Dave and Cathy's Family Blog

June Highlights:

• We visit grandma’s house
• Lilah win’s Optimist Club scholarship and club president presents her with award
• Lilah plays Bohemian Rhapsody at piano recital and shares a moment with her instructor Mrs. Shelley afterwards
• Lilah graduates high school
• Cat attends big Les Mills instructor training on USS Midway
• Lilah celebrates birthday

Awards and Performances Continue for Lilah

Public Speech
This month, Lilah was again forced to come out of her introverted shell. Reluctantly, but focused and determined, she rose to the occasion, beginning with a 3-minute speech she gave to members of the Camarillo Optimist’s club, thanking them for the generous scholarship they awarded her. It was the first time I witnessed her give a speech in front of a crowd and I have to admit I was more nervous about it than she was. All I can say is I was blown away by her poise. Somehow, this high school senior got up there in front of people she didn’t know and proceeded to tell them her story.   
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December Highlights:

• Luke begins second season of Big Bear snowboarding team
• Celebrate mom’s birthday
• We see Chris Rock at Dolby Theater – a no-phone event
• Ventura Thomas fire wreaks havoc on Ventura and Santa Barbara counties
• Celebrate Christmas at my sister’s house
• Meet up with Benny and grandma Carol and visit San Diego Wild Animal Park for the first time
• Luke and Cat go to the LA car show

A Month of Gratitude

This month started out great – we celebrated my mom’s birthday, laughed at the Chris Rock concert, and I got a chance to meet up with an old friend in Ventura for lunch on the 4th while at the government center for jury duty — all positive ways to begin the month. But the morning of the 5th, that all changed as I awoke to learn about the Ventura Thomas fire and all the destruction it had caused overnight. For the next 2-3 weeks nothing would be the same.  
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November Highlights:

• Lilah receives her first college acceptance letter
• We meet Tyson and Heidi’s new cat, Wang
• Luke and I begin the new snowboard season with a trip to Mammoth
• Luke starts working out, becoming my new gym buddy in the process
• Grateful for another wonderful Thanksgiving together

Lilah on a Mission with College and Scholarship Applications

Lilah received her first college acceptance letter this month from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I actually saw the envelope sitting on our kitchen counter, unopened, for several days before I finally I asked Cathy, “Is this an acceptance letter?” She said maybe, but she wasn’t sure. I was done waiting. I opened the envelope and it indeed was a congratulatory acceptance letter and card from UNLV. When I asked Lilah about it, she said she already knew about it because she received a welcome e-mail about two weeks ago.

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October Highlights:

• I compete in one last race before calling it a season
• We celebrate my dad’s birthday
• We do a photo shoot with Cat to get her bio picture
• Cat does two laps in a Ferrari in Vegas as part of her solo getaway
• Lilah dresses up as three-hole punch Jim Halpert (from the show, “The Office”) for her Halloween costume

One More Race Before Officially Calling it a Season

There’s a place my dad and I like to go to for breakfast called “Black Cow Cafe,” in the city of Montrose. Normally, it’s a spot we go to after I race in one of the Bonelli Park triathlon series events. Problem was, I hadn’t done any of those races this year. I decided we needed to fix that, so I entered the last race of the season in mid October.

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June Highlights:

• Luke gets promoted to high school
• Lilah performs “Fandango” and “Turkish March” in her summer piano recital
• Get together for Fathers’ Day
• Lilah wins most improved swimmer award
• Luke wins coach’s choice award for volleyball
• We celebrate Lilah’s birthday
• I participate in my first sprint triathlon of the year and take 3rd in my age group
• We go summer snowboarding for the first time in Mammoth and take grandpy with us

A Month of Awards

Luke
This month we had another academic award added to the collection as Luke received an award for his 4.0 GPA during his school’s promotion ceremony. In addition to that Luke won a coach’s choice award for volleyball. Luke said he received the award for a combination of factors – his play, his ability to recruit other 8th graders to join the team, and his general overall positive spirit and presence, which coach Aquino really appreciated.

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May Highlights:

• Lilah destroys her personal best at season end championships – girls team takes first place in league
• I compete in my first Half Ironman triathlon in Sonoma
• Luke’s volleyball team wins second place to end season
• We celebrate cousin Trevor’s graduation from USC and birthday
• Lilah gets honored for her Spanish skills at her school’s second Academy Award ceremony
• My Tia Pamela and Tio Raul come to visit
• Cathy achieves certification in Les Mills Body Combat – her hardest cert yet

Athletic Pursuits – All in the Family

Everyone in the household accomplished something big athletically this month: Lilah shattered her personal best in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 1:13.16 (3.8 seconds faster than her previous record), I completed my first Half Ironman in Sonoma, CA, Luke’s team scored a second place finish in volleyball, and, after her second attempt, Cat succeeded in getting her Les Mills Body Combat certification. 

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