Tour of California

After eight challenging days of cycling through 650-miles of scenic California highways, roadways and coastline drives, Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was crowned as champion of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California for the second consecutive year, with a weeklong total time of 29 hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds of cycling across California. A resident of Santa Rosa, Calif., Leipheimer battled against the best field ever assembled to compete in the United States, which included Olympic medalists and World Champions, among others. George Hincapie (USA) of High Road claimed the Stage 7 win.

Todd and I were invited by our friends Vic and Rikki to go watch the last stage of the Tour of California this Sunday at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. It was AWESOME. Just being with the thousands of people there screaming and the excitement of seeing the "breakaway" and the "peloton" was enough to get our blood pumping. In fact we both wanted to jump on a bike ourselves, even in the pouring rain.

Vic works for Rock & Republic Jeans and his company is the sponsor and I think owners of "Rock Racing". They are pretty cool, especially with their Black and Juice colors and all their riders have crazy tattoos, definitely following the "bad boy rocker" look. They are drawing a "different" crowd to cycling. Once the race was over, their booth had so many people there for over 2 hours after everyone else had left. Vic took us on the HUGE trailer truck they had there and we got to meet a bunch of people. Floyd Landis, the 2006 Winner of the Tour de France was even there wearing a Rock Racing Hat.

Vic told us about two more races, one in San Dimas and one in Redlands and we are hoping we can see those too. We are going to have to bring Grammy next time, since she loves to cycle too.

Helping at the Seniors Apartments

The last Saturday of every month a few people from Flipside head over to the Rudolph Hendrickson Apartments to help out the Seniors. Sometimes there are more people there, but usually it's just Aaron Whitehead, Todd, Jett and Todd's mom. When anyone needs help with their apartment (vacuum, clean tub, wash windows, flip mattress, etc.) they can sign up for it and when the Flipside group goes, they visit the apartments and do whatever they can to help. Before the cleaning, there is a "Hang Out" from 9 - 9:30 a.m. with donuts and coffee. Todd asked if I would bring Morgan and Aaron asked Briana to come with the kiddos to visit also. It was nice to hang out with everyone and so cool to see some of the Seniors faces light up when they saw the kids. I think Morgan even got a cheek pinching!

They can always use more help so for any of you that enjoy visiting with our senior generation, please come and help out! The next one is on March 29th at 9 a.m. I think there is some info on the Flipside website too or you can post a comment and we will email you.

Rudolph Hendrickson Apartments
6628 Amethyst St, Alta Loma, CA 91737

Happy Birthday Papa!!!!

Today is Papa's Birthday! Since we were unable to celebrate with him in person, we shipped his birthday present to him and had the family over last night to watch him open it and sing to him via the web-cam. It worked out pretty good. We love talking to him that way because it feels like he's here with us. We all pitched in and got him a new digital camera. We are all expecting tons of picture from Boston now.

We miss you Papa and hope that you have a great Birthday!

Love,
Todd, Gina, Jett, Morgan, Scott, Lindsay, and Marie

Morgan growing up

Here is a really cute video from of Morgan. I can't believe how much she's changed since we took it. It makes me realize that I really need to get more video of her. She's growing up too fast :(

Morgan Video

Daddy and Morgan Reading

Morgan does this really cute thing now. Todd will ask her if she's want to read a book. She will go grab one, and walk over to him and climb into his lap and get herself all snuggled between his legs and let him read to her. She is so cute and actually pays attention now and will wait to change the pages until he says to.

Julian, CA

This past Friday was our first "overnight" trip away from the kiddos since Morgan was born. It was our Christmas present from Scott and Lindsay to watch Morgan overnight for us and Jett stayed with his dad.

We went to Julian, Ca (a cute little town close to San Diego) with our good friends Doug and Letty. It was SO much fun. We were supposed to go a couple of weeks ago and we were planning on sleeping in our tent but it was during the crazy rain so we decided to postpone. We asked Doug and Letty if they'd like to go with us and they were free and said they'd love to. Lucky thing for us was, they have a gorgeous trailer that they offered to bring and have us all stay in. It was such a good thing too because we knew it might be a little chilly and we might even see some snow but we just figured it would be little patches here and there. We were definitely surprised to drive into town that night. There was so much snow. They had just had a huge storm the day before. We even had to put chains on the truck to get the trailer into the parking spot because it was so icy and steep.

The boys had made reservations for dinner in town at an Italian restaurant named Romanos. It was a really cute little house that had been converted into a restaurant. The food was so good and so fresh. We ate until we thought we would pop and then it was time to head back to the trailer for some card playing. We had so much fun playing Texas Hold'em (even if Todd won almost every round). We were up laughing and playing until 2 a.m. and it was pretty cool to think we could actually sleep in the next day since that hasn't happened in forever.

Both Todd and I had such a great night's sleep and when we woke up it was 39 degrees in the trailer. It sure didn't feel that cold though until we crawled out of our sleeping bags and went out to play in the snow. We had some mimosa's and chocolate covered strawberries that the boys brought us and then headed out to breakfast. We ate at Buffalo Bill's and then walked around the main street for a while. We were surprised how crowded it was since the night before when we went to dinner the place looked like a ghost town.

Check out was at 1 p.m. so we headed back to pack up and hit the road. We stopped at a local winery named Orfila and did a little tasting. The drive back home was beautiful and it was so cool to see all the rolling hills and the animals. It really felt like we were in a different state and it really made me appreciate all that God's created for us.

We would love to go back there again but next time we need to stay longer than one night because there we so many little shops and places we didn't get to see or even get a piece of their famous apple pie. A definite reason to go back.

Happy Valentines Day!

Today was such a great day! First I had my MOPS group and it was so nice to visit with the other moms there and just relax for a couple of hours. We had a really great activity - we created a little "Date Night" bag with all different date ideas that I gave to Todd when he got home from work. Our tables all brainstormed and it was nice because there were so many that I wouldn't have thought of. Some were: Home Depot Dream Walk (which is great for us because we are always fixing up our home), Bowling, Batting Cages + Photo Booth, Melting Pot for Dessert, Sushi & Saki (yum). There were a lot more and I can't wait to try some of them. I have to say I really LOVE MOPS. It's such a nice time to get to know new people and it always makes me feel like I'm not alone in my mommy craziness. I especially loved Jen's speech on how Valentines Day should just be about "Love"...not necessarily "couple love" but all "love" and it's so fun to celebrate it with our kiddos.

Before picking up Jett from school I took a bunch of pictures of Morgan because she was in such a good mood. Hey Grammy - Check out her "Downward Dog Move".



After Jett finished his homework him and Morgan played for a long time together. They were so sweet and I had to take some pictures of them together. They were sporting cute clothes compliments of Jett's grandma and papa: Joyce and Carlos. (Thanks again, I love Jett's sweater and Morgan's cute outfit. It worked perfect because it was so cold today!)


Then we decided to go out for a walk. We were out for just a little while when Todd comes driving around the corner with flowers hanging out the window for me and a gift for Jett. It was so sweet of him! Especially since we are not "celebrating" for us until Monday (he took the day off so we can spend ALL day together...yes he totally ROCKS!!) Then when I got home he brings out 4 different bars of dark chocolate from Trader Joe's...and for those of you who don't know, I'm a dark chocolate freak (thanks to Amy) so I was really impressed with my hubby today. I wish I took more pictures of Grammy and Todd, I don't have any :( ...here are a few that we did take of the flowers, my mom and the gifts from Grammy. The little animals were awesome! When you push their bellies, they make the sounds that Morgan knows, "Meow", Ruuf Ruuf", and the "Quack Quack".





Thursday is our family night so we had yummy pizza and played a new game called "Pit". It was fun and kinda crazy and loud! Grammy got some cute gifts for Momo and Jett. For dessert I made homemade ice cream sandwiches and then we had some champagne. The champagne was actually to celebrate Lindsay's job prospects/opportunities.

It just felt like one big day of celebration and I know it was just a simple holiday that "a lot" of people consider a "Hallmark" holiday but this year I just really felt very blessed and really loved to spend so much time with the people I love!

You know you're from Massachusetts if...

You know you're from Massachusetts if...

Khakis are something you start the car with

You think crosswalks are for wimps

You think if someone's nice to you, they either want something or they are from out of town and probably lost

You know how to cross 4 lanes of traffic in 5 seconds

You are amazed when traveling out of town that people who work at McDonald's actually speak English

You think it's not actually tailgating unless your bumper is touching the car in front of you

You know that a yellow light means at least 5 more cars can get through ... and that a red light means 2 more can

A Crown Victoria=Undercover Cop

The transportation system is known as the "T", Subway is a fast food place

You could own a small town in Iowa for the cost of your house

There are 24 Dunkin Donuts shops within 15 minutes of your house

When people talk about the "curse of the Bambino," you know exactly what they are talking about, and you believe in it too... (or, did :)

You think of Rhode Island as the "deep South"

Anything past Worcester is "the middle of nowhere" (if you live in Boston)

You believe using a turn signal gives away your plan to the enemy

If you stay on the same road long enough, it will eventually have 3 or more different names

Someone has honked at you because you didn't peel out the second the light turned green

You've honked at someone because they didn't peel out the second the light turned green

All the potholes just add excitement to your driving experience

Stop signs mean slow down a little, but only if you feel like it

Six inches of snow is considered a "dusting"

Three days of 90+ heat is definitely a "heat wave" ... and 63 weather is "on the warm side"

$15 to park is a bargain

You cringe every time you hear some actor/actress imitate the "Boston accent" on TV or in a movie. If you don't have it, you're never going to get it right ... even if you were born here

At the ice cream shop, you call chocolate sprinkles "Jimmies"

You can go from one side of your hometown to the other in less than 15 minutes and see at least 15 losers you graduated with doing the same exact same thing they were doing the last time you saw them

You know how to say "Worcester," "Haverhill," "Peabody," "Gloucester," "Salisbury," "Pelham," ,"Revere"and "Needham"

Box fun with Morgan

Last Friday I was organizing Morgan's room and going through all her old clothes. She decided to turn an empty box into her new favorite play thing. She climbed right in and wanted me to shut the top. She kept sticking her little hands out the sides and played peek-a-boo with me. Then she decided to turn it on it's side and make it a slide that she kept trying to climb up. It always amazes me how something so simple like a cardboard box can keep a toddler entertained for so long.

Lulu's Birthday

On Saturday we all went bowling to celebrate Lulu's birthday. We had so much fun! Scott won the first round and Todd blew everyone away in the second. Then we came home to have birthday cake and do presents. Ma made a strawberry cake with whip cream. It was so yummy.

Morgan the Chatter Bug

Jen inspired me to post the words that Morgan says now. I'm so bad and haven't written anything down in her baby book yet. I want her Papa and Nana to see how much she's growing up.

She LOVES animals and their sounds...when we say Kitty, she says Meow...when we say Dog, she says Ruuf...when we say Monkey, she says, Haa Haa Haa, when we say Cow, she says Moo...when we say Lion, she GROWLS, it's the cutest thing. She also says, Hi, Bye, Book, Bow, Drink, Food, More, Nite Nite, Up, Home, Eye, Mouth, Nose, Ear, Apple, Nana(for banana), Baby, and of course Poo Poo and NO.

The funniest thing she does though is jabber and sound so serious and of course we have NO idea what language she's speaking.

Here is Momo saying "Moo":

CRV for Sale

UPDATE: We sold the CR-V! Serge from Russia bought it for a customer in Russia! It's crazy to think that after 40-50 days on a ship our little Honda will be driven in Kazakhstan by it's new owner! Good thing it's an AWD!

We are selling our Honda CR-V. It's a great little car but we bought it with the intention of just keeping it a couple years and then moving up to a bigger car. It's VERY clean and we just got it detailed yesterday. If you know of anyone who'd be interested, please send them our info! We are asking $6,750 for it.

Here's the specs:
1999 Honda CR-V AWD EX
Mileage: 114,000
Color: Silver
Interior: Charcoal

Features: Automatic Transmission, 5 Passenger Seating, Kenwood DPX-301 Stereo/CD which can also be hooked up to your iPOD (iPod powered jack already installed, just plug in), Bucket Seats, Power Door Locks, Power Mirror, Power Windows, Tinted Windows, Fixed Roof Rails

Mom's Tea

On Wednesday we had a Mom's Tea. It was so much fun...so girlie and so relaxing. The food was delicious and really filling too. Which surprised me because it did't look like tiny sandwiches could fill you up. Maybe it was the 6 cups of Apple Crunch tea that did it.

Here's some pictures that Mindi took:

The five stages of Patriots grief (by DJ Gallo)

It's a sad day in Boston. Happy and full of joy everywhere else, of course. But sad in Boston.
Bostonians are coming to grips with the demise of the greatest team ever the New England Patriots.
As you may know, there are five stages of grief: denial and Isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
This is how Patriots fans will progress through the various stages. Please be understanding of their plight. Keep your pointing and laughing to a minimum.

Stage 1: Denial and isolation

No! No! No! No! Noooooooooooo! No! No! No! No! No! Noooooooooooo! This did not happen.
There is no way this happened. It's impossible. There is no way Eli Manning -- Eli Manning! -- stopped us in the Super Bowl from going 19-0. Eli Manning did not just beat Tom Brady. Tom Brady did not get knocked out of the playoffs in back-to-back years by the Manning brothers. I refuse to believe it. Such a world does not exist.
I just can't deal with it right now. I don't want to talk to anyone. I just want to be alone. I'm not taking calls from any of my friends.
If I talk about it with them, that means I'm not dreaming and the Pats really lost. I am not yet prepared to face such a reality. My entire identity and self-worth hinges on the ability to act smug about the supposed supremacy of Boston's sports teams, as though I had something to do with their performance on the field.
If that goes away, I am an empty shell. I am a fraud. I would have nothing. And I'm not ready yet to deal with that. So I will simply deny that it happened.
I need to go someplace where I can get my thoughts together. Someplace quiet and empty. Where could that be in Boston? Oh, I know. Anywhere along the normal championship parade route.

Noooooooooooo!

Stage 2: Anger

I have a friggin' Patriots helmet tattooed on my head! On my bald head! What am I supposed to do? I feel foolish now! I wouldn't have done it if I knew they were going to lose. I just feel so misled! I feel so stupid.
Not as stupid as Bill Belichick, though. Genius? Yeah, right. You cheat in Week 1 against the Jets, but can't muster up a worthwhile cheating plot in the Super Bowl when it matters? Moron. Oh, and did you notice when you were walking off the field before the game was over that we lost by three points? Nice call going for it on fourth-and-13 when we were in field-goal range! Who helped you make that genius decision: Girlfriend A or Girlfriend B? You just got outcoached by Tom Coughlin. Badly. By Tom Coughlin! Half of the man's brain is still frozen from the Green Bay game, yet he made you look like Rich Kotite.
And Tom Brady … really? You needed a haircut from your stylist the night before the game?!
Maybe you should have spent more time watching film, you dainty little girl. And didn't you learn anything from Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson?
What's with having Gisele there watching from a luxury box? She shouldn't have been there. Actually, no. She should have been there. On the field. Playing for you. I'm sure her 72-pound body could have withstood the pass rush better than you, nancy boy. You're dead to me, Tom Brady.
Rodney Harrison and Vince Wilfork, you may not call me. You guys get all of these personal foul penalties and fines in games that don't matter, and then come up with nothing in the Super Bowl? Way to choke, losers. Maybe if one of you had kicked Eli Manning in the crotch while he was standing in the huddle, we'd be Super Bowl champions today. Harrison, how do you let David Tyree catch that pass against his head on you over the middle on the final drive? After he scored their first touchdown, he shouldn't have had a head. You should have decapitated him. I thought you were smart. One would think you'd have a big brain inside that giant, HGH head of yours.
Oh, and go to hell, Sen. Arlen Specter. (Or stay in Philadelphia. Same thing.) Get over it, you loser. Your Eagles lost. They weren't good enough to beat us. The Patriots are better than the Eagles. Just like New Kids are better than The Eagles. (I love Donnie!) And who are you, anyway? I never heard of you. If you're not a Kennedy, you're crap. Come up here to a real state and let Teddy take you for a drive out to Chappaquiddick.
And same to you, Boston Globe. Thanks for jinxing the team with the 19-0 book.
Next time I am out of toilet paper, I will purchase your rag. Meanwhile, I hope there are a bunch of kids in third-world nations who want to read a book of fiction about an undefeated American football team.

Stage 3: Bargaining

OK, look … there's got to be a way to make this right. What do you want us to do?
Do you want us to admit that we cheated to win those other three Super Bowls? Fine. We cheated. Asterisk those babies up. We admit it. Just please -- please, please, please, PLEASE! -- don't take away our perfect season. We'll trade those other three titles for 19-0. Just let us play the game over. Come on. Be fair. That's a good deal.
I can't even believe I'm saying this, but do you want me to admit that Tom Brady is overrated? I will. I'll say it. I'll say it if you'll let the Patriots play the game over. Do you see how far you're making me go? How much I want this? I am willing to speak a negative word about the most beautiful and perfect man ever made. I'll admit that he stunk in that playoff game against the Broncos two years ago. And that he blew our chances last year against the Colts by throwing that interception in the fourth quarter. And that he was a big zero in the Super Bowl against the Giants. He's been folding under pressure in big games for three years in a row. He's like a Manning, but with a better jaw line and two fewer Super Bowls since 2004.
I'll do anything to make this different. Say that Rodney Harrison is an HGH-fueled cheater? You got it. That the tuck rule was a sham? No doubt about it. That Bill Belichick once coached the Browns. Sure, I guess.
Roger Goodell … come on, man! We're in this together. Once you trusted Belichick to tell you the truth and then destroyed all of those tapes, our fates became intertwined. If we go down, you go down, ginger boy. So it's time for you to trust Belichick again. Here's what you do. First, destroy all of the game tapes from the Super Bowl to get rid of the evidence. Then, call up Belichick. He'll tell you that we beat the Giants. Then just go to the public and say: "The Patriots beat the Giants in the Super Bowl. Bill Belichick told me they did. He promised me he was being truthful, so I took him at his word." See how easy that would be?
Hey, I'll even admit that I never even heard of the New England Patriots before January 2002. Well, I heard of them. But I always thought they were, like, some kind of Revolutionary War re-enactors or something.
Come on. I'm being straight with you here. Give the Patriots another shot. Best out of three? Best out of seven? How about seven? The Red Sox lost the first three in 2004 to the Yankees and still came back and won.

Yankees suck!

Stage 4: Depression

Life is not worth living.

I've spent the past five months of my life telling everyone I know how great the Patriots are and how much their team sucks. I've called radio shows. TV shows. Written countless words on Internet message boards. My entire self-esteem was based on the success of a football team filled with a bunch of players I've never met in my life.
Now I have nothing. They'll get over it. They're rich. They have hot wives and girlfriends. But I have nothing. Just this tattoo on my head and a crappy, second-shift job at Dunkin' Donuts.

There's not hope for the future, either.

Tom Brady is balding. He's past his prime. It's all downhill from here. He's in his 30s now. He'll never get close to 50 touchdown passes again. His ankle is hurt. His shoulder is all messed up. Who knows what else is being hidden in the injury report. Gout? Scabies? Mumps? Measles? Rubella? Gisele will see the writing on the wall soon enough. She'll dump him. Then he'll start dating Jessica Simpson. And then it will get worse from there. Three years from now, he'll have a 65 quarterback rating and four kids with Britney Spears. We should just use our first-round pick this year to draft a quarterback and get it over with. Goodbye, Tom.
And goodbye Rodney Harrison, Junior Seau, Mike Vrabel and Tedy Bruschi. You could all retire. Or not. It doesn't matter either way. Without you, our already suspect defense is decimated. With you, we're another year older and slower. Next year, we're going to all offense and absolutely no defense. Ohmigod … we're going to be the 2004 and 2005 Colts.
I think I'm going to throw up.

Stage 5: Acceptance

OK. So we lost. It happened. We were 18-0 and lost in the Super Bowl to Eli friggin' Manning and the New York Giants. It still sounds insane to say that out loud, but facts are facts.
Truth is, I'm fine with it. That's three years in a row the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl. What kind of dynasty is that? If they're not going to represent Boston the right way and win championships, they can get lost. I'll go back to pretending they don't exist like I did before January 2002. I mean, they're not even a Boston team. They play in Foxborough. That's where they belong, too, the losers. I've got better things to do with my time than root for a bunch of losers.
Like root for the Celtics, for example. Best record in the NBA, baby! How 'bout them apples?! You know you are jealous! Your teams sucks compared to the Celtics!
I'm going to go get Brian Scalabrine's face tattooed on my head.

Living Room Walls

Well Todd did it! He (with the help of Aaron and Doug) was able to fix our wall and even managed to get the entire room painted before Superbowl. Here are some after pictures. Now we need to finish the kitchen cabinets and the rest of the wood all white. The room looks so much better and even bigger now that it's not so dark. Thank you so much to Aaron, and Doug and Letty...without you, it might not have been done on time.

BEFORE:


AFTER:







Here you can see the other walls which used to be RED, painted Carrington Beige (color throughout the rest of our house)

Superbowl 2008

Yesterday we had a few people over to watch the Big Game. It was so nice to be able to watch it with good friends. Bummer though the Patriots lost. It was such an intense game and we were definitely all on the edge of our seats. Would've been nice to see history being made.

Micah's Surpsise Birthday Party

Last night we were invited to celebrate Micah's 30th Birthday. It was a surprise and we had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone. Here some pics!