Olympic Fever

Shout out to Mandy who knows what i am talking about when i say i have caught the Olympic Fever. I cant get enough of it! I have been glued to my tv late nights for the past week to watch Michael Phelps completely dominate in the pool. Those of you that know me, know that I have grown in the pool and i am SUPER competitive. I get goosebumps watching this guy swim and win gold for the USA.

The water cube has to be the most beautiful Olympic venue ever:

The only thing that bums me out about the olympic coverage is that they very rarely show any water polo! BOO. i have to check the internet to learn the results of the mens and womens teams and i dont get to watch any of the action. anyway. im rooting for them! there are a few guys from Long Beach on our mens team and a couple girls on the womens team that i played against in high school. rooting for them has gotten me completely pumped up and i have actually found a masters water polo team to play on in Long Beach. wish me luck! i havent played in a while and it's coed. Pictures and news to follow - Im excited!

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LORENA!!

Im not joking when i say its birthday season. Lorena's birthday bonfire was our 4th birthday we celebrated this week! Ray and i went down to bolsa chica to ring in Lori's 26th b-day. She finally made it back from Cancun - and she made it back with a tan! Finally Lorena might be able to pass as a mexican - ha ha ha!

We ate some hot dogs, roasted marshmallows for smores and sat by the fire. Good times Lorena!

The girls in whittier are prettier....

Devynn

You want Smore?

Pendeja got married or something in Cancun....

Happy Birthday Meja!

Happy Birthday Jameson!

Jameson turned 5!!

Friday Funday

Now thru October 12th at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the Terra Cotta warriors from China are on display. China's first emperor, Emperor Qin, demanded construction of the 7,000 man standing army to enforce his rule into the afterlife. The army silently remained underground for over 2000 years until they were discovered in 1974. This is considered one of the 20th century's greatest archaeological finds and often referred to as the Eight Wonder of the ancient world. 

We had a great date night with our friends Matt and Kerry!!

Here we are waiting in line....

Kerry and i with the replica:


we bought terra cotta warrior masks:

It's Birthday Season

Happy Birthday Randi Kay!

Ray and i ventured down to Javier's in Crystal Cove to celebrate with Randi Kay. If you havent been to this Javier's on a thursday night, i suggest you do so. it is quiet an experience especially if you want to go cougar hunting.... lol

Happy Birthday Mom!

Last week my brother, sister and I celebrated with my mom for her birthday. We ate a delicious sushi dinner and enjoyed each others company in celebration of my moms life. My mom is a very special lady and we are all lucky to have her for a mom.
Happy Birthday Mom! I love you very much!!

X Games 14

It isn't always pretty but it's always awesome! X Games 14 kicked off on Thursday with the skateboard Big Air competition at the Staples Center. It was a hectic but fun night. Thanks to all of our friends and family that came out to watch the event and support Ray and all the MegaRamp crew!

*here is our view from the suite:

*Team Podium Distribution came out to support:

*caro and i:

*dad and peggy had a great time:

*the man of the night, well besides Danny...:

*Michole and I reunited:

*(Freebee Flashback to 04 X Games - Michole and I)

ANYWAY - Back to thursday night. Danny won the silver medal after injuring his foot on his first run. In case you missed it - Danny took a GNARLY fall when his foot caught the lip as he headed back onto the ramp. You can watch it here.  Luckily, he is ok! I call him a bionic man because basically hes not real. He can survive any slam, not only get up and walk away, but compete and win! He is amazing! 

Friday we were back at the Staples Center to watch the BMX riders compete on the MegaRamp in the Big Air competition. These guys are equally as nuts as the skaters. Shout out to Hovin who came out and hung out with us:

Hovin is a funny guy and if i could remember the hilarious story about him and stevie williams then i would tell it. guess you had to be there.

*view from the top of the ramp:

i would like to reiterate - these guys are NUTS! i would not even ride down this ramp on a potato sack.

Saturday we moved over to the Home Depot Center for moto, rally car and skateboard vert events. we were very lucky to have a suite there to escape the heat and watch all the action. Random celebrity spotting: audrina from the Hills and Popozao himself - KFED.

Here he is with my brother. HA HA HA:

Ray was super busy all day taking Danny from commentating to interviews etc. so i hung out and watched the events from the suite. 

*here i am with danny's medal on:

*Even Jameson came by to get in on the medal action:

On vert - our friend Pierre Luc Gagnon, PLG, won gold, beating out shaun white, bucky and andy macdonald and others. Even though Shaun White created and landed a new trick called the "armadillo" Pierre killed it and deserved to win. i am very happy for him! Pierre is the man. you can watch the contest here. 

*After he took the gold:

I skipped out on X Games on sunday because i was exhausted. i missed out on Tommy Lee hanging out in the suite with his sons. he invited everyone over to his house to party-oh well! All in all it was a great weekend of competition. i had a lot of fun and cant wait to do it again next year! 

Emily Fest 08

Saturday Night Ray and i headed up to LA to celebrate Em Beechers birthday. We drove up early so we could enjoy a nice dinner in LA. I always like nights when we can go out in LA since it seems like they are so few and far between with our hectic schedules. Anyway, we went to a mexican restaurant on 3rd called El Carmen. The restaurant was decorated in Lucho Libre wrestling masks and flyers from floor to ceiling, the lights were dim and the food was delicious.

i had the potato tacos and a "mexito" (mexican mojito) and ray had carnitas tacos and some tequila.

after a nice date at el carmen we headed down to st nicks bar also on 3rd st for Emily fest 08. there were a lot of familiar faces there (meaning OG whittier heads) that i have not seen in AGES. Emily was already having a great time by the time we got there. my favorite thing she said when we were posing for a pic was "Oh my god! i cant feel my face!" im not too positive she remembers saying that. but it was hilarious. There were cupcakes, drinks, and good times!

Happy Birthday Em Beecher!

Maloof Money Cup

We finished out our weekend sunday night at the Orange County Fair to watch the finals of the Maloof Money Cup.

This event promised the largest purse in skateboarding history with a total of nearly $500,000 is cash awarded to the winners. all the big players came out vying for the big payday. on vert we watched bob burnquist, shawn white, PLG, jake brown, bucky lasek and rune glifberg compete for the $75,000 first prize.




Street was a bit chaotic to watch. a few celebrities were on hand: nicky hilton, jordan farmar (lakers), lil john and ryan sheckler was filming his season 3 premier of his show. so camera crews everywhere. the entire competition was exciting to watch. street was set up as a jam session with each skater taking as many runs as they could in the alloted time.

the big winners of the night were (our boy) Pierre Luc Gagnon on vert and PRod on street. woo hoo!

Happy Birthday Jagger and Gunner!

we had the honor of attending Jaggers 3rd b day and Gunner's 1st b day party yesterday down in lake forest. Kris and Melissa threw an awesome "Rock a Hula Birthday Party Luau" complete with a live band, roasted pig and polynesian dancers!


there were soo many people there celebrating and we had a lot of fun. Jameson loved the goodie bag with teck decks, a t-shirt, sailor hat, bandana and stickers.... here is Jagger giving Jameson his goodie bag:


Happy Birthday Jagger and Gunner!

Its Wedding Season

One of my oldest friends is getting married! Amy Kliewer and i have been friends for the past 20 years - since preschool. she is taking the plunge and getting married. Congrats to Amy and Drew!

Here are a few of my old school whittier friends at Amy's bridal shower.


Katie Procedo (formerly Hilliard), Sara Kelly, Me and Amy is seated. Sorry Amy - this is not the best pic of you - but its the only one i have of all of us together :)

Celebrate Independence

We had an unusual 4th of July this year. one of rays friends got married - so we had a wedding to attend at 3:30. its a tradition of ours to head to the beach on the 4th so we had our work cut out for us to fit in all of our activities. ray and i woke up early to get to the beach. unfortunately for us - everyone and their mother had the same idea. the line of cars to get into the beach parking lot at 9 am must have been a few miles long. lucky for us locals we have a parking pass and were able to park in a super secret lot just up the street and get down to the beach in time to secure a spot on the sand close to the water.

yes, i realize i match the chair.



here's a shot of the beach. its crowded.


we got to hang at the beach for a couple hours and then had to head home and get ready for the wedding.

Daniel, the groom, and ray have worked together for many years and i have know him and his (new) wife michelle for a few years also. their wedding ceremony was up in burbank - where the temperature was almost unbearable. the ceremony was so beautiful though. i always cry at weddings :) their friend is a pop star in korea and he serenaded the newly weds as they stood at the alter. the pastor officiated a touching ceremony. he is a friend of the couple which was nice because he was able to share a few of his favorite memories of daniel and michelle. we all shared a laugh when he announced the couple as man and wife but forgot to ask daniel to kiss his bride. daniel and michelle looked around, waiting. finally daniel said - you missed the best part!

congratulations daniel and michelle!




finally, on to the last part of our day. we headed back to long beach to watch the fireworks over the water.

Happy Independence Day!