New School Year

Faith is in third grade. THIRD GRADE. She has a different teacher than Tanner or Jake had so at least we will shake it up a bit this year. She isn't in class with her best friend, Abby, but seemed excited to start school and had a great first week. She is especially excited about the 10AM Dance Time which they get as a reward on Fridays if there was perfect attendance that week.  She is doing gymnastics this fall. Recently she was moved up to the next level and so her class is 90 minutes every Tuesday. The day before school started she finally said she was ready to ride her bike. She got on it and took off. She's now pretty much an expert.  Thank goodness. Both Brian and I were starting to worry that she might be one of those adults that just NEVER LEARNED to ride. But,no, she was just waiting for her time. Just like Leo the Late Bloomer. I'm proud of her for mastering it!

Tanner is in fourth grade this year and he was assigned Mr. Borjian (the same 4th grade teacher Jake had who we all loved) but he had no friends in his class and his third grade teacher agreed with Brian and I that socially he would be much better off in the other class, so at the last minute he was placed into Mrs. Stice's class. He was very happy. He really likes his teacher and is already being more social, even hanging out at the Merc on his own with buddies after school on Friday.  One of his teacher aids suggested that we have him tested for GATE. Not sure if we will or not- but if you were to look up the words "Smart but Scattered" in the dictionary his little blond head would be there. He's so bright, but quietly so, and being the middle child we are both aware of how easy it is for him to slide under the radar.  And in a very haphazard way.  He's playing fall baseball with the 11/12 Dodgers. He's playing up for the fall for the experience. Brian is assistant coach. So far so good. I find that I miss baseball when we have time off! And since both boys practice on the same nights, which happen to be the night Faith has gymnastics, it means we only have sports commitments on Tues/Thurs.which is great!

Jake started middle school at Hillside. He made the adjustment pretty easily. He was really nervous and there were some tears in the days leading up to his first day, but he did great. He's so adaptable and so responsible. He is taking the bus which means he has to be up at 6AM and at the bus stop by 640.  Brian and Jackson walked him to the bus stop each day last week so Jackson thinks this middle school gig is awesome! He loves one of his teachers (reading and writing) but dislikes another (math).  He came home on the first day with a new friend- Maddie.  A girl, of course. He's now texting with her anytime he is awake so I guess she's his "girlfriend". He is also playing fall baseball, after deciding NOT to play middle school football as planned. I think both Brian and I were a little relieved. He went to the first two practices and maybe was a little intimidated. The weight limit is 120 but he is only 85 pounds and some of those guys are BIG, plus he didn't really like the coach.  He has taken to spending a few hours each Sunday with Papa and god help anyone that gets in the way of that one-on-one time! Those two are peas in a pod. Such a blessing.

So the kids are back in school which means Brian and I are back on an even keel after a long, difficult summer of trying to balance family and work all under one roof 24-7.  Brian moved his gym out to the garage so I could have a private office space upstairs in the bonus room. That took us a good two weekends as it involved building a floor in the garage, rearranging the garage from top to bottom, then rearranging all the furniture in the office to make two separate office spaces. But now that it is done it is AWESOME. I just found that with work getting so much busier (I took another promotion last month and am now Director of Implementation for the West Coast) it was getting harder and harder to be in the same office as Brian and not feel pulled in a million different directions. I'm not nearly as good at multi tasking as he is.  Now my mornings consist of  an early wake up with Jake some morning yoga in my "office",  then working upstairs with my beautiful view and new office space. Brian's not so sure about the new arrangement... but it's not like I go up there at 8 and he doesn't see me until 5. I"m up and down throughout the day.

Redfish Reunion

Our last hurrah of summer 2015 was a family trip to Redfish Lake Lodge with Kim's family, Lisa's family, mom, and Sheila and Wayne.  We spent the weekend in Boise first and had everyone to dinner at our house Saturday night, including Dad. We enjoyed eating outside and then had a family photo session with a local photographer which we had bought for mom for Mother's Day. We had dad in some of the pictures and some with just mom and the kids.

Sunday morning we took off, in 4 different cars, to head up to the Sawtooth Mountains. We checked in just in time to hear some live music and enjoy our birthday with some cocktails and dinner by the lake. It was a pretty nice way to usher in 44.

Each family had their own cabin but they were all close to each other. The resort is small and homey and includes a pier with boats for rent and a restaurant, plus a grill/bar by the lake. There's plenty of space for the kids to play. We brought up two new lawn games: Washer Toss and Spike Ball,  The adults liked washer toss while the kids played lots of spike ball. The first day most of us went on a long hike to view a waterfall while Brian and Faith stayed back to go fishing. That night the adults went out for a nice dinner at the lodge while the kids ordered burgers, ate by the lake, then played Apples to Apples and ate their weight in salt water taffy back in one of the cabins.

Tuesday we rented several paddle boards and a kayak. I took a nice long kayak trip with Lisa around the cove to check out our scouted location for the planned cookout that night. The lake was beautiful. Later that day I got the chance to take a long solo paddleboard trip. The kids switched off and also spent an inordinate amount of time digging a HUGE hole in the sand. The older girls all flirted with the cute boys playing football and made Jake their wingman. He was perfect for the job- he inserted himself confidently into their game then got their instagram accounts, asked their names, and got the girls "hooked up" on social media with them. Too funny.

That night we brought hotdogs and s'more fixings to a nearby beach. Brian and the boys fished, the older girls went in search of the football boys, and Faith did gymnastics on the nearby fallen log. It was peaceful and fun. It ended up with Jake, Tanner, and Aidan swimming in the near dark and freezing their butts off!

The trip went quickly and in no time we had to pack up and head back to Boise. But not before making plans to come back next year- with or without extended family!

Erics Wedding

So we are pretty significantly behind on the blog posting, compounded by some sign-in issues between our ISP and Google that I am trying to work thru (yay technical support!)....so this is Brian, even though it says posted by Marisa until Google gets things fixed.

Marisa wrote about our trip to CA earlier. The main reason for the trip was Eric's wedding and she left that one up to me to write about, which seemed fair. We weren't really ever sure this event was going to take place. Not that things might be called off or whatever because once they said they were doing it, I figured it was a done deal, but because I was never sure that Eric would get to this place anyway.

My cousin Eric is his own man, and leads a life fully of his own choosing (which is awesome), BUT not many people would choose that life. He has been working for the Warriors (mainly) since he was 10 years old and is one of the longest serving member of the organization. He loves and is passionate about what he does, it is just a CONSUMING lifestyle. He gets to work with some of the best athletes in the world in a sport that he has loved all his life and it makes him happy (which is more than most of us can say). It is just likely that you'll find him packing bags at 12:30 in the morning or finishing laundry at 2:00 AM. The wedding (and honeymoon) were the end of a pretty special year for "Uncle Eric" as the Warriors won their first NBA title since 1975 and he was on the court and in the locker room for the celebration.

I was never sure that he would find someone willing to put up with, let alone, buy into that kind of lifestyle, but he did! Codi and he are great together and we were thrilled to be able to go to Tahoe and celebrate their big day with them. A world championship followed by a wedding!

The wedding itself was gorgeous, set in Zephyr Cove on Lake Tahoe at dusk. It was a beautiful ceremony and the bride looked stunning. The reception afterwards was a lot of fun with great food and I got to see a lot of family that I haven't seen in a long time. The kids and their cousins had a blast in the photo booth and on the dance floor. Faith got to dance with Codi and Jake got a picture with both the bride and groom. The party ended too early for all the kids but they were exhausted and crashed as soon as we got back to the house.

It was a great trip highlighted by a once in a lifetime event. What a great way to see and spend time with Family. Congrats to Eric and Codi!

Eric's Wedding Trip

Our big family summer trip this year revolved around Brian's cousin Eric's wedding. We left Boise on Saturday July 25th after Faiths final swim meet. The meet was a fast one so we were on the road by 11am. With lunch, energy drinks, Starbucks, and road snacks on hand we turned on a good Spotify playlist and hit the road. It was an easy drive to Reno where we leaned yet again that any hotel room that costs less than 100 is not worth the savings.  Wow. Downtown Reno is not a nice place! The kids wanted to swim but when we checked I there were police officers kicking people out of the street side pool so we quickly made other plans. We made our annual pilgrimage to Scheels instead where the kids picked out first day of school clothes. 

After a pretty crappy nights sleep we headed to Kim's house in Mountain View where the kids hung out at the park and Jake got to see his Instagram girlfriend Ava. Kim and I got some time alone for coffee and shopping then we had nice dinner at their house.  

The next morning, after a few phone calls putting out fires about Dad at Paramount, we drove to Livermore to re-live some old times. We went to Nations for breakfast and drove by the old house. We wandered around downtown a little but and pointed out places of interest from our old life to the kids. We got to the Perottis house around noon and hung out by their pool all day. They have three boys and all the kids all played non stop. Brian and Jake left for the Giants game (a Christmas present from last Christmas) at 5 and the rest of us continued to hang out at the pool, watch the game on TV and eat take out. It was so much fun to spend time with Lisa and Dave and they were awesome hosts. We are hoping they get their butts to Boise soon- after all it has been 9 YEARS!!!

We drove to south Lake Tahoe the next day and spent the night at a good hotel right by Harvey's. We wandered down to the beach and then around Heavenly where the kids played a round of mini golf while we went shopping. We had a nice dinner outside then later came back out for dessert. The next morning we found a beach and hung out for a few hours while the kids played in the sand and we read our books. We did a crappy job packing so we had no beach chairs and no cooler so we spent a bit of money to rent chairs and pay for drinks. Weather was perfect. 

That afternoon we headed to the cabin where the Crebar's and Mary arranged. The kids re-united with their cousins and had a blast sleeping together- all 8 of them- in the large bonus room upstairs. We had spaghetti dinner and a fun round of apples to apples. The next day we headed to Zephyr Cove beach to see Auntie Sue and check out the wedding spot. The cousins played most of the day, like always when on a beach our children mostly spent their time digging holes!!! Only negative part of day occurred when I realized that a can of spray sunscreen had leaked all over my cell phone which necessitated a trip to the AT&T store where we were told there was no way to fix it. Ugh. So I now have a new iPhone. Brian and I were in charge of dinner that night, so taco night it was. 

Callen latched onto Tanner.  Faith latched onto Kylie and Jake hung with Christian.  They all get along so well. Hoping the Crebars also make a trip to Boise soon!