First Day of School 2016

It's that time of year.  After a great summer, we are ready for school to start.  Troy is off to a new adventure at our local public middle school and will be in the 7th grade.  Kam is readyfor her junior year at our Christian High School. They are both off to a great start!  I love that our kids are excited to learn and both have excellent teachers and friends.  Praying for a wonderful year of development and growth for our kids! 

 We had to laugh at Kam.  She had these new Nikes picked out for the first day before she knew what clothes she was wearing.  Kam loves her shoes!

Angel's Game

I was hoping that we would make it to a major league baseball game sometime this summer.  Thankfully, we found a game that would work and some friends who were up for a night at the ballpark.  We enjoyed watching a close game between the Angels and the A's. The Angels pulled out the win in the 9th with a walk off home-run. Fun baseball!  After some creative navigation by Mario to avoid some closed freeways, we made our way home around midnight. Great night at the ball park!

Summer Days 2016

This summer was the right amount of travel and time away combined with activities and work close to home.  In-n-out trucks in the neighborhood for dinner, pulling out dead trees in the front yard and other house projects, swimming with dogs, going to the beach with friends, a youth group trip to Rehoboth, and church league softball were some of the things that filled our time.

.

Troy's Soccer

Troy loves soccer!  Troy's really good at soccer!  We love to watch Troy play soccer!  This summer Troy continued to practice and play a few games with his Academy Team.  This is the highest level team for his club.  We have to do a bit of traveling each week for practices and games, but we are able to carpool with another family which has worked out pretty well.  Homework and discussion get done in the car.  It's been interesting because Troy's practices are usually held at UC Irvine.  They've had a little competition for fields because the LA Rams also practice at UC Irvine during pre-season.  Who would have thought?!  Troy has worked hard and earned a nice spot on his new team.  He likes the coaches and players.  We're thankful for a place for Troy to use his God-given abilities on the soccer field, not only athletically, but in how he interacts with other players and coaches. 

Knott's Berry Farm

Kam and I had such a fun day hanging out with the Leonard girls and their mom at Knott's Berry Farm this summer.  We hadn't been there in several years and it was a blast!  It did happen to be a very warm day and at some points we thought we would melt, but that didn't get us down!  These girls know how to have fun and Kam even talked Jill into riding a real coaster with her.  (She loved it!)  We love fun days with friends!

Happy Fourth!

This Fourth found us in the great state of Michigan.  We made our way over to Reed's Lake to watch the fireworks show there.  It was fun to share the night with our Visalia friends, The Elsenbroeks.  Katie and a couple of her roommates were able to join us also. 

Klaver's Cottage

While visiting MI, some dear friends from Seminary days invited us out to their cottage for a wonderful afternoon on the water.  It was great to catch up with Klavers and Sytsmas while relaxing in a beautiful place.  Thankful for these great friendships!