Thanksgiving this year was different for our family. Kenna's soccer team registered for a tournament in San Diego, CA over the Thanksgiving holiday and taking the whole family on a soccer tournament trip is really not a vacation for the family because everything revolves around soccer and team lunches and dinners. So, as G and I talked, we decided the girls and I would fly to San Diego and the boys would go to Falcon's Ledge for Thanksgiving. The girls and I boarded a flight early Thanksgiving morning and the boys took off for their adventure a few hours later.
We arrived in sunny California, met Tanisha and McKahl at the airport and took off in our little rental car...we were off for a great weekend! We got to the hotel, unpacked our bags and headed out to find a restaurant open for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate at Cocoa's Bakery and the girls enjoyed delicious hamburgers and I had a blue cheese wedge salad for Thanksgiving dinner. It all hit the spot since we were starving...Garrett had chosen Thanksgiving day for our family to fast for the missionaries in our stake. It was different eating out on Thanksgiving, but so fun, too! Back at the hotel, Kenna and McKahl were off to hang with the team and Ash wanted to swim...she is a fish. The girls can't swim while on soccer trips so they ran the hotel halls and roamed from room to room. There were cute boys at the hotel that were there on a hockey tournament, so the girls would often be in the lobby, or out by the pool with them...funny, how that is so much more fun than hanging with mom and little sister.
The first game was early Saturday morning. The skies were sunny and bright and the game's in this tournament are only 20 minute halves so it was quick and heartbreaking. We lost 2-0. The next game was later that day and again we lost 1-0. Saturday's game needed to be won to play again later that night, and it was a great game. We were up most of the game, but kept getting pounded at the end and tied 1-1. Kenna split her lip from an attacking player's foot, but sucked it up and played right through the pain. I remember the turning point in the way she faces pain in a game...it was in St. George back in February when she got hurt and had to sit on the bench for a few minutes...it about killed her watching her team play without her and it took everything the coaches had just to get her out to check her and make sure she was ok to play. She has an intense commitment to her teammates...we just need that same intensiveness in stopping all balls from entering the back of the net. She's come so far though and trains with all of her heart.
Saturday, we met up at a mall for lunch and headed to Black's Beach. It was beautiful and the sun was setting, but before getting to the beach we had to descend along a cliff. When we reached the beach I was sure glad it was dusk and there was a mist all over because little did we know that clothing was optional at this beach and there were old men who chose not to wear anything. The girls and I were dying...we, as moms, had exposed most of the team to a nude beach. With all the shadows and mist and duskness in the air nothing could be seen or recognized...which was a huge blessing. We didn't stay long but let the girls run along the beach. This day will not soon be forgotten :)
Tanisha, Ashlyn, Kenna, McKahl and I continued on to Anaheim to stay in a hotel closer to the airport and closer to Disneyland. Tanisha and McKahl spend Sunday at Disneyland and had a great time. The girls and I went to church and then spent the afternoon walking the boardwalk and the beach at Newport. It was a beautiful day! How blessed we are. Monday afternoon G picked us up from the airport and we spend the afternoon raking leaves and having our furnace fixed. G mentioned it had gone out Sunday night and he and the boys had about froze to death. I told him I was coming from sunny, warm California and wouldn't be able to live in a house without heat...he was on it and had it fixed that day. What a hard worker he is!
