Sammie is 8 and other news...

Our little girl had her 8th birthday party a few weeks ago and celebrated with a small slumber party in the theme of "Littlest Pet Shops." She wanted to forgo the traditional pizza in favor of cheeseburgers and fries, and she couldn't wait to stay up late with her little peeps! And they did... until just after Midnight! Everyone had a wonderful time and went home exhausted.

This month has been difficult for my Dad's health because his kidney (the new one) is under attack. His body finally created enough antibodies to start a full-blown attack on the new organ, and it has. He's been admitted to UCLA three times already this month for specific treatments, and this last time they restarted dialysis. I wish I new more about diabetes and kidney transplants to know if this is a good thing or a last ditch effort. In any case, we're praying for his health.

This past weekend a "Facebook" inspired reunion for my high school took place in Thousand Oaks. My BFF from Idaho flew in town and we went to the event together. It's always interesting to look back at the people that helped to shape you in high school and see where they are now. Some are parents, some are married, some are not. Many have lost hair, or gotten some "work" done. In any case, for me, it was great to be in the room and feel a confidence in who I am now and genuinely happy for those whom I saw and spoke with over their life accomplishments thus far. We didn't go to an affluent school, and I discovered some ugliness in the stories of HS that were recounted (from the home life of these chums) that I was blissfully unaware of at the time. I don't know how I would have handled it then. But now, I know where to go with it and I'm so thankful.

After the reunion, on Sunday morning Nicole and I drove to Ventura to meet another old and dear friend, Belinda. Belinda and I have been friends since 5th grade! In the past 8 years (that's how long it had been since we'd seen each other) she married and had a child. Her son, Justin, is now 4 years old and is so adorable. If I could have taken him home with me I would have, and I believe he would have gone with me too! We had a connection Justin and I!

So as our family heads into March we're looking forward to the start of soccer season, and the final 4 months of school. Taylor cannot wait to begin middle school and still has daily questions for me about it! I'm looking forward to the orientation so that MAYBE some of this questioning can come to an end.

God Bless You All and Thanks for Following our Family Adventure in Life!
Kelly

The Super Bowl!!

You will not believe the great fortune we have! We actually went to the Super Bowl this past Sunday!

It all happened so quickly too. Eric was offered tickets by a vendor on Thursday morning, and by Thursday afternoon I had the kids all setup for the weekend. I love our friends! Thanks Millers and Muellers!

We left on a fully-paid for trip to see our favorite team, The Steelers, compete for their 6th Super Bowl title. Our flight was direct to Tampa and on our plane was "Will.i.am" from the Black Eyed Peas and Sabrina, one of the Cheetah girls. She was also on Dancing with the Stars (very sweet to talk too and had a Cheetah suitcase!) Our hotel was nothing really fantastic... but who cares? We were at the Super Bowl!

Everyone was dressed in Black and Gold. People were high-fiving each other on the street. We walked about 3 miles from our hotel to the stadium and stayed there all day long Sunday. First we were frisked, then we went through a medal detector. And let me tell you this, no camera-bags were allowed! Yikes! So my camera bag was instantly changed into a purse. A purse was allowed and in we went after a quick scan of our tickets. The first stop inside was the NFL experience. This is wear you can actually try out many of the athletic feats these football players do (running, passing, blocking, kicking, etc.). You could also record commercials - which we did! Click on the Bank of America picture and you'll see that one too. Also, there was a ton of shopping, but picky as Eric and I are, we didn't buy too much.

Next came the BIG event, the Super Bowl itself! Pouring into the stadium was a sea of black and gold (and the occasional red shirt... whatever!). People were chanting on the way in... "Here we go Steelers, Here we go - CLAP CLAP." We made our way to our seats on the Club level and found ourselves looking at the Steelers end zone. There were many Cardinal fans around us, but they were quiet compared to the raging energy of the Steelers! Terrible Towels were swinging with reckless abandon. We were so excited to be there we couldn't stop grinning and high-fiving each other!

The festivities began with Faith Hill and then Jennifer Hudson - and it was spine tingling, and beautiful. The flyover by the Airforce Stealth Jets made me jump and the anticipation of the event was palpable! Next, the teams were introduced and entered the field to a fanfare of screams and fireworks - can you feel the excitement? With the game finally underway the back and forth of the score made it constantly emotional. The crowd cheered and boo'd, and yelled at one another, and chanted, and basically went CRAZY over the magnitude of the spectacle down below.

Half-time was cool to watch as the stage for Bruce Springstein was setup in a matter of minutes and people poured onto the field like a river going wild. He was so energetic that you couldn't help but dance and sing along. And... as quickly as it began, it was over and the game was back ON.

The second half became a little bit more exciting for the Cardinal fans, and we noticed that there were more of them around us than we would have liked. We also noticed a man who had drunk himself into a stupor a few rows behind us and Pittsburgh fans were cheering so loud into his ear and laughing as he didn't move! Look at this picture:

At the end, it looked uncertain for a minute or two, but Big Ben Rothlesburger pulled out another victory with the help of every Steeler player and a supporting cast of fans. I don't know that I've ever cheered so hard or so loud in my life! One thing is for sure though, it's an experience that Eric and I will never forget!

The three mile walk back to our hotel was full of fans, both the walking kind, the stumbling drunk kind, and the driving and honking kind. It was a non-stop walking celebration. And in the morning when we got up to catch our plane, and take advantage of the free ride to the airport we were offered by some Cardinals fans staying at our hotel (how lucky are we?), we were ready to get home and share this excitement with everyone else. And Will.i.am was on our flight home too, wow huh!?!

The girls were well loved and cared for in our absence, and they were as excited as we were to see them. One thing is for sure, watching football as a family will never be the same again! Thanks for enjoying the ride with us! Kelly