Happy Halloween!

The days are warm (not burning hot) and the evenings are cool...fall is finally here and it's Halloween!  We've had a very busy weekend with three Halloween parties and we'll be trick-or-treating tonight! 

My subway art. 

 We went with a Star Wars theme this year - My little Clone Trooper and Ewok! 

They both wore their costumes proudly and thought they were pretty special - and they are!

Logan did a fun ghost project at school. The picture above is him making the ghost below.

 
Lincoln's festive fall pumpkin collage he made at school.

National Tennis Tournament

My 3.0 tennis team made it to the USTA National Tennis Tournament, held in Tucson, AZ last weekend. We went into this tournament undefeated but we knew the competition would be much better than what we've encountered in other matches. My personal goal was to win one match.  If I could do that I would feel like it was a good experience. This team has had a lot of drama throughout the season.  We lost a lot of our team throughout the season due to the controversy leaving us with only 9 players - much less than what the other teams have.
We were in the toughest bracket, having to play four teams verses the other brackets that had three.  We also had back to back matches on Saturday.  On Friday morning I played #1 singles against the Northern division and won 6-3, 6-3. On Friday afternoon I played #1 doubles with Deb against the Southern team and unfortunately we lost in a very close third set tie breaker.  We lost the first set 1-6, won 7-5 in the second and lost 7-10 in the tie breaker. We fought hard and Deb was playing with an ankle injury so we were pretty bummed that we were so close and lost. Southern went on to win the title.
Saturday morning I played a doubles match with Trina against the Caribbean.  We lost 1-6, 3-6.  We weren't originally scheduled to play together during this match but we went with it.  Trina and I played well but there were just a lot of distractions and I don't think we played our game but it was fun to play with Trina. We had about 45 minutes in between our two matches that day and I ended up playing a singles match for the afternoon. I was pretty tired and it was a really hot day.  I wasn't thrilled about my serve.  It had been off a little all day Saturday.  I ended up with some really good points but ultimately lost it in a second set tie breaker 2-6, 6-7. I was so close to pushing it to a third set tie break but couldn't make it happen.  Some of those missed shots have haunted me a little since the tournament but I can say it as a really good experience.
Ricky had never seen me play tennis competitively before so it was special for me to have him there and cheer me on.  Thanks to Reed, Sandi and Nat would took the boys during the matches so that Ricky could come watch.  It was fun to have everyone there to help support me in this tournament.  Having gone in undefeated it was hard to have my first losses at a National Tournament but overall it was a very good experience. I got my one win and considering everything that was going on I think I played fairly well and I'm proud that we got got to that level.

Our team pictures before match #2. 

My closest friends on the team; Angie, Lisa and Trina. 

 Ricky caught a few good action shots while he was there. I only have pictures from the two matches that he got to watch. This was my afternoon doubles match against Southern on day 1. 

We don't have set partners on the team because we're such a small team and have had a lot change. I played with Deb for this match. Normally I make funny faces when I play so it was nice to see a picture of me actually smiling on the court. 

  My serve was exactly what I wanted it to be for day one.  Unfortunately I struggled a bit with it on day two but was still able to pull out a few aces so I guess I can't complain too much!

 These action shots are from my last match of the weekend.  A singles match.  Ricky was so sweet and supportive and watched from a court away so that I wouldn't be nervous - and so he could stay in the shade because by this time it was ridiculously hot!

Marco Simoncelli #58

January 20, 1987 - October 23, 2011

The Honda family is mourning the loss of one its rising stars, the 

charismatic Italian Marco Simoncelli, who lost his life in a racing

accident in today's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

The race was stopped immediately with the red flag and Simoncelli was transported by ambulance to the circuit medical centre where the medical staff worked to resuscitate him. Despite their efforts, Marco sadly succumbed to his injuries at 4:56pm local time.

Everyone involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Marco’s family, friends and team at this tragic loss.

Simoncelli was one of the sport's rising stars, a charismatic 24-year-old who rode with his heart. He was as passionate on the track as he was off, and sometimes that got him in trouble. His was an aggressive style that didn't always suit the venue, but he was maturing as a rider. This season he earned his first two MotoGP podiums and his first two MotoGP pole positions. Only a week ago, he finished a career best second in MotoGP race at the Australian Grand Prix, taking the runner-up spot to Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) with a brilliant last lap pass of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V).

Photos from that day show Simoncelli standing out on the podium, which he also did in life. It wasn't just because he was one of the taller riders in MotoGP, and it wasn't just for the blossoming, bushy hair that paid homage to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, but it was because of his outsized personality and his passion for winning.

The Honda Motor Company family would like to express its sincere condolences to the family of Marco Simoncelli, his team owner Fausto Gresini, his team, his legion of friends, and his thousands of fans throughout the world. He will be missed.

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso says, "In these circumstances, words don't seem to be appropriate. I think of Marco's family and all the people dear to him, in particular his father and mother. I also have a child and what happened today is the hardest situation you can imagine. I watched the images and I'm shocked. In a race you fight and push hard and disaster is often around the corner. Marco was a strong rider and he always pushed hard. We raced together since we were kids. I saw him always pushing to the maximum, he crashed many times, but without major injuries, he was seemed invincible. What happened today seems impossible."

I was about 20 feet away from him at IMS MotGP race - picture above. I believe in life after death but it's hard to believe that someone can just be taken so suddenly...just gone. Tough day for MotoGP. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.   

Never A Dull Moment

Urgent Care, doctors, stitches, medicine...that's how we spent our morning.  About 9:00 this morning Ricky got a call from Logan's daycare that he had been hurt and we needed to go pick him up.  Apparently his pinky finger had been caught in the hinge of a gate out on the playground. That resulted in a pretty good cut on the bottom of his pinky finger, from his top knuckle to the tip of his finger. His fingernail had been smashed pretty badly and the skin on the top of his finger around the nail had been scraped off.  We were most worried about him losing his fingernail so we picked him up and headed straight to Urgent Care.

They were able to numb his finger, clean it, put in several stitches and then bandage it up.  He will lose his fingernail but the trick is for it to stay on as long as possible so a new nail will grow before this one falls off.  My poor baby was in a lot of pain when someone touched it but as expected he was quite a trooper and survived it all.  Stitches will come out in 11 days. The little guy couldn't even make it to two before stitches!  I have a feeling that will not be our last Urgent Care visit for him.

 

Rough day for this poor little guy.  Sometime you just need a binky and a blanket. 

The Bath

Rick mentioned to me that we needed to give the kids a bath.  Logan loves baths so when he heard that he perked up immediately and then he started asking for a bath.  We were all sitting in the living room and Logan said, "Bass. Bass."  (His pronunciation of bath.) Lincoln immediately jumped in to help him.  "Logan, it's not bass...it's baff. Say baa...fff. See, baff."  Logan did exactly what Lincoln told him.  Next thing I know we have two kids asking for a baff.

Young and In Love

Someone once said, "Date night is expensive but marriage counseling will be more."  I've tried to take that to heart and realize that date nights are important and worth the expense.  We try to get out once a month or so just to have time for us to be together away from the kiddos.
I had a gift certificate to a restaurant that we'd never been to before, Calico Jack's. We walked in and Ricky headed to the bathroom while the host seated me. The employee began to tell me that we had the best seat in the house...for what he perceived to be a date. I confirmed that it was in fact date night. Then he asked, "is it a first date?" I couldn't help but laugh out loud.  Then I replied, "Oh no, we've been married for eight years and we have two kids.  We're way past the first date."  He seemed a little embarrassed and then went about his business shortly before Ricky returned to the table.
A lot of thoughts ran though my head as I was replaying the conversation to Rick.  I was glad that I looked young enough that I couldn't have possibly been married for 8 years and have two kids.  I was more excited about the fact that Ricky and I still look like we're in love...in a possible budding romance...a fresh and exciting relationship.  It's all true!  We are in love.  I'm not gonna lie, some days it doesn't feel very fresh and new but I get really excited to spend quality time with him and it reminds me of our dating days or pre-children days. It's way to easy to get stuck in a marriage rut and I think date night is the perfect fix.
We had a great time together, even if the food wasn't all that great and the restaurant is somewhere we wouldn't go back to.  Time together is important so I'm grateful I have an eternity with Ricky.
I figured this is a good time for a flashback...

Our Engagement Picture

 Our wedding day - we were much younger!

Camping - Sort Of

If you want to go camping but the thought of cold showers, dirt, bugs and chasing two little guys around the campsite sounds like too much mess and work....just escape to the wonders of your backyard!!  On Thursday I decided that we should go camping at the Grand Canyon.  By the time I evaluated everything and came back to reality, I realized that wasn't going to happen this weekend.  Ricky decided that he'd put up the tent in the backyard for the boys to play in for the afternoon and then he and Lincoln could sleep in it.  Logan and I slept in the house, in our warm, soft beds.  It worked out well since I've been recovering from a terrible migraine for the last couple of days.
As expected, the boys loved the idea of playing in the tent and Lincoln thought he was pretty lucky to sleep  in the tent with daddy.  He had his binoculars, his flashlight and his teddy bear so he was definitely set. Ricky didn't sleep too well but Lincoln did and he had a fun time. I hope next time we pull out the tent it's to really go camping somewhere fun...like the Grand Canyon!

My First Singles Tennis Match

I've always considered myself a doubles player...until now.  Last night was my first singles match in competition play.  I've had a lot of singles practice matches with other players on my teams but have always ended up playing doubles on game nights. I was scheduled to play doubles last night but in the car on the way over to the courts our captain switched it up and put me at #1 singles. I'm a team player and will play wherever I'm needed.  I was anxious, excited and a little nervous about playing singles.  Mentally I was prepared for doubles, which is quite a different game.  I was also wearing new shoes that I was breaking in and had never played at these courts before (they had terrible lights and no score cards) so there were a lot of new elements for me. I didn't play as well as I wanted to.  I made a lot of unforced errors and our match ended up being a good battle. After just over two hours of play, I won!!  I was determined and did fairly well at staying focused. Our scores were 6-4, 7-6...it was pretty close.  I'm glad I was able to pull out a win because our team won 3-2. Had I lost we would have lost the whole match. I'm playing singles at nationals so this was great practice.  Here's to more singles matches!
P.S. - I had to wear a jacket to my game last night. We've actually hit weather in the 70's and it's starting to feel like fall!

Sad Day

We are an Apple family.  We love our Apple products - from our ipods, iMac, Macbook, iphones, itunes and our iPad...we love it all. Like many other families, our kids at the ages of 1 and 3 even know how to operate these gadgets. Ricky is always reading the latest and greatest on what Apple is doing with technology.  It's quite an amazing company. Ricky and I even stopped at the headquarters of Apple in Cupertino on our last visit to Northern CA.

Well, today is a sad day for Apple with the passing of co-founder, former CEO and really the face of Apple as we know it, Steve Jobs.

1955 - 2011

From Aunt Talicee

My little sister Talicee got the artistic gene in the family.  She's attending BYU and took an art class last semester.  She surprised me by taking a picture of Logan off of our blog and using it for one of her assignments. I didn't find out about it until it was complete and my mom brought it down to us on her visit last month. I didn't know what to expect but it was awesome.  Really neat.  I'm going to frame it an put it in Logan's room for him.  I know he won't appreciate it now but I hope he will as he gets older.  I thought she did a really good job and I'm so glad she picked Logan as her model!

Too Tempting

A few days ago Ricky took Lincoln to ACE Hardware with him to pick up a few things. After Ricky made his purchase and was heading out he noticed Lincoln, with his hands behind his back and a mischievous look on his face, pass the counter and head for the exit doors.  Ricky clearly knew something was up.  He asked Lincoln what he had behind his back. "Nothing." Lincoln replied. After Lincoln continually denied that he had anything, Ricky was able to see that Lincoln had this....

a package of Now and Laters that he was hiding....trying to sneak them out of the store. Really??  Ricky couldn't believe it.  He immediately, with multiple other customers and workers around,  had a conversation with Lincoln about not taking things we didn't pay for. Ricky, being the good dad that he is, end up buying the candy to show Lincoln the right thing to do.  Lincoln didn't get to eat the candy right away but I hope he learned his lesson.  I never doubted that these little boys would cause some mischief at some point. Luckily he's still little and learning so we are able to teach some valuable lessons. Hopefully we won't be dealing with this one again!