That Just Happened!

I got out of church just in time to hear that the U.S. was getting screwed over by a clueless ref in the World Cup quarterfinals. But, thanks to that clueless ref, the stage was set for possibly the most dramatic soccer match I've ever seen and thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I was able to watch the rest of the game on my phone while sitting beside Juneau who was enjoying a GIGANTIC bowl of Pho for lunch.

For those who didn't see it...first, find out when ESPN Classic is replaying the game this week and set your DVR. In the meantime, my summary:

With the U.S. up 1-0, the dirtiest and most obnoxious women's soccer player in the world, Marta from Brazil took an absolute DIVE in the penalty box and a gullible ref threw up a red card and gave Brazil a penalty kick. Proving that the call was garbage, U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo made an awesome save to preserve the lead...but this ref really likes Marta apparently so she called back the attempt saying a U.S. player encroached on the penalty box prior to the kick. Now, I've been playing soccer since I was in 1st grade and the last time I saw this call made was probably...2nd grade maybe?

So, Brazil converts on the rekick of the PK and now the game is tied with the U.S. down a player for the rest of regulation. When Marta scored 2 minutes into extra time and the U.S. down a player, it looked like the U.S. hopes for this World Cup were over (Note: even the go-ahead goal was scored on a questionable non-call of offsides).

Time continued to tick away past the 120 minute mark and 2 minutes of added time continued.

About a year ago, I made a post about the greatest goal in U.S. World Cup history by Landon Donovan:Landon Donovan Goal

That dramatic goal no longer holds the title thanks to this (I suggest "view full screen" and turning the volume clear up for the full effect):


As amazing as Abby Wambach's finish was, I played that left wing position that Megan Rapinoe was playing and that cross from Rapinoe absolutely made my jaw drop...EPIC!

The latest goal ever scored in World Cup history (basically 30 seconds left in extra time + added time) tied the game and sent it to PK's. Hope Solo made another incredible save on Brazil's 3rd kick, the U.S. converted all 5 and the win was secured 5-3 in penalty kicks.

Most amazing soccer match I've ever seen!

The American Trinity

Posted by: Cris

Happy Birthday to the land that I love!

I spent almost literally the whole day working out in the garage trying to make organization out of the moving mess which resulted in 2 good outcomes: One was getting the garage organization almost completely done so that now my van is inside and safe from the next hail storm which Colorado will invariably produce.

But more importantly, I got to listen to about 5 hours of very compelling radio about the history and meaning of July 4th from 2 of my favorite radio hosts.

While I was COMPLETELY enthralled by the 3 hour step by step documentary based on historical writings of the American revolution (I'm thinking of ordering the CD set so Emilie can listen to it), it was the philosophical discussion of American exceptionalism by Dennis Prager that compelled me to write this blog.

The United States was indeed a grand experiment at the time of its founding. As much as we take it for granted, the concept that government's power derives from those who are governed was a completely abnormal concept throughout human culture up to that time. But this group of men embarked on this grand experiment based on 3 pillars that Mr. Prager has come to describe as "The American Trinity."




Today, as I listened to this great discussion of this great land where I am blessed to live, I thought back to the time I spent in Vietnam 3 years ago this coming week. As we drove through the countryside on the way to and from the orphanage where I found my precious little girl and saw the limits on the liberty and pursuit of happiness for so many, I realized that there was nothing different between me and any of these people other than the luck bestowed by the grace of God that I was born in the United States...and for that, I am exceedingly thankful.


"God Bless America...Land That I Love...Stand Beside Her...And Guide Her...Through the Night With a Light From Above"

4th of July (almost)

The girls didn't nap today. They did, however, lay in their beds and talk, giggle, and play for TWO hours!!!! It was hard to fuss at them about the nap (or lack thereof), because they were being sooooo cute and sisterly. So, being the outstanding parents that we are, we let them come out of their rooms, and subsequently rewarded them for not taking a nap by promptly taking them to the 4th of July celebration at Ft. Carson. :) Truthfully, I didn't really care that we were rewarding their lack of nap, because i had one thing on my mind....a giant turkey leg and shoestring frenchfries (ok, i guess that's kinda 2 things....). I pretended like i was taking them for the bouncehouses, but really i just wanted those shoestring fries.
Don't they look sooooo cute in their red/white/blue?

This pose is soooo Juneau's new(ish) thing. I didn't just accidentally capture the photo when she was in a weird position. She was actually holding that position for the purpose of the photo. weird-o!!!! The girls are getting BIG. Well, at least Juneau is. Nova is still pretty much a shrimp. But holding both of them is DEFINATELY no longer easy!! haha!

The following sequence of pictures shows typical Nova "Daddy's Girl" Stickley...

For a few weeks, she was referring to Daddy as her "old prince", but Daddy has recently been promoted back to the role of primary Prince. In fact, today at the play-place, we overheard her talking to her new little 3 year old friend "I have to go back and talk to my Prince for a minute, because he is taking me to the ball later"...

Daddy gets sweet kisses like this about 100 times a day :)

see what i mean????? it's kinda ridiculous!!!

While I was taking pictures, Nova said she wanted to try to take a picture. This is the photo she captured of June-bug...kinda cute!

And of course J wanted to take a picture of nova!

We had some beautiful sunshine for about 1.5 hours....

Then the rain, thunder, and lightening started....and it was SERIOUSly coming down!! So he hightailed it for the van (which was unfortunately really, really not close!) Sooooo, the girls got to jump in the bounceyhouses, but the mama didn't get a turkey leg or shoestring fries!!! maybe next year!

ahhhh....Colorado....85 degrees and sunny....but don't blink! It will start raining (or possibly hailing like yesterday) in the blink of an eye.

Looking to the East.....

and then....looking to the West (only one second later)....

Looking down...

and then, looking into the backseat :) One tired little sweet girl. This family LOVES a 4 day weekend (who doesn't?), and we are looking forward to one more day without work. Unfortunately, we still have a garage full of boxes to unpack!! So we will be spending lots of time around the house tomorrow trying to make some headway on clearing out the garage!

"this is awesome!"

ahhhhh....the first couple of days after a big exam always feel soooooo good! i am so happy to not have to tell the girls i can't play because i am studying :)
I guess the exam went pretty good, as far as those thing go. We spent the evening hanging out in downtown Manitou Springs. There is this super cool area called the "penny arcade" that has arcade games that are from the 1950's (maybe older!). There are very few games that are actually a penny, but there are several that are a nickle or a dime, and we all had so much fun exploring the arcade.

Cris' go-to game....and he even sacrificed a few of the balls for his girls to try :) One of the best parts of the arcade is an entire section full of old (and new) quarter rides for the kids. The girls loooove this section, especially because we hardley ever let them ride the ones at the mall or other stores (unless it's Big Lots....which is only a penny! haha!!!).
Here Juneau is making her "tough face" while riding the motorcycle.

oh yeah, she's soooo tough!!!!

Nova's cute little wink...

Nova stil has a bit to grow before she can reach the controllers herself.

the classy little joint :)

somehow they always find something to climb to the top of!

even better if you can slide down after you climb up...

One of the best parts of the night was sampling the water from one of the ten mineral springs in downtown. I had always wanted to try out some of the spring water, but had never actually done it. I thought Juneau would love getting to take a drink right out of the fountain, so i held her up to try it out....cris missed the picture, so i had her do it again, but she really REALLY didn't want to. I was like "come on Juneau! take another drink!" but she refused. Finally I tried a little bit of the water, and it was litterally like drinking straight sulfer! haha! no wonder she didn't want to drink more of it!

Finally we headed over to "Marilyns" for some pizza. It was SERIOUSLY possibly the very best pizza we have ever had! can't wait to go back.!

i cannot tell you how much Nova LOOOOVVVEEEESSSS hugs and kisses and snuggles. She seriously will give you a big huge gigantic kiss anytime, anywhere...as you can see below!

What's a night on the town if it's not finished off with a giant ice cream cone!!!! About 3 bites into her cone Nova announced "This is AWESOME!!!" Ahhh yes, baby girl, this is awesome.

Juneau has been totally obsessed with Mint Chocolate Chip, ever since she tasted her first Andes Mint a few weeks ago. Nova, on the other hand, will always pick "PINK!!!"

Our Good bad goodbye

Posted by: Cris

We are proud of mommy for her recent promotion to Major: The Army pomp and circumstance:


When I was so young I can barely remember it, on Father's Day, Coral and I would make breakfast in bed for our dad then sneak upstairs and put on a little show or sing him a few songs while he ate breakfast. This year, the 2 most beautiful little girls brought toast and hot chocolate up to my bed on Sunday morning and sang the most awesome version of "You Are My Sunshine" I can ever imagine. The awesomeness was topped off by the card that Nova had insisted on Emilie buying which on the front had a picture of a bee with the text: "I would totally throw myself on a bee for you" then when you opened it up played "Birdhouse in your soul" by They Might Be Giants...She's been trained well.

After breakfast in bed, we headed up to Denver to help the Goods pack up the moving truck, to celebrate Jackson's birthday and to just generally goof off and enjoy hanging out for the last time for quite awhile.

While Travis and I successfully packed most of the contents of their house into a 24' moving truck, Emilie and Laurie supervised all sorts of fun:

The "Eating Fruit by the Foot Roll-Ups" contest:

You can see Jack is already finished as he circumvented the spirit of the game by just shoving the whole thing in his mouth at once.

"We Ate The Whole Thing!"



Jack, the birthday boy, paraded his entourage around the neighborhood.
After packing, we broke out the inflatable waterslide.

The beauty of this next picture requires explanation: Travis and Laurie live across the street from the HGTV Green Home (that's it in the background). It's kind of a big deal and people actually PAY to come tour this house since it is on TV and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

In fact, driving by in the white van in this picture are some of said people who have just paid to tour the HGTV Green Home and on their way out, are being treated to the the view of the "low-rent" portion of the community complete with an inflatable water slide set-up on the sidewalk and a buck-naked Finley sprawled out on the side of the water slide.

That explanation should make it clear why the 3 of us are laughing at the whole scene.

Jack had a blast...Juneau had to work up her nerve a bit.
One of the highlights of the night was the Pinata - Nova was ready to go!


The birthday boy put a hurtin' on Lightning McQueen...



The pinata put up quite a fight but finally, the pay-off:
Happy 5th Birthday Jack Jack!
Mmmmm...Ice Cream Cupcakes


The goodbyes at the end of the night were very sad as we know it will be quite awhile until we get to have another day like that with the gang, now that the Denver Good's have become the Milwaukee Good's.

But, before we said our last goodbyes, Emilie and I were EXTREMELY touched by Laurie and Travis asking us to be Godparents to this adorable little Finley girl: (Copyright infringement - picture stolen from Pho For Five)

Emilie and I, of course, were extremely honored and talked on the way home how funny it was that we end up becoming Godparents for this awesome little girl that we so affectionately refer to as "Nova's Evil Twin". Emilie and Laurie were pregnant with these 2 at the exact same time and watched each other progress throughout pregnancy via their blogs when they were still just "internet friends." Though Nova is more reserved and Finley more outgoing, these 2, who we always swear could pass for sisters, are 2 of the sweetest girls you'd ever want to meet and I'm blessed to have one as a daughter and the other a God daughter :)