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Abbys Volleyball Season

Well, Abby played varsity volleyball as a Freshman. She did pretty well and the team made it to CIF play offs. They won the first team, but lost to the second team. The team is young with three freshman. Here are some shots of Abby.

Emily Christine

As we were driving down by the jetty we found a boat with Emily's name on it and had to take a picture. How often does one find their first and middle name on a boat?

Kayaking in the Chetco

My parents took us up the Chetco to kayak in the river. It was warm, in the 80's compared to the cool coastal temperature of the high 60's and low 70's. As desert rats, we enjoyed the cool breeze and the cold water. I even managed to get a little work out, kayaking up the river a bit and back down. The girls enjoyed going down a mini-rapid, can be seen by the photo's. Next year we will plan a 1/2 day trip down the Chetco River where we will encounter a couple of bigger rapids. It should be fun.

Feeding the Seagulls

One of the favorite activities I enjoy doing while I am in Oregon is to feed the Seagulls! :) I don't know why, but it makes me laugh so much. The day these pictures were taken, the wind was blowing pretty hard, so the seagulls managed to stay in the air for a long time waiting for their morsel of cheap white bread. When it is not so windy, they can't hover like they do here.

More Pictures of the Aquarium

Newport Coast

Yes, after a week of Arizona, we came home for a week, then headed off to Newport Coast, where the average temperature was 75 degrees. I adapted to the temperature change just fine. The girls were allowed to bring a friend. We spent 3 days at the beach and one day we went to the Aquarium in Long Beach. Abby got to feed a parakeet this sugar water they like to eat. The girls got to pet sharks and sting rays. The fish there were beautiful.

Montezuma's Castle

On the way to Sedona, we saw a sign that read "Montezuma's Castle". After driving a while, we thought the break would be nice and were curious to know more about this place. We were pleasantly surprised by what we discovered. Two castle's, built into the side of a mountain were abandoned quite some time ago. I don't know a whole lot about it, but you can click on the link to find out more. Anyhow, it was fascinating. We did not go to the well because of time constraints. The picture of the castle is taken from a telephoto lens zoomed in about 300 feet.

Slide Rock Arizona

Ok, so who goes to Arizona in July? Well, considering we live in the desert, it wasn't so bad. We even took a day and traveled to Sedona and Flagstaff, which was a bit cooler. The girls had fun sliding down "Slide Rock". I preferred to keep my skin, thank you very much. But they had fun, even after getting bruised up a bit. The place was packed. Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out just as they were ready to go down the slide. The pictures here gives an idea of what I am talking about. After Slide Rock, we went to the Observatory in Flagstaff. I got to see Saturn through the telescope. It was really cool. I even saw the ring around Saturn. It was a long day, but worth the drive.

Graduation Party!

Off with the dresses and on with the shorts! Time to dance and party. The 8th graders had a great time dancing to music from the 80's, 90's and current. Abby even won the Limbo. I did not realize she was that flexible. I guess her volleyball helped strengthen her legs as she was able to make it under the stick.

Abby's Graduation

Abby graduated from 8th grade with the Best Citizenship Award. We were so proud of her. The graduation was very nice.

Emily Get's an Award

Emily received two awards at her school. The first was the fitness award, which was given to students who could run/walk the mile under 12 minutes, do 10 sit-ups and 10 push-ups. I was surprised only 50 out of about 150 students were able to pass the fitness test. Emily also received the Presidential Academic Award with 24 other students in her grade. I was very proud of her.

Emily's Birthday at the Beach

Emily had fun with a couple of friends at the beach where they got to hang out, play in the water, visit Balboa Island. The day was concluded as they were having a make over. Unfortunately, they all ended up with burns. They were changing in the bedroom and were supposed to put on the sunscreen. But the cat was lost and they discussed putting on the sunscreen after they found the cat. Then it was time to go so they talked about putting it on at the beach, but then we had lunch and they forgot. I felt terrible as I should have checked to make sure they put it on. Of course, I did not know about these conversations until it was too late, thinking they put it on in the bedroom. At least the burns were not too bad.

Emily's Birthday

Emily's Birthday started with her friend, over for dinner and opening her gift from us, an electric scooter. Craig plugged it in over night so she could ride it on her birthday.

Presenting a Woman of God

We had a special evening planned for Abby honoring her maturity into womanhood. 32 people were present, including her friends and some of her family, to celebrate the event. The evening started out with swimming as people were arriving. Then we had a yummy dinner catered by "Grammie". After dinner, we gathered in the living room. Craig, Doug and Carlos all said wonderful things about Abby. George gave the closing prayer instructing her friends to lay hands on her as he prayed for her. The evening concluded with coffee and cake.

Abby's Turn

The action shots are much more difficult to get with Abby's level of play because the game moves so much faster. Most of these shots are not action shots. I did the best I could. I got a couple at the net and one back row. The action shot is a bit blurry, but the form is good! Notice how high she gets above the net. It is amazing how much different two years makes. The difference between Abby's level and Emily's level of play is huge. Saturday, I left the house at 5:15 to get to Emily's game in time for the 8:00 game. With only six player who were able to make it, Emily played all games. Her team won two out of three matches, taking each match to three games. Likewise, Abby's team won two out of three matches. Abby's team started the tournament as the first play seat and managed to keep their position even though they lost a match because the team the lost to lost their match in two games to one of the teams we won.

Emily's Turn at Volleyball

Emily is learning to play volley ball. Emily did very well with her serving and her bumps. Her under hand serve is very consistent and has a spin to it. Her overhand serve is pretty good too. She made most of her overhand serves and felt very confident by the end of the day. As this picture shows, she is not afraid to dig for a ball.

Stacie's Wedding

We attended Stacie's wedding, May 3rd, 2008. It was a very nice wedding. We enjoyed the time together with family.

Abby Spiking

Abby is number 11 and is playing in the front left corner. The video starts out with another teammate spiking. Then the ball is returned and Abby has a nice spike. I love watching Abby plays. Notice how she is constantly moving and on her toes. She plays outside hitter and move throughout the rotation. For an 8th grade team, they aren't bad. Abby's tournaments are two to three times per month. With spring break, we have had a nice break, but we will soon be on the road again. It is a good thing "Grammie" lives in the area near the tournaments. It saves us money and gives us time to visit.

More Pictures

I didn't want to mess up the arrangement of the last post, so I started a new post. A couple more pictures of Abby's trip should do it. At least she has a week off to recuperate from her trip. As you can see, the ten days she was on the East Coast were packed full of excitement and adventure. This is definitely a trip of a lifetime!

Abby Comes Home!

Well, Abby finally got home. They had to stay an extra night because of delays from the flights from Chicago. She came in 12 hours later than expected, which was ok with me because I didn't have to wake up at 2:00 in the morning to pick her up. She had a great time and brought back some cool souvenirs.

We download 253 pictures from her camera, plus the disposable she bought because her camera ran out of room. Here are a few of the pictures with Abby in them.