What you have all been waiting for......

This is a long one, but please stay with me here, it's well worth the read :)

Saturday morning we were up bright and early, as usual, to get to Greg's game. Had to be in Montebello at 8:30 am which meant leaving here at 7:30. Tom had to go into work early for inventory, but the kids and I were out the door 7:35. Whew! Made it to Montebello with time to spare. Tom made it before half time.

Evelyn had a 1:30 game which meant she had to be at the field by 12:45, so Evy and I left Montebello at 11:30 (we hated to leave the game....more on that to follow) and made it right on time to the park (traffic on the 5 - what else is new).

Since Evelyn's team won, coach took them to ice cream after the game, then for us it was over to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Greg's game (Greg's choice).


So, I know you are waiting for game highlights.

Let's go backwards here. Soccer first. Super game. It is amazing how quickly these girls have begun to play like a team. We have such great coaches and very supportive parents. The girls all played a A+ game today. We won 3 - 2!

Evelyn's team is wearing the white shirts and blue shorts Evelyn is #11. Evelyn had some awesome throw in's and was always right on the ball. Some pics of her going after the ball.


Greg's team started off slow today. They didn't score until the 4th quarter of the game. Greg played defense the first half of the game. Had some great tackles too. Greg is on the blue team (there is blue and gold) and also on the hit squad. So he wears a blue band on one wrist and a red one on the other. Easier for the coaches to keep track of the guys and for the guys to remember where they are supposed to be. Hit squad is the punting team and their job it to, yep, hit. They are also called in on defense when things are getting tight. Like in the last quarter of the game when your team is down 12 nothing. So, hit squad was called in the 4th quarter and Greg was playing both defense and offense. Bears wearing all blue, Greg is #88. Huddle up before the game. Greg is #88 on the far left (above the coaches head)
Hit squad on the kick off. Greg is on the right, closest one.
Greg is playing offense here. He had a great run but slipped in the mud. Did this a few times as the field was a bit muddy.

It was just about time for Evy and I to hit the road. I didn't want to leave as the game was getting excited. About 5 minutes left in the game and what do you know.........touch down Murphy!!!! Whoo-hoo! The crowd was going wild and I was running down the bleachers following Greg into the end zone! Tom was at the top of the stands with Joe, the dad who video's the games.

Four minutes left in the game and Evy and I took off dashing to our car. Tom calls a bit later to let me know we scored . 2 touch downs now! Oh my, wish we didn't have to leave so soon! Then just a short time later, I get another call from Tom. We are on a roll again. Tom says, just stay on the line and I will give you a play by play. What had happened is that we did an onside kick and recovered the ball with about a minute left in the game!!!

Cell phone is on speaker as Tom is letting me know what is going on. He starts to give me a play by play and then all I hear is screaming and yelling, the crowd is going wild!!!! TOUCH DOWN!! Greg scored AGAIN! That's 3 in one game in the last 5 minutes of the game! WOW-ZA!! (is that a word?) I can not properly describe this touchdown, so you have to watch the video. But a lot of cutting, faking out and running like wind! Tom said Greg was so tired, he could not play the rest of the game, but there was less than a minute left in the game anyways.

Final score: Bears 19, Sharks 12.

When I saw Greg at Evelyn's game, poor guy looked totally exhausted. But he was so proud of himself. He told Grandma and Grandpa Murphy and Grandma Shirley (who came to Evelyn's game) "I scored 3 touch downs in my game today" and he said this very humbly too with a small little shy smile on his face.

This was just amazing and I sure wish I could have been there for the rest of the game. But got to enjoy it on video. I sure hope to get a dvd of this game. Janet wants to play it on there super cool new flat screen tv. Oh yeah! And thanks to Joe Duffy for making these great videos of the games. The link is right here. http://web.mac.com/jfpd/iWeb/SVBears/Game5.html with part of the email:
(My camera seems to be breathing its last breath. You'll notice an unfortunate degrading of the picture quality as the film video progresses. Interestingly, the camera's sensor seems to be having problems as the sun grows brighter during the game. It's watchable but is has a high-contrast look, with white and other light colors getting blown out.
Also, Greg's first touchdown was not recorded, but his extra point attempt after his first great run was. His last two touchdowns are on the film and as exciting as they were on Saturday. )

You can also hear Tom yelling on the video. If you can't open that link, try this one:http://homepage.mac.com/jfpd/SVBears/ where you can download the games.

It's difficult to replay the 4th quarter of the game in writing, but it sure was exciting and best to see it on the video. Very proud of my guy :) He always gives his 110% and then some in his games.

And I need to say, very proud of my Evelyn too. She is quite the soccer player this year. And you should see her riding a horse and around horses. Looks like a natural. I got to take her to riding lessons Friday night. She has her posting down, great posture, doing turns, stopping, backing..... Looks good. Before her lesson she has to groom the horse and get it all ready, which she can do herself, except for getting the saddle up and over the horse. After the lesson she has to take off the saddle, etc... and groom the horse again. Evelyns riding instructor and another gal from the stable are going to State finals in October. Evelyn wanted to stay and watch them practice so we stayed another hour watching Tori and MJ practice. Evelyn was just in heaven. Sitting on the fence on the side of the arena with a huge smile on her face the entire time. Evelyn loves interacting with the horses and can give me a little story about the horses she knows.

Here are some pics of my cowgirl riding Cody:




Thanks for hanging in there with this long post. It may be the only one for the week. My back is still sore and my right elbow and shoulder are sore. My wrist is sore from this typing and it has taken me awhile to do all this, but needed to do it. Thank you for your words of support for me and also your support for Evelyn and Greg. The next 2 games are at El Toro HS so stop on by if you can make it! Evelyn's games are at Curtis park and she loves having fans at her game too.

I leave you with this daily thought:

There is not telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.
— Anonymous

I was dreaming this morning and that is why I so overslept, again. Have a great week!