Holly and Todd

Rick and Adolfo

Uncle Rick and Adolfo came to Arizona in February. It was a vacation for them and a great treat for us. We were able to spend time together talking and laughing, and making memories. The boys had such a good time that they didn't want them to leave. I think that we can find a good place for them in the valley!

Rick sporting the laptop.

Adolfo, Rick and the boys at Lake Saguaro.

Adolfo trying Wii.

He really got into it! Look at Emery's face.

We had Chi gio (not sure of spelling) at Scott and Steph's

Rolled "spring rolls" and fried.

Everyone got into the action.

Holly and Rick rolling away.

This is how you have to say Cha gio!

Holly's 1/2 Marathon - London's Run

This past year Holly decided to get into better shape, so she joined the local "Boot Camp" which is in the neighborhood. From that, she met a great group of friends who all decided to run this year's 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) at London's Run in Queen Creek, AZ. The family was full of encouragement and support as Holly has trained for this event for the past 3-months. The boys and I were ecstatic to see her turn the corner to the home-stretch and run to the finish line. All of the boys, impromptu, jumped the roped-off area and finished the race with mom. It was a day we will remember forever. We are so proud of Holly for this accomplishment and hope that we can all run the full race with her in the future. Way to go Hollister!

The night before the race....high carbs!!!

The competitors.

The theme for London's run.

The memorial table for "London".

London and her mom.

More memorabilia.

London's story - click to enlarge and read!

Coming down the home-stretch.

The boys running to meet mom.

Holly and the boys finishing the race.

Holly and the boys after the race.

Holly and Todd after the race.

The "gang" after the big race.

Getting some much needed water and fruit.

Holly and Marie "the machine" Fago.

Wrestlemania 2010

Another year of wrestling in the books. The boys and I have enjoyed the exercise and the tournaments this year. Ethan and Everett made their marks by placing in several tournaments and continuing to improve their overall skills. The stand-out this year, though, was Emery. He has come a long way and has enjoyed learning move after move and perfecting them along his journey. I was the coach for him and his group of "little guys" this year, having 19 boys between the ages of 4 and 9 years old, all of which have the attention span of about one minute. That aside, they all did awesome this season. There were so many improvements and I'm excited for the future of our wrestling program. The team finished 3rd at State this year and I think that everyone involved would agree that this year was a huge success.

FYI - in the 08-09 season (on the blog) we did a "wrestle mania" post and the boys posed down for it. They begged me this year to do it again to compare to last year.

Locker Room - We took photos in the locker room for a reason. We were all talking at the table one day, and a locker room was brought up. Everett, in typical form, asked, "what's a locker room?" I said it's the room you pass on your way to the bathroom at the school when we go to wrestling. He then said, "oh, you mean that room with all of the lockers in it?"....."yep that would be the one Everett"......"oh, that place stinks"....."yes, it does".

Emery showing off the guns!

Everett.

This was too funny, Emery trying to look mean - impossible!

Everett showing some muscles.

More Everett.

Ethan showing his 6-pack abs.

Ethan's back pose.

My three little boys are gettin' bigger!

Ethan in his stance.

Everett in his stance.

Emery's stance and stare!

The new profile picture!

Locker room.

Ready to wrestle!

Brothers.

Off to battle!

Christmas 2009

Wow, what can we say? 2009 came and went awful fast, and none too soon. We certainly had our ups and lots of downs in 2009. The housing market here in Arizona has had a lot to do with the downs. One of the 'ups' for us this year was Christmas. We were able to spend it at home and have a quiet day with the boys unwrapping presents and spending time together as a family. It was nice to relax and enjoy each others company. The funny thing about the Christmas was that days and weeks went into it's preparation, yet the gifts were unwrapped in mere moments in what seemed like a hurricane of boys around the tree. It was all in good cheer and so much fun to watch. We look forward to 2010 and hope that this will be our year in every way.