It has been a few years since I've been back to Fishlake. Steele and Sedona road up in the motor home with gammy and grandpa and Brian and I left with the trailer after work. Steele was adamant about riding with grandma since he can ride in the back of the motor home and watch movies and play the xbox! Nice way to travel. They stopped at great grandma althea in Joseph to say high and raid her garden. We had such a great time. We would wake up early, get on the boat for a couple of hours then head back to camp and cook up a big breakfast. We some how managed to time getting off the boat just before the thunderstorms rolled in. It was so relaxing listening to the thunder and rain. After nap time we headed back to the boat for a few more hours. Fishing was hardly relaxing. The fish were biting like crazy and we were constantly reeling in the poles with fish. Sedona loved to hold them and play in the bucket. We also fished 7 mile creek which is so beautiful in the misty rain and cold...burr. Sedona would drag the fish down the road as we walked so cute. Steele had fun playing navy seal at camp. He would try to ambush grandma's camp and while doing that another camp of guys ambushed him. It was so funny and so unexpected. We also were lucky enough to see a cattle drive. Of course that was one of my favorite moments watching the cow dogs and horses work. It was a great vacation filled with great dutch oven cooking (made a super apple and blueberry cobbler over the coals and it worked), fishing and awesome thunderstorms. Oh yes, it was great to hang out with gammy and grandpa .
The whole family made a trip to Florida for Mike and Nik's graduation. We had such a great time. We stayed at a 900 acre resort with 5 golf courses, a lake, water slides, and beach area with the pool. It rained most of the time we were there, but that did not deter us from hitting the beach and pool, and it certainly did not keep Gay and Brain from golfing!! Golfing was the whole reason we stayed at Innisbrook (our trip was based around golf). The one day there was not a breath of air and the sun shined was of course graduation. I thought we would all melt so stinkin humid!!! It was such a proud and emotional moment to watch them walk across the stage. We will making a trip to Massachusetts to check up on them this fall at college. It is great that they will still get to stay together. They will only be 10 minutes from each other. I have called the year of 2012 the "Mike and Nik year" since our life and $$ have all been based around them lol. I wouldn't have it any other way. Word of advice for those out there with young ones. Start saving for the senior year of high school because it is a year of dishing out the money!!
Wrestling season is upon us again. Practices are 5 days a week and tournaments on Saturdays. We were lucky enough to get to use the new high school gym. I think Sedona and I are enjoying the new gym the most. It is big enough that I get to do conditioning with the kids. I'm sure I look like a fool being the only mom doing sprints, sprawls, push ups etc. but i don't care. Our Saturdays are spent inside a gym for 8-10hrs and I have to say i love every minute of it. Steele gained 10lbs from last season and is now a newbie in the Midget division ranging from 8-10yrs old. He is doing great and has medaled in every tournament averaging 12 kids in his bracket We went to the Rocky Mountain Nationals consisting of 17 states and over a 1000 kids, and we traveled to Utah for the Beehive Brawl Nationals. It has been great to see everyone from last year. I was especially excited to see a family who were expecting their 5th boy. They were throwing around the name Steele last year so I couldn't wait to see what they decided. They did pick Steele ya!! This year has proven that the wrestling community is indeed a "FAMILY". A 6yr old on the Longhorn team was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer just two days before Christmas after a routine visit to the dentist. The out pouring of support and donations has been overwhelming from all the teams. Unfortunately, our season ended early due to a broken arm Steele got at practice. With just 1 tournament left then we were off to Regionals and State ughhh!! I will not know what to do with all my free time until baseball starts. This is the first Saturday I've been home and I'm already bored and I've eaten all day!!!!
What an exciting season for the Rush this year. This is the first time the Rush has made it to a championship game. Steele was so fortunate to be a part of such an amazing coaching staff and a great group of boys I hate to see the season end. I'm so glad Steele was able to experience the excitement of a championship with announcers and scoreboards. Although they did not win, they all need to be so proud of themselves for doing something that no team has done since Pahrump has been involved in Pop Warner. It was so hard so see the tears and disappointment on the boys faces. Thanks to all the players and coaches for making us such proud Rush parents!!!!
This summer has been great. We were able to get up to Duck Creek and the ocean this year. We had fun fishing, bike riding, relaxing, and visiting with some old work friends (it's a given when in Duck Creek you are bound to run into someone from Vegas). We also went to the Ocean. We always stay at Paradise By The Sea RV Resort in Oceanside. We have been going to the same location for 15yrs. It is family owned and is located right across the street from the beach!! The owner played for Stanford and the Houston Oilers. Steele really enjoys talking to him about football. We enjoyed the luau night with limbo contest and the movie night outside. There are always a ton of kids there for Steele to play with. Everyone from the park goes to the same area of the beach so the kids really have a great time. It is fun for Steele to see some of the same kids from previous yrs. They play baseball, football, and ride their bikes and scooters all over the park. My highlight each trip is walking up to the Mexican market to buy their guacamole, salsa, and carne asada yummm. Steele tried surfing for his first time this year and did very well. After the first day Sedona really began to enjoy the water which meant no sitting and relaxing for us. Steele, Brian and I enjoyed boogie boarding together and getting pummeled by the waves. It was great to have grandma and grandpa there to help out with Sedona. This year we met a family whose brother plays for the Chicago Cubs and resides in Vegas during the off season. I'm trying to recruit him to come out to Pahrump to talk to the little league team this spring. I look forward to many more memories to come at Paradise by The Sea RV Resort.
Steele had such a great time at the UNLV Football Camp this year. He loved having his cousins Nik and Mike watch him every day. The head coach Bobby Hauck and his staff did a great job with the kids. They got to experience the weight room and watch game tapes just like the players. It was also great for the kids to practice on the field while the college players did their conditioning. Steele was so jazzed to have coach Hauck be the QB for his team. Steele caught some heat from the other coach when he intercepted his pass lol. I hope next year we can round up some Rush and RMC players to represent Pahrump Football.