tales from a far-land

Last weekend, we spent Shabbat in Laguna Woods, with our California and Israeli family. It was, literally, a short but sweet, trip.  We left Phoenix late in the afternoon on Thursday and arrived back home late Saturday evening.  Why would we plan such a short trip?  It was Dione (Josh's aunt who lives in Israel) and her family's annual trip to California.  And, so, for the third year in a row, we decided to visit them when they were in town.  It has become a fun tradition!   Here are some of the highlights from our trip: GG and GP took the kids to   The 99 Cents Only Store  so they could pick out some toys.  The great-grandparents just love watching the kids decide which toys they should pick this time. Enjoyed a wonderful family Shabbat with authentic Israeli food.  Thank you, Aunt Dione!  We look forward to your cooking every year.  We also love that Aunt Kathleen was able to join in the fun again this year. A girls' breakfast (Jenn, Kathleen & Kathleen) in Aliso

Last Wednesday, Madilyn and Aiden concluded their summer swimming lessons, eight weeks in total, through the City of Phoenix.  We couldn't be more impressed with the City's program.  The kids loved their coaches; so did we.  They were so patient, supportive and friendly.  It was the perfect environment for our kids to strengthen and perfect their swimming skills, which they did.  We are so proud of our little fishes! Madi wanted to "pose" Swimming Siblings Silly Aiden Riding his "horse-y" Kicking More kicking... Can you tell she loves to swim? Coach Zoe and Madi Madilyn's Swimming Class A Pencil Jump Smiling while he swims Coach Lexi and Aiden Aiden swimming freestyle Aiden practicing his sideglide Madi swimming freestyle

Two weeks ago, Madilyn competed in the City of Phoenix's swim team division championships. At this meet, she competed in five races, although she, technically, only signed up for four races.  She swam in the following races: The 4 x 25 yard individual medley relay (She swam the backstroke leg of the race) The 25 yard individual freestyle The 25 yard individual backstroke The 4 x 25 yard freestyle relay And the 25 yard individual butterfly.  (Her coaches added her at the last minute into this race). We were so proud of her.  Every race, she would just walk right up to the edge of the pool, wait for the buzzer and jump right into the pool and race as hard as she could.  We still cannot believe that six weeks ago, this is the same little girl who sobbed at her first meet, crying that she didn't want to do swim team at all. I have to give huge kudos to the City's coaching staff.  The three coaches (Emmy, Zoe and Trevor) in charge of the Manta Ray Swim Team did an outst

The Farrell-Landers family 4th of July celebration this year was very traditional and a ton of fun!  We started out the day watching the Munds Park annual community parade.  It was so much fun to watch the parade and the kids reactions to the floats.  By far the best part of the parade is watching the kids collect the candy from the floats as they pass by. After the parade, we headed back to the cabin to enjoy a mid-day feast of pulled pork sandwiches, hot dogs, corn on the cob, chips, cole slaw and Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.  A perfect, classic meal to have for our holiday meal. Our afternoon and evening was spent in Flagstaff at the "Lights on the Lawn" event.  It was a great event and we are very lucky to have been joined by many of our good friends.  However, not remembering that we were in the mountains, we had not been fully prepared for rain showers and the colder climate.  Luckily, the rain finally moved out of the area so we could enjoy some fireworks and

On the Friday of the 4th of July weekend, the kids had their final day of Soccer Camp.  Josh and Papa golfed while Grandma and I took the kids to Camp.  The kids did wonderful.  They played their "World Cup" game really well.  Aiden even scored a couple of goals, even if one of them didn't really count.  He didn't know that he wasn't supposed to score in the large goal only the smaller goals.  Oh, well!  They both enjoyed themselves and loved the experience. Madi dressed in her pink soccer outfit Aiden ready for camp, too. Posing for pictures before soccer camp started Coach Tamara teaching kids via the Board World Cup Finals Time! What a look of determination! Big Kick Teammates and Siblings Coach's Wrap-Up Talk One of Aiden's Goals Madi's Flag Drawing