BMX Night

One of Cooper's favorite family events at school is the BMX show. I think this is the third year we've seen these guys, and it is thrilling every time. We raced over to the school after football practice and made it just in time.

 These riders just amaze me!

 After the show, Coop got in line for an autographed poster.

 Our neighbor, Gabe, came too...

What a fun night!

Let there be light...

We have been wanting to put pendant lights above our kitchen peninsula since we first moved into the house. For some reason, the builder didn't think it was important to have any lights there?! We finally got around to asking our neighbor, Larry, what it would take to get that done. Being an electrician, he said it would be an easy project, and he he would love to help us out. We were thrilled, and spent a day making it happen.

 He only had to make one small hole in the sealing to run the electric, which was easy to patch up. I am thrilled with how it turned out!

 We also decided to add a ceiling fan over our kitchen table. With the 100+ degree temperatures we've been having, it feels great!

So thankful to have this home improvement project checked off our list!

Is it Fall yet?

So what do you do in the middle of August, when it is 100 degrees outside? You pretend it is Fall and you make some homemade pumpkin pie, of course!
Well Joe has been growing some pumpkins in his garden this summer, and one was ready to be used before it rotted. Zoe and Joe got to work scooping out the seeds and guts so we could cook the pumpkin for some puree.

While the pumpkin was cooking we made our crust...

Although I hated using the oven on such a hot day, I have to say the results were well worth it!

A delicious homemade pumpkin pie! We even got to roast some seeds. Since school has started, I guess I'm officially ready for Fall!

Packers Football Time...

After the longest sports break Coop has had in years, he was anxious to get back to a team sport. Fall flag football started today, and he was happy to be back on the field. He was even happier to be back on the team with his old coaches from last fall, and few familiar teammates, although this season he is a Green Bay Packer!
They quickly got reacquainted and hit the field for warm-ups and drills. Even in the horrible heat, these boys were ready to play.

We are looking forward to another fun season with Friday Night Lights!

5th and 7th!

First Day of School 2012!

The kids were a bit tired getting up this morning, I don't think it has really set it that today is actually back to school! After breakfast and getting dressed, I think they both started getting a little bit more excited.

Zoe heading into 7th grade!

Cooper going into 5th!

I can't believe my little guy is beginning his last year of elementary school. It will be a year of many "lasts" and we will try to enjoy every second!
Since there wasn't a Meet the Teacher event before school this year (only class lists posted) I was hoping Coop would let me get a picture of him with Mrs. Newman!

 We are excited for the year ahead, and we really like this lady! Coop was happy to have his buddy Adam in his class and at his table!

Here's to a fun 5th and 7th grade!! Let the craziness officially begin!

Di-No Computers Party

After 33 years in the same place, my Dad just got through a relocation of the Di-No Computers store in Pasadena. Poppe started this business back in 1979, which was the first Apple Authorized Dealer in California. Tonight was the Grand Opening party at the new location!

 My mom, Greg, and I went up to help out. Zoe had even earned a little money helping with the custom water bottle labels I had ordered...

The party turned out to be a huge success! Tons of customers, new and old, showed up to support the business. There was lots of food and drink, and many items raffled off, including iPod/iPad accessories, Shuffles, iTouches, and a new iMac Pro!

The Props director from the show "Two and a Half Men" even came by to get a laptop that will be used in an upcoming episode!

It was an exhausting, but great night. It was even better since I got to spend a little more time with my brother.

Here's to some good business at the new location!

Last Summer Beach Day!

We had time today to head to the beach for the last time this summer. It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Newport and the perfect way to spend a few hours.

 Once the kids got in the water, that's where they stayed! Zoe got out for a few minutes to warm up since she just can't stay warm in the water, and Coop got out for a few minutes after getting smashed by a wave, but they stayed in for hours!

 They boogie boarded, body surfed, and just had a good time! So glad we were able to make one last perfect beach day!

San Diego Fun!

Greg was in town for a few days from New Orleans to spend some time with the family and visit with Poppe for a bit. We decided to head to the Natural History Museum in San Diego to check out the Titanic exhibit and wander around.

Unfortunately, there are no cameras allowed in the Titanic part of the exhibit. There were some incredible artifacts displayed. They also give each person a card with a real passengers name on it, along with their class on the ship, and some background information about them. At the end, you find out whether your passenger survived or didn't. We all thought that was pretty cool!

 We spent a couple of hours walking through the rest of the museum, looking at skulls, the history of horses, fossils, and animal displays.

 After the museum we drove to Old Town for some delicious lunch. It was quite hot, and our service was awful, but the food was good!

Uncle Greg likes to torture the boys by pinching and grabbing them...They secretly love it!

 

We walked around for a while, picked up a few souvenirs, and enjoyed Old Town before a very long drive Newport.

Olympic Fever!

We have spent quite a few hours the last 16 days in front of the t.v. watching various Olympic sporting events in London. We started with the Opening Ceremonies. They weren't my favorite, but still pretty cool to watch.

There were so many highlights from the 2 weeks, and so many great stories. I got tears watching the Womens gymnastics team find out they won Gold!

 The womens soccer team fought hard for gold too, and were full of fight and positive team spirit.

 I loved seeing Kerry and Misty win their 3rd consecutive gold in beach volleyball...

 

and seeing Michael Phelps become the most decorated Olympian in history was pretty darn cool...

Cooper discovered his favorite new sport, team handball, which was actually really fun to watch. A great cross between soccer and basketball!

 And Zoe and I loved the rhythmic gymnasts!

 Although we didn't catch the closing ceremonies, it was a great 2 weeks of smiles, tears, joy, and heartbreak. We can't wait until Russia 2014 for some winter Olympic action!