Swim season is underway!

Tyaan has had 2 swim meets so far in the new season. She is swimming the 100y butterfly and the 200y freestyle so far. This is a video of her first 200 free. Her time in this race was 2:29 which is pretty good for the first meet of the year. It was a close race between her and a girl from the other school. You can see that she comes up too soon after losing count of how many laps she'd completed and has to hurry when that allows the other girl to catch up. But she pulls it out and took 1st place in this race! Following is a video of her 100 fly from the second meet of the week. She narrowly misses first place but takes 3 seconds off of her time from the meet before which is great.

Waterpolo Picture

This is Tyaan's picture for Waterpolo 07-08 season. I finally got it scanned. I've had some requests for it, so here you go! She says the cute pose was her idea. I miss water polo already and am looking forward to summer league.

Backwards Photo

Here is the official Backwards photo. You can see her outfit better here. I was very happy, I think they are both adorable.

Jon ON his motorcycle

I was waiting for Tyaan to get out of seminary one day last week and Jon had to ride over to get something out of the car. It was the first chance I've had to see him riding so I grabbed the camera and got a few shots before he could ride away. It's been raining again this week so he hasn't been able to ride. He's enjoying riding when he gets the opportunity, especially since he gets home so much earlier.

Ready for Backwards!

It's finally time to head out for the "Back to the 80's" Backwards dance. This is Ty in her 80's outfit we put together with her date Russell who is a good friend of our family. You can't tell with the jacket on, but we cut the arms short and the neck wide on the t-shirt so it pulled a little off one shoulder. It looked really, really cute. The pictures they had taken came out really cute as well so I'll have to try and get them posted also.

It sounds like they had a good time. It was quite entertaining to pick them up and see all the teenagers in their 80's outfits. She said they had 16 candles playing on a projector, but they didn't stick to 80's music...

Rockband!

Jon just bought Rockband. The rest of us are big Guitar Hero fans but Jon's not. He enjoys Rockband because he likes to sing. We all have fun taking turns at the drums which are pretty tricky. Andrew and his friend Joseph were over on Saturday afternoon to play. They recruited Jon to sing and Russell (who was over waiting to leave for Backwards) to play bass. I took a picture of our house "band" while they were mid-gig. Andrew is on drums and Joseph is playing lead guitar. It's quite a fun game, and because you can play up to 4 at a time it's a fun way to get several people involved.

Powder Puff postponed

Well, I should be filling you in on the excitement of last nights powder puff game, but unfortunately due to weather it was postponed until next Thursday night. The dance tonight is still on and the preparations have already begun. I should have some cute '80's' pictures to post either tonight or tomorrow, so be watching!

Giving Blood

Tyaan gave blood for the first time today.  They had a blood drive at her school (pretty appropriate for Valentine's Day isn't it?) and she signed up.  She didn't have any problems, and recovered fine.  Here she is with her yellow bandage and the "Be nice to me..." sticker.

Upcoming Stuff

Tyaan will be playing in her schools Powder Puff football game on Friday Feb 22nd. She's attending practices for that right now. I'm still waiting on details about time and cost, I know some of you are waiting for that information as well, but it should be fun to watch. Ty is on the defensive line and is apparently a force to be reckoned with. She said at practice last night she actually pushed the offensive lineman into the quarterback!! I've heard that the game is at 7:00 for anyone who would like to attend.  Still no word on cost...

The day after that is the Backwards dance (some of us know it as Sadie Hawkins) that she will be attending with a good friend of hers. The theme of the dance is 'Back to the 80's'. Am I the only one that feels old after hearing that? So, I imagine there's some shopping in the near future for me. Her outfit is complete!  We got the last couple of items today so she is ready, and anxious, for Saturday.  I can't wait to post the picture of this.  I think we did (she picked out most of it) quite well!

Swim season is here! Swim practice has started and Tyaan's first (pre-season) meet is the end of this month. She's planning on swimming the 100 yard butterfly which is what she finished 6th in finals last year. Her goal for the year is to make consideration time for CIF. She will most likely also be on one of the relay teams swimming the fly.

More of the same for Jon & I. Unfortunately we don't have as much fun stuff going on as Tyaan does, but I'll fill you in when something unexpected happens! Until then we happily cheer on Ty as she accomplishes all that she does.

Water Polo Ends!

Another water polo season has come to an end.  Tyaan's last game was this week. This was their first year with a new coachand number of girls on the team was low.  Ty played every Varsity game, and filled in for a few JV games as well. If you don't know anything about water polo (I didn't until Ty started) there are 4 quarters, each7 minutes long.  It's a lot of swimming back and forth, and a very brutal game. She's had lots of bruises, scratches, and even a bite mark ortwo! I don't know how these girls last 5 minutes, but we usually had none, or only 1 sub so most girls played every minute of each game. Tyaan became a great defensive player and got a lot more comfortable handling the ball and shooting this year.  She was able to score several times and stole the ball quite often, which I always got a kick out of. She's a great swimmer and was always able to out swim the other team. We're sad to see the season end, but are looking forward to the swim season that's coming up!  Here are a few more pictures from their last game.

Here is a picture of her after her teammates threw her in the pool

(after getting dressed!)

Tyaan & Brava

We finally let Tyaan have a dog. A friend of hers had a dog that needed a home so after lots of promises about taking care of her we brought her home.  She's a 6 year old rottweiler/german shepherd mix. She's a really sweet dog that doesn't dig, bark, or chew on anything. She does howl from time to time. Her name is Brava, but I've started calling her Goofball because she's kinda goofy. She loves to chase her ball and loves anyone to come play with her. She's timid and we laugh at her when we walk her because she's afraid of other dogs, even when they are small enough to fit in her mouth.  Tyaan likes to run so we're hoping Brava will be a good running companion.  Even though she's a chicken she does look a bit intimidating!

Jon's New Motorcycle Gear

Jon bought a motorcycle shortly after starting his new job to help with the commute.  He drives a heavy traffic route during the heavy traffic times of the day, so with the motorcycle his commute time is cut from 1 1/2 hours to 30-45 minutes.  We went out to a large motorsports store where he got a new helmet and jacket.  I took this picture once we were home and he was 'modeling' his new gear for us.  

Tyaan's braces come off

Here is Tyaan the day we went to get her braces off.  She was really excited and had  been counting down the days for a few weeks.  It didn't take very long and was only a little bit uncomfortable. The retainers were difficult for her at first, but she's gotten used to them.  As you can see her teeth are beautiful, and she's as cute as ever!

Jon Graduated!

Jon recently completed the BMW STEP program in Houston, TX. He lived in Houston from June 2008 until he graduated in December 2008.  He worked really hard and graduated 5th in the class (of 17).  I was able to go out to Houston and attend the graduation ceremony.  Afterward we jumped in the car and started the long drive home.  It took us 24 hours to drive the 1500 miles home.  We took turns driving so we didn't have to stop.  As it was just a few days before Christmas we wanted to get home as soon as possible.

Jon is now working as a technician at New Century BMW in Alhambra, about 30 miles from our house.  So far it is going really well, and I know he is enjoying putting all of that learning to good use!

We are very proud of him, and are thrilled to have him back home where he belongs!

Welcome to Niki's House

A place where I can freely share news, info, and accomplishments made in my house!  If you're here it's because you love us and want to keep updated with us and the things that are going on in our lives.  Thanks for letting me brag about those that I love and am always proud of.

Welcome, and ENJOY!