Sledding

We had planned on going sledding at some point this Christmas break. We checked the weather and decided that if we didn't go right now we wouldn't be. The weather was due to get really bad later that night.



Here they are plotting away.



Why does Anthony look concerned and Megan laughing.



Because Jason decided he didn't need a sled he called it "doing the penquin". Of course, he didn't count on going down head first.



Getting ready for another run down the hill.



Steve can't resist and Jason is just not sure how this is going to work.



Look at Anthony's face. He is thinking the same thing I am. If Steve breaks something, who is lugging him back up the mountain.



At some point Steve loses Jason.



And rolls a couple of times.





Jason is worn out.



Megan and Anthony worked on digging a snow cave, then decided Megan should get buried. You can see her boots and the little mound at the top of the picture is her head.

We are hoping the weather clears enough so we can go one more time before Christmas break is over.

Wrestling

Wrestling season is well under way. This is how we will be spending our weekends for the next couple of months. Below is Anthony at the tournament here in town. You can really see the concentration on his face. This is the first tournament were he did not place in the top 3.

Below is the tournament I talked about in my Christmas post. He weighed in at 145 but is wrestling 152. He has really matured in his skills.



A couple of pictures for my Mom. This is Anthony's coach and yes, it is Anthony's blood he is wiping up. Just another reason why I hate wrestling. There are more pictures to show the level of pain my baby went through this day.


Here they are bandaging the kid up. You will notice that Anthony's head gear has a strap that goes right below his chin. In another tournament someone pulled that head gear and rubbed under his chin raw. This is what is bleeding. Now if you remember the Christmas post were I pointed out the rash all over his face. We believe that he caught some sort of bacteria from the mats. Either because of this cut or a nice lovely one that happened the week before above his eye. They keep these mats sprayed and clean. They do body checks for rashes and other signs of infection, but it still happens. The things these boys put their bodies through for this sport, but he loves it. Last year we dealt with ringworm the whole season. The year before that, his good friend struggled with staph. Anthony came home from his first tournament looking like he had been hit by a truck. Black eye, cut over eye and nose, but he took first.


Look at this picture, that is not a smile. The arm that is being pulled up over his head is a shoulder that was injured last year. That is a face of pain. Why doesn't he wear a brace? Because the other kid would focus on that shoulder. My suggestion was to wear the brace on the wrong shoulder. Hummmmmm, I think it is a great idea. Or, better yet, take up knitting.


But he is determined to beat this kid, injured or not.



Look at him go!!!!


He pins him!!!


This is the part I like.



However here we go again. His opponent picked him up and threw him on the ground. Crap, hurt again.



He gave it the good fight but didn't win this match. He took third in the tournament.

Christmas Card Pictures

It was a hard decision. Which one to pick.

This one they were all looking at the camera. Looking unnaturally sweet.


This one they were standing on a frozen river. Anthony was threatening to jump and break the ice. None of them are looking at the camera but having a blast.



I choose the first one. Only because they were looking at the camera. The second one is being framed and hung on my wall.

Christmas Recap

What a week it has been. This is what our street looked like the week before Christmas. We however didn't have a white Christmas. The winds picked up and took care of most of the snow. I am always a little sorry when the snow melts however I am never sad to see the ice go. Unfortunately these nice snowy streets become ice very quickly.

Anthony had a wrestling tournament the weekend before Christmas. We had a lot going on that Saturday and Steve and I divided up the list. It meant he would take Anthony, I would meet up with him in a nearby town to watch part of the tournament and go to a play with the Church's youth group. This is what we woke up to. A total surprise. There was no way Steve's car was going to make it and we had to totally rework our schedule. Things worked out and we had a great time. Anthony took 3rd place in the tournament. I took this picture at 7:00am, standing in the middle of the street, in my pajamas and boots. My neighbors are used to me doing this kind of crazy stuff.

For the last 4 years, some combination of my kids sing in the Christmas Eve Choir. Megan sometimes sings and sometimes not. You can see her standing behind the piano and Jason is on the top left. Steve had to work this year so it was just Anthony and I in the pew's. After mass we headed out to dinner. We had a couple of hours to kill before the movie started so we went home to change. We started the movie on Christmas Eve tradition the first year we moved from Sacramento. It was tough not having something to do that first Christmas Eve and we headed to the mall to wander around. We saw the movie theater was open and decided to check it out. We have been doing it ever since. We have had lots of invitations to go other places but we have always stuck to our Christmas eve movie. It just gives us a chance to relax after all the craziness of getting ready for the big day.

Getting reading for the movie I discovered that I didn't have my debit card. I had it at the restaurant. Anthony jumped on the phone and found out that indeed the card was still at the restaurant. We had 20 minutes before the movie started. This would normally not be a problem because our town is just not that big. But the roads were icy and I needed gas. So it was off to the movies first, then out to the restaurant and finally to the gas station. We got home at midnight. Put the kids to bed, finished stockings and in bed by 1:30am. I don't think I mentioned that I woke up Christmas Eve morning with a cold.

Steve got home around 5am and we were up at 8am ready for present time. Notice Anthony's poor face. I will talk about that in my wrestling post. 10 minutes later all the presents were unwrapped and everyone looking at me for our breakfast. Linguica and eggs, something my mom always made for Christmas breakfast.

I wish I could say that my living room looks this good. This picture was taken before Jason started opening up all of his toys. Yes, Megan got an electric guitar and Anthony a new cell phone so he can text easier. We all know how important that is. The rest of the day was pretty mellow. I am still fighting the cold but feeling much better.

This time of year always makes us miss our families. We are saying extra prayers for our family members dealing with losses this holiday season. Steve's family is missing his Dad, my cousin and the loss of his wife and some friends of ours and the loss of their son. Each one of you are in our prayers.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I will post about our Christmas in the next couple of days. But for right now I am going to go sit on the couch and watch a movie with the family. Well.......if I can find the couch.

A week before Christmas

I am not going to write a post about how stressed out I am, because I am not. I have the house decorated and it looks like Christmas around here, but that is all that I have done.


I have a list of cookies I want to bake, a list of gifts that that need to be purchased, cards that need to be mailed and a house that needs to be cleaned. But guess what, I don't care. I have spent the weekend I watching my son take 3rd place in a wrestling tournament. I spent today in a nearby town watching the Beauty and the Beast play with my family. Then having dinner with the youth groups from all the catholic churches in our county. Right now I am sitting watching a movie with Steve, Anthony and Kagen. This was a great weekend and I am glad to have taken the time to do it.


Don't get me wrong, tomorrow I will probably be completely stressed out, but that's OK. I am just glad to have taken the time to enjoy my family this weekend.

The pictures above are of Steve's Mom, Megan and Aunt. And of course Anthony and Kagen.

I will have lots of pictures of the last two wrestling tournaments as soon as they come off the camera. Now go and enjoy the Christmas season.

Football Post not a Thanksgiving one

There is a good reason for this. Since the holiday travel nightmare is still playing out as I type this and my Thanksgiving pictures are on another computer, I will finish out the football season with it's last set of pictures. Don't worry, wrestling pics are on there way.


They lost this game 48-21. However, I want to say, this is the best game I have seen these boys play this season. This was truly a game that the score does not reflect how well they played. The boys came at them hard the first half of the game. The other team looked like they didn't know what hit them. All three of the football teams from Eastern Oregon have been down played all season. The word around the state was our little conference played nothing but easy games. However, all three teams beat what was called unbeatable teams. Oh and one more thing, our little conference that only plays easy teams, one of them is going to state. Gooooo Bulldogs!!! As much as this is our rival school, I would love to see the EOL take state. I just wish it was us.


The receivers. A good night for both boys.







That is my boy with the ball in his hands. All the other team could kick were onside kicks. Anthony caught every one of them but one.

He is going out for a pass and catches it. Steve was at home listening to the game on the radio. They mentioned Anthony's name more then once.


Megan and Amanda posing for a picture.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we are feeling very blessed. Steve's Mom, Aunt, Cousin and his 3 boys will be here to celebrate with us today. This is the first Thanksgiving that we have celebrated on Thanksgiving day since we have lived in Oregon. Steve normally has to work so we celebrate on another day.

Plus, no one wants to make the trip here because they think the weather is going to be horrible. Well, this year they would be right. I will post a detailed account of Doreen and Doris' trip in later. We are just happy everyone is making the trip.

Missing my parents today, but I am sure I will be talking with them a lot on the phone.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We here in this family have a lot to be thankful for. The last couple of days I have been thankful for flannel sheets and heated car seats. No really, I am thankful to have lots of friends and family around us. Even if you all are not in the same city as us, we are just a phone call way.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Florence Oregon

I was very excited to hear that Anthony's playoff game would be in Florence. It's just about an 8 hour drive from here. I found a cute hotel to stay at and ended up being upgraded to a suite. Megan brought her friend Amanda and of course Steve had to work. That wasn't going to stop me, I wanted to go.

I spent a good deal of my childhood on the California coast. While I still believe that there is no place as beautiful as the Northern Ca. Coast, the Oregon coast comes very close. I am so glad that Steve shares the same love for the coast and so do our kids.

After all was said and done I am glad I was there. I will post more about the game later. We headed to the seal caves and later to the beach. It was raining and cold but still had a great time. We will be heading back there in the next couple of months. And will be adding it to our summer camping list.


A view from the viewing station at the seal caves.

This is my 3rd time visiting the seal caves and the first were we didn't see any seals. We did see some in the water and the kids did get a kick out of that. They have a viewing station down inside the caves as well, but it was the wrong time of the year to see them there. No problem, we still had a good time.

I have been lucky to spend time with my Dad on the coast. With him and his friends I have learned things about the ocean that you can't learn from just reading the signs. It is fun to share what I have learned over the years with my kids. I found myself quoting my Dad's good friend Ken this weekend. "Hey kids, do you know what happened when the wind stopped blowing? The trees all fell down." Hahahahaha Of course, I started laughing and the kids gave me the same look that I am sure we gave Ken when he told it to us. Still remember were it was, Point Reyes, CA. I still use his booger jokes every now and then, Thanks Ken.

Another few of the beach. It was cold and foggy.

Most of the beach is full of dunes. I was not crazy about having to hike over them in the rain. I was lucky enough to remember this spot from our earlier visit.

Gotta love Megan's color choices.


Love this picture of Jason. My kids make it easy to get good shots.


She didn't spend much time talking. She spent it exploring and poking at things on the beach. I think she has found a small jelly fish here. When I see her out there poking around at things it reminds me of when I was a kid. I would sit on a rock and watch my Dad clean fish. He would take the time to cut open the fish stomachs so I could see what they had eaten. If there were shells I would take them and walk around and gross everyone out.

Good times!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jessica

We hope you have a very wonderful day.

You can see her back there behind Megan. Why don't I have some better pictures of you. We will just have to work on that won't we

Have a great day!!!!

Did I Post This

I don't think I did.

Here is Anthony and Kagan going to her homecoming. I will post about this weekend and our trip later. Too tired today.

My Baby

I love that I can say to Jason, come on I need to practice taking some pictures. "Ok, Mom how about this and this and this." All the while he is giving me poses. He doesn't care that our neighbor stopped by to chat while we were taking the shots. He just cracks me up sometimes. He will even ask before we leave the house, "Mom, got the camera."

We didn't even wipe the dirt off his face for this one.

Steve ended up in hospital over Halloween. It is a long story but he is ok. It has always been his thing to take the kids trick or treating. He loves the holiday. He the one who gets the pumpkins cut and ready (will post those pic's later) and the decorations up and out. Since Anthony was a baby he has never missed a Halloween with the kids. If you know anything at all about working the Rail Road you would realized just how hard this is for him to accomplish.

This year he had to miss it. Jenny, bless her heart came to the hospital early Sunday morning to let me know Jason could go trick or treating with them. Megan, who doesn't need us anymore, went with her friends. And Anthony, being a trooper, helped me at home so I could spend time with Steve.

By that night, Steve was starting to get the first of his tests back and realized things where going to be ok. The nurses in ICU were angels and let me sneak Jason and Anthony in after visiting hours to see Steve. The nurse even let Jason trick or treat her. We could only stay about 5min because Steve was behaving badly. I talked to the kids about how Dad is ok, but the rest of the people in this unit are very sick. So no screwing around. I didn't give Steve the same lecture and he was the one screwing around. He kept trying to talk Jason out of his candy and kept plugging up the oxygen tubes so the monitors would go crazy.

Anyway, that is our Halloween wrap up. Have a good day.

A Misc Picture

A quick post today. We are getting ready for the playoff game this weekend. I am still not sure if I am going to go but really thinking about it. The game is over 8 hours away.

Here is a quick picture of Anthony in the Homecoming parade. Looks like he is having a good time.

Playoff's here we come

We were off in Portland for the playin game. The winner of these games go to the playoffs. Anthony was nervous about the game. The vice president of Nike USA flew onto the field in a helicopter to deliver the game ball on their new astro truff field. I tell you, this is a field our team can only dream off. The tv vans and the police security (they searched my camera bag) proved we were not in Kansas anymore.

After all was said and done the Tigers rocked the house. Final score 36-27 and off to the playoffs they go. The boys came off the field with big smiles and hugs for their parents. We are so proud of them. All rivalries aside, our small town conference has put 3 of it's 4 teams into the playoffs. Eastern Oregon Rocks.





What a kid, he is smiling for me.


Very cool, they sang their fight song and then this cheer.


Look at that smile.


Proud Dad!!!


and of course proud Mom. I made a coment about how he smelled.


I regret saying that.


The final score.