A Couple of Months in Photos

Ben very enthusiastically earned his Bobcat!

We enjoyed an evening at the Walnut Festival's special needs night (free!) - the kids had the time of their lives and were shocked when I told them that Disneyland would be a million times better than the Walnut Festival. And here they thought they'd just had the time of their lives!

Notice my little kid Ethan cramming his big body into the back seat:

Do you think Ben liked driving the bumper cars?

The swim team had their annual awards night and both Ethan and Eliza received participant trophies. Ethan was surprised with an additional coach's award from coach Zach. It said, "Ethan was always a great swimmer. I am glad I was able to work with him. HE would always come to practice on time, swim the laps that he was told to do, and would never skip any, even if he was tired. He was always excited to swim, always wanted to go first, no matter how hard the set was. Even if other swimmers would stop to rest, Ethan would keep on swimming until he was done with the set. He was a good example to the other kids and helped motivate the rest of the lane to keep on swimming."

The photo below was not any special occasion other than having Grandma Joan and the Hiatts over for a Sunday dinner. We get together every so often but rarely take pictures, so this was just for the record!

Soccer Season - Oh, how we love VIP soccer! Both Ethan and Ben practiced every Weds night at the same time, same park, adjacent fields. Then they played games every Saturday morning at the same time, same park, adjacent fields. Lucky us! Both boys just loved playing soccer this year and Eliza enjoyed cheerleading. I love the colors of soccer photos:




(Note that she even chose to wear her turquoise shirt to match the brothers' shirts)

During Thanksgiving week, Betty and I took an adventure with the kids (Jeff had to work - boo). We took the Amtrak train to Sacramento and visited the California State Railroad Museum. The kids were really good and riding the train was definitely the highlight. Here are a few pix:


I love this of my three BIG kids playing alongside the toddlers and having just as much fun:

Waiting at the train station to go home: