New Year's Eve 12-31-18

Happy New Year! We had fun celebrating at the Conne's annual New Year's Eve party. Cecily wanted to leave early, but she ended up having a good time and made it to the new year. http://pix.sfly.com/UaS578

Deines Christmas 12-29-18

Since Caren's parents and brother's family all went up to San Jose for Christmas, we celebrated today when they all got back to southern California. http://pix.sfly.com/qD873W

Knott's 12-27-18

We braved the crowds for the morning at Knott's so Kaylei could use her free day with her new Knott's pass. Caren enjoyed a few rides by herself while the girls went off and did their own thing. We left once the lines for rides and even food got ridiculous. Looking forward to coming back to Knott's next week with the cousins! http://pix.sfly.com/-UOxWa

Christmas 12-25-18

Merry Christmas! We had a nice quiet Christmas at home this year. On Christmas eve day, Cecily and Richard played some golf and then made a gingerbread house, which will hopefully also give Cecily some extra credit for her Accelerated Geometry class. Christmas Day, we wore matching pajamas (even Willow!) to celebrate the holiday. Cecily's favorite present was a new bear to replace the one she loved that was falling apart. We enjoyed prime rib for dinner, then took a walk through Brightwater to check out the holiday lights. http://pix.sfly.com/r-sBiu

Holiday Fun 12-22-18

Christmas is coming up fast! Cecily's golf and soccer teams decided to do a Secret Santa gift exchange. The golf girls did their exchange the week before at school, so we have no pictures from it. The soccer girls had theirs after Friday's practice along with pizza for lunch. On Saturday, the first day of Winter Break, Cecily had her annual ornament exchange party. It was a great way to kick off the holiday season. http://pix.sfly.com/6-Ah-A

Soccer vs HBHS 12-20-18

Cecily was not feeling well again, so she sat out for the second league game against HBHS. Huntington Beach girls were super aggressive and running circles around our girls. We knew a few girls on the other team from AYSO and middle school. Marina ended up losing 0-3. Even though Kaylei attends HBHS, she sat on the Marina side to help support Cecily and Ava. http://pix.sfly.com/pzDJkx

Soccer vs Los Alamitos 12-18-18

Marina had their first league game (and first away game) against Los Alamitos. The girls had to ride the bus together there and back. It was a tough game, and we lost 2-3. Number 8 on the Los Alamitos team was the daughter of Vivian, who works for Kelly at Earth Friendly Products. After their game, they had to stay and watch Varisty play before heading back on the bus. Coach Chuck was so nice to go to Costco to buy pizza for the freshman and JV girls to eat while they watched the Varsity game. http://pix.sfly.com/J3CV6m

Best in the West Soccer Tournament 12-15-18

What a crazy end to the Best in the West Soccer Tournament today!! In the morning, we played Mater Dei, where we knew a couple girls on the team. It was fun to reunite our Blue Lightning Bolts girls from spring of 2013 (Ava, Cecily, Alaina, and Katie). Both teams played well and ended the game tied 1-1, so we had to go into penalty kicks to determine the winner. Mater Dei missed 2 shots while the first four girls on our team made their goals. So we won 4-2 in penalty kicks. (waiting on pictures from Richard's camera...)

In the afternoon, Marina played Millikan in the championship game. This was where everything got a little crazy! Both teams seemed well-matched, but the other team started to come on a little more aggressive. The refs were not calling some dangerous plays, as our girls got knocked around. One of our girls got a yellow card, then another one of our girls who is on the smaller side was completely pushed down with no call. Her dad got upset and was thrown out of the game by the ref. Our coach told the ref that someone was going to get hurt, and then he got a yellow card for saying that. Then with no penalty being called, the other team got a free kick which ended up being scored into the goal. Everyone was confused as the ref let it stand and then there was a huge scuffle, with the same girl who was pushed down earlier. All of a sudden she was on the ground bleeding, and our coach had enough as he yelled for our girls to get off the field and end the game. So we lost the championship game 0-2 by forfeit as we ended the game early so our girls wouln't get hurt by the other team and the non-existent calls by the refs. So much craziness!!! (waiting on pictures from Richard's camera...)

Ocean View Soccer Tournament 12-14-18

Cecily missed the first team pasta party earlier this week due to a bad headache/migraine. We did sneak in a quick trip to Trader Joe's after school on Friday to take our annual Santa picture. After we took Cecily's picture, we realized they did dog photos too. So we ran home to grab Willow for her Santa photo as well.

Once we finished the Santa photos, we headed to the final soccer game for the Ocean View Winter Classic Tournament. Since Cecily was still not 100% and she really wanted to play the following day against Mater Dei, she sat this one out. Marina played Ocean View for the championship and won 2-0! Congrats to Marina Frosh/Soph girls soccer! http://pix.sfly.com/x_K4uc

Boat Parade 12-09-18

This year's boat parade theme was Space Odyssey. Caren had spent the night up in San Marino to help babysit Michelle's twins while her parents were in South Dakota for the weekend. Once she got home, we headed to our annual boat parade party at Kelly's house.

It was a fun night with dinner, watching the boat parade, then taking a boat ride around the harbour to see all the holiday lights. http://pix.sfly.com/DhWxsk

Best in the West Soccer Tournament 12-08-18

Another weekend, another soccer tournament. In the morning, Marina played Lakewood High School in the Best in the West Tournament at Pacifica High School. Our girls out ran and out passed the other team and won 4-0. http://pix.sfly.com/4NOYoz

We grabbed a quick lunch before heading back to Pacifica for the afternoon game against Esperanza High School. The girls played a great game with some good shots on goal and won 3-1. http://pix.sfly.com/6n1NGz

Ocean View Soccer Tournament 12-07-18

We played Ocean View High School in the semi-final round of the Ocean View tournament. One of the first plays of the game, Cecily almost scored a goal playing defense. Ocean View's goalie, Nivea, was on our Soakers AYSO team, and one of their defensive players, Emma, used to be in our Lion's Heart group as well as our playgroup way back in the day. Cecily was bummed that her friend Sam was on JV and not the Frosh team, but we did bump into her after the game which Marina won 2-0. http://pix.sfly.com/1wQWZq

Richard's Birthday 12-02-18

Happy Birthday, Richard! We spent a relaxing day at home, and then Richard and Cecily enjoyed an afternoon at Meadowlark Golf Course. http://pix.sfly.com/KRoS-h

Ocean View Soccer Tournament 12-01-18

Cecily's first high school soccer tournament was the Ocean View Tournament. Our first game was against Laguna Beach High School, who we will also be playing during our regular soccer season. Exciting game with lots of great passing and and shooting on goal. Marina won 3-0. http://pix.sfly.com/gHMq-v

The second game of the day was against Burbank. Marina girls did a fantastic job with passing and won the game 4-0. http://pix.sfly.com/dygnrG

Soccer vs Pacifica 11-29-18

The girls played Pacifica High School today and tied 1-1. http://pix.sfly.com/Pj979H

Soccer Pictures & Pasta Night 11-27-18

The Marina soccer team had their pictures taken after school on the turf field. Later that evening, they also had their first pasta party in the school cafeteria. It was a good team bonding day. http://pix.sfly.com/Qkgdrw

Knott's Merry Farm 11-25-18

We spent a fun day at Knott's Merry Farm to check out all their holiday decorations and shows with Caren's family. Looking forward to Knott's trips with the Clarks next year! http://pix.sfly.com/MRV0e7

Thanksgiving 11-22-18

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a relaxing day with a delicious turkey dinner for just the three of us at home followed by some fun Black Friday shopping with friends. http://pix.sfly.com/oWcsZC

Soccer vs Cypress 11-20-18

Cecily had her very first high school soccer game with a scrimmage against Cypress High School. It was a good game with both teams playing well offensively and defensively. Our team had several shots on goal that didn't score, but we finally did score right before the end of the game. What a great first win 1-0! http://pix.sfly.com/AEwG_V

Twins 11-19-18

We headed up to Pasadena for Caren's eye appointment, then stopped by to see Michelle and the twins. Our first visit at the hospital, we held Baby A (Lucas). Our second visit when they got home, we met and held Baby B (Damian). This time, Caren finally got to hold both babies and she got her picture with both twins, Lucas and Damian (even though one of them was sleeping in the swing)! http://pix.sfly.com/HxCsZr

Disney Day & Club 33 11-17-18

We had a fabulous Disney Day to celebrate Caren's 40th birthday. Starting early at Disneyland, we first rode Small World Holiday and saw some characters before hopping over to California Adventure. Because they ran out of fastpasses and the line was long, we did single rider for Radiator Springs Racers where we also followed Kelly Clarkson off the ride. We took some more pictures and rode the Little Mermaid ride and then headed back to Disneyland. After riding Matterhorn, Tea Cups, and Big Thunder, we met up with Paige. The girls ran off while Richard and Caren changed into nicer outfits at the First Aid bathroom. We randomly ran into Caren's cousin Katelyn who was at the park with her sorority sisters. She told us that she would be happy to show Cecily around UCSB if she was interested in visiting. Then it was finally time for our amazing Club 33 dinner with Kelly and Eric. The last time we were in Club 33 was 2005, and Cecily walked for the first time there! Since then, they have moved their entrance and remodeled. Paige and Cecily had clam chowder bread bowls for dinner and rode rides while we enjoyed our evening in Club 33. We were able to watch the fireworks from the windows of the club before enjoying Fantasmic with reserved seats. After the show, we utilized our Club 33 fastpasses to squeeze in some last minute rides before the park closed. What a wonderful birthay celebration! http://pix.sfly.com/oB-PxC

Caren's Birthday & Knott's 11-15-18

Happy 40th Birthday, Caren! Richard was sick and Cecily had three tests to study for, so Caren headed to the Knott's Passholder Holiday Party by herself for a fun and festive night. http://pix.sfly.com/KAKjYM

Golf Banquet 11-13-18

Our golf season officially came to an end with our End of the Season Banquet at Meadowlark Golf Course. Dinner, pictures, awards, and a slideshow ended the fun night out. Now on to soccer! http://pix.sfly.com/KUP9n_

Tomi 11-11-18

Tomi flew out from New York all by herself for her birthday weekend. She stayed with Kayla Thursday until Sunday. We picked her up Sunday morning for some miniature golf. Then that evening, we met up with Paige. Caren dropped the girls off at Pacific City where they grabbed dinner (Cecily's first sit down restaurant with no parents), shopped, and walked through downtown back to Paige's house. Monday morning, we dropped Tomi off at the Long Beach airport before heading up to Pasadena for Caren's hair appointment. http://pix.sfly.com/3cJq3E

Friends 11-04-18

Cecily and Kennedy were excited to see the new "Nutcracker" movie. They grabbed lunch before the movie, then enjoyed Roasting Water drinks afterwards. http://pix.sfly.com/g5vFEQ

Family Birthday Dinner 11-03-18

We celebrated Caren's birthday early with her family at the Summit House. Almost 40! http://pix.sfly.com/j5dj65

Halloween 10-31-18

Happy Halloween! Cecily, Kaylei, and Nicolette were the Things from Dr. Seuss, and we trick or treated in Brightwater along with Willow dressed up as a hot dog. http://pix.sfly.com/NvWNQo