Straight A's

Joshua received another excellent report card...straight A's!!! Super job Joshienator! Keep it up!

No More Pre-school...

On May 31st, Jayden graduated from his pre-k class. I can't believe how quickly this year flew by! Jayden had an awesome experience in his class with two great teachers, Mrs. Rufenacht and her assistant, Mrs. Berns. He also made great friends! He will definitely miss his class.

Jayden sure is growing up isn't he? In August, he'll be a kindergartener!!!

Our Reno Overnighter

Last month we took a little trip to Reno and stayed overnight at the Nugget. We got to hang out with our friends all day...the Finneys! We took the kids to the arcades at the Atlantis and the Nugget, went to a nice leisurely lunch, dinner and even got some ice cream. Later that night we hung out at the Finney's home and caught the fireworks show that the mall put on for Mother's Day. We all had a blast!

Thanks Kristi, Scott and Zoie for spending the day with us...we had a super time!

Let's get together again soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful wife. This is truly one amazing woman! She stays at home with our two boys, gets them to school, picks them up, helps with homework, cooks, cleans, does lundry...and the list goes on! I am blessed to have sucha wonderful woman in my life. Without her, I would not be half the person I am today.

So, thank you dear for everything that you do for our family...I promise, that I do not for one day, take what you do for granted as you are the glue that holds our family together. Thank you for being my friend and support, and most importantly my partner for life!

I love what we have built (our family, our relationship, our home...and more), and I am looking forward to each dream we have mapped out together coming true.

Happy Mother's Day...I LOVE YOU!!!!

Another New Car...

On Saturday, we purchased a brand new 2007 silver Honda CRV from Auburn Honda. Could it be? Lance actually has a brand new car. See previous post "A New Car" (from our other blog.) I say this because the past 5 brand new cars were always my car when poor Lance was left with his same old car.

Lance was in NEED of a new car for a while now. His 1993 Camry lasted a long time considering that we finally laid it to rest at 195,000 miles!!! That's a lot of miles! Like he always said, it got him from point A to point B in one piece.

He deserves the car and more. It's a nice looking car and Lance is so excited that he has it now. A good solid reliable little suv to get him to where he needs to go. It's funny because he jokingly said that we'll have it for another 10 years and by that time, Joshua can have it since he'll be 17! I was taken aback with that statement. I can't even imagine Joshua at 17 and driving! Yikes!

Another side note, we traded the Camry in at the dealership and I told Lance as long as they don't make us pay them for taking it away, I'd be happy! Haha. Believe it or not, they gave us a "whopping" $200 for it! The only good thing on the car were the tires...and that's not a joke!

Anyway, Lance is fully enjoying his brand new car...doing what we all do when we get a new car...parking far away from others, taking in that new car smell, keeping it spotless, and he's even wiping his feet before he enters, well, practically!

It was yet again, a pleasurable process thanks to my (retired) Dad and doing the search for us and contacting the manager over at Auburn Honda. We got a great deal.

See ya on the road!

On to Division

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Joshua was the only one in his class to be in multiplication. As of last week, he had already mastered his multiplication assessment test and moved on to division!


Apparently, second graders aren't required to or even expected to be in division. In fact, Joshua's 2nd grade teacher told him today that she needed to get the assessments tests for division from the 3rd grade teachers. She also mentioned that he is the only second grader in the school to be in division at this point!

Needless to say, Joshua is excited and we too are excited for him. Great job again Joshie!

The Boardwalk...

We took an overnight trip to Santa Cruz on a "spur of the moment" decision. Reservations were made at The Inn at Pasatiempo at 8pm the night before (the beauty of the internet) after a lengthy search - just being cautions on my part and not being to Santa Cruz in over 20 years. We left Lincoln at 830am, and arrived in Santa Cruz at 11:00am. Our room wasn't ready yet, so we proceeded to The Boardwalk for some good ol' fashioned "Spur O' the Moment" fun.

Of course, once there we had to eat (rather the boys had to eat), so they chose pizza (big surprise there). We bought some ride tickets and off we went! Throughout the day, the boys went on a number of rides...surprisingly Jayden wanted to ride the Log Ride (twice - much to dad's dismay) and Joshua was dead set on going on the Big Dipper (Rollercoaster) only to find out he was about an inch short of being able to ride it. BUT! He didn't let that stop him and decided to ride the "Double Shot" (again - much to dad's dismay see the video for yourself) to make up for the missed fun on the rollercoaster. You'll have to ask Joshua if he'll ever ride it again...



The weather was perfect (low 60's) and the walking was great excercise...the smiles and laughs from the kids was icing on the cake. After midway games, arcade games and rides, the kids were done about 4:00pm. From there we took the short drive (5 minutes) to the room, checked in and started the search for a place to eat. I consulted a local entertainment paper and a book in the room and settled on a restaurant called The Crow's Nest in Capitola (about 10 minutes from Santa Cruz) - mainly because it said "Kid's Menu" (which usually means, cheesburgers and chicken fingers).

The restaurant was set up against the beach, and we were seated at a window with a view. Cyn had the Coconut Crusted Mahi-Mahi, which she claims is the best she's ever had (I'll admit - it was good!! And a generous portion), I had the Prime Rib which was also very good, and the kids had - a cheeseburger and chicken fingers (another surprise!). We got to see the sunset and take some pictures using the ocean and a lighthouse as a backdrop.

Our room was good (rated three diamonds by AAA) - but it wasn't the Sheraton or the Hilton. It served it's purpose, and for a short notice reservation, it was good. Cottage-style room, in room cable and fridge and complimentary continental breakfast were inicluded. I did notice there wasn't an A/C in the room - but we didn't need it.

Overall...we all had a fun family overnight trip - and are considering visiting again (so Joshie can ride the rollercoaster - ha!). Cyn and I even decided we may need to do more "Spur O' The Moment" trips with the kids...

Picture Perfect...

Here's our future "male model of the year". Blake and Katelyn's Aunt Cari snapped these two great shots of Jayden a couple weeks ago at the park. Although he looks like he was posing, he didn't really want to take the pictures, but Cari was too quick for him! Glad she took these...I love these photos!

Thanks Cari! You have a great eye (and a quick trigger finger)!

Jayden can't wait to give you more tickets and warnings.=)

Play Ball!!!

Saturday was Joshie's Opening Day for baseball...it was a long day at the park, and Mother Nature cooperated beautifully. The day started off at 8am with opening day ceremonies. This started with a parade of all the baseball teams (and softball teams) on floats that each team decorated. All players were on their "floats" throwing candy to the onlookers (good thing for us, as this kept Jayden busy and he SCORED BIG TIME - with candy coming out of his ears!!). Next up was team introductions, and then lunch. After lunch, we headed back to the field for Joshie's first game against the pitching machine (actually it was against the Mud Cats).
Don't even know what the score was, but Joshie did great! His first game hitting against the machine, and dude was 2 for 2!!! We're very proud of you Joshie!!!!

Recreational Tournament of Champions

Joshua practicing before the 'Big Game"

Joshua's basketball team, the "Hot Shots" was awarded an invitation to play in a Recreational Tournament of Champions (RTOC) over the weekend for coming in second place in our season. There were many teams from two youth leagues, with divisions from 1/2 grade to high school. The tournament was held at Showcase Sports Center in Rocklin. Here is my report..

First the important stuff...how did we do? Our first game was against a team from Roseville. We started of VERY slow, and quickly we were down. With just about half a game to go, we were down by as much as 14 points (BIG margin at this age group). So, to stuff the momentum...we called time out. My simple instructions were "without the ball, we cannot score, and the only way we can get the ball is to play defense and get aggressive!". I'd like to say that helped...because the kids went out and soon, we hit a three pointer, then a two pointer, and as time was winding down - we found ourselves on the winning side of an exciting 1-point win. March Madness in full effect! Since it was a single elimination tournament, of course the kids were ecstatic to move on to the Championship Game!

The top team from Roseville was our opponent in the Championship game, and they were clearly the better team. While our game plan was - dribble, pass and shoot when open...theirs consisted of two plays (Number 1 and Number 2) and running kids off of screens - very advanced for this age. I was impressed, and they handled our team easily. Nontheless, I was proud of our team, and was happy they got the "experience" of the RTOC - more on that next.

The facility - Showcase Sports Center - was incredible! Six adult full-sized courts, and two full courts set up for youths (lower baskets, and shorter in length). All courts were hardwood floors with bleachers to watch the games, elevated viewing area, video game room, full pizza deli, and snack bar sitting area with two big screens. Truly impressive. I was told by a former partner in the investment facility that it took over $2.1 mil to build it, and takes $50k a month to keep it running. That's a lot of basketball tournaments and clinics!

There were games running from 9am until 8pm at night, and with well over 50 teams participating - you can imagine the 'hustle and bustle'. I would've loved to have had a facility like that back when I was playing! This place also will be running camps, training sessions, etc. for the youth (ages pre-school to highschool, as well as adult leagues)

Closing thoughts...seeing the "talent" in this tournament made me think about a couple of things...at Joshua's age (7) there are some kids with outstanding basketball abilities. Though I believe that the more you play, the better you get...I still believe that a child can still be competitive if they get a bit of a late start...BUT...they have to be exposed to basketball, through little camps and more importantly through the parent spending time with their child and working with them on the fundamentals - dribbling, passing, shooting. But - if the parent doesn't have time, or if the child doesn't get exposed to basketball and goes into a league "cold turkey" it could be a rough experience.

Last note: I participated in a coaches/staff basketball game - first time playing in a game situation in years - final line: 3 steals, 3 rebs, 2 points. Biggest accomplishment: being able to walk the next day!!

Joshua wishing dad "good luck", dad
smiling prior to gasping for air and yelling "Sub!!!!"

Another Perfect Report Card

Joshua has always excelled in his school work. This trimester he again had a perfect report card...all A's or "O's" for outstanding. He continues to be ahead of the class in all/most areas and he's determined to keep it this way.

His favorite subject is math, he loves it because he's the only one in his class in multiplication and likes to race with the clock and finish his math tests before everyone else! He also likes spelling and always get 100% in his spelling tests as well. Each week they are tested in all areas and he loves coming home and showing us his perfect scores!

Last week for "Read Across America" he was awarded the top honor from grades K thru second grade who read the most in one week (hours/pages). He was the only one that received a giftcard to Barnes and Noble, he was thrilled!

Great job Joshie! Keep it up!

New Kicks...

Here's Jayden obviously sporting his new Kevin Martin jersey. What you can't clearly see is that he's wearing his brand new Jordan's.

Daddy told him all about Michael Jordan and now MJ is his favorite basketball player. I still think it has to do with the fact that he has a bald head like his other idol...Chris Daughtry.

Last weekend we went shopping for some shoes and when Jayden saw these Jordans...he just HAD to have them! Looks pretty good on him too! "MJ(ayden)" in the house!

New Bike...

Here's our happy little Jayden riding his brand new bike.

Our Season Ends...

Last Saturday, we took second place in the championship game. The boys played hard and we're very proud of the whole team!

After our game we headed over to a local pizza place to celebrate, pass out trophies and other goodies to the boys.

Next weekend, we have been invited to compete in the regional tournament against other teams in the league. On Sunday, 3 boys that were hand picked from our team will be participating in the "All Star Sunday" game.

It'll be an exciting weekend! Wish us luck!

Please Pray for Uncle Shiro...

Most of you know about my Uncle Shiro's terrible ordeal. To recap, several months ago he was brutally attacked in broad daylight while walking back to his condo in Waikiki. It seemed as though it was just a random act of cruel violence. The suspect just approached Uncle and punched him in the face, knocked him down and started beating him. A lady who was walking saw this and screamed which scared off the attacker. Then, a jogger ran and got help. After all of these months, the police never did catch the guy who did this to him. To make matters even worse, my Uncle has been suffering physically in many ways and has been in exruciating pain. It seemed as though he was getting better until, this weekend. He ended up in the hospital yet again. The doctors found bleeding on both sides of the brain. Hopefully, the blood will get reabsorbed but if not, another surgery may be necessary. Another cat scan will probably be done in about a week once he sees the neurosurgeon again on Wednesday.


Please continue to keep Uncle Shiro in your thoughts and prayers. Also, please keep my Aunty Irma in your thoughts and prayers too. Thank you.

Playoffs Here We Come

After our win yesterday, our team has made it to the playoffs. The championship game is next Saturday at noon. Watch out Wolverines...we're coming to get you!

Wish us luck and think good thoughts for our team...the Hotshots!

Bupa

For those of you who don't know who Bupa is, he is my 95 year old Grandpa (my Dad's Dad). Yesterday he was rushed to emergency due to an extremely low hemoglobin count. He was a 4 and the normal is about a 30. He had a blood transfusion with the hope that it would bring his count up.

He's still there today and the doctors are giving him more blood. His count went up to about a 7 but, the doctors want it to be at least a 10. They also found blood in his colon which isn't a good sign.

The amazing thing, (Bupa continues to amaze us all) is the fact that he continues to be so "sharp". The doctors and nurses cannot believe how "normal" Bupa is. Usually people with this low of a blood count are totally out of it and can't even speak!

Bupa has a tremendous will to live! With all that he had been through in the last 6 months...he's still the same Bupa (just a little slower and much more tired). He's so alert, funny and sometimes a little sarcastic which cracks us up! Whenever we see him, he always asks how Joshie's taekwondo is and also tells both Joshie and Jayden what good basketball players they are!

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.

A Devastating Loss...

Over the weekend, we learned of a terrible loss. Lance's cousin, Steve and his wife, Kim lost their precious 15 month old son, Jerred. Jerred had complications at birth (heart condition and respiratory problems). Apparently, it took a toll on his small body and he passed away.

Services will be held on Friday afternoon. Please pray for Steve and Kim and their devastating loss. On Friday, we will celebrate little Jerred's life and the tremendous joy he brought to all.

Our love, thoughts and prayers go out to all of Jerred's loved ones.

Our Mini Globetrotter

A few weeks ago, we took the boys to see the Harlem Globetrotters. We all had a great time! We had great seats that were center court and in the front row! We knew that Joshie would especially enjoy it since he LOVES basketball. We weren't sure what to expect from Jayden. To our amazement, Jayden seemed to have an even better time than Joshie did. He was laughing and cheering the Globetrotters on etc. At half-time he asked if he could get a jersey. Well, Daddy couldn't say no, so the boys ended up with a ball, sweatbands and a jersey for each of them. After the show, Lance stood in line to get autographs for the boys.


The funny thing is, we didn't get home until after 9 pm and Jayden begged Lance to play bball in the playroom so he could be a "Globetrotter" and sport his new jersey and sweatbands! Since that night, Jayden has been wearing his jersey at least once a day and shooting hoops all day long!

Jayden announces his own shots and loves to "shoot from downtown"...I swear he says it and most of the time makes it! It's too cute!

Although Lance doesn't come out and say it, I can see it in his eyes how thrilled he is that our boys love the sport that he loves so much!

Purple Stripe

A couple of weeks ago, we got the official word that Joshua had passed his test and is now a purple stripe in Taekwon do. Congratulations Joshua!

Next belt....purple.