Days 1&2 of Spring Training

We arrived in Phoenix, got our rental car relatively quickly, and made our way to Tempe Diablo Stadium to catch our first Cactus League game of spring training which was the Giants first spring game as well.  The Giants lost to the Angels, but we witnessed Joey Bart, the Giants first-round draft pick, collect his first hit in his second at-bat.  We sat on the lawn and enjoyed stretching out after the day in the car and the airplane.  Then we traveled to our Airbnb home and took care of some necessary adjustments:  acquiring enough plates for the 11 of us, removing a hazard from over one of the doors, and getting a new blow-up mattress since the one provided didn't work.  We shopped, ate dinner out, and then welcomed Eric and Sharon, Grace, Caleb, Luke, and Anna later in the evening.

Day two saw us attending our first A's game, which was a short walk from the place we stayed at.  But before that, we went to Red Mountain Church where we heard a message on abiding in Christ from John 15.  When we arrived at the A's, we took pictures and happened upon a stream of about 11 players arriving who walked right past where we were and then stopped to sign autographs for the kids.  What great timing!  The A's may have lost the game to the Royals, but they won some fans for sure.  That night, the adults put the oldest kids in charge and took pause with a double date night.

We only missed the first two innings of the Giants game on the day of our arrival.

Waiting for the rental car shuttle, and the kids are peacefully sitting...

Greeted by a balloon cactus at the rental car center.

The gathering of kids before we walked to the ballgame--all holding fidget spinners.

Did we just get picked up by a golf cart and escorted to the front gate?

Our five framed together.

The seven kids.

The entire 11 person crew.

Getting our first autograph of the spring.

Did you fill your ball already, Garrett?

Joy, Grace, and Sharon relax in the outfield.

Sean Manaea has been gracious each year.

Double date magic.

The kids have got this one covered.

The parental units pretend they are on a double date at the ballgame...

Marcus Semien and Jurickson Profar, the new A's double-play combo.

Crazy kids picture...

This brief moment of silence brought to you by...

Crazy Cats and Other Recent Events

Bryce's baseball team bonding over a pizza/smores/Sandlot movie night before the season.

Qi'ra says she wants to be counted as a dependent on our tax forms.

Joy and Sunita have fun on dress-up Friday at work.

Home group plays Creationary to kick off the night.

Qi'ra studies typing and keyboarding...it usually works better if you aren't sitting on the keyboard...posture is lacking also!

Joy's latest painting creation at a ladies night.

Qi'ra takes refuge in the laundry basket.

Mr. B enjoyed meeting with our boys and hearing about their progress in the school year.

Are we coexisting on this double-decker couch?  Leia and Qi'ra ask.

Joy takes the boys biking with her new bike...just wait til it stops raining and Garrett can use his new bike too.

Another work themed Friday:  Joy and Sunita before the Super Bowl, both channeling Steve Young's #8 jerseys.

The whole office crew at lunch time.

Darth Vader has been coming around again, but he is not a daily regular.

Completing a kitten puzzle together.

Joy suffered a soccer ankle injury playing on Sunday nights, a league Brett is supposed to playing in with her, but his work schedule has limited him to one game thus far.

Educational Opportunities in Jan/Feb

Garrett gets 2nd Place in the Geo Bee!

It even made it in the local newspaper!

Bryce and Griffin were in the Geo Bee too.

Line up for your questions at the Geo Bee...try to get them right, don't worry you won't go to Nationals...

Veterinary lessons with Poppy.

Practical veterinary medicine...Kylo did you volunteer?

Hannah, Hannah, Zach, and Garrett perform Physics lab taught by Joy.

Cookie design class at home--yummy!

Potato chip construction project:  Bryce with Quinton.

Making a delicious dinner for the family:  parmesan chicken with garlic beans. 

Gym work:  Bryce and Griffin make a flag model.

Garrett used his savings to buy a nice bike for our family bike rides.  See what you can do when you save your money.

CC presentation dress up day for Griffin's class.

Garrett had a phone call with Gramps every week to discuss a book they had both read.

Long multiplication, show your work...nicely done, Griffin.

Bryce gives a presentation at CC.

Garrett presents a lesson as a TA.

More physics experiments...

Griffin and Bryce loving the cooking class at Grace.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a busy day this year with the boys and Joy at Grace Co-op while Brett had meetings with friends and a haircut amidst a number of errands.  Then we all came together to have dinner and share cards.  The boys have become quite creative in the artwork they put into their cards.

Griffin made some beautiful cards for the four of us.

Bryce made a large combo card for all four of us featuring our feline friends.

The boys received some Star Wars themed presents from Resistance (the latest cartoon series) and Solo.

Joy received a bracelet picked out by Brett--apparently a nice pick.

Brett's Birthday-mid 40s

Brett's birthday weekend was an interesting conglomeration of many events.  Brett's alumni baseball game was moved due to scheduling so he didn't play this year.  This allowed he and Joy to attend their home group leaders' meeting at church.  Then we all traveled to Grammy and Poppy's place for the family birthday celebration of Jan/Feb.  A good time was had by all talking and being entertained by the latest installment of shows by the cousins which included a choose your own adventure style story.  After church the next day, we saw the Lego Movie 2 and then studied with the Dieps for Science Olympiad.  Joy made a great breakfast for Brett on his birthday before the day of school began.  The day after, Brett drove in to have lunch with Eric in Castro Valley before trying to beat the traffic back to make it to Garrett's baseball practice at Bel Passi.

Jan/Feb birthdays:  Wendy, Brett, Avery, Haley, Caitlyn.

Death Star pancake with sausage ears...almost Mickey Mouse-like?  Disney has tried to get in where Star Wars is...

Transformer Aerobots united--a present from Eric to keep Transformers on the radar.  Brett was trained on how to put the five Aerobots together by Eric.