First JV football game

We have a new Gilbert Tiger cheerleader! The first JV game was a great game, the girls had a blast even though the boys were defeated by the Marcos de Niza Padres. The boys are continuing to work hard and hopefully will prevail in the next game! The girls are practicing hard and getting better each day! Corinne is the back spot in her stunt group and the main reason why her flyer never hits the ground! We are super proud and enjoy watching her perform!

2010-2011 school year

Another school year has begun! Devan is beginning her Junior year at Gilbert High School! She is attending the East Valley Institute of Technology for Health Occupations courses in the morning and then her regular classes at the school in the afternoon. Corinne is a sophmore at Gilbert High this year and has quite a heavy work load. She is taking advanced Chemistry and World History which give her more homework than she was prepared for. Corinne was selected to be on the junior varsity cheer team for the football and basketball seasons. Kylie is in seventh grade at South Valley Jr High. Kylie is looking forward to changing classes throughout the day and making new friends! Carlie is also in seventh grade at Pueblo Middle School were she attended last year. Kylie and Carlie will be trying out for sports teams this year and we are hoping that they both make it! Sports is such a great outlet for them all! I can't wait to see how the year progresses for each of them!!!

Girls Trip to San Diego

Wow, what a trip, that's the best way to sum up the whole trip! The girls and I left on Saturday after Kylie's last volleyball game and headed off on the freeway for the sunny beaches of San Diego. When we finally got to the hotel after driving around for an hour because our directions from Google Earth were wrong, we realized how hungry we were. So we headed off to Rubio's for some fish tacos!

On Sunday morning, we got up bright and early to enjoy a day at the beach! The girls rode boogey boards, played paddle ball, and laid out on the soft sand! We had a great day!

Sunday night we recovered from our sunburns and sore muscles and enjoyed a great pizza on the boardwalk. Monday we got up and went back to Mission Beach to ride bicycles on the boardwalk.





Although we had some crazy bumps in our road, we had a great trip. We missed Sy and all thought the trip would have been more fun if he would have been there, but we had a great time!

Day 1 of 365

So we are on day 1 of a 12 month journey. Sy landed in Kuwait today and will go through the long procedure of getting registered with his company so that he can start his job. So far on this adventure he flew from Arizona to Virginia, Virginia to Georgia, Georgia to Maine, Maine to Ireland, and Ireland to Kuwait. He has one more trip which is to fly from Kuwait to Afghanistan. I probably won't know what city he is in, but that's ok. A lot of the stuff he is doing he isn't allowed to discuss. Which we probably don't want to know anyway! So, after today we will have 364 days left. The girls and I are all positive and ready for this challenge. We are looking forward to school starting so the girls can get busy, see their friends, and participate in activities. And I can't wait for my new job to start! So, wish us luck and keep the count down going with us!

The world traveler returns

So Devan finally returned this weekend. On Saturday night she came home from visiting Paris and Barcellona with her grandparents, sister and cousin. She had an amazing time and has so many stories to share! Devan had been gone for two weeks and I was so happy to see her I couldn't stand it. So as soon as she got back to her grandma's house I drove over and picked her up. The poor girl was so wiped out she passed out on the couch while showing me her pictures. This was a once in a lifetime experience for her and I'm so glad she was able to go!
Sy is on his second stop before he goes over seas. He arrived in sticky, sweaty, humid and hot Georgia on Thursday. Luckily his group was able to get registered in the next group heading to Kuwait. He will leave on Friday the 23rd and will be gone for four months when he is then eligible for his first two week visit at home. We have been using Skype to talk to him and it is an amazing invention. I love being able to see him and talk to him. The girls think it's pretty cool to see his face and their faces on the computer screen! We all miss him greatly, but we are doing what he asked and staying the course. My new course is to train for a half marathon in November. I'm super excited and hope I can get it done! I know Sy will be so proud of me and I will feel so good about myself! The girls are getting ready for school to start, some of them are excited, some not so much. But we are all looking forward to being busy again! It's going to be a good year for us all!

Almost a week

Tomorrow will be one week that Sy has been gone. It's been a smooth ride so far and the girls and I are doing fine. Sy has been writing to each of us every night and we have all learned that he is an amazing writer. His emails are inspirational and motivational to us all, just like he is. Sy is the youngest guy in his class, the average age of officer in his group is 57 years old and the average years of experience of them all is 25 years. He felt like a kindergarten kid in a high school physics class.
Sy was required to have a hearing test that showed he has some small loss in one of his ears which he of course he blamed on living with five girls. He was also required to perform in a physical exam where he had to run a course of two miles in under an hour while wearning lots of heavy gear and an extra 35 lbs added to his backpack. He did great and finished first! What an amazing guy, right?
The classes he has been attending have trained him on the benefits of his job (health, dental, vision insurance), Afghanistan culture, how to be safe while he is there, that he is under no circumstances allowed to go near an IED, and that he should treat all the soldiers with the utmost respect. The teacher informed him that the average age of soldier is only 23, so even though he may be older, they have more experience and training for their specific job. Here is what Sy had to say about what he learned from this training:
Their daily actions humble me. It is difficult to complain about simple things when these guys are doing what they are doing day in and day out. We all owe them a debt of gratitude that we will never be able to pay. After seeing several hours of power point pictures of what they go through, I was in awe...
For this, they have my absolute respect.
The only way I can sum up this past week is that I have so much respect and admiration for my husband for what he is doing for not only our family but our country as well. I love him more everyday!