Please continue to pray for my brother Danny

I am asking anyone who reads this to continue to pray for my big brother, Danny.

He is fighting for his life against a horrible disease- melanoma.

He is having radiation therapy to help with pain. It troubles me to see him in so much pain.

This morning he and my mom returned to Arizona to continue his treatments because he wanted to be home. So with a heavy heart I said goodbye to him and reminded him to stay strong. I will continue to update his condition on this blog. He was uncomfortable with the attention that the blog I set up for him brought him.

Same Birthday

On Dec 9, Big Z turned 6 years old. It amazes me as to how fast these 6 years went.
Big Z plays roller hockey on Friday nights and he played on the Hot Wheels . The coach's
son, shown here with Big Z, shares his birthday. In talking with the coach's wife we discovered that they were both born :
at the SAME HOSPITAL - Hoag Hospital
on the SAME DAY
had the SAME DOCTOR
and born within 4 hours of each other.
Who knows, they could have laid next to each other in the nursery.
Wow! I find that to be a small world kind of thing!
I told them - they need to be life long friends

Thanksgiving 2008

OK have a great day

A star is born!

Big Z has been chosen to sing a solo at his Christmas play this year. He will be singing Little Drummer boy. Big Z loves to sing and dance so this something fun for him.

BUT does anyone remember The Christmas play of 2006!

During one of the songs they were singing Big Z and D.G were standing next to each other ( 1st mistake). During the song DG turned and put his hands around Big Z's neck and was pretending to choke him. If that was not all, what did Big Z do ? He turned around and licked DG down the face. It had the audiences laughing so loud. Wish we caught that on video.

SO I will keep you updated on his perform ace. Only Big Z knows what he will do on stage.

My brother Danny

This is my brother Danny.

This is my big brother Danny. He has been fighting melanoma since Nov 2007. He has had to have several surgeries under his arm for the melanoma. If you are reading this , please all I ask of you is if you can say a prayer for him. He has been standing tall and bravely as he faces this terrible disease.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Nationals in Lancaster 10/3-4

Big Z raced his his first Nationals this last weekend in Lancaster, CA.
We went there not expecting much since he has only been racing for 3 months. On Friday, they have a "Pre-Race"race, Zeke took 1st in his qualifier then 1st in the main. He got a 3' trophy for that win. Mike and I were amazed and overwhelmed at the number of people who attended.
So on Saturday morning, Zeke took 1st in his qualifier. The weather was really bad, it was so cold and rainy. The track was so muddy and many of the riders were falling. We just told Big Z to hold on tight and pedal. Big Z went on to finish 1st place. Wow! we were so excited. We never thought that would happen.
On Sunday, Big Z got to ride in his "Lap of Champions", He was so proud of himself. Now that he has 7- 1st place wins he moved to Intermediate class. Now he will have some more advanced riders to race agaisnt.
It's all good - winning and losing

One thing I wanted to comment on that I saw too much of over the weekend- parents putting way too pressure on their kids to win. We saw parents lose control and really yell and treat their children badly. Both Mike and I felt bad for those kids and promised that we will throw a rock at each other if we lose it and do the things we witnessed.

Mike and I have teamed up with a high school friend,

Arlene Melhorne in a new adventure with

MonaVie.

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So if you want to know about this great product our website is:

www.mymonavie.com/hbpaq

State Finals On Saturday

Saturday Sept. 13 was a very exciting day for Big Z. They held the State Finals at the Orange Y for BMX riders from all over Southern California.

Big Z raced in the 5and under novice class with 31 other boys and girls. He have to pour it on and made it into the semifinals placing 4th. The main event only has 8 racers .

Try to visualize this in your head. I was sitting next to the finish line ans close to a turn called the tower turn. Big Z didn't get his best start so he was in 7th place. The racer in 1st place is going around the tower turn and falls. Rider 2 falls over rider 1. Rider 3 comes around and falls over them. This happens with riders 4,5,6 and you guessed it and Big Z. I was in the stands yelling "Big Z slow down, slow down, go around, go around." Mike helps Big Z at the start line so he missed it all. Now back to the story. ABA rules states that the racers can not get any help getting up. So here's this pile and 4 and 5 years olds on the track all crying and here comes the only rider left standing to pedal right over the finish line. Well they decide to rerun the race for the 2nd- 8th place awards . This time Big Z placed 4th but was awarded the 5th place. Big Z was sad and disappointed about his finish. BUT over all, he did great and has to remember he just started racing 9 weeks ago.

Sorry no pictures - it was way too confusing.

Wedding Anniversary

Mike and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this week.

Life is good!

tROPHY COUNT FOR aUGUST 2008

tHIS MONTH bIG z DIDNT' RACE TOO MUCH. hE ATTENDED A bmx DAY CAMP WHERE HE WORKED ON HIS SKILLS. hE ALSO GOT "CLIPPED iN", THATS WhERe HE WEARS SPECIAL SHOES THAT CLIP TO THE PEDALS. hE HAS IMPROVED ALOT THIS MONTH.

Races raced: 7

1st place: 3

2nd place: 4

3rd place: 0

Sept. 13-14 Big race at the Orange Y . Big Z will race kids from all over the state. Ruben (our BMX mentor) says Big Z has a good chance on placing there. He is 2 wins away advancing to intermediate. We hope he can do that at the Orange Y that weekend. Whatever happens we are having fun and meeting great people along the way.

Big Z is ready for Kindergarten

Big Z will be starting Kindergarten this week. He is ready and excited. I ,on the other hand , am feeling a little sad that my baby is going to school. I am going to miss him. I had to explain to him what was a principle was and that it isn't a good thing to get send to her office. So a new chapter will begin for him.

Thru Big Z's eyes!

For Christmas, Big Z got "a top of the line camera" from Fisher Price.

On Saturday, July 26 Mike took Big Z to the Huntington Beach Pier for the surf contest to watch the finals. They also have BMX , skateboarding, Motor X events. Both had a great time. Big Z had to bring his camera to the contest to take some pictures. Mike didn't help him at all and we were surprised to see the good pictures he took. So enjoy them.

Trophy total for the month

So Big Z has only been racing his BMX bike for less then a month and here is the trophy total for July.

2 - 1st place

2 - 2nd place

2 - 3rd place

1 - 4th place

total races - 7

So he had a busy month. He has learned some good life lessons as well. Both times he placed 3rd place he sobbed- he wanted to come in 1st. So we have had to guide him thru his frustrations and heartbreaks along the way. Another lesson he is learning, to be a good friend. He has met some friends at the tracks and after each race, he will stand by the finish line and hoot and yell for them with all he has.

Old friends

This a follow-up on the "Old Friends" blog entry. It comes from Uncle Donny.
He writes:
My best friend, Teddy "Bear" Sanders, has saved my life.He moved in next door over on Sherrill St when we were in gradeschool. We became goodfriends and did a lot of things together. Some good and some bad (mostly good). He moved to Orange just before our Senior year (1973). We enlisted in the USAF together after graduation. We were buddies in basic training and visited some times after. We even worked at the same companies a few times as well. He and his family have since moved to southern Illinois. When I was very sick recently (2004), he asked me to come visit so he could care for me. I made the trip and he did indeed take very good care of me. He has indeed taken such good care of me that I now have a new Heart Transplant (2007) and a very different future. With gratitude to all who have been so generous and helpful all along the way, Thank You so very much. - The new Donnie Paquette.

BMX RACING

Big Z has been riding a 2 wheeler (With no training wheels) since he was 3 years old. He just wanted the training wheels off so he could do tricks. Shortly after he was 3 1/2, Mike took him to the Orange Y BMX bike park. Mike bought him a special little bike called "red line" and all the gear to ride. Big Z just practiced but did not race. When Mike bought him his motorcycle, he didn't ride the BMX bike until Sunday July 6,2008. We went to the Orange Y and so he could practice but this time he decided it was time to enter his 1st race. Big Z didn't win that night and cried all the home for not winning. So I thought that's my next blog entry- How to teach your kid to lose.

On Monday 7/7/08, Mike took us to the Belflower BMX track so Big Z could practice. Big Z had never been there before that night. After practicing for an hour, Big Z decides he wants to race. Ok - I wished I had asked for advice on kids handling not winning. So Big Z races 2 qualiflying and 1 main. Big Z won all 3 races that night. He got a trophy thats 18" tall. He was so excited he could hardly sleep.

Now Big Z wants to go racing every night.
So if any of you have any advice on how to teach your kids to lose please pass it this way.

Big Z and the Sharks

This hockey season ended this last Friday and Big Z's team came in 1st place. Mike was his coach again this season. They had 9 wins and 3 loses. This is Mike's 2nd season coaching and second time coming in 1st place. Who knew we had a hockey coach in the family. Big Z really loves playing and is so cute to watch.

It's all Good!

It's good to have old friends. Big Z has known "D" and "J" since they were born and have stayed friends. May their friendships last forever and be a place where they find laughter, fun, safety and encouragement.

There are not to many people these days who can stay they have long time friends. I know for me (Corina), I have some precious friends from grade school and high school that I still consider wonderful friends. Ones that I know would be there in a heartbeat if I needed them. So one of my wishes for Big Z is that he forms lasting friendships.

How about you? . Write me a comment to tell who your long time friends are and for how long.

Happy Father's Day to Mike

Happy Father's day to all the dads we know. This year Zeke has become a daddy's boy. He wants to dress like Mike, walk like him and be a carpenter like Mike. It's great to see them

together doing things they both enjoy. We are going motorcycle riding today to celebrate Father's Day.

To my own Dad- Happy Father's Day - you're the best!

Zeke' Graduation

Yesterday, Zeke graduated from Pre-K . They had a ceremony that you would see at a high school. He had a cap and gown which he immediately took off and tossed . They even got a yearbook- which when Zeke asked "what's a yearbook" kind of spoiled the fun.

I cant believe he's going to Kindergarten next September. He already told me he doesn't want to go , he would rather stay home with me.

Could be worst?

While walking down Main Street in Huntington Beach, we stopped in front of the statue of Duke. For those of you who might not know who Duke is, let me tell you.

Duke Kahanamoku, a genuine Hawaiian hero known as the father of surfing and the 1st Hawaiian to win a gold medal in swimming and a great person. He had a great big statue on Waikiki Beach and a smaller one here in Huntington. Most visitors stopped and take a some pictures and a few leave flowers.

So we stop to let Zeke climb on Duke for a while. Zeke tells Mike, " When I die , I want to be a statue, Daddy". How funny is that!

Whose afraid of a teenager

While we were in our community swimming pool last summer, we saw some teenagers causing some trouble. Since then Zeke has been afraid of teenagers. If we are at the pool and he sees the school bus come and let out teenagers at bus stop, he wants to go home. Another time, Zeke saw some kids misbehaving he asked if they are teenagers. We have tried to explain that not all teenagers are bad and have even taken him to the teen room at church to show him "good teenagers".
The other night, Zeke says to Mike " Daddy, will you be afraid of me when I'm a teenager".

Donny's New Heart

On June 2, Uncle Donny will celebrate his one year Heart Anniversary. It has been incredible to watch a person go from being very near death to having a new found love of live. Words can't express how grateful and thankful we are to the donor's family who decided to give a heart to Donny during their difficult time.