Christmas 2007- thanx andy & ben for your help ;)

this is my company chrismas party from last weekend

Half Way to 88

The Oak Park Walls recently met the Fillmore Walls at Claim Jumper to celebrate Andy's 44th. What could be better than sharing a tasty meal with the people you love (unless more of the people you love could be present)?

Andy's Angels (Charlie's got nothing on me!)
















G & G & J
















Carrie & Jessica

Carrie's Class

Carrie recently finished up her fall class at Pepperdine , "Child and Adolescent Development," with a breakfast at our home. The students really appear to enjoy Carrie, her teaching, and the class itself. Of course, Carrie loves teaching and the opportunity it affords her to mentor and encourage young teachers.

Carrie's doctoral research is centered around the beliefs of pre-service teachers and whether and how those beliefs are impacted by Teacher Education programs. Go Carrie!

The End of a Great Season

Jenna's soccer season ended last weekend with an exciting run through the city-sectional playoffs. Her team, Grease Lightening, which went 8-0-1 through the regular season, then 3-1 in the region 4 playoffs, had advanced to the city playoffs where they went 3-0 on Saturday, beating Simi Valley (3-0), Moorpark (4-0) and Malibu (1-0). On Sunday, they ended up losing to a very beatable Newbury Park team (2-1) as their best player and scoring threat was very ill at home.

It was disappointing to get that close to the city championship and then not to have our whole team present. But it was a great season for the team and for Jenna; she scored a number of goals but made her best contributions at midfield, where her superior conditioning enabled her to run hard all game. Way to go Jenna and Grease Lightening!


Runner-up Trophy Recipients for AYSO Region 4
















Before the championship game under the lights
















An early start on a cold Saturday morning!

Michaela's Christmas Concert

Michaela recently sang with her school chorus at a local annual event called "Santa Comes to Agoura." As most of you know, Michaela loves to sing and has a nice voice to go along with that love. We enjoyed getting to hear her and the chorus.


Smile for me Michaela!
















With fellow singers Ashely and Emily

Torrance Christmas Classic Tourney

Garrett and Blake are now on to their Select season in soccer, each with their own age group. Sure was great to have them together on the same team for the regular season, but at least their select teams seem to enter a lot of the same tournaments. This weekend the tournament was super close - in Torrance! On Saturday each boy played 3 games, and Mike ref'ed 2! It was a LONG day! Blake's team didn't advance past the pool play, but Garrett's team made it to the quarter and semi finals. They got trophies for their 4th place finish. They are playing better together with each game...

Geo Bee

Garrett was selected to participate in the Geography Bee at his middle school this week. I understand that they take the top 4-6 students from each grade level from a competition they do during social studies. Garrett ended up 3rd in the entire middle school! Hopefully, after visiting Europe next summer, Garrett will be ready to take 1st place next year!

Nutcracker

Blake was part of a school production of the Nutcracker which debuted tonight. He was Dr. Drosselmayer (sp?), who gives the children the magical nutcracker. He looked very distinguished with his grey hair and "wrinkles."

Braces off!

Doesn't Austin's smile look great??? Braces came off today, but we still have retainers.

Way to go Grease Lightning!!!

Andy is away running in the Dallas marathon this weekend (our prayers are with you bro), so I just need to share that Jenna's soccer team made it to the semi-finals of their soccer league. Austin, Blake and I made an impromptu trip to Oak Park since we were in Malibu getting cousin Alex a bigger Pepperdine sweatshirt : ) When we found out Jenna's team was playing we just had to go watch! It was great to watch the girls on Jenna's team come alive after their opponents scored first. Then, Jenna scored first for her team which got them really going. The game was very hard fought, as their opponents wanted to win too!! Jenna's team gets hardware for their hard work: 2nd place trophies if they lose the final on Monday night, or 1st place trophies if they win Monday night!!! Go Grease Lightning!! Wish I had a picture of this fun, cold game, but since we didn't expect to go I didn't have my camera... Andy will be back in town for the final game so I'm sure he will get pics : )

Boys in black

Garrett had some friends over after Cotillion last night. I made them pose in front of the tree because I don't frequently get to see these young men all dressed up! We are proud of Garrett for being chosen as Student of the Month at his school for December. This means "front of the line" passes for lunch, and a free In-N-Out burger! They served lunch to the students and families this past week. Way to go Garrett!

Getting ready for Christmas

Blake set up the train that goes around our Christmas tree this year. We've been enjoying watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music!

Time together...

Sure was AWESOME to be together!!! Thanks Ben and Trisha for making the long, long trek out here! We think Olivia's jammies are perfect for her : )

Lots of Great Memories

It's hard for me to narrow down the many pics from our time together over the week of Thanksgiving. But here are a few more of my faves.


Elijah: a.k.a. Benjy redux





















Thumbs up for Garrett
















Blake's Birthday Wishes
(notice Jenna's braces are gone!)
















Blue eyed cuties
















Cousin Breakfast
















At the dessert table
















All of G & Gs descendants
















All of G & Gs grandkids
















Cousins everywhere

Christmas in November

It was over much too quickly, but we sure enjoyed celebrating Christmas with the cousins on the day after Thanksgiving. Here are just a few of my favorite "Christmas morning" pics.