Cienna - 15 Years 5 Months Old! ... Kaylee - 13 Years a TEENAGER!!

We started this month with picking up Kaylee's new glasses.  Celebrated Millikan's amazing orchestra, band, and choir students at Music in the Air concert.  Headed down to San Diego for the first of two competitions this month.  Girls did amazing and had fun with the 70's funk theme.  The Sklenicka's were even able to come up and cheer the girls on.  The next day Clara and Paige came over for some movie making fun!

Cienna had an English project that required her to choose a major and interview someone within that profession.  She chose Political Science and got the opportunity to interview one of Long Beach Mayor's advisors.  They invited her to tour City Hall, the Mayor's office, and interview in the Mayor's main conference room.  Such a cool opportunity she will never forget.  Nailed the essay by the way!

After practice one night, within a couple of hours, the girls choregraphed and submitted a video to the the Y Nationals host team with hope of being selected to perform at opening ceremonies.  Unfortunately they weren't selected, but the video turned out great and they had fun.  Especially with the limited time they had.

Memorial Day weekend started off with replacing our 20 year old garbage disposal and that Sat. night we got to enjoy another LA Galaxy game thanks to the the Bakx and Stone's club soccer team.  As expected, the Galaxy lost, but still great times with great friends.

Sunday we had ONE of THREE Kaylee birthday parties.  She invited her besties Nicki and Adi over for a sleepover but started the day at the Weiner dog races in Huntington Beach.  Definitely a unique experience to say the least.  Nala (Cobi and Brie's Weiner) and Freya (the Bakx's Weiner) competed and did great especially just being pups.  It was fun to see how everyone got so excited to watch Weiner's race.  I'm giggling just writing this paragraph :)

After the race, we headed to the Bakx house for a quick swim before picking up Olive Garden for dinner.  We finished the night with ice cream cake, movies, and TP'ing Jack's house.  The next morning (Memorial Day), the girls had breakfast and more fun "bike-sledding," swimming at Roger and Lisa's, and laying out on the roof.  We finished the day with a family Kan-Jam tournament and prepped ourselves for another busy week.

We were double booked that next Thursday night and had to split the time between Kaylee's Music Awards and Cienna's high school gymnastics banquet. The next day mom and dad brought Jamba Juice and Subway to the 7th grade lunch on the lawn for Kaylee and cheered her on as she received an award from her peers. 

That weekend Kaylee completed another KiwiCo project projecting a laser that danced around with sound (so cool and thanks Poppa) while Cienna went off to her friend Julia's birthday party sleepover.  They got "some" sleep before both heading off to competition number two in San Diego.  This one (Y State) was a late one and started at 6:30pm on that Sunday night.  Needless to say, we all wished we could have slept in the next day but it was on to work and school.

During the week, there was a senior ceremony where everyone celebrated Izzy and Alex as graduating seniors from gymnastics.  We know they will do amazing things as they move on to college and pursue their careers.  If there's one thing gymnastics teaches you it's how to be strong and never give up.  Mom and dad ended the week hanging with friends at the Adam's house before starting another crazy weekend's of parties.

Saturday afternoon was number TWO of THREE Kaylee birthday parties where her gymnast friends all got together at the gym and had a nerf battle.  Mom and dad laid out plenty of food and kept the nerf blasters loaded as they chased each other around the gym.  The party completed with "do your best jump into the pit" and a baseball game on the floor.  The next day prepped the house by moving cars, putting out games, and setting up for party number THREE.  It started with Kaylee's friends meeting at the house, transporting them to Shoreline Village in Long Beach where they spent an hour trying to solve all the clues to "escape" in a mobile escape room.  We ended back at our house for games, cake and a chocolate fountain we borrowed from the Ferrarios.

That week we celebrated Porter's 12th birthday, the last day of school which was also Kaylee's birthday -  complete with Starbucks, Togos, and a pretzel, and the Nationals pre-party at the gym.  That weekend, the Marshmans had the parents participate in a game night.  The girls had some fun re-arranging Kaylee's room before we all headed off to Alex's and Annie's High School graduation parties.  A little bit of VR and daddy attempting to do Cienna's hair before heading for the day at the Baxk for Father's day BBQ, pool party, cornhole and finally jamming in the garage with JB on drums, Roman on lead guitar, Franklin on bass, and daddy on the mouth harp!

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Stay tuned...up and coming after all that is a trip to Ohio for Gymnastics Nationals and Costa Rica with Poppa and The Marty's!

Cienna - 15 Years 4 Months Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 11 Months Old!

Open house at Marshall. Fun to talk to Kaylee's teachers. Nice that we have good students. Cienna went to the beach and got in the water with buddy Julia... not warm. Had High School gymnastics pictures. Then it was Roaklee's 2nd Birthday. He got some attention and got to eat off the special Birthday plate. We had a 3 Musketeer sleepover, did some car washing, and Cienna learned how to check and adjust the tire pressure in the Jetta. We all then got to watch Lexi perform at Porch Fest at the Woodside's!

The girls made great cards and paintings for their teachers appreciation week. Then even though we didn't get to see him most of the day, we still made and enjoyed a Lemon Meringue for Dad's birthday as he prepared for Brewfest the following weekend. We did wash the Birthday plate after Roaklee!

It was a very busy weekend. Dad left to meet up with Uncle Joe and Uncle Matt, as well as the usual crew for a fun filled Brewfest birthday weekend! Plenty of music, camping games, and party time. Meanwhile Cienna celebrated Ava's birthday starting with Duffy Boat ride followed up with walking through shops around the neighborhood and a bonfire sleepover. That left Mom and Kaylee to enjoy a manicure for Kaylee and Pedicure for Mom. A typical sleepover party with plenty of games and laughing!

Both girls had their last music concerts for the year. Cienna enjoyed re-uniting with her middle school friends while Kaylee played clarinet and sang with her friends! Then Cienna played Festive Overture with her Symphonic Winds among many other crazy difficult amazing songs for her last band performance.

The next weekend, Cienna went "thrifting/antiquing" with friends while mom and Kaylee went to Goodwill for school clothes. We also got to watch Lexie as one of the ancestors in "The Adams Family". The weekend was also filled with plenty of meeting new babies. Coach Kristen brought her brand new twin boys, Beckett and Gavin, to the gym, then for Mother's Day we went to the Ferrario's and got to meet Sierra and Robbie's new baby Archer, and play with baby Daxten and Emera. It was a very relaxing and fun brunch including some photo ops in one of Jen's cool Model A car.

There was a last minute chaperone cancellation so mom got to join Kaylee's music field trip to Knott's at the end of the month!

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Cienna - 15 Years 3 Months Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 10 Months Old!

Cienna got a great opportunity to see the Broadway show "Mean Girls" with some of her FLA friends at the Segromstrom! Meanwhile Mommy and Kaylee went to Sierra and Robbie's Baby shower at the Bakx. Later that evening we all got to go to the Marshalls for a BBQ where the girls all made a very interesting cake for dessert. The next day while Dad started brewing for Brewfest Mom went to Coach Kristen's baby shower even though her healthy premi twins have already arrived! It had the biggest variety of food that Mom have ever seen at any buffet ever. That evening the girls were still on the baking kick and made a delicious Chocolate Strawberry cake only because we had left over frosting to use.

Cienna got 1st all around in her 2nd high school competition against St. Josephs the day before Mom's Birthday which she filled in for Coach George at gymnastics practice and got to share with birthday buddy Francesca. The next day Cienna's Symphonic Winds competed in their annual high school competition and continued their over a decades worth of first place finishes!

Next up was the girls State Competition. It was at the OC Fairgrounds. It was a fun and long weekend with all the girls at different sessions throughout. After a long day we did not make it to Larry's 80th party but certainly thought about him and enjoyed the texts and photos!

Morning after competition Kaylee and Cienna helped to plan an impromptu Nerf gun War at the gym. George and Lisa's sons and friends left their nerf toys and pellets there for the girls to use. Almost all of their teammates were able to make it. They had so much fun doing something different in their gymnastics center!

Cienna had a Jazz performance at school before coming to gym and celebrating Coach George's Birthday by all the optionals surprising, dressing up and acting like him at the end of practice : ) We had dentist appts. and eye appts. with a new Optometrist that went well before Cienna's 3rd High School Competition against Lakewood at her home gymnastics Center! Kaylee supported Frankie at one of her Softball games after practice that Friday night!

While Cienna went to Pita's color pop tutu roller skating party ending in a sleepover, The 3 Musketeers got together for a sleepover at our house. Everyone had a good time. The next morning Cienna took her bike to keep mom company on her run. The following week Cienna had her last High School meet. She did amazing through the entire High School season. Always finishing in 1st place in one or more events if not All Around! Finals took place at her school and it was a great way to end the week before the start of Spring Break.

The girls both made plans for the first day. Cienna spent time at Julia's making Blueberry ice cream and relaxing watching movies. Kaylee went to the Stranger Things Experience with her close group of school friends for Frankie's 13th Birthday party! The following day was family time prepping for Easter. Lots of egg decorating and treat making. Finished the Front yard bark and planting. We also got to start the stay with Lula as our house guest for a few days!

We started Easter morning with a movie in bed all together before seeing what the was hiding for them in the Living Room! They had fun on the hunt and we held off on breakfast, but instead took a short bike ride/walk before heading over to the Snow's for another magnificent buffet style brunch! So much food and fun including another egg hunt for the kids. We then did a longer bike ride/walk together to work out all the delicious food we had.

Mom and Dad had to work during Spring Break but the girls enjoyed some relaxing time together and chose to even increase their gymnastics practice times. Kaylee also took the time to work hard on her ELA Novel project to go over and beyond the requirements of the assignment! Then the day mom had off they asked to go to the gym in the morning with Clara for the three of them to practice together in an empty gym. Perks of Mom having a key and being a coach. Those three were also the only ones to come to regular practice on Friday before the Regionals competition in Reno that weekend. Unfortunately Cienna hurt her hand right at the beginning of practice but decided if she is going to be hurt she needs to be able to do routines that way for the competition that weekend. Mom told her she doesn't, but she did.

Then 6am the next morning we were off on a flight from LAX to RNO. Mom and the girls were so happy to be traveling with Clara and her mom, Kristen. We got a ride to the airport, thanks Rocky, and had an easy travel to Reno. The flight ended with the girls talking to the pilot and getting to sit in the cockpit. Just a glimpse of all the fun things to come. Next was the rental car. Wasn't supposed to be the plan, but the girls talked their way into a super cool jeep with no extra charge! 

Because awesome things happen. The Natal's happen to have a soccer tournament the same weekend in Reno! Even more, both June and Grace had a game at the same time at the same location at nearby fields at the exact time that we had to watch! It was really amazing to be able to watch them play! We even got to see Grace score. Next we headed to support KC for her competition. The 5 of us then went to Red Robin for dinner before meeting up again with the Natals at the Grand Sierra Resort for Frozen Yogurt. We were exhausted from the day and had an early competition and went straight to bed!

A little early for an 8am competition Cienna and Clara were ready... maybe a little tired, but excited. Cienna was a bit nervous about her hand, but she her goal was to do all events the best she could. She did that and more! She had a walk of finish on her last event. Decided to do one Yurchenko flip and nailed it. No second vault needed. It was great to have Cienna and Clara in the same session! Next was Francesca and Kiera's turn. We stayed to support and again, they were very successful. We then finally actually got to check out the hotel we were staying at. FYI we happen to be staying at "The Nugget". We spent a little time at the pool/hot tub before heading to dinner at BJ's. Thanks to Dad's rewards all the girls enjoyed the pizzookie Trio! Afterward the girls all had fun hanging in the hotel rooms and doing some cool camera activities.

We all went to bed a little later knowing that we could actually sleep in the next morning... or not. Not going to go into major detail, but the super loud and obnoxious alarm in the next room started going off at 5am. Didn't turn off, so front desk was called, little was done, security couldn't go in the room since it was "occupied." Had a few trips to the front desk over the following hour, asked to sleep in another room, got into a room, but then our stuff needed to be packed up to bring to the other room. So to sum it up.. didn't get the sleep we wanted however Cienna did do her first period class online. Got $30 (1 1/2 lunches) in a not great hotel restaurant. Spent a good morning with friends and an easy afternoon flight home to the Long Beach Airport!

Daddy picked us all up and then, of course, since they missed school that day, we headed straight to gymnastics practice. Through the adventure in Reno, Daddy got a bunch of stuff done for the home! Outside and Inside, fixing and cleaning all that needed to be done! He also had some fun on the BBQ, getting a Ribeye which he said was and we definitely believe him was delicious! The puppies surely enjoyed his time and attention as well! Kaylee even made sure to facetime him for each of Cienna's competition events! He was able to be there virtually in real time!

Everyone together in their own beds made for a good night sleep before an early morning of school the next day!

The drive, triumph, creativity, humanity

... simply AMAZING!

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Cienna - 15 Years 2 Months Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 9 Months Old!

The month came in like a storm! We enjoyed the hail and the rainbows, maybe not so much the wind. The third tree casualty happened in our backyard while we were at the Bakx celebrating Stone’s 16^th birthday. The following day Mom and the girls helped with a gymnastics assessment to determine team placement of some class kids. It was a fun experience. Cienna had a fun sleepover with Julia and Peta at Julia's house where they learned that Krispy Creme gives a half dozen glazed doughnuts out for free to anyone with straight A's. They didn't go hungry. Meanwhile Kaylee had McKenna and Frankie over and didn't stop laughing for a few hours. Dad and the girls had President’s Day off. He ended up spending quality time with Kaylee in Urgent Care to determine exactly what is going on with her hand. Turns out she had a broken metacarpal. During the week Kaylee got to perform for next year’s incoming 6^th grade families to show off Marshall’s music program.

After spending some time preparing to fix our gate, we headed to the first annual Muscle Beach Competition in El Segundo to support the Level 3’s and then KC on Saturday before heading back all day on Sunday to support Cienna and the rest of the team. Cienna flipped her Yurchenko for the first time this season and Kaylee enjoyed the free food in the coaches hospitality room. Apparently a rap singer sitting close to Mark on the bleachers (Saweetie) was there as her kid may have been one of the gymnasts.

The following week we took one step closer to our much-anticipated Costa Rica vacation by filing for our Passports. It was quick and easy, now we wait. Then we had our yearly visit with Eric our financial advisor for the last 15 or more years. He was just as friendly and helpful as always! To end the week Cienna has her High School gymnastics Previews. All four of the high school gymnastics teams go in front of the judges for the first time of the season. Millikan hosted and all the girls enjoyed wearing their new leotards and performing their high school routines. Millikan took the win by a substantial amount. Two of Cienna’s club Level 8 teammates are also on the high school team. Sierra and Jen came to support Cienna and root her on as an alumni gymnast and mom!  After Previews, Mom went to dinner with some friends at Lazy Dog to celebrate Minda’s birthday!

A very busy Saturday began with the start of the front lawn island ring, followed by a matinee of the Adams Family musical put on by a very talented cast of Millikan students. Mom then took Dad to enjoy a whiskey tasting get together at Joan and Larry’s and came home with the Ferrario’s puppy to watch during the party. The Water’s girls also came to stay the night and enjoy time with puppy Summit, Porter and Roaklee loved having a friend over like their sisters. Then Sunday we took time to trim the remaining large tree in the backyard to hopefully prevent that one from toppling over, and we fixed the slouching gate while the girls gave it some flare with colorful paint at the bottom.

Marshall’s school musical performances were the following week. They had two shows during the day on both Tues. and Wed. for a couple elementary schools and their classmates. Then 2 evening performances for friends and family on Thurs. and Friday. They did “Legally Blonde” this year and although Kaylee was in the chorus, she mostly enjoyed overseeing and helping with stage props and costume changes. As always Mr. P and all the kids did a great job. Cienna also got to help as an alumni with many of her best middle school buddies that she doesn't get to see that often anymore. Also, Cienna had her first 1 vs 1 high school gymnastics meet against Wilson and did great. She ended up with a First Place All-Around! Mom and Dad also got to have lunch with Kaylee, her friends, and their family for Lunch on The Lawn. They got some awards and again she continues her streak of 4.0 GPA with all E’s! This uneventful week also included many dress up days at school.

Cienna got the opportunity to see the Broadway show “Mean Girls” at the Segerstrom Center with her FLA group while Mom and Kaylee did a Saturday practice before going to Sierra’s baby shower at the Bakx to celebrate baby Archer Dirk who is due in early May. Then that evening the Marshman’s got together to catch up with some BBQ, fun, and homemade desert from the girls.

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Cienna - 15 Years 1 Month Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 8 Months Old!

Now she is 15 and still as amazing as ever! The day before she brought some Drumsticks to gym and was sung a birthday song that had never been sung before from all her gym buddies. The day of, She woke up to many streamers and balloons, next was Starbucks and Bagels for breakfast. We headed off to the beach for a bike ride in the afternoon to get smoothies at a local shop before coming back to introduce Poppa to VR and have Mom's lasagna for dinner. We did one last light up bike ride that evening before eating the very tasty lemon cake that Auntie Kimmie brought over to end the wonderful family filled day!

The girls then had their first competition of the gymnastics season. It happened to be at the Disneyland Hotel. They both did amazing and even Poppa came to watch the whole day. Their Level 8 team ended up getting the first place team award. They were also "awarded" with more new mats for their pit vault landing! Slowly but surely the equipment is coming in.

Uncle Mike then flew in to pick up Poppa and take him back home in the bus before Cienna's big Birthday Party adventure in Hollywood. All her buddies met at our house and we carpooled to Hollywood. We first parked and after spending some time in the gift shop took some time walking through the Stars before our tour began. We took a private 15 passenger bus on a 2 hour tour of all the Hollywood sites. No way would we have ever thought to know this is a thing that exists, but we heard about it and then it was a reality. It was a great time seeing so many sites you may hear about, and others that are "hidden secrets"! The girls had a great time together with many pictures and snacks. The day was concluded with more Drumsticks at home and another Birthday song!

That evening mom had a good time at a relaxing dinner catching up with long time friends. Then after the next week the girls got to enjoy the Christmas gift from the Ferrario's to a real Broadway show. Frozen was truly amazing. The venue was beautiful as well as the production!

Next up was Cienna's Winter Formal. Her and her buddies work it all out by themselves, of course asking for rides and permission along the way : ) They planned on meeting in Downtown Long Beach at the Lighthouse during sunset for some pretty amazing pictures, then got reservations at PF Chang's for dinner, then arranged carpool to the dance which was held at the Natural History Museum in Downtown LA. Cienna had such a great time and all of the exhibits were open with dance lighting flare along with music, food, games, karaoke, and other activities. Daddy picked her up at midnight and she luckily didn't have to compete the next day until late in the afternoon!

Unfortunately the previous day Kaylee hurt her hand pretty bad and was not going to be able to compete. But she headed down to San Diego to the Cameron Y "Love" competition earlier that day with Mom to support her other teammates and was joined later by Dad and Cienna. We had lunch between sessions and then Cienna and the rest of her and Kaylee's level had a great competition.

As if she hadn't had enough excitement for the month the following weekend, Cienna  got to go to a school field trip in Catalina! She went with a group of close friends, but came back with a bigger group of closer friends. We all got to enjoy all of her stories, pictures, and videos of her experiences when she got home. It made us very happy that she got to have this adventure and are so proud that she truly makes the most of all her opportunities! You'll see all of the beautiful sights and activities!

Meanwhile Mom, Dad, and Kaylee had fun watching Lula, working around the house, playing games together and having fun before preparing for a Super Bowl Sunday. Ribs were smoking early in the day and nachos were ready after dad brought Cienna home from camp. Adi BV came to hang out for the day as well, we played cornhole, watched the game, and ate quite a bit.

Girls had the following Monday off. Cienna took a bike ride to chalk Happy Birthday, and Happy Valentines on some friends sidewalk, and Kaylee took the time to relax before the had practice in the evening.

For Valentines day Mommy got box seat tickets from work at the Crypto.com center for the whole family to watch the Clippers vs. Warriors game. The game itself wasn't too exciting as Curry wasn't playing, but the overall excitement of being there was pretty awesome!

The final weekend was Cienna's 2nd competition. It was another annual Glider's competition in Ontario. Cienna competed on Saturday (Kaylee's hand diagnosed as a 4th metacarpal fracture did not compete, more on the story next month, hopefully better news)  Cienna had a great meet with a bar routine at the end of which she said “Well, I’ve never done that bar routine before”.

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Cienna - 15 Years Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 7 Months Old!

Cienna was on top of making gifts for friends and family early again this year and they came out looking wonderful! She then had an evening music concert at Millikan which she played second chair. Later in the week we got a delicious surprise on our front door. A family pack for four of Omaha Steaks from the Snows! We first went with the filet's and they didn't disappoint. The links and burgers were great too. And luckily we still have much more to go through!

Since the girls had gym off for Christmas Eve they invited a few gym buddies over to continue the Gymnastics Holiday Show tradition. Although it looks quite different this year they had a blast putting it together. Using many locations throughout the Christmas decorated neighborhood.

The girls woke us up on Christmas morning, climbed in our bed and we all watched Spangled for the 1st of many times through the break. We all were spoiled with gifts and enjoyed breakfast together before prepping a turkey to fry at the Bakx's. There was plenty of great food and company to finish Christmas at the Bakx.

The next day as we awaited for the arrival of Poppa and the Marty's we fried another turkey to make good use of all that oil and to have "leftover". The girls played clarinet together and we headed to gymnastics. As we got home the bus was pulling in the driveway and being set up for the stay. We took it easy that evening but had a big day the following. We made use of Daddy's breakfast sandwich maker before going on a Warner Bros. Tour. It was awesome getting a guided bus tour around all the sets and then seeing all the attractions and props used in the movies and shows! Then the girls got to have their first practice at their own gym! It wasn't quite complete, but they got to do some stuff. That evening we did our gift exchange and had some dinner before bed.

We then headed off to Greg's cabin in Big Bear. The ride up was easy minus having five of us in the back seat of Daddy's truck. The three girls and two dogs cuddled as we headed up the mountain. We enjoyed the view, the company, relaxing and playing games before waking up to falling snow the next morning. That was a first for many! Trevor and us made sure to bundle up for the overcast day of snow boarding. Good thing we did since it was cold, but we had an amazing time regardless, with much improving through the day! The girls new boots proved to be a good buy. The rest of the Marty's checked out downtown and Poppa came and picked us up to head back to the cozy cabin for a pasta dinner.

We woke for breakfast, the Marty's headed for their journey home, Poppa and Daddy took the dogs back to Long Beach, the girls stayed to clean the cabin in preparation to be picked back up by Daddy and Poppa and heading over to Dana and Joe's cabin to bring in the New Year. After putting Jackson and Riggs to bed Daddy and Joe stayed up too late as always and we all slept downstairs. The next day was New Years Eve and we took a walk to the park before it started to snow and had a blast on all the new equipment! It sure has been upgraded over the years! Then it began to snow again as we made a delicious 3 bone Prime Rib for dinner! Then we did all we could to stay up till midnight. We all barely made it but we did then headed straight to sleep.

It continued to snow and cover the backyard. We took advantage and played, made snow men, threw some at each other, and had a great time before deciding to head home that afternoon before the roads got icy. It was slow going but we made it safe and enjoyed sleeping in our own beds.

While we were in the snow, Long Beach had some wind and rain. It blew over one of our tallest trees in the yard. So Daddy with some of Mommy's help took it, and the tree next to it which was growing into the house, down with only a Sawzall. Then had the stumps grinded and all of it hauled away! The girls were happy to go back to gym as the pit was filled and bars were set up while we were away. Poppa even came to see.

As winter break came to an end we checked things off the list and took Poppa mini golfing where Karate Kid was filmed. We also got word that the Snow's had a carpet cleaner and so that became the weekend task. It was quite dirty after so many years...eeewww! 

We got back to the swing of things as schedules got back to normal. We had a lunch/left over dinner at BJ's. and even got to bring Togo's to Downtown Disney where the Natal's were taking a break from California Adventure to see us!

To end the month we had Christmas in the middle of January with the Snow's and family! Since they were all sick during the holiday, there was a little postponing. It was a blast! The lasagna was delicious, and Mommy as always was spoiled with a special cheese less one for her. The kids enjoyed playing together and the white elephant gift exchange was fun.

We're lucky to have such great friends and family! So much love and kindness throughout the crazy holidays!

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Cienna - 14 Years 11 Months Old! ... Kaylee - 12 Years 6 Months Old!

Happy beginning to the Holidays! The girls had such a great time at the trapeze lesson with Clara for her Birthday that they had to go for the Buy Two Get One Free and did their second lesson to start off the month. Now looking forward to the third!

After squeezing in an ortho appt. we headed up north for Thanksgiving week. We did a lot of packing and unpacking of the truck but it was all worth it. Our first stop was at the Natal's. We had a relaxing evening together and fun first cousin sleepover before getting treated with breakfast and a fun filled day at Great America/6 Flags/Animal Kingdom/Marine World. And it just so happened that it was a throw back to Marine World Day. We all got to go on all the roller coaster we wanted with pretty much no lines. Got to see beautiful animals, then ended the day with a funnel cake!

Next stop was Poppa's house for the evening. Then Thanksgiving morning we headed into town to do a Turkey Trot with Vera and Grammy had fun with our girls and Vera's kiddos. They all had fun together while we got enjoyed time running and talking together.

We spent the rest of the day packing lunches and heading to Doran Beach to have lunch next to Nana and Poppa's plaque. The site next to it was open and so we luckily took up that spot and we couldn't have asked for better weather! After lunch we did some exploring at Bodega Head before going back to Grammy's for the night. We even got Grammy on VR for the first time.

The following morning the girls convinced (without having to try too hard) Grammy to take them shopping before we all went to do a Rydman/Marty/Grammy Thanksgiving at Poppa's house. We had a great time watching soccer in the Cabana and spending time together. Poppa even gave an early gift to us all of a family trip for the summer!

Next was Thanks Christmas at Sean and Jaimie's! They were so gracious to open their house once again for all of us to spend the day and night together. It's so great to see all these cousins play and enjoy time together. First we got a surprise that Sean and Jaimie are taking on a new adventure. They have bought a nearby property with more land to be able to include horses and more. Also another new home to create as their own. We then all had fun making individual pizza's in the outdoor stone oven before opening gifts and having a fun filled sleepover!

We went back to Poppa's to pick up the dogs before heading home. It did happen to take a little longer than expected coming in around 9 hours to get home being the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but we made the most of it together.

The next week Cienna got her bottom retainer and had a friend get together at Julia's. Then we had The Marshall kiddos and Adi over for a sleepover before all heading to Knott's Merry Farm the next morning. Was certainly a fun time but wasn't a completely unproductive weekend since we did end up getting our outside decorations up. 

The following week Kaylee had her school winter concert which was held at Cienna's school (Millikan). Kaylee was part of the chorus, band, and jazz band. Cienna and her friends enjoyed being there together and hanging out in the balcony watching the performance. 

We all got invited to go caroling with a nearby neighbor which was a blast. Racheal and Mike (Frankie's parents) had snacks before and a playlist ready. There were so many lights and happy neighbors to willfully listen to our best effort singing. Then we all started on the indoor decorations move forward with the holidays.

Cienna went to see the Naples lights with friends where they randomly ran into Shawna who was at a party along the way. Mommy went to the gymnastics coaches meeting. She got to see the main gym for the first time in a long time and it was moving forward for sure. It was good to see all the coaches again as we've been spread out at so many different locations over these past months.

Next was the finalizing of the tree and train! We love bringing out the memorable decorations each year. Then a busy day with Cienna heading to a school gymnastics party and Kaylee going to the winter dance after school. We then had Mikayla over after the dance and when we dropped her off we picked up Cienna to head to downtown Long Beach to hang out with the Dunbar's before they headed out on a cruise. It is always so great to see them and catch up. Their boys are so cool! After that we had our annual gymnastics Christmas party full of fun, food, and secret Santa exchanges.

After months of anticipation we finally got to go and see the Nutcracker! Shawna was amazing as one of the main mice and a beautiful Sentrie. We had so much fun with Francesca, her aunt, and Coach George. The performance was amazing, as well as the company.

To finalize the month, we invited the Marshall's over bright and early to watch the World Cup Final. They brought coffee and doughnuts and we all enjoyed a phenomenal final game with Argentina and Messi taking the win. Will Messi be in the next one? Then the Marshall's went on to host Lexie's 15th Birthday party at an escape room. Both girls loved it and really enjoyed having the whole day to spend together as the Marshman's.

More Holiday season to come!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jjG1ADDEfhecmmrB7