Santa visit 2012

Wish Lists:
Audriana:  Game Stop gift cards, Nike and Under Armour clothing, books (Lord of the Rings trilogy and Narnia series), Harry Potter stuff,
Sofia:  Nike shoes, a picture of Santa and his elves, flowers for her hair, Xbox 360,

Indoor Soccer (Futsal) has begun....this weekend was the 2012 Turkey Shootout!

This pic was taken after our United White team won the championship.  Our coach wanted all the girls in the pictures to show that we are United!  The girls all played great this weekend.
It is hard for all of them to play against each other, and it happened twice this weekend.  United Blue won against United White on Saturday....but United White won against United Blue on Sunday during the semi-finals.  There were tears after each game (from some of the girls on the losing team), but in the end, I guess it helps teach them that we can't always win every game - and how to loose with respect for each other and the game.  Ultimately, the girls were all proud of each other!



Ready for the tournament! 
Turkey Shootout 2012!

 Audriana and Jenny waiting to go in...

 

Spokane United Blue team did so well this weekend!  Saturday they played 4 games.....won 3 and lost 1.  Audriana had some great goals today and played very well in these 3v3 games.  Sunday morning, they squared off against Spokane United White (the other half of their team) and ended up loosing.  Spokane United White ended up taking the tournament and won the final game against FC Spokane.  We were proud of both teams this weekend (which was really 1 United team).

Dinner with friends -- The Tyrie's!

What a fun night with our friends, Pat and Mary Tyrie....they invited us over for dinner at their beautiful house out on the Palouse.  The kids were able to play and the adults just had fun chatting and talking.  My mom and Mary's mom were very good friends and neighbors when they were young mom's raising their families in Spokane in the early 70's (they both lived on 37th st near Perry).  Sofia and Astor became good friends when they both attended Montessori Central.  A couple of years ago, my mom was dropping Sofia off at school (not sure why, but she must have been helping me out when Martin was out of town) and she literally ran into her old friend Alice Gingrith (Astor's grandma!).  Isn't that crazy that they would run into each other there?  Anyway, it was quite a story and Mary and I just loved hearing about their meeting!

Sofia, Audriana, Astor and Bulo

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

 Happy Thanksgiving! 

Today we celebrated at Chad, Patty and Marissa's house.  It was so nice to be a guest for Thanksgiving dinner (instead of hosting the dinner!)! Too bad that Kristi came down with the flu and couldn't make it.....poor thing....it must have been hard to be at home alone when she knew we were all together having fun.  We brought by a plate of food for her on our way home.  Mom and Jay were in Ephrata with the Sandbergs -- we missed them, but we really did have a wonderful time with the Wilhite's.  Bryan and Marissa were there, and Uncle Bill, as well as Margo and Chris Cockey, and Chad's brother, Rick and his wife Dianna Wilhite were there too.  All together, we had 14 people at the table.  I brought the green bean casserole, dip chit with chips, pickles, spanikopita, and rolls.  Of course, everyone else brought dishes too and we feasted! 

 The girls had fun coloring the table decorations that they like to do each year.....they worked all morning on them, and we brought them to Patty's to decorate her table.  They really make the table so festive, and of course everyone likes them!

 

Uncle Bill and Marissa
 

 The Wilhites have a little dog named Buster, so we brought Ginger so the two of them could play together....they did pretty well until the two of them began to fight over a piece of pie that had dropped on the floor!

Our Thanksgiving angels......
We are so super thankful for them...for their health....for their minds and for their awesome spirits. 

We are thankful for our wonderful family - especially my cousin Patty and her family.  She is most happy with her house full of people enjoying a meal together -- and that is exactly what we did tonight.  We are blessed.

Dinner with my Besties!

Lunch with some high school girl friends!

I graduated with these gals back in 1986 from West Valley High School here in the Spokane Valley.  We've all aged a bit, and lost touch throughout the years, but it sure was fun meeting up with them today!  Thanks to Facebook, many of us have reconnected again.  We met up at Lindamens for coffee and lunch -- it was great to catch up with each of them.  Kim Richardson Francon, Tammy Faraca Degenhardt and Jill Woods Bonser.

Audriana receives the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

God is so good!  And he forgives!  Audriana has learned a great lesson these past few weeks in preparation for her 4th Sacrament.  The mass was this morning and Father Mark did not dissappoint in his special way of engaging with all the children.  He makes it so they understand.....and he talks directly to them.....and he asks them questions....and he relays the teachings in a way that they will not forget the importance of it!  I am thankful for Sacred Heart Parish....Father Mark....and Janet Macione (direction of Religious Education).  We were so proud of Audriana this morning as she participated in the mass, was chosen to read the First Reading, and went to her first face-to-face Reconciliation with Father Mark.  Martin and I even went -- it felt so good!

Audriana and Emma

 



Reciting the Act of Contrition
 (they all had to memorize it prior to the Mass)

 



 

Father Mark is wonderful with the kids!

 



We are so proud of Audriana!  

Audriana and Father Mark after Mass

My family -- My Loves!

I just love this picture....it was taken on Labor Day....we were at Silverwood....on the last train around the park....it was a cold night and we were freezing because just 30 minutes earlier we left the water park.....the moon was full and it was a bright orange color.  We had spent the entire day together and we were all so happy (and tired!).  Lynda, Caleb and Nikki met up with us later in the day and we had fun going on the rides and enjoying the water park together!  What a day -- what great memories!

A new desk for the girls to do their homework! A space all their own for their school "stuff" and backpacks! Yah! I'm re-claiming the dining room table for food and gathering only! Ha!

2012 School Pictures

Sofia 7 yrs old, 1st Grade         Audriana 10 yrs old, 4th grade
Mullan Road Elementary

Happy Birthday to me!

Shoot...I don't know why Martin and Audriana got cut off from this picture...the origianl has all of us in it.  We went to Red Robin tonight for my birthday dinner -- we loved the bottom-less fries!  Mom and Jay and Kristi were able to join us.  We had a nice night, but found the restaurant to be sooooooo noisy!  We were sat back by the kitchen, where the servers pick up the food, and we could barely hear each other talk.  Very, very noisy.  Nonetheless, it was a happy night and I loved celebrating my special day with my special family.

Soccer Moms help me celebrate my birthday!

I am so blessed to have these wonderful ladies in my life!  We are a very close knit group -- all of our daughters play soccer together on Rik Robles GU11 United Black Widows team.  We all got together tonight at Twigs Bistro in the valley and had dinner together.  I felt so special!  From L to R:  Heather Lance, Kim O'Neel, Kari Baxter, Brandie Greenwood, Shelbi Robles, me, Loni Harvey, Jayme Carter, Becky Ewers, Kyla Watson and Jamie Kaiser!  Thank you ladies!!!!

Fall leaves = hours of fun!

Fall soccer season comes to an end......what will we do with our Saturday's now?!?!

On the bench......waiting patiently to go in!

Skylar, Katie, Rachel and Audriana.....up and ready to go in!

Shoot that, Audriana!!!!
 

And it's in!  Nice goal, Audriana!

Mark Up!!!!

Ready position....as you can see, these 10 year olds are playing 13 and 14 year olds!  And, yes, we have won every single game against these older Rec teams!  Go Black Widows!

Go Sofia!  What a great season she has had -- we have really seen a big development in her skill level.  She is aggressive, competitive, and can instinctivly know how to anticipate where to go and where the ball will go.  She's a great little player!

Nice kick, Sofia.....sorry the picture is a little blurry!  Boo....