Soccer!

Saturday was the first game of the season for the "Black Knights" and the "Silver Bullets". Both of the kids had a great time at their games. Since both had games in the morning - Jake & I had to split up between the games. I stayed for Mackenzie's game and really enjoyed watching soccer again. I admit - I am one of those moms - the type that loses their voice from cheering - the type that caught herself running up the field w/ her daughter - yes that is me. So my goal this season is to tone it down a little & just sit back & enjoy the game!

Mackenzie is on the "Silver Bullets" - yes the parents enjoyed that name - but the girls picked it out. Her team did well - but did end up losing 2-1 in the end. I was very impressed with Mackenzie - this is really her first year of soccer - since the last time she played she was much younger. She did very well & was aggressive! Mackenzie played majority of the game - and did so without complaints :) There were some pretty big players on the other team - a few times Mackenzie was a little timid - but majority of the time she charged the ball. I'm really looking forward to seeing how her team pulls together throughout the season.

Blake's team is the "Black Knights". Blake is really having a blast with soccer. He is very confident and is VERY into it! I only caught a few minutes of his game - but Jake called and gave me numerous updates. Blake has some really good players on his team & they actually won 9-1 - which is a very high score for soccer! I am very bummed that I missed this - but Blake scored! He was playing the sweeper position (behind defense) and there was a penalty kick - just inside the goal box - Blake took the shot & it went over the heads of the boys in the wall & over the keeper's head as well! Blake also was able to try out being keeper - he didn't get much action - but I was encouraged to see him totally focused on the game - even when he wasn't involved in the play. During baseball - we would often see him having an imaginary game of baseball with himself when he was in the outfield. Not in soccer - he was totally aware & into the game.

Well unfortunately - once again - my kids were not into their mom taking pictures of them - so they both look grumpy in the shots below. Oh well - at least you'll get to see their uniforms!

Blake in his keepers jersey - so thrilled that his mother is making him pose for a picture after the game!

First Day of School

Today was the kid’s first day of school – I still can’t believe that summer has already come to an end. Blake is now in 4th grade and Mackenzie is in 6th grade – which means that she is in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Even as I write this tears are in my eyes – I can’t believe that my babies are this old! We’ve been watching home videos the past few days – which probably is not a good idea – but there were so many videos of the kids when they were babies – everything is seriously a blur – I can’t believe that I have a daughter in middle school – who is wearing a bra & begging me to let her shave her legs! UUGGH!! How did this sneak up on us?

Well despite my ramblings – both of the kids were very excited to start their first day and spend time with their friends again. Please lift them up in prayer – for their protection, health, spiritual well being and for wise decisions. I am excited to see what the year brings!

We had a lot of silly pictures this morning - it's now getting tough to actually catch a good one between the 2 of them!

We hope this will be the last week or so of the kids wearing uniforms - we are planning to get them "opted out" so they can wear their normal clothes to school.

What We've Been Doing the Past Few Weeks

As you can tell from the lack of blogging - we have been busy the past couple weeks - but unfortunately neglected to take pictures of several of the events :)

• Not pictured - but still very important :) - Our good friends - Mark & Joanne welcomed their daughter Olivia Grace into the world. 5 Weeks early - but healthy & pretty much perfect! Congratulations Mark & Joanne!

• pictured below: the kids decided to make Jake & I lunch - it was so sweet! I admit, there were times during the 1 1/2 hours that they were in the kitchen (with a sheet shielding us from looking) that I was a little concerned about what they were planning in there. But when they brought this tray into our room I was very impressed. Unfortunately the picture does not do it justice. They made grilled cheese - cut into heart shaped pieces. chicken quesadillas - cut into flower & sunglasses shapes and chicken salad sandwiches cut into leaf shapes. They did a great job - so I had to include this in my post :)

• Cosmo decided that he is a dog! For those of you that know Cosmo - he is not a dog - more like a combination of a pig & a cat - but when Indy is around some of the dormant dog genes resurface and it's always entertaining to watch!
  

• We decorated for Fall. Yes I know - I have a lot of pictures - but Fall is the start of cooler weather which leads to our favorite time of year - C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S! So it's a BIG deal around our house. I will admit that it was a little frustrating sweating in the hot weather while putting out our pine cones and pumpkins - but we love coming home to the fall decorations & are hoping that the weather gets the hint & gets cooler :)
  

• We went to an Angels game a couple of weeks ago. It turned out to be a great game! The Angels were down 6-1 or something like that - but then hit several home runs and came back to win it. I normally don't pay much attention while at the games - I enjoy the atmosphere - but I'm not glued to my seat watching the game - this game however was very exciting & brought us all to our feet to cheer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  I included this shot so you could see how long Blake's hair was - as you can see from the school pictures in our "first day of school" post - his hair is much shorter now. I still think the long hair suits him - but it was nice to have a cleaner look for school.
  
  

• This past Sunday we celebrated Andy's birthday at our place. It was nice to hang out with Andy, Allison & Rob for the evening. We watched old videos and laughed at Jake & Jason's mustaches they grew to surprise Andy - several songs that Andy & Jacob thought were worthy to record :) - as well as some of our fashion choices!
  
  

We had to include the token flexing shot

when Andy's around - we usually have a few of these shots

MYSTERY MOVIE NIGHT

This past Saturday we hosted our 6th Blue Wallet Cinemas at our place. Our first movie was Goonies - which was in August 2008 - can't believe we've been doing these for a year!

We had such a fun time! We had our largest turn out yet - total head count - 31 adults & 16 kids! We barbequed before the movie and then enjoyed our first "Mystery Movie" night. Shawnee picked a movie about a month ago and didn't tell anyone which movie he was bringing. He gave me a few hints to put on our ticket stub - confident that I wouldn't guess the movie by the hints -which of course he was right! Jake however guessed right away once he heard the hints! See if you can guess from the clues:

#1 - A Glass of Champagne - #2 - A Silver Car & #3 - A Homeless Child.

sorry the pics are dark - I'm at work so I wasn't able to adjust the color :)

Andy said that I had the "Brown" stripped from my name since I wasn't able to guess the movie - I felt a little better since Allison wasn't able to guess it either!

a few of the 16 cuties at our place on Saturday night!

if you haven't guessed the movie - it was 3 Amigos w/ Chevy Chase, Steve Martin & Martin Short. A Classic! We had such a fun time and of course the boys - including Blake - were quoting just about every line of the movie! Great pick Shawnee!!!

Next Movie Night - OCTOBER - Halloween Movies!

Kate McRae

I've posted about Kate before on my blog, she's a 5 year old girl who was recently diagnosed with cancer. I was reading the journal today at www.prayforkate.com and was struck once again by her parents - even though I have never met them - their trust and faith in God is inspiring. It is such an amazing thing to see so many people - joining together and praying for this family in need. We are so blessed to have a God who listens to our requests, cares for us and comforts us during difficult times. I thought I would share what her dad, Aaron wrote on their journal on Saturday:

"Tonight we passed one million hits on this website. That is amazing and so hard for us to comprehend! Either a lot of people are praying, or our family and close friends are re-clicking every other minute. In the middle of all our pain we know that God is doing a work through Kate's story that is touching the hearts of many. We are grateful for the stories of men and women who have come to know Christ through this time of trouble. We have been encouraged to hear how God is renewing a passion for prayer and intimacy with Christ in the lives of some. I want to encourage anyone who reads these updates to not be distracted or discouraged by Kate's story. Rather if you are stirred by hearing of Kate, go to God, listen for His voice, read His word and hear for yourself His words of life and hope. I know there have been days where I have been sidetracked by blogging, or reading the comments posted here and neglected the source of my strength and hope. I want to put 2 challenges out tonight the first is related to this. "Go to God" Get a Bible in hand and read and meditate! Out of that time PRAY! Nothing fancy or sophisticated just heart felt prayer.Secondly, I was driving down the highway tonight and reflecting on the fact that so many are praying for Kate, and how thankful we are. Also, at the same time I was overwhelmed with how many people are facing similar struggles in their own lives, and with their own children. So here is my 2nd challenge! When you read this post, would you go find another child/family/person in need and pray for them as well, and write a note of hope to them. It can be as simple as clicking on our Guestbook and looking for someones comment who has a link attached. May this army of prayer warriors go on full assault! Storm the gates of heaven, as intercessors, as son's and daughter of the Most High God! There is such power in prayer and we serve an Almighty God...Aaron"

The Past 2 Weeks

Well I have been a blogging slacker - so I'm going to sum up the past 2 weeks in one post :)


We've had a great time spending time with our friends the past couple of weeks. It's been fun to entertain at our house again. I really enjoy preparing the meals and setting the place settings / themes :) I know totally cheesy - but it's still fun! So I've pictured a few below:

Rachel, Sean & Kensington came over for a BBQ.

even at 8am this burger still makes me hungry!

Why do I have a picture of a plate? Well - Jake & I have had these plates for probably about 10 years & just recently took them out of storage - we always thought the plates were fun - set of 4 with all different Hawaiian designs - but when we came across this one we were thrilled! 2 years ago we went to Oahu & our favorite place to eat was a little hole in the wall called "The Grass Skirt Grill" we couldn't believe that all of this time we've had a plate to remind us of the amazing time we had in Hawaii!!

On Friday night - we had an impromptu bonfire at our place. It was so much fun!

Jason, Mary & Alice came over for dinner last week.

Tom, Jen & Abbie came over for dinner a couple of weeks ago.

Grilled Veggies on ciabatta bread with fresh basil, mozzarella & balsamic - YUMMY!

Our old friend Steve dropped by to say hello. It was so nice to catch up with him - his band has been touring all over Europe & Canada & he will soon be going to Australia.

Shawn & Lisa had us over for a delicious dinner :)

This past week we also attented our first "couples potluck" with other people from our church. It was so nice to get to know other young couples from our church. Last night we had a bonfire at the beach with our church Lifegroup. The kids had a great time...of course I only took 2 pictures & neither of them came out :(.

Mackenzie starts soccer tomorrow & Blake will be starting soon as well. We love summer, but cannot wait for fall to begin! Looks like the lulls in our schedule we had during summer will soon be going away - with at least 3 soccer practices a week and school will be starting up again in a few weeks!

We haven't been on any of our "field trips" lately - but hope to resume again next week. I still have a bunch of places on my list that we want to check out!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Surf Lessons

On Saturday we took the kids to the beach for their first official surfing lesson (given by Jake :) ). The kids both had such a great time & did very well for their first time! By the end of the afternoon both kids went out on their own and caught a few waves. The conditions were perfect - super small - which let the kids get the hang of it without struggling with the waves. We'll continue working with them this summer and hope that they will have a desire to continue surfing and eventually start going out with their own boards. The water was sooooo warm! I never get in the water - the kids always give me a hard time....but it's always too cold and after living in FL - I was spoiled with warm beautiful water - so its always difficult convincing myself to go into the freezing cold water here. Saturday was an exception - it was so refreshing - I didn't even have to force myself to get in! I even did a little boogie boarding with the kids - which was interesting since I probably haven't even been on a boogie board since Jr. High - but it was a great time and the kids were very entertained!

Love the shot of Kenzie above - she's like "YES! I finally got it!"

The shot below is a little fuzzy - but if you click on it - you should be able to see the look on Blake's face - he had such a great time!

I love this one of Jake & Mackenzie - plus Blake's in the background carrying the board.