Garden IS Growing

Here is a picture of how much our garden has grown. We ate fresh spinach, yellow squash, and zuchinni today.

Melanee Came Home

Bradley and Andrew made a poster for us to bring to the airport when we got Melanee today, but they had scout camp, so here's a picture of Bradley with the sign at home. Scott and I went to the airport and held up the sign as the plane landed and drove down the runway toward us. Melanee was on the correct side of the plane, so she saw us and waved. She was also the second person off the plane, so that was exciting. We were the only ones there with a sign.

She didn't know anyone on her plane, but as everyone unloaded, we recognized two people who we knew.....one was a friend who was coming home after a 2.5 week stay in Amsterdam. He had never heard of any Hoonings, but had a suitcase full of ORANJE soccer memorabilia. The other was actually the lady who I had just dropped her son off at scout camp because she got to go out of town for her birthday. Small world!

I think Melanee is happy to be home.

Cub Scout Twilight Camp

Today was the first day of day camp for Bradley and Andrew. We also brought one of their friends. He is older than Andrew, I didn't realize until today how much smaller he is than Andrew.....and he is more photogenic....I MADE them smile for at least one photo-----

I think they had fun. The theme is "All American Sports". They got back sacks, hats, t shirts and water bottles. At each activity they got a sport themed pin for their hats. Andrew got to do archery today, so he was happy. Bradley liked a soccer challenge. They were all in different groups. I knew Andrew's leader, but Andrew didn't. Bradley said his leader and all the kids in his group were weird, but Bradley thinks he's so cool, so I don't really think he is a reliable source for other kids weirdness. I better get those light yellow t shirts washed tonight, they show dirt very clearly!

Chopping Wood

Bradley has been chopping wood the past 2 days. His hands are covered in blisters.

New Tooth

Bradley got his broken tooth fixed today. Here is the before picture.

Here it is after his dentist appointment...our dentist is a hero, right!???

more soccer ramblings

Not one person commented on my last soccer post and I've talked to more than one person this week who told me, straight to my FACE, that they don't read my blog posts about soccer, hockey, or basketball....but I have a few more World Cup thoughts to write down....if I ever make this into a book, don't you think I'd like to re live this 2010 World Cup? (uh, maybe not, but OH well, I'm living it now...so HERE GOES-)

SO many people have visited my blog looking for "Carlos Bocanegra's teeth". So I did some research on my own to find out why they are looking that up. I googled and found NOTHING. So I got out my USA World Cup video tapes (I have 3 of the games, not the one I missed while at Girls camp). And sure enough, if you watch the National Anthems, Carlos is smiling his wonderful, huge smile. On the first two tapes, his teeth look pretty fabulous...on the last one he definitely has a chipped or broken center tooth or teeth. Wonder what happened and why there is no press on it. I'm thinking it didn't happen during a soccer game, maybe it happened in the rec room. Maybe there was a pool, ping pong, or (hopefully not) dart accident. Maybe it happened in the weight room? Maybe he and Stevie were roughhousing in their hotel room? Interesting...I really want to know what happened to Carlos's teeth. (Now that I just blogged about it again, more hits are going to come to my blog from others searching, huh? lol)

While watching the National Anthems (remember I absolutely love that part of the game) I noticed something odd.....VERY odd. In fact, I think I noticed it earlier and just set the thoughts aside, but JOZY freaking Altidore does NOT put his hand over his heart during the National Anthem. I am a cub scout leader and an American, and HEY, what is wrong with that guy, does he not have any respect, any patriotism!?!?!!? Any sense of country, nationality, anything???? Jerk! Well, I've thought similar thoughts towards Evgeni Nabokov during the National Anthem at Sharks games. He squats down, sticks out his rear, fidgets, stretches, looks around, oblivious to the few minutes where he should be respecting the country that funds his PAYCHECK! But, he is RUSSIAN, he does NOT have a sense of national pride toward AMERICA or it's flag or it's anthem, but JOZY, you are playing soccer for the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, cover your dang heart! Or, here's a better idea, go play for Haiti! ugh!!!!

I need to change paragraphs, as taught in high school English class, but I want to still write about the National Anthem. Or mistakes being made DURING the National Anthem, haha! I guess Jay DeMerit was never a Cub Scout or he went to an Open Structure school which taught the kids the US National Anthem in SPANISH (WHAT?!?! <--- true story). But Jay De Merit actually covers his heart and looks at the flag and may have even been singing the words, so he does have some respect for his country and flag and freedoms, etc.....but ..... SERIOUSLY, Jay!!!...........don't you know that you are supposed to cover your heart with your RIGHT hand????????????????????????????? Why didn't someone next to him correct him? Or was he doing it ON PURPOSE? Interesting. Maybe Jay should go play for Haiti, too.

June 28th

Today is Scott and my 21st anniversary. I should break out the scanner and show you all a picture from our wedding day 21 years ago. Man, time sure does fly...and MAN have we gotten OLD! haha.

Come back tomorrow and there may be pictures for you to laugh at.

Happy Anniversary Scott!

Encampment

William got back on Friday from a week long scouting activity in the Trinity Alps. They did some hiking, a service project, and 16 miles of white water rafting. Sounds SO fun.....especially the white water rafting. Here is a picture of the crew on his raft....looks like William got a front row seat. And look, they all have on their life jackets, unlike our family when we rafted in the Truckee River....wonder if the water was slightly rougher? William came back with a pretty bad sun burn on the top of his back where the life jacket didn't cover him.

Coming Home!!!

I think Melanee's friends like her...........a little. They made her brownies, milkshakes, and threw her a going away party yesterday. She comes home on Wednesday. I can't wait! I love her, too. (Thanks SVU friends for sharing her and letting her finally come home....you probably wont ever see her face again at another summer school session!)

USA loses

I bet some of you have come to visit my blog to read all about the USA/Ghana game. I am NOT happy! I don't really want to write about it! But I think I will anyway.....then I'll stop thinking about it, hopefully!

I sometimes look at the tracker thing on the bottom left hand side of my blog and see where people who come to my blog are from. By this feature I can also see what they've typed in to find my blog. A few people the past few weeks were looking for Jonny Bornstein. Someone today was looking for "What happened to Carlos Bocanegra's teeth?" HAHA, now that has me curious? What has happened to them...haha...you're not going to find that on MY blog, you can see Bradley's ugly tooth, but not anything about Carlos. Some others found me by "Bob Baldley"..."National Anthem wrong hand", and "goalie lavender cleats". I wonder if these random people actually stop and read this nonsense!

I don't think the US played bad soccer, I just think to win a soccer game you need to score goals, and the US failed to do that. This whole World Cup tournament NONE of the STRIKERS scored a goal. That's pitiful. Playing from down a goal uses up a lot more energy, too. I know the US is a fit team, but they've only had a few days of rest and having to try to come from behind makes them very tired!

Findley missed his 1 v. 1 with the goalie. Clark lost the ball to set up Ghana's first score. Those two shouldn't have been out there in the first place. I may have mentioned this but Findley plays in the MLS, that means he plays in a fairly EASY soccer league, in terms of world class talent. And he is a striker.... a forward...his job is to SCORE GOALS...and he has scored only 1 this whole season. He is not very good. And Clark, he played cuz he had "fresh legs"....yeah, those fresh legs cough up the ball in the middle of the field. He played in the MLS last year on a team with two other USMNT members and they didn't win many games and didn't even make it to the MLS Cup. He is not very good. They other teams in the World Cup play their strongest mid fielders in the center of the mid field. The US keeps our best (Donovan and Dempsey) on the outside. This causes players like Clark to have to mark the other team's best, he can NOT. He is not skilled enough, not fast enough, not smart enough, and he has no passing skills what so ever. Edu came on for him after only 30 minutes and what a difference that made in controlling the mid field.

I think Jozy Altidore is still ill or got injured on one of his flops, or like my analysis of the games, he is JUST LAZY because he was again NO WHERE today. Hello, Jozy, this is the World Cup, the grandest stage of soccer....time to play your hardest. What are you saving it for?

I think Clint Dempsey makes a pretty good punching bag. How many times was he clobbered today? He is going to be SORE tomorrow. OUCH!

I don't think the loss can be blamed on the defense like a lot of people probably want to do. Yeah, the guy outwhit, outran, outshot them, but if the offense would have done their job and scored, the game would have been closer and I bet the US could have won in a shoot out. (Although, that Ghana goalie had a great game.) Back during the hockey playoffs the Sharks faced a goalie whose specialty was stopping the low shots, so the Sharks needed to adjust and hit the puck high, not just keep shooting it where he could always get them.....well, today, some of those shots would have went in with some lift, the goalie was already down low, sliding, CHIP them up over him!

I was very happy that Jonny Bornstein played well. I really hate when naysayers in the press or just random people bad mouth Jonny or the coach for playing Jonny, so I really wanted him to play well. On the other side of the back, I don't think Chereundolo had a very good game today. And he keeps doing those little tiny baby weak throw ins THAT DON'T WORK. We were yelling at the tv, "Throw it like Tamara!" He wouldn't.......or couldn't. Frustrating. I read somewhere that he is tied with 6 other players as the shortest player in the World Cup, but during the Nat'l Anthem, he sure looked taller than Donovan. haha.

Dempsey AGAIN tried to kick a ball that SHOULD HAVE BEEN HEADED. He needs some coaching from Wally. I have seen highlights of Clint scoring fabulous header goals so I know he can do it, but WAY too often he flails his foot toward high balls, doesn't he know- THAT will never work.

Benny played fantastic. He ALMOST made goals a few times. I know ALMOST isn't good enough in soccer, but he made the game a lot more exciting with his effort, hustle, and speed. He ran everywhere, helping everyone and creating plays, shots, passes for his teammates.

I know Stuart Holden just recently had a broken leg and that he is still very young, but I wish he would have got more playing time. Limiting teams to 3 subs is a really TOUGH rule. The two back up goalies, Spector and Goodson never even got into a World Cup game. I'm sad for them. Also, the 7 guys who got cut to make the final 23, I feel sad for them, too.....and some of these final 23 players didn't even play in even ONE game of qualifying for the World Cup, what's up with that?!?!?!

I think that Howard possibly COULD have stopped BOTH goals. The first one went past him on the near post, he should have had that covered. The second goal, he came way out, then stopped, then put his hands up too late. If he would have stood up straight, it may have hit him in the forehead. Slow reactions, bad positioning. He could have done better. Speaking of goalies, this is a funny stat...the back up goalie Marcus Hahnemann is the oldest player in the World Cup and also the HEAVIEST, haha. Probably not the best categories to lead!

I think the United States government should stop sending any aid to the country of Ghana (if they even do) because look at what Ghana has done to us both times we've played them in the World Cup! They knocked us out! Both TIMES!!! And I also thought they played with a lot of bad sportsmanship. When they had the lead they were very effective at stalling and wasting the clock. They faked injuries and stayed down forever. They walked slowly on throw ins and free kicks. They subbed off the furthest guy on the field for a sub and he walked to the sideline slapping teammates and chatting about the weather as he went. Bad Sportsmanship! (But I think the US would have done the same.)

Do you think it's time for me to take down my World Cup decorations? Nah, I think I'll pick another team to root for. I like Spain, they are great passers. I like Portugal, they have Cristiano Ronaldo and good uniforms. I like Chilie because that's where Elder Rameriz is from and they have tons of guys out with yellow card violations, so I hope they win their next game so those guys can get to play in another game. I don't like Mexico cuz when the US played there they threw pee in bottles and throw up in cups at Landon Donovan when he took corner kicks, so I wont ever like them, although I do like to laugh at Blanco run and wear a tight shirt. He is ridiculous!!!!! I could root for Argentina, their coach cracks me up. I will root for Uraguay to beat Ghana, cuz they beat us, so I want them gone...(which is a very different feeling than I had back when the Blackhawks beat the Sharks. Back then I wanted the Blackhawks to win it all to show the world that they were good, that the Sharks lost to a good team, but I want Ghana gone now.) They will lose, they aren't very good. I like Germany's uniforms and I like Michael Ballak, even though William and Melanee don't....but he's not playing, so I don't really care about Germany. I want Rooney to play really awful so that the Nike commercial will come true, I can easily picture him in real life with a nasty beard, living in a trailer, lining soccer fields.....haha.....I don't want England to win. So, that brings me to the team that broke Stuart Holden's leg. How can I like the Netherlands???? They hurt Stu. But my grandpa is from Holland, they are good, and I really like their ORANGE team colors, even though they wore red, white, and blue last game. Go Orange! go Dutch!!!

Who are you going to root for now that our favorite boys are heading home?

Ughhhh, chipped tooth

As a mom I have a few fears....there are two that really haunt me, two that I seriously worry about. The first is that one of my kids will poke their eye out. I have feared this for many years. One time, even, William was jumping on the couch with scissors, fell, and screamed, cried bloody murder...I ran in the room to see him holding his eye, FREAKED me out.....BIG TIME. The other, more minor, but still fearful fear is that of my kids CHIPPING their teeth. One time Melanee was riding down a driveway on a skateboard FACE FIRST, my first thought was "she is going to CHIP HER TEETH"...and guess WHAT??? She did, just at about the same instant I thought the thought. It made me mad and semi freaked me out. We'll have to ask her, but I am SURE I yelled at her before comforting her!!! Well, today, we went back to the swimming pool we have access to and Bradley jumped out of the pool and said, "I chipped my tooth". He walked away from where I was, but he kept saying, "I chipped my tooth." I didn't think he was kidding, but I also didn't think it was more than a sliver of a chip. I sorta went towards him asking, "Which tooth"? I said, "Not the $4,000 tooth???" "Say it ISN'T the $4,000 tooth!?!?" When he showed me his mouth, bloody, chin scraped up, crying.....I think I yelled something to the effect of him WASTING $4,000 to get that tooth fixed, before I comforted him for his pain or misery. And later when asked why he was crying he DID SAY that it was out of fear of me being mad MORE than it was for him being injured.

We don't have keys to the house where we swim and I am not sure how to call information, so I called Scott to get me the dentist's phone number. He took FOREVER to find it. When I finally called them they were out at lunch until 2:00. I wanted to ask them if we needed to search the bottom of the pool for the tooth piece. About half of the tooth was broken off. The kid we had with us was a fairly good swimmer and we sent him to the bottom of the pool, but he only came up with rocks. I even got in, but I am NOT a very good swimmer (to say the LEAST). Andrew tried, but the deep end is VERY deep, the pool has a diving board, so that fact should tell you that it is not a shallow pool. Bradley went down to the bottom a few times, too. We got out the net thing, but that didn't work. I thought about turning on the bottom vacuum thingy since Richard told me it had a net and we could search through the net later) but I didn't know how to turn it on....and since there were so many little rick things on the bottom, it probably didn't do a very good job of picking up everything. So Scott left work and came over. He stripped off his shirt and shoes and began swimming in his pants. He went down and up over a couple dozen times. And GUESS WHAT!?!?! yeah, he DID find the half of tooth!!!!!

We went to the dentist and he is going to be able to put some kind of white tooth matter onto Bradley's tooth that is still left, so after next Tuesday Bradley should look back to normal.

I don't know how many of you know the story behind why that tooth is known as the $4,000 tooth, but it is because Bradley's front, top , left baby tooth never got loose....one dentist appointment, they finally took an x ray of the front of his mouth and found above the baby tooth there was a "false" tooth or just tooth matter that wasn't really a tooth, it didn't have a root, no way to push itself down and the baby tooth loose. Above that, near his nose cavity was the real tooth. We had to go to a maxiofacial (don't know if that's the right word, but you get the idea) surgeon and have the baby tooth removed, the tooth matter removed surgically, and a brace type of device attached to the real tooth. We had to go to the Orthodontist and have braced put on to attach a wire to the new tooth and each week we went to the Orthodontist and he pulled the tooth further and further down. Over $1,000 for the surgery over $2,000 for the braces, and all the additional dentist visits, x rays and now a retainer make up the rest of the $4,000 price tag, therefore, that tooth, which is now only half a tooth, will always be known as the $4,000 tooth. Now these additional dental bills will come to about $250.00, I guess we can now call the tooth the $4,250 tooth!!!!

I tried to be funny on the ride home and I told Bradley, "haha, you've always wanted to be a hockey player, now you LOOK like one." He didn't think I was very funny!!!

USA USA USA

I could barely sleep last night...I don't know if it was because I was so excited for the game or because I had wet hair (that always bugs me, but I'm not about to blow dry it when the temp in our house is still unbearably hot) or because Bradley was feeling sick and kept coming into our room asking for a bucket (one time) and for his retainer (another time). I woke up at 6, knowing that the pre game show was beginning at 6:30, but I wanted to bake some cookies for the missionaries who were coming over at 7:30 (when they do service for us I always bake them cookies, they've even said I'm a better baker than RUTH DUNBAR (although, she told me she has never made them cookies, so I doubt that I am). I got the cookies made in time to see the national anthem, one of my favorite parts of the festivities.

While I was looking for the recipe (Chocolate Oatmeal No Bake Cookies) online I saw the US starting line up (yeah, it was on the cooking web site, NOT) and I noticed that Jonny Bornstein was starting. YAY! I couldn't really fathom it, but I figured that possibly Bob Bradley reads my blog, it is unexplainable any other way! I was REALLLLLLY excited by the news, but also a little nervous, I didn't want him to get easily beat and blamed for anything! Well, he played wonderfully. He had great timing and was able to cut off many, MANY attempted crosses, and the few times they got past him, he caught them. His upfield passes or clearings were fairly useful. When Melanee played outside fullback, I loved that she could actually get the ball to a person or an opening instead of kicking it just out upfield or just randomly blasting it to no where in particular, Jonny played like Melanee today.

In my last USMNT post I said that they should bench Onyewu if he wasn't 100%. I guess he isn't, cuz today he was a sub. Carlos Bocanegra played fine in the middle. Played fine and looked pretty fine, too. (I can say that, Scott only looks at the pictures!) No really big blunders from him. I did see a few times that the defenders weren't GOAL SIDE of their mark, and that really confused me, but I don't think Algeria was much of an offensive threat. They really didn't make ANYTHING of ANY of their chances. They hadn't scored even a single goal this whole World Cup. They had pretty good possession of the ball at times, they covered well on defense, and their goalie stopped just about everything that came his way....but did NOTHING with their scoring opportunities, (luckily for the US).

I kept yelling at the screen (the WHOLE game) get it to Donovan. And when he did have it, I'd scream, "keep it, take it yourself, don't pass it to Altidore". I read yesterday somewhere that Jozy Altidore didn't practice cuz he had an upset stomach.....well, maybe, but maybe he didn't practice cuz he's a LAZY BEAST. Lazy, does he EVER run? Does he ever challenge the defender or get in position after he has lost the ball? Does he WALK wherever he goes on the field? Show some EFFORT dude, this is an ELIMINATION game. Hustle! Move your body!

I thought Stevie Cherlundolo played another fabulous game. He is pretty exciting. A few games back I criticized his "youth soccer league" quality throw ins, but they haven't bugged me for a while now, so I have no problems with #6.

I heard that DeMerit had to get 5 stitches in his tongue after the game, wonder if he got injured when he dove onto the pile of players mobbing Donovan after the goal? Probably not, because DeMerit went in HARD on every play, every challenge, every tackle, he's tough.

If you watch closely Michael Bradley does a lot of running. I thought by now some of his hair would have grown out, it hasn't, so either he really is a cancer patient, which he looks like, or he shaves it every day. I guess we can keep calling him "Baldley". I didn't miss Torres or Clark, but who was playing beside Bradley today, cuz his game was so "memorable" that I don't even remember anything he did. (It was Edu, but he was non existent.)

Dempsey tried hard, but maybe TOO hard, cuz he sure was missing left and right today. Is he UNLUCKY, or was that sister of his, who is in heaven, just not watching over him today. Nah, that was MEAN, I shouldn't have wrote that! I think it just wasn't his day...the effort was there, the chances were there, the ball just had a mind of it's own....yeah, let's blame it on the ball. And the REFS....did they just call back ANOTHER perfectly good goal???? YEAH, they DID!!!!!!

Buddle was a striker, but he never struck. Waste of space on the field, waste of a uniform. Should have put in STU. Maybe bob Bradley doesn't read my blog. Maybe I write TOO much and he just looks at the pictures (like Scott) cuz I specifically told him to "PLAY STUART HOLDEN".

I thought Benny played spectacular when he was in. He was everywhere, on offense, on defense. I was sort of hoping he would be the HERO of the game, but I don't mind that the HERO, the Greatest American Hero, was Landon Donovan. He got the ball from Howard, brought it up, sent it out wide, and was there, right where he needed to be on the follow, and was able to perfectly tap it to the BACK OF THE NET for the game winner one minute into stoppage time.

I was jumping, screaming, high fiving, hugging and having all kinds of happy emotions when I saw that ball in the net. Scott was there, he tried to say that the goal was called back, and I did believe him for a moment, because, did you see where Clint Dempsey was LAYING, yeah, BEHIND the goalie, but he wasn't called for anything because he didn't make a play on the ball. Many untrained, un thinking players may have tried to do something at that point from that position (Melanee, think Nikki of Badger called back goalS fame).....but Dempsey was fine where he was (but did you see how quick he jumped up to join the celebration?????

I'm pretty sure Altidore HAD to have hurt SOMEONE by this leap! He is NOT a small person.

And, SERIOUSLY how did Stu get over to that corner SO FAST?!?!?!?! I heard that in the last game, when he was the first to mug (jump on) Michael Baldley, he hit his head and had a big bump....haha....bet NONE of those guys are feeling ANY pain today!

Swimming again

They love the diving board. In front of the white flowers again.

There was this one bush with bees flying all around it, like crazy!

Kitty

This cat attacks ANYTHING that moves!

swimming for FHE

The boys would swim all day long if I'd let them....maybe tomorrow! haha

one Year ago

We went swimming tonight at a place we used to go swimming last year and I again took a picture by the pretty flowers, have the boys changed in a year?

Bob Played

Melanee, we got a bag full of Bryce's old clothes, and now Bradley has a Bob played shirt.

Cat Scratch

Yeah, our cat is pretty mean...I was just sitting there minding my own business and the kitty charged up my chair and reached out and scratched my nose.

Cherry Tree

Scott got a cherry tree from Levi and Sarah for his birthday. Scott had just recently planted an orange tree and he is loving his garden, so what better present for him than something he will take care of and treasure for many years to come. Thanks for the thoughtful gift, Levi and Sarah!!!! It's really funny that they picked out a tree, cuz a few weeks before Scott's birthday OSH was having a sale and Scott wanted to buy a fruit tree, but I told him not to waste our money on a TREE...haha....they take so long to produce fruit, they take watering, I didn't really have a good reason, I just thought it would be a waste, so when Levi brought this over, I thought that Scott had complained to him about me saying "no", but Levi said he just wanted to give him something that would still be there if he came back in the distant future. He could point to it and say, "Hey, that was from ME." (or something like that). Scott waters and admires his cherry tree every day!

Scout Encampment

William left this morning for the scout encampment. It's taking place in the Trinity Alps. William is one of the Junior Leaders. He has been helping plan this thing for what seems like a long time now. I hope it all goes well. They are doing some high adventure hiking, white water rafting, and some other fun stuff. He refused to take a towel, so I hope he doesn't fall in and I hope he doesn't get cold after he does fall in. I'll miss him, I doubt he will miss me!

Hiccup

So, while I was at camp William, Bradley, and Andrew went to Alturas for a few days....and they returned home with a KITTY- They really love it. It's name is Hiccup.

Why, I ask? WHY!?!?! The whole situation reminds me of the time I went to a soccer tournament with Melanee and when we arrived at home there was a truck in our driveway, Scott has purchased a truck while I was gone. Maybe I shouldn't ever leave.

our garden

Krisha's garden pictures gave me the idea to post pictures of our garden. We have already harvested and eaten the spinach and radishes. We got our first cucumber yesterday. Everything else is still growing.

Girls Camp 2010

Here we are on the first day of camp in our matching ward M*A*S*H t shirts and hats. The camp theme was "Fear Not" and our ward theme was MASH and it stood for Missionaries Always Serving Him.

I went on the 1st level hike. It was fairly easy and fun except for one place where there was a big drop off. Curt Keables held a long stick and we held onto it to help ourselves down...only one girl got hurt, she let go too early and cut her finger either on the stick or a rock down below.

Here is the view we could see from our hike.

Here are all the 1st level girls and some leaders. A few turned back when they saw the steep down hill part we had to go down. They missed out on the beautiful scenery.

Here is our group on the night the Bishop and his counselors came up for dinner and a visit.

Here are 2 of our girls enjoying chores, which on this day consisted of cleaning bathrooms, toilets to be specific, pit pottys, gross!

Here is the lake, if you could call it that, it was pretty small!

This sign made me laugh, so I took a picture of it.

They were great at doing dishes. And there were 160 people at camp, so that's a lot of dishes, pots, pans, utensils, etc....