Ashlee's Braces

Ashlee got her top set of braces put on this morning.  In 8 weeks she will get her bottom set of braces.

Mystery Spot

Today was the first time in about 4 months that both John and I had a Saturday off together.  So we decided to take the kids somewhere for the day.  We decided to go to the Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz.  We always see all the cars with the Mystery Spot bumper stickers, but we have never gone there, so we decided to go check the place out.  The Mystery Spot is a very interesting place.  Tucked in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  I guess no one will ever be able to explain the phenomena that exists there, but there is definitely something there.  You even feel weird, light headed, dizzy, harder than normal to walk, etc. It was definitely interesting.

 Towards the end of the tour, the guide said " he neeed two volunteers, two people who did not seem like they were enjoying the tour, two people who had not volunteered yet, and right away he says you sir in the orange shirt".  That would be John.  John was his volunteer.   The guide asks the question "What do cows drink?"  Mikayla leans over to me and says "Dad is going to say milk".  Luckily the other volunteer answered the question, because John said he would have said milk.  The answer was water!

 

This is the car for the Mystery Spot.  The entire car is covered in Mystery Spot bumper stickers!

 

 

After the Mystery Spot we went to the boardwalk, the girls rode a few rides before the boardwalk closed and then we went to the wharf.  A much needed break away, spending time as a family!

Soccer

Ashlee and Mikayla have both been playing soccer since August.  Both girls have done well and have improved each week.  Ashlee's team won some and lost some.  But you could see that Ashlee and her team mates where having some differences with their coach, and that effected the whole team.  I think the coach had too much on his plate and did not have his heart into what he was doing.

Mikayla's team won every single game for the season.  The last weekend of soccer they had a tournament.  They ended up in play offs and they played a very tough game.  They tied the game.  The game went into two separate 10 minutes halves and both halves remained tied.  The game came down to each team selecting 5 players to do goal kicks.  The team with the most goal kicks out of 5 won.  Talk about a very tense game.  Mikayla's team worked very well together as a team, they played as a team, their coaches did not have to coach and scream and shout at them from the side lines.  These girls knew what they had to do,  went out on the field, and did what needed to be done.  They ended up getting second in the tournament.  Mikayla played her heart out in spite of having strep throat, fluid in her ears and an allergic reaction to an antibiotic!  She even scored her first goal.  She usually plays defender, so she is not in a position to score goals.  But for one of the games they put her in a different position so she could score.  Mikayla is now practicing for another tournament called Founders Cup.  Which will take place in a couple more weeks.

 End of the year pizza party.  Each coach said a little something about each of the girls.  And each girl got a picture frame with an action shot of them.  Along with a certificate and some other action shots of them throughout the season.  The coach said that he did not know anyone quieter than his daughter until he met Mikayla.  He said she played well and she always stopped the ball from getting into the goal. 

CST Testing Awards

Ashlee and Mikayla both received awards at school for improving their California State Test Scores from the prior year.  Both girls scored Advanced in English Language Arts and proficient in math.  We are proud of both girls and their excellent achievements in school.

Halloween Activities

For Halloween we had several activities to go to.  Friday we had a trunk-or-treat/carnival at the girls school.  Mikayla was a nerd girl and Ashlee was an 80's girl.  Saturday night was our ward halloween trunk-or-treat.   Halloween day my brother and his kids came over and we ate pizza and took the kids trick-or- treating.  John had to work late so my brother and I took the kids trick- or- treating.  We went to a neighborhood not far from our house,  I could not believe how many people "bombarded" this neighborhood.  There were hundreds if not thousands of people.  Sometimes there would be like 20 kids waiting at a door.  It was insane.  

My car for trunk-or-treat.  A big mouth.  

Ashlee -80's girl, Hailee- 50's girl, Mikayla- nerd girl, Dylan- football player, Landon- Ninja.