The Soccer Tournament

Last weekend Lexi, aka #21, had her end of season soccer tournament in Ohio. Mom made the trek from Arizona to join us and we headed out! Nate has taken Lex to most of the games all season because they are always on Saturdays so him and Liv stayed home on dog duty.

The normal 2 hour drive turned out to be a little longer because me and the GPS were having communication issues! ONE of my detours (there may have been 3) was through a lovely, picturesque little town.

Her team has been playing in the "premier" league all season, which is an older (more advanced skills) age group, these teams are practicing 2-3 times more each week then our team. Lexi's team probably won only half of their games all season, so going into the tournament I wasn't expecting them to do very well. Their coach had them play in the harder league all season and then entered them in this tournament which was against teams of their same age level.

There were eight teams split up into two groups, the winner of each group would play for the championship. They played two of their games Saturday and won! Lexi had one goal, a couple of attempts, one of which she got tackled so she got a goal kick... but since she had already scored a goal the coach let one of the other girls kick it. She had two other "goals" that they called off sides on... I only believe she was off sides on one, because she was dribbling the ball down herself on one of them (nobody passed the ball to her) so it would have been impossible for her to be off sides.... so she was robbed! Afterwards we went and checked into our hotel and had dinner with a some of girls from her team and their moms.

Sunday morning they played the last team in their group annihilating them so it was off to the championship game that afternoon for Erie United!!!

The team they were playing against did the same thing as them this season, playing in the harder league and dropping down into their own age group for the tournament, we played them a couple of weeks ago winning them with ease. I think the girls really underestimated them because the first half of the championship game the girls seemed to be more interested in watching the game then playing the game and the other team was able to score one goal. The second half of the game the girls came out and played hard, they kept the ball on their half of the field the entire time.... had a dozen goal attempts... two goals that the refs called off sides on.... one bloody nose... one bloody lip... but in the end zero goals... it just didn't go their way with the final score 0-1. Erie United came in second place.... pretty dang good, and a lot of fun to watch!

What a week for my cute sporty girl, way to go Lex! Arriving home on Sunday, Nate had a wonderful dinner prepared for us and afterwards we relaxed and played a couple of games of Apples to Apples... of which mother couldn't catch a break! What a fun weekend!

Basketball Season Highlights

The Rams ended the regular season in third place and this week it was the playoffs.

Monday it was Lexi and The Rams playing Roosevelt Middle School. They had to win this game to advance on in the tournament and they did not disappoint. Lexi had the first 4 points in the first 30 seconds! She got the tip off and made a beautiful lay up and then turned around and made an incredible steal making another lay up! The girls played such a clean game, with very few fouls or turnovers, they just looked amazing out there... towards the end of the game the other team started getting more physical (one girl even got a technical foul) and it got pretty heated... but our girls did not sink to their level. The Rams won with the final score 32-20.

Tuesday they played the number 1 team, Joanne O'Connell... this game determined whether or not they would play for 3rd or 1st place on Wednesday. My stomach was full of butterflies! This team won us by 2 baskets in the regular season, we knew it was going to be intense! They had a great turnout of fans, the football team and a bunch of their friends were there cheering them on. It was a nail biter from the start... me, Nate and Liv screaming our lungs out.... THE RAMS PULL OFF A MAJOR UPSET.... winning 33 -29! I wish I would have thought to capture the end of the game on video but we were all so caught up in the moment jumping up and down... I have never seen the girls more excited and proud of themselves... priceless!

Wednesday: The Rams vs. Walnut Creek playing for first place in the championship game!
This team won the tournament last year. It was an incredibly fast paced game, I don't know who was more nervous the parents or the girls, most of the parents were barely even able to breath! The crowd was pumped up, cheering nonstop for our Lady Rams... Walnut Creek was undefeated in the regular season so we knew our girls were going to have to play their hearts out. The stars aligned tonight... our girls never gave up, every time they got down they picked themselves up and came back even stronger... winning the Johnny Harris Tournament by 1 point.... final score 30 - 29!!! Congrats Rams on your championship win!!!!
And this time I was ready with the camera!

Receiving their first place trophy.

Lexi amazes me, she is both fierce and flawless. I have had so much fun watching her play and can't wait until next year! I love you Lex!

We ended the night by taking the girls out for pizza after the game for a little celebration.

Volume up and enjoy the video highlights from the season!

Feeling a little bit screwed... but it could have been worse

We picked our rotation sites tonight and it was quite the process. I only got a little bit screwed, other people got more screwed. Our school requires so many people to fill "mandatory" rotation spots first before you can "choose" where you want to go. These mandatory spots are hospitals and clinics with "special relationships" with our school so we basically have to volunteer for these or draw straws for who gets stuck with them. I will spare you all the intricate and crazy details of what was mandatory and what was available and what was restricted and cut to the chase. All of my rotations but two are in Buffalo. I wanted ONE in Erie this June but alas there were none available so that will be fun to coordinate with both me and Nate possibly commuting to Buffalo and the kids being raised by wolves until they are out of school. I say possibly commuting because I am eligible for free student housing and being that it is my surgery rotation I will probably just stay there. The two sites I was NOT able to get in Buffalo are...... a 4 week internal medicine rotation in Clarion, PA (middle of nowhere) and a 4 week surgical rotation in..... SCRANTON, PA baby! The rotation in Clarion does have free student housing but don't worry that Scranton doesn't offer ANY! Both of them are mandatory rotation sites and the Scranton one was the last one we had to draw out of a hat... and I WON that prize.

Anyways I am trying not to worry to much right now how this is going to all work out and just take it in steps. We still have 4 more sites we have to arrange... our electives and a family practice but these we set up on our own and, although there are some rules with them, we can choose any area or physician or clinic or hospital we would like as long as they will take us.

....And Then She Was NINE

On October 2, 2009, our beautiful daughter turned 9 years old. If there was ever a girl that deserved a great birthday; it would be this girl. She starts looking forward to her birthday, MONTHS before it happens and she can't sleep for several days before it arrives. We thought we had made it clear to the girls that they get a birthday party with friends every OTHER year, but how can you resist a face like this:

We decided to celebrate Liv's birthday, as a family, on Thursday night. She wanted to go to Aoyoma, which is a Japanese restaurant, for dinner. After dinner we gave Liv her presents. Lex got her the "Liv" doll, and Ang and I got her a PSP and a stuffed animal. Sheryl, you will be interested to know, that the PSP has WiFi and comes pre-installed with Skype. This means that she can make calls with you from any room in the house.

The "family" birthday was really peaceful, but that all changed on Friday night when the "friends" birthday came along. They all look like such nice girls in the pictures below, but when you get all of them together; it is anything BUT peaceful. The party only lasted for 3 hours (no sleep over this year), but it may have been the LONGEST three hours of our lives. When Liv and I went to the "party" store, she decided she wanted a Mexican theme. Ang was in charge of decorations and she did not disappoint. The basement had streamers, chili peppers, and sombrero's everywhere. The kids started off with "Dance Dance Revolution", then came LIMBO, after that we opened up presents and had cupcakes, and last, but not least; we played musical chairs with the music turned up full blast and 9 kids screaming. It couldn't have been more fun.

When the night was over we only had one girl sleep over and the rest of them went home. I'm pretty sure that everyone had a good time and I am POSITIVE that we won't forget this night for awhile.