Broken Down Car

A few weeks ago I noticed a plastic piece hanging down under my car.  I looked at it and thought, "Oh well ... guess it's not causing any problems, whatever it is."  Looking back I now know that it was causing problems!  I drove part of the boys Volleyball team to Northgate High School for a game on Tuesday night. As I was parking the car I went over the little parking curb/bumper that's supposed to stop your car from doing damage.  Well, I heard a noise and then backed up when I realized I had gone to far.  Another not so great noise happened, but that happens every once in a while. (Those little curbs do no good when your wheels do not hit them and your tires drive right between it!)

After the game we were getting ready to head home and I backed out of the spot and starting driving.  I heard an awful noise of something being dragged.  I stopped the car and got out to check to see if my bumper had somehow fallen off! I couldn't see anything, so I got back in and tried driving again.  Again, I had to stop because the noise was so bad.  The VB boys and I got out and looked under my car.  The plastic piece that's supposed to protect the hoses and things under the hood had gotten cracked and bent backwards (when I backed over it).  I guess it had been hanging down for a while, but I did it greater damage and was wondering how I was going to get home from Walnut Creek.

One of the players took control and asked me if I had a screwdriver (which I didn't) and duck tape (which I didn't).  We did, however have Parker's athletic tape that he uses to tape his thumb.  I passed that down to him and he taped up the plastic piece so it could stay up until we got home. As he was fixing it, everyone kept stopping to ask us if we were OK.  I had Volleyball players laying all over the ground and under my car.

Once it was taped we slowly drove back to the High School.  Every time the car bounced at all, we could hear it scrape bottom.  After dropping off the boys at the school, I called my dad and asked if he could look at it since Travis was gone that evening.  He came out and jacked up my car (with a hurt shoulder) and said that he thought it would be OK for tomorrow.  I was worried because it was my week to drive the carpool and I had to go on the freeway and didn't want it dragging all the way home.  As I was pulling out of the driveway it caught again on their curb and he had me come back in.  I was glad that he was going to try and fix it for me a little so I didn't have to worry so much.  So ... he jacked up my car again and got under it and tied up the piece so that it wouldn't drag anymore.

I have the best dad!

It lasted until Travis took it in for a service the next Monday.  The service was EXPENSIVE but fixing that piece of my van was free.  Maybe they felt bad about how much everything else cost!

Easter 2012

Easter weekend was the start of our Spring Break.  On Saturday morning, we had an Easter Activity at church.  We had breakfast, the kids sang a song and then they searched for eggs!

 Calissa is in the back row on the left side with a pink sweatshirt.

 Christopher, Lindsay and Aunt Tina came!

 We had to be at church early on Easter morning since the choir was singing (I also got to speak in Sacrament Meeting), so the kids took a quick peek in their basket's before church and searched for eggs after Trav came home and we had eaten some brunch.

 Conner reaching for an egg.

 Calissa looking.

Parker finding one too.

We had a yummy Easter dinner over at Uncle Drew and Aunt Tina's house since Grandma and Grandpa were out of town.  Thanks Drew and Tina!

Another Basketball Season

The Church Basketball season seemed to go on forever this year.  (I think it goes on forever anyway, but the boys don't agree).  This was Conner's first year playing.  We had a pretty big team again, so he didn't get a lot of playing time, but he enjoyed the times he got to play, and also enjoyed watching the other boys play (especially when the other team was really big).  Parker started all the games this year and did really well.  He's excited for next year!  They only lost a couple of games this season and ended up in 2nd place.  They say they'll take back 1st again next year!

Coach Mike, Spencer, Isaac, Jason, Landon, Johnny, Jordan, Coach Jim

Kiddo, Parker, Tyler, Conner Jaime, Jermaine

Way to go Concord 2nd!

Volleyball

Volleyball Season is almost over, but I thought I'd post a few pictures that I've taken.

 Here is Coach Ernie working with Parker before a game.  He really pushes the kids, but Parker likes him and his coaching.  He's been really complimentary of Parker and his playing.  He told him he definitely has things to work on, but he can't believe that he's a Freshman and has never played Volleyball before.

 Parker ready to go!

 At the end of March they had a tournament at Deer Valley.  Parker is in the gold jersey.  He's playing the libero position which is a back-row specialist.  He is doing a great job, especially since it's his first year playing.

 Johnny and Parker  

 Parker liked this picture of him serving.

A smiling team after their win.  It was a long, but fun day!

Trever, Nick, Coach JP, Hao, Arjay, Oai, Tyler, Clayton, Parker and Coach Conley (We were missing Johnny for the picture).

Arjay, Clayton, Coach Conley, Oai, Johnny

Tyler, Hao, Nick

Parker

Field Trip

I got asked to go on a Field Trip with a 5th grade class as a substitute teacher a few weeks ago.  It was a little different sub job.  The teacher only needed me 1/2 day so I went to the school at 11:25, picked up the teacher's car keys and then got in her car and drove to the field trip site.  Once I got there, we swapped places and she took her car to go to a training and I stayed for the remainder of the field trip to ride with the class on the bus back to the school.  Luckily, I know this class really well and knew most of the parents on the field trip too.  Things were going smoothly ... we got to eat lunch, look for animals (we saw a pretty good sized snake), use nets to pull up creatures in the water, test the water, and learn how they clean sewer water.  Then, it was time to load the bus to head back to the school for a 1:30 arrival time.

As we were heading out of the site we had to go through a one-way, very narrow tunnel.  I was looking down at my notes for the rest of the day when we crashed into the tunnel as we were going in!  The bus full of kids was silent!  Luckily, it was a new bus that had seat belts and she wasn't going very fast. Everyone was OK, but our bus was not.  The side mirrors all shattered and got knocked so they were blocking the door.  The bus driver was able to move them out of the way and after asking if everyone was OK, drove through the tunnel to the other side and parked off to the side because where we were, we were blocking traffic. 

I called the school to let them know we were OK while the bus driver called her dispatch and called the police.

 While we were waiting for the Highway Patrol to come out, I had to go seat by seat and write down the kids' first and last names and which seat they were sitting in when the accident happened.  The kids were so good while we waited on the bus!

Once the Highway Patrol arrived and checked out the bus, a new bus arrived and we moved the kids one by one onto the new bus.  They had to give the Highway Patrolman their birth-date to go along with their names.  After four or five calls to the school and an hour of waiting, we finally made our way  back to campus.  We arrived back at 2:43 just two minutes before the bell rang.  Because we were so late, the bus couldn't get into the carpool lane to drop us off, so she parked in traffic and crossed us across the street.  A car pulled around the bus (into oncoming traffic ... which is illegal by the way!) trying to get into her driveway!  She was a little annoyed that the bus was blocking her way!  We all arrived safely back at the classroom safe and with a great story to tell.  Best of all ... they had no homework!

The following day I was subbing at the school and we had an unannounced fire drill.   As I was taking the class of 1st graders outside, I was really hoping it wasn't a real fire drill!  That would have been the topper to my week!  

Activity Days - Family Olympics

On Friday night for Activity Days the girls had a Family Olympics ... Minute to Win it style!  Unfortunately, our family was spread out in many different directions that night, so it was just Calissa and I.  Barbara Leal joined our family, just as we were getting going.

We started off by picking up paper bags with our teeth, then we picked up a spaghetti noodle with our teeth and had to pick up 5 more noddles and thread them on. All just using our mouths!  (It's harder than it sounds!)  Then, we had some Dixie Cups and had to put the top on the bottom alternating hands until the blue cup was on the bottom.  Next, we had to pull all of the tissues out of a box.  Then, we had to put ping pong balls in the box, tie it around our waist and shake them out!  Finally, we had to make a mummy with a roll of toilet paper.

 Here is Barbara and Calissa getting started on the mummy.

 Eventually, she just told Calissa to spin.  It went on much faster at that point, but Calissa got pretty dizzy!

 The last thing we needed to do was all go back as a team with our balloon and pop it.  Calissa wanted to do it, but after a few tries she realized that she didn't weigh enough! 

 We made a big mess, but had a fun time!

 Calissa and her Activity Day Leaders (Sister Muhlestein and Sister Muhlestein) getting her Olympic Torch.

Our team.  We may have come in last place, but we had a great time!

Thanks Barbara for joining our family!  You are welcome anytime!

Another Opening Day

Yesterday was Opening Day for Conner's Little League.  It seems to come around more quickly each year. Trav and I were trying to decide yesterday how long we've (the boys) been playing in this league.  We think this is year 9!  Conner says this will be his last year playing, but we'll have to see how he feels at the end of the season.

 Here is Conner with the Major Braves walking in.  Conner is the only one without his jersey.  He was cold, so he decided to wear his sweatshirt!  At least he's easy to pick out in the picture!

 Here's a view of everyone, once all the teams walked in. 

 Christopher is old enough to play this year.  Here he is in the middle of the picture (without a hat) and Andrew has his hands on his shoulders.  T-Ball ... here they come!  Andrew is helping coach the team this year.  We're looking forward to watching a couple of Christopher's games this year.

 Conner's team didn't take pictures yesterday because their hats didn't come in.  (He's wearing his hat from last year).  They still did the hit-a-thon though.  Conner hit it 115 feet.  He's not used to hitting it off the tee. 

After the hit-a-thon, he quickly ate his tri-tip lunch and then he warmed up for his first game.  They played the Dodgers.  This is the first year that they've had games going on Opening Day. Unfortunately, they lost, but Conner played great at shortstop.  He was 1-2 with a walk.  His hit was a double and knocked in their only RBI of the game.  It was a long day, but a fun one.

 (And yes ... we did get sunburned!  We always do!!)