Saturday

Dan finally had a free Saturday, so he got a group of guys together from the ward to bike the Tahoe Rim Trail.  Our ward has quite a few mountain bikers, so it was fun for them to all go out together.  It was Dan’s first time riding in Tahoe and he had been looking forward to it for a few weeks.  He said it was a great trail and a really fun ride.  Not to mention it had some awesome views!  There’s Sand Harbor down below.  (These pictures are all courtesy of Mark Bowers.)    

While Dan was gone I took the girls to their soccer games.  I’m not sure who gets more excited for their games . . . . me or them:)  I just love watching them play!  Annie is really loving soccer, much to my surprise!  Haha . . . . she is definitely liking it more than I thought she would. (I’m basing this on the fact that last year she did not want to play at all.)  But she always wants to play in our backyard and she loves going to practices and games.  This is her first year playing, and I’ve already seen a huge improvement since the beginning of the season.  That lady in the background is the coach’s mom.  She’s hilarious.  Her and her husband go to all the practices and games, so I guess she’s an assistant coach?  Anyway, she is always yelling at Annie (in an encouraging way).  “Go, Annie!”  “That ball is yours, Annie!”  “Get in there, Annie!”  I’m not sure if she thinks Annie needs that extra push or if she just really likes Annie, but either way, it’s actually kind of nice because then I don’t feel like I have to yell as much.  She’s got it covered!                              

This was Annie’s 3rd game of the season, and she scored her FIRST GOAL!!!!  I was so proud of her!  It was the first goal of the game.  Here she is with Ashby (her friend from school and church) after just scoring her goal.

Giving me thumbs up when I told her to smile for the camera!

This little boy is kind of hard to take to the games.  He just wants to run out onto the field!  Good thing I have Leah to chase him down for me.

Then a few hours later it was Leah’s turn! 

She had a sweet breakaway here, and dribbled all the way down and scored a goal!!!  Way to go, Leah!!!

I just love Saturday soccer games and watching my girls play!

Then after the games, when Dan met up with us, we all went to Yogurt Beach.  Because I may have said something in the car on the way to their games about taking them out to ice cream if they scored goals . . . . Hey!  It worked, didn’t it??

Saturday evening I went to the stake center for dinner and the General Relief Society broadcast.  The broadcast was really good, and I especially loved President Uchtdorf’s talk with his analogy of the forget-me-not flowers.  It’s amazing how fast images about his talk were popping up all over the internet.  Here are two I especially liked:

After the broadcast, a group of 8 of us went to BJ’s to get some pizookies for dessert.  It was so fun having a little girls night out and chatting the night away! 

It was a great Saturday!

Adrienne’s Baby Shower

I was so excited to throw this baby shower for Adrienne.  She has 3 boys, and is just thrilled to be having a girl!  Adrienne’s sister-in-law, Camille, offered to help me.  I’m so glad she did because it was fun getting to know her!  (She lives in South Reno).  Earlier in the day, I was driving with Leah in the car, telling her that we were going to buy some food for Adrienne’s baby shower, when she asked, “Is it like you put babies in the shower?”  Haha . . . . she must not have been around when I had explained to Annie what exactly a baby shower was.  So, no, Leah, no showering of babies took place . . . . but we did have a really fun night!  Everything turned out really nice.  We did my kitchen table in all yellow and grey, and then all the appetizers were on my kitchen island.  I made spinach dip with bread, a big fruit platter with yummy dip, and the strawberry cheesecake trifle.  Then I had some friends bring a 7 layer dip with chips, black bean salsa, and a vegetable tray.  Everything was so good!

   

There were people there from Adrienne’s different walks of life, so as she opened each gift, whosever gift it was had to say a memory of the first time they met Adrienne and/or give her advice on raising a girl.  It was a good way to get to know each other and get some fun conversation going while Adrienne opened her gifts.  Below, Angela is giving Adrienne some great girl advice! 

  

Adrienne’s cute little niece, Lily.  She was a great present helper, and then she escaped to the upstairs to play with my girls:)

Camille, me, Adrienne, Angela, Stefanie, and Megan

And me and Camille with Adrienne.  It was a great party and Adrienne got lots of cute stuff.  We can’t wait to meet that little baby girl!

Reno Balloon Race Video!

Hot Air Balloons

Just like last year, we met up with the Lee’s at 6 a.m., made a quick donut stop, and headed on over to Rancho San Rafael Park to watch the Great Reno Balloon Race!  Still not really sure why they call it a “race.”  The balloons just go up and then seem to land where ever the wind blows them.  It’s pretty fun to watch though and the kids just love it!  We went on Friday this time instead of Saturday and it was significantly less crowded.  Definitely the better day to go.  And Dan had the day off, so that was nice.  He didn’t have to rush off to work like he did last year.  Annie did have school, but we got her there in time:)