Flagstaff

It was ALL about soccer this past wkend. I followed our team mgr up w/Graciella. We actually made great time too! NO traffic! I love my Iphone Maps! Whew! It came in handy when Kathi got lost finding the hotel! =) I missed Carlos & the girls though that nite. I woke up so many times too!

'GOTH-UNDER' haha! Way to go Sam!

We made good time! Just when it was getting dark!

Graciella, Amree, Sam & Taylor

We woke up & had to be downstairs eating breakfast at 6am & it was chilly. But gorgeous! We had left for the fields that were 3 mins away, unpacked chairs, drinks, blankets...by the time the game started the sun was in full bloom, shining down & everyone was shedding their layers! Did I mention NAU's fields are TURF?!

First game (8am Sat): 1-0 AZSC lost. Our girls dominated the entire game! Just one lucky ball just rolled in slow motion in the goal. It seemed it wasn't even a direct kick either! Just left the crowd of girls & snuck in! =(

Second game (6pm Sat): 1-1 Our girls tied. They played it w/their ALL! 150% & all heart from each one of them! Again we dominated. They scored & our girls scored at the end of the game. They all walked off in tears. This was a first. This game meant THAT much to them. They knew they deserved to win. I went around, gave big hugs & told the girls we are so proud of them! They truly pulled it out that nite!

LyAnna working those girls!

L to R: Olivia (awesome defender!), Graciella & Amree

Third game (145pm Sun): 1-1 Girls tied again. Field ref was absolutely HORRIBLE at his Sunday job. No kidding. He called it all on AZSC. This other team fell countless times & even one girl had to be carried off the field. Graciella was HIT 3 times. Never a call. Hmm... Huge hits I'm talking. The other team scored by PK on a ridiculous call. None of our girls touched this girl! This led us in half time. The girls had less than 7 mins left to play & w/3 touches scored the most perfect goal. Us parents went nuts! The girls made an honest goal, unlike the opponent. This guy made me so mad, I even threw my cowbell at him the ground! Oops!

LyAnna & Graciella's Sunday do's! =)

Compliments of Ana! Thx!!

L to R back row: Coach Mick & Coach Beny

L to R middle: Amree, Sam, Brenna, Paula, LyAnna, Morgan, Taylor

L to R bottom: Mekenna, Allie, Graciella, Bella, Vanessa

Missing: Olivia & Brianna

Leleanna

Sat during the day, we made a stop at Starbucks & met this girl that wrote this book. Interesting. Real nice girl w/some story! She lives & is from Flagstaff too. After talking w/her & her leaving, she came back a little while after & handed me her book. I wanted to buy it but she wouldn't allow me to! She did the same w/Ana first. I love to read so I grabbed her copy & started asking questions! =)

        

Bella, LyAnna, Taylor & Graciella

It was a gorgeous day! Cooler weather (compared to home!) & the girls didn't let that stop them! They all went swimming & had a blast! It was about 81 or so. Carlos & the girls drove up w/Coach Mark & his daughter. It was great to hang out w/all the girls & parents. The only time we talk is on the sidelines, so real conversations were had over our pizza party, if you will =) Sat. nite. Lunch Sat afternoon at Buffalo Wild Wings. Wendy's before the drive back home. Even during the long break Sat, a few of us just chatted the day away going from one room to the other, doors all open, girls running all over, sitting by the pool. My family so needed this break away from it all. Myself & another mom, Ana (who is a hair - Nazi like me!!) decorated our trucks w/paints for the game. NOTE: before you write in paint, double check your daughter's jersey no.!! LOL. Yep, she wrote the wrong one. We fixed it though before game time! =)

LyAnna, Taylor, Graciella & Bella

I love this pic! =)

Antonia w/her dead man fall!

I have to say, Graciella did hustle her butt off the entire wkend. My mama wasn't up to par either. She has had this 'sick feeling' most days for the past 2-3 wks. No flu. Bloodwork came back fine. No temps. No aches & pains. Just her tummy & some pelvic pains. Yep, thought that time had arrived for her being 11.5 now. But not yet. Dr thought maybe she has a virus & the pains are due to that. Hmm... still waiting on results from another FUN test! not.

We were packed FULL to the brim! You would of thought we packed for a wk's vacation! It was only Fri nite thru Sun =) That's what you get w/4 females & dad =)

MIA

It feels like FOREVER since I posted! It's been about soccer, school, RE, more soccer practice, laundry... & this past wkend, Flagstaff. It was nice to FINALLY get away! But after packing up the Suburban, Carlos was looking at ALL the stuff packed up in it! I wish I took a pic of it all. It looked as though we were going away for 3 wks+! It was just a simple 2 nite, 3 day trip. BUT w/3 separate suit cases for girls, a big bag for Carlos & one for me, Carlos' equip. mgr duties of hauling 3 team benches, our 10x10 canopy, a cooler, 3 pillows, Graciella's soccer backpack, bags of things to do for the girls, a bag of snx, my bag of cds & books... you get it! Carlos even took the back seat out, thinking we'd have more room. Hmm... we left at 6pm on Friday, got up there at 9pm. All was good, even w/Antonia giving us temp readings each time it went down, every few mins. We left home at 102 about, by the time we got to the hotel, it was a nice, chilly 53. First thing in the am, it was 40. It was beautiful! We spent the entire wkend outside, screaming, hauling stuff to & from the fields, eating w/the team, answering the door to our room 20 times to all the girls on our team looking for so & so, eating brkfst w/our team & the parents. It was great to get to know all the girls & parents finally!

The girls lost all 3 games but learned, got banged up, hung out w/friends... The first game, the girls were so much bigger & played like they've been together for awhile. In the end, this team was in the wrong division. NICE one! Also, our goalie was taken to the ER bcuz of a save she made. (after seeing her dr. he said she broke 2 bones in her wrist!) Graciella got kicked in her tummy 4 or 5 times! I was crying watching all this! She was tough though & kept on playing! It didn't help that her team had NO subs! She also had the ball hit her cheek at close range, after she kicked it & it ricocheted off a girls knee to come back to hit her own face! She grabbed her face & was crying. I ran over to her after she got off the field & calmed her down. She had to regain her breathing too. It was HARD to take a deep breath up there! Especially after running for an hour straight each game! Graciella was good after a few mins & was ready to play! These girls had a lot of heart (& strength for that matter!) to go after it like they did. Although they lost, they didn't let it dampen their spirits! Way to go 98 Blue!!

After all was done, we took the girls to eat & for some ice cream at DQ & drove home! I finally got a start on the Twilight series. I read thru half of the first book. Yeah, it's difficult when you have 3 little ones asking you for this & that, put this cd on, she's doing this to me!... Graciella & Clarissa kept txting each other. So by the time we got home, we unloaded the truck, went to Sharon's to p/u our puppies & Carlos left to go p/u Clarissa. She spent the nite & we had Pei Wei. YUM! I guess G & C didn't get enough hanging out time over the wkend!! ;)

The woman who took care of our puppies was the greatest! I got her name from Miss Kelly. Now, Miss Kelly has about 4 dogs at all times in her house! So I didn't second guess this woman at all. After talking to her, I had the best feeling about leaving Harley & Hugo w/her. No doubts at all. BUT I will tell you what I had doubts about! Leaving any one's pet at the Ocotillo Animal Clinic & Pet Resort! I stopped in to check it out, after passing this place wk after wk. Sure the people seemed nice but when I got the tour & asked questions... not impressed. The tiny rooms w/a clear door, resembling a shower door - was like having your dog spend the entire time in your walk in closet or coat closet. It was 5x5. They only go out 3 times a day w/no interaction LOVE from anyone. Any extra time, you had to pay for! THANK GOD I had asked Kelly who she used. Although, I almost drove them down to Tucson to stay w/Melina! This woman is located 30 secs from us & after meeting her, ALL WAS GREAT! Her name is Sharon & she also has Yorkies! If anyone is interested, check her out HERE. But she does cater to all your puppy's needs & quirks. We gave her a list of stuff we could think of, to make our little furry ones feel the most safe, usual routine, everything. She took care of it. THX AGAIN SHARON!!

I have much to catch up on. I stayed up till 315am last nite. I did my ME pg for the store, ate & watched Lipstick Jungle on the DVR. (Gotta love that thing!) Amy & Katie slept over last nite too. THX Jeannie for the McD's. It hit the spot! hee-hee

Our prayers go out to her husband, Bill & his family. His Grandmother had passed away & they were flying out to Jersey this am.

Until later... Have a great day.