AND MORE SOCCER

Goooo Rylee! We love you!! Taylee is one of the best cheerleaders out there!

LMNO Field Trip

This is Brody's first field trip to West Coast Martial Arts. The instructor was great and the kids had a blast. I don't know if I want my Brody to be a fighter, though. I watched a practice and one kid came off the mat crying during sparing. Even Taylee joined in the action. She wishes she was going to preschool. Someday...maybe.

Soccer Game

Another fun soccer game and a few pictures! GOOOOOOOOO Coasters!

Tour of Gymnastics Champions

Jon and I took the kids to see the men's and women's gymnastics olympic team and world champions tour. It was another great production. We all had a great time!

Sisters, Sisters...

"...They were never such devoted sisters." Taylee really loves Britlee. I love it when Taylee says, "She's my sister" with a spanish accent. Don't ask me where she got it...maybe watching Nacho too many times.

Broken Femur

Today Grammy Kathy came home from the hospital from recovering from her fall. So after Stake Conference we left promptly with dinner in hands for her. It's hard to be hurt and feeling incapacitated. Luckily the body heals from these kinds of falls. Great to see the family!

Exhausted

This is how I find Brody after we ride Rylee to and from school. He is plopped on the driveway and pretending to be dead. I do my pretend whine and cry about how my baby boy is dead and then he comes back to life, laughing. Taylee has been riding her "big girl bike" (strider bike - her bike without peddles) to school with everyone every dya. That has to be tiring. Her little legs have to go a million miles an hour compared to Rylee and Brody. She too likes to get a little attention also. Silly people. Hi cutie Britlee!

911 Renaissance Tower Climb

Jon climbed for Firefighter Dennis Oberg who was a part of the FDNY.

He was a certified public accountant from Babylon, L.I., who left the business world to live his dream as a city firefighter. Dennis Oberg quit his job at Ernst & Young and joined the FDNY, following in the footsteps of his dad, also named Dennis Oberg, a 31 year department veteran.

Oberg's dream of being an FDNY firefighter only lasted seven months ending on Sept. 11, 2001.

Oberg was a graduate of Xaverian High School in Brooklyn and the State University of New York at Geneseo. His long-time friend Joseph Fanuzza said, "Dennis died doing the job he loved, knowing he was making a difference. Although he never wore a red cape or cut the ropes of a damsel tied to the train tracks, he was more of a hero than I will ever be."

Oberg was married to his wife, Christine, who was his childhood sweetheart. She "was the love of his life," Oberg's father said. "They were made for each other."

Oberg was remembered as very smart and very determined, a level-headed and handsome young man with a good sense of humor.

"Firefighters climb Sacramento's Renaissance Tower to remember 9/11 brethren"
(The Sacramento Bee Article by David Ruiz) Close to 400 firefighters, policemen, their family members waited expectantly Tuesday morning in a vacant retail space on the first floor of downtown Sacramento's Renaissance Building. In a few minutes, 343 firefighters would begin a 110-story climb to honor their fallen New York counterparts who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks 11 years ago today.

Last year, for the 10th anniversary of 9/11, firefighters came from Los Angeles and San Diego to make the climb, said coordinator Captain Eric Guida of the Sacramento Fire Department. He said he made the climb for the first event four years ago, but has transitioned to planning it since then.

Tuesday, the firefighters from Sacramento, Woodland, El Dorado, San Jose, and more were present.

Clipped onto each climber's jacket was a deceased firefighter's name, each representing one of the 343 who died on 9/11. At the end of the climb, each firefighter added the name to a memorial and rang a bell.

Before the ascent, a marching crew of eight - equipped with drums and bagpipes - walked through the crowd creating a center aisle.

At the end of the aisle stood guest speaker Captain Mike Dugan of the New York Fire Department who responded to the September 11 attacks. Dugan thanked the volunteers for their compassion and honor.Lining up for the hour and a half task, firefighters were visited by their wives and children who wished them good luck.

To complete 110 stories, firefighters must climb 26 stories three times over and then climb all the way to the roof - 32 stories - on the fourth repetition.

Guida said that firefighters sign up to volunteer in July, and extra names are put on a standby list. Since scheduling conflicts are common, Guida said almost everybody on the standby list gets the opportunity to climb.

On the 26th floor and basement are beverages and snacks for the firefighters when they need to refuel. Guida said that if a climber becomes too tired to continue, another climber on the standby list can finish the climb.

Guida said having separate climbers for the same name doesn't dilute the purpose. "What matters is that those names get to the roof."

Sunday Best

I love sunday's when everyone is dressed up. My favorite day to be together as a family. These little ones are the best. I love them so much!

Circus Circus

My dad invited all the grandkids to see Circus Circus. What a great production! There were animals and the trapeze and acrobatics and singing and dancing etc. They had a great time visiting and enjoying the show!

Brody the Fire Fighter

Brody keeps telling me that he is a fire fighter. Not that he will be one when he is older, but that he is clearly one NOW. There has been a lot of talk at home about Jon changing fire stations a lot lately because of over times and potential promotions. Brody was tuning into it all. He says he is at whatever station Jon is working at that time. It used to be 53's but now it is 23's. Jon loves working with the truck and getting a little more sleep...I think? Anyhow, the other day Brody told me the night before that he had to go to work tomorrow and that he would miss me. So that very next morning he donned his fire gear and grabbed his bucket and he went on a "call" and kissed me good bye to work. I went to check on him outside because I could hear the water was on and he said that the house (playhouse) was on fire and he was trying to put it out with the hose and bucket. CREATIVE! I asked him about the baby inside and he said they were already taken to the hospital. He wants to be so much like Jon.

Brody's 1st day of Preschool!

"First day of preschool, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh!" Brody is going to LMNO Preschool. Cutest name for a preschool if you ask me. AND the teachers Miss Megan and Miss Shannon are the best mix of academic and fun any kid could ask for. He has been counting down the days since Rylee started. He is EXCITED!! I can't wait to hear about how much he loves it! I love you Brody and I'm going to miss your helpful, sweet, big brother lovin' smile! Oh and Jon took Brody golfing on their father/son date. He looks so grown up. I love you too Taylee...trying to be silly like the big one.

"At The Car Wash!"

Jon told the kids that he'd pay them each $6 if they washed his new truck. Notice it's not a lifted lime green truck or lifted gray jeep? That's right, it's a dark green gardener truck that Jon is so very proud of. He's such a deal maker! I love his thriftiness! The kids had a blast washing his car. It looked worse then before they started, but they tried hard. "Wax on, wax off!"

Taylee

Taylee is starting to be such a big girl. She surely wants to do all the things that the big kids do. She hates naps because she hates to miss anything. I don't blame her, I don't want to miss anything either. Today she dressed herself and sang a cute song on the potty. Why are potty pictures just the cutest?