forget!) down the parade route in the very hot sun!   Anndrea and the kids met us out there as well so we had a nice little cheering section along the side of the road.  It was so fun watching all the floats and military vets marching today.  The kids loved it...most of the people were handing out candy or flags or some type of patriotic items.  It was hot, but lots of fun! 

 

Cambridge ended up winning best youth float and dance team.  They got to attend a luncheon and accept an award the next weekend.  So proud!!  They looked amazing and I LOVED their outfits!!

 

After the parade, we all headed back to Brent & Alisa's for dinner and college football.  Very long, but fun family day!!

 

Avery, Ezra, Lena

Alisa - Dance Mom!

So cute cheering on all the people!

Old vets exchanging military stories

Here they come!!!!