Full on February!

It's looking back on February time!

Pretty sure we are up with the chickens every single morning :)

(a piece of nostalgia in our neighborhood)

February brought the close of Canyon Girls Basketball

Here is Audrey holding senior night bouquets!

They introduce each senior player, with their various accomplishments and goals for the future...this was a walking portrait, haha

with some of the senior families

JV girls supporting them through their last season game!

after party

(Henry ran off to drum line practice)

with her dearest friend and point guard, Jwamee

such a special night

people from our ward came to watch her last game...it was a heartbreaker that they lost but they did get into CIF Finals!

Go Lucy! Lucy!

(the cheer from the cheerleaders)

There was so much school support for these ladies than at our previous high school...cheer leaders cheering, ASB kids making posters and filling the stands, parents, friends, community parents who had a daughter play and still keep showing up...it was quite an experience as a parent to feel all that love in the gym...but sometimes you felt the hate too from opposing teams and the stuff parents hurl at these kids. Luckily, it's so loud, they don't hear much on the court :)

The day after senior night was Winter Formal...she loves getting dressed up and having fun with these friends of hers :)

I told her she looked like wonder woman here :)

Strong and beautiful.

they had a blast

off to CIF Finals in Pasadena

It was such a close and fast game...they almost had it

we took a picture together that night as we got home...what a journey this whole basketball dream has been.

I never saw that coming for her but I wouldn't want it

any other way for her now.

Alright, no more tears...

for Valentine's Day

we got our toes done:)

I baked my annual cake

Audrey had a Galentine's Day party with her girlfriends from church and Clay taught them how to make pasta :)

He is a fun Dad

you better believe I made my sugar cookies too

and then it happened

Last play of the game, Chester centered up to pull the flag and the kid ran right over him, smacking his elbow into his forehead....

blood everywhere

I heard the smack from across the field.

And then we took him to to get stitched up.

He wanted me to send his teammates a photo of him holding his bloody jersey.

Sigh.

It was not my favorite day but upon us leaving the ER, he said to Clay and I, "this has been a really fun day"

I guess he felt special.

Meanwhile I wanted to clobber the other kid,

take out the coach and yell at the owner/director of the league

(it wasn't city rec)

but maybe that's just me after seeing my son get tackled in a flag football league :(

Moving safely forward, we finally got out to our holiday fancy lunch to La Barca (2 months after Christmas)

a long weekend took us to Leo Carrillo Sate Beach in Malibu.

Pretty but the tide pools were picked apart and trodden over.

it was kind of sad.

Why can't people just take care of the earth?

So, we just played at the beach for awhile :)

Henry being consistently weird in public

hahaha

finally getting some clouds in the sky!

And getting awarded at school :)

Spirit award for "Being polite" and a Character Award for "Being determined"

Clay was in town for the morning assembly!

Chester almost always puts his arm around his friends, no matter what.

What a guy!

And to cap off the month, we headed to Universal Studios!

Celebrating Audrey's 14th birthday and Chester got to come since he finished all the Harry Potter books :)

He was the most excited I have ever seen him in my life!

(i took a lot of video that I put on my instagram account)

He was chosen at the Ollivanders Wand Shop. It was absolutely amazing. There are actors all through the park and if you dress up and have red hair...you get ALOT of attention from the staff. And you better believe they know all things Harry Potter. But so do Chester and Audrey.

It was a perfect day!