4 Busy Whites

Doug and I took the girls to Ontario airport for their flight to Salt Lake City. It was quite nerve racking to put such precious cargo on a plane to head out.....God was good and calmed my spirit! They had a great flight. Madison had been quite nervous as this was her 1st time on a plane. We had been praying all week and then I came across a great verse for her in my Bible study. She wrote it down and prayed through it and God met her right were she was at. "Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the LORD your God. I will be with you everywhere you go." Joshua 1:9

Doug and I took some time to head to Ontario Mills Mall, see a movie (Get Smart....very funny!)and have dinner. Funny thing, the girls made it to Salt Lake City and then the 3 hour drive to Idaho Falls before Doug and I even made it home!

So we are heading out of Downey for home and decide to stop for something to eat. I could not believe my eyes when I saw Downey High School....lot's of new construction! We decided to take a walk around the campus. Well the football stadium has been completely redone with astroturf and a new stadium! We showed the kids the exact place where Doug and I met and then where he asked me to "go out" with him....how can it be that it was almost 23 years ago and we can remember it like yesterday?!? Anyway, here are some pics of the campus.

After Hollywood, we headed in to see Bev & Fred and to spend the night. It was a nice visit and on Sunday we got to see Christopher & Jody brought the twins by for a bit in the afternoon. Everyone headed out for some fun in the pool. The guys were all doing crazy flips in the pool.....I think Christopher was the only one to really land the full flip! We love you Grandma & Grandpa......Happy Anniversary!

So our tournament is over, we're checked out of our hotel and it's only 11:30 on Saturday morning. We are in no hurry to head back to the heat of the desert so Doug takes us on an adventure. We took the girls to Hollywood! We had a fun time surprising them.....we had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen on Hollywood Blvd. Then headed out for a walk to see the Walk of Fame and to Groman's Chinese Theatre to see all the hand/foot prints. After checking out all the sights we headed over to UCLA to show Chelcie the campus, drove through Beverly Hills and even drove down Rodeo Drive. I was probably a bit more excited to see all the amazing stores as the girls didn't recognize many of them (thank goodness!). We had a real fun time.

Well, our girls called it a day after a horrific loss on Saturday to San Clemente (9 to 0)! This loss marked the end of the road for us in this State Tournament. A bit of a sad note to end on as we all go our separate ways now. Our tenderhearted Chelcie (and even Doug and I)got a bit teary eyed as we said good bye to many families that we have grown so fond of over these many years. Chelcie has played on this All Star Team along with 4 other girls since they were 8. Now they will end this chapter of their lives. Some will head on to high school ball at different schools while others will develop different passions. This was a great season of some amazing softball and we are so proud of these girls for making it all the way to STATE!!!

What a weekend of softball! Friday we beat Realto 17 - 2, Saturday we beat East Vale 13 - 6 and then lost to Lake Elsinore 4 - 3. It was fun having Grammy, GG Lois, Lolo & Nick there to cheer! Sunday was a LONG day: 9:00 a.m. game against East Vale, we beat 'em then turned right around to play Lake Elsinore and beat 'em. This was a double elimination tournament and Lake Elsinore had only lost once so we had to turn around and play them again for the Championship. We were down 8 - 1 in the bottom of the last inning, our girls come back to score 6 runs. The score is 8 - 7 and we lose....sad day but our girls took 2nd place and qualified for the Jr. Oylmpic State Softball Tournament! We head out to Lancaster next weekend. Great job girls!

On Saturday morning we headed to Hemet to visit my Grandparents on our way to Chelcie's tournament. We don't get to see them very often and it was great to just call them and stop in for breakfast. The girls love to make biscuits with my Grandpa and they are delicious!

Madison was so excited to receive a birthday package in the mail from Aunt Dawn and Uncle Terry. Each year they get her a figurine with her age on it (sorry, no pic...) and this year Dawn made her this adorable blanket! Mind you it's 110 out but Madison takes that blanket everywhere! She just loves it.