Wow! It's been a while...

I guess I can chalk it up to being extremely busy these past 3 1/2 months.  It seems like Halloween stumbled upon us, and then we slammed directly into the holidays, running non-stop!  We decided to head up to Washington State to spend Thanksgiving with my mom and Paul.  It was great seeing everybody.  We actually drove up in our car this time.  We're used to taking Jim's Dodge diesel, but now that we only have our little dog, Squiggy, we all were able to fit into our little used Pontiac Vibe.  I was sooo looking forward to finally fitting in a road trip, so it was nice.  We only had a couple days to visit before we had to head back to sunny California. 

The day before we left for WA, we attended a memorial "paddle-out" for Rob Gibson, who was the Refugio Jr. Lifeguard Program Coordinator when Cooper and Cannon first started with the program.  Rob had left the position as coordinator at Refugio and took over the position as coordinator for SB Campus Point these past few years.  He had been battling two forms of liver cancer from my understanding.  Anyways, it felt so right to participate and it was a very moving ceremony.  Being out there with my boys on our surf boards...well, let's just say it was serene.

So, we spent a few days in Washington, and stopped in Vancouver to see my dearest friend in the world, Gretchen Jensen.  She, Troy, Zach, Cheyenne, Cole and Connor (& Doogie) are all doing so well!  Their home is absolutely gorgeous, and the kids are all so grown up and beautiful.  I just wish they were closer to us.  I miss Miss G so much!!!  We had such a nice visit~

So then the holidays blew right by.  My friend, Christine, and I hit the gym a lot over the holidays and hiked a lot too.  Christmas Day was so quiet and the weather was sunny, clear and warm.  It's always a little strange to wake up Christmas Day to hot weather.  That and missing Moondoggie...it hit me a few times throughout the season...eeeggz!  Anyways, we openned up gifts, then I went hiking with Christine and our dogs, then when I returned home, we grilled steaks for dinner.  It was almost too quiet, but nice.

Over the Christmas break, the boys and I worked a lot at Zaca Station MX.  TransWorld MX people came out to camp.  We rode a lot over those two weeks, to the point where on that last day, I was barely making 3-lap motos. 

Then came the storms...  Surprisingly enough, the track at Zaca did extremely well considering how much rain we received.  We did cancel riding for one weekend, but with a little grading, it was epic last weekend.  I, however, just simply had a bad ride day.  I think I was tired from dancing two nights before.  I guess I'm at the age where I need that extra sleep for energy.  Christine and I have been doing the P90X workout series and are on day 6 today.  Last friday, we did legs, then we each went home to get ready to go dancing with her Uncle Phil and Amy at the Santa Maria Elks.  The DJ was fun...thus we danced our legs off......and paid the price the next day; boy, was I sore.  It carried into the next day when I rode at Zaca.  I hate bad ride days.  

Over the holidays, we went to see "The Blind Side" and "It's Complicated"......both are awesome movies.  "It's Complicated" was filmed here in Santa Barbara...I cracked up throughout the entire movie.

It's going to be a busy spring starting this weekend.  Both boys are taking the American Red Cross Life Guard Training Course over the next two weekends.  Then in March, my parents are visiting and Cooper is trying out for Ocean Lifeguard Training at Refugio State Beach.  He has to swim 1,000 yards in the ocean in less than 20 min.; and then a Run-Swim-Run try-out.  THEN...Cooper has been nominated and enrolled to attend the 2010 National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine this summer.  He leaves the day after we all attend my cousin Kyle and his beautiful bride-to-be, Stephanie's, wedding in Bakersfield this summer.  Cannon plans on working for Jr. Lifeguards as an assistant again this year, and I will be working for the program as well.  It doesn't look like we will be able to play Santa Barbara Water Polo Club this year, though...we're pretty bummed about that, but we have WAY too much on our plate.

So that's the latest with the Creese Dirt Diggers...since October 2009.  

We all wish everybody a very happy new year and hope to update our blog more often.

Pray for those in Haiti...those beautiful, precious children...it's heart-wrenching.  God Bless them!!!