Hooray for Devan!!!

After a month of late nights, sleepless weekends, and constant and continual cave dwelling, Devan made it!! She is a novelist!!!!

There is a web site that promotes young aspiring writers, as well as professionals to be better and they conduct a contest of sorts each year in Novemberhttp://www.nanowrimo.org/. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days, and you guessed it... With around 6 hours to spare, Devan made it !! YIPPEE!! So far she has completely declined to let anyone read it, but maybe after the spell check and re-write we can all have a read. Way to go Dev, You are my hero!!!!

Offers are rollin' in !!!

The colleges are lining up to see who will win the Devan Sweepstakes!!!
Seriously though, the two major universities in our state, Arizona State and University of Arizona have already made her nice offers, and we are just waiting to hear from NAU up in Flagstaff. Many out-of-state colleges are showing interest as well. The decision will be a hard one, Kelly and I are trying to help any way we can but ultimately Devan will have to decide which path to take. It is unfortunate that the state of the world's economy will play such a large roll in this process, but starting out in life with a huge student loan debt is probably not the best plan for any young adult, let alone the smartest kid on the planet!!! (Only a little biased!)
Add all that together with working and playing in the orchestra, and her last year of high school is definitely keeping our "Doodle bug" very busy, and stressed out I am sure!!! I know she will make a good decision, whatever it is, and no matter where she goes she will shine as bright as she always has!! Also if you haven't checked out Devan's blog you should!! http://dsmindgurgles.blogspot.com/

Final game for 2008

Well here we are again, our Monsoon season for 2008 is over.
The team finishes with a 9-2 record and a trip to the final four in the state for the second year in a row!!! Overall a very successful season, even though we came up just a little short of our goal. Cody had a stellar season, really a breakout for him personally. Playing every down at middle linebacker, running the defense, his ability to see the field, react to situations, and make big plays has put him in the elite ranks of players in our league. Also he was able to play a lot of offense this season at both QB and mostly receiver where he also did very well making big plays, super nice catches, and scoring a lot of touch downs!!! Football is definitely a passion for Cody he loves to play. We are moving into uncharted territory now, Cody will play Lacrosse this winter, a new game to us, so we will see how it goes!!!

Monsoon rolls!!!

Another great game this last Saturday!!
Our team won a hard fought battle with tough hard hitting team in an overtime thriller. Stellar play by Cody as usual, as well as all the rest of the boys, we really do have a great team!!! Now on to the East valley championship game, against the only team we lost to this season.
Monsoon rolls...

Monsoon playoffs

Cody's team had their first playoff game last Saturday, and with a great effort we won 22-6.

Cody had his typical excellent game, no touch downs this week but many tackles, and some nice runs on offense. This week the team returns to the field where we suffered our only loss last year to face a very good opponent. We all have confidence though, that if our boys play like they did last week, we can triumph over this foe and move on to the East valley championship game.

Practice has been intense this week and the boys are ready!!!

I'll keep you informed...

Tortuga

So this morning after some nice coffee I go outside to start my weekend chores. I move my truck to change the oil and the dog is going crazy. Much to my surprise what do I find? A turtle, or tortise or whatever it is. WOW, Orson dog was not liking it, but Brynn thought it was too cool!!! He hung around for a while then we found its owner from way down the street. Glad for that!!!

Halloween

We did have some fun!!!!
Kinda weird this year though. Devan had to work so we all missed her, but Brynn and Cody got dressed up and a great time was had by all!!! The weather is unbelievable here in the desert. I swear it was 90 degrees today!!! So needless to say, no jackets required!!! Cody did take a lot of flak for his get up, but like I told him, as long as he wasn't too comfortable then it was all in good fun!!! I think all the girls were jealous because he was prettier than them!!!!

Game 8

Well here we are Halloween has past and I am ever so slow on my updates again!!!
Cody's football team did have a game last Saturday and hard to believe I know, but we lost!!!
It was a good, hard fought game against another un-defeated team and had we not given them two touchdowns, the outcome might have been very different. Cody did play well, and scored our only TD on a nice 20 yd pass play. We have an off week this week and the playoffs start next Saturday. Our team will have to step up in the post season, as we are likely to meet this team again.
We will keep you posted...

Game 6 and 7

Wow what a slacker I am!!!

By my lack of football updates you might think Cody's football team lost a game,

I DON'T THINK SO!!!

The mighty Monsoon remains UN-defeated!!!

Game 6 was another blow out 31-0. Cody had his usual stellar performance on defense, and played QB in the second half. The leagues "run rule" limits your scoring to 34 points over what your opponent scores, so the second half was pretty boring.

Game 7 was a different story, A hard fought battle from the very start, back and forth with no scoring until we took it to the house late in the fourth quarter. Then our defense held against their last ditch effort to seal the victory 6-0.

Now on to the last regular season game against another UN-defeated team and then on to the playoffs!!!!

I'll keep you posted...

Devan makes Quarter finals

Devan received notice late last week she is a quarter finalist in the FTF Teen Travel scholarship program put on by BIGO (Before I get old)

Check out the link http://travelbigo.com/contents/6758-Miso-Queasy

Also some cool pics from her trip to Japan.

First Orchestra Concert

Last night was Devan's first concert for the 2008-2009 season.

These kids are so good, it was an awesome show!! The level of musicianship is truly amazing. These players obviously put in a lot of hard work to achieve the awesome level at which they play. Dad broke out the "Fear the Violas" T-shirt, we are going to have some fun this year. The orchestra is usually so prim and proper, but Senior year means no holds barred. We will probably wait until the very end to really let go, don't want Dev to get into too much trouble!!!

Game 5

WOW!!!

What else can I say??

Another hard fought victory for the mighty Monsoon. 24-0

This week our boys had their best overall performance for the entire game so far this season.

Cody is so solid, his leadership and top level play continue to help power the team toward the season goal of returning to the state championship game. Cody had some nice long runs on offense, and even played Quarterback for a series, but of course his defensive play was the highlight of his day. Onward to next week and another tough opponent...

Game 4

Monsoon rolls!!!

Another victory, Much harder won this week though.

Our first away game was a much better test of the team. The boys were a little flat again ( I think it is partly the heat, still over 100 degrees) but they managed to pull it together and come away with a 23-6 win.

Cody had his usual top shelf performance, no touch downs this week, but several nice plays on offense, and led the defense with multiple tackles and some super nice hits!!!

Next week back home again for yet another tough opponent, the also undefeated Ironmen of Mesa Eastern...

Game 3

Week 3 of the season is behind us and another shut out goes in the win column.

The team was a little flat in the first half, but the boys found their stride in the second half to go on to post a 34-0 win against the East Mesa Moccasins.

Cody had another great game on defense, and another stellar day on offense, scoring 2 touch downs, both on long plays. First one came in the first half on a double reverse, and Cody just flat out ran their whole defense for about 60 yards. The second score came on the very next possession, he caught a pass for about 5-6 yards then proceeded to break several tackles on his way to about a 40-45 yard score. After ward he told me he had never been so tired in a game, kinda funny they work way harder in practice!!!!

Onward to week 4 and a much better opponent!!! I'll keep you posted...

The fun begins

At the behest of some recruiter, Devan applied to Arizona State University last week, and as we suspected she was accepted!!! Even though she has absolutely no desire to attend this fine institution of higher learning, I think it is really cool. As time rolls on, I'm sure there will be many more offers, it will be just a matter of which one she chooses. I think she is still leaning toward NYU, but with the state of the economy the way it is, staying in state and getting a full ride is most likely the wiser choice. We are going down to Tucson next month for a tour and orientation to see how she likes the U of A . In the mean time school is going well, (except for a bad case of senior-itis) and we are all looking forward to the first orchestra concert!!!

Game 2

Week 2 of the football season ended in another decisive victory.

Monsoon football rolls on with a 25-6 win over The Phoenix.

No touch downs for Cody this week, but he did have a great game with too many tackles to count, a fumble recovery, as well as a nice run on a double reverse and an awesome catch for a big first down. Onward to week 3!!!

GO MONSOON!!!!

Ice cream social

This past Wednesday we attended Brynn's first ice cream social held at her pre-school.

Much fun was had by all the parents and siblings who attended.

How cute these kids are, they sang a couple of songs and did a little dance, and generally tore it up!!!

Cody's First game

WOW What a way to start,

Codys POP Warner football team, Monsoon, started the new season with a BANG!!!

A decisive victory over the Scottsdale Rustlers 34-0. The defense, led by Cody at middle linebacker, was dominant, allowing only one first down, forcing several turnovers including 3 interceptions, one for a touchdown. Our offense was like clock work also, cranking out 4 td's.

Even though Cody primarily plays defense, they send him in on "O" when they need some extra speed or whatever, and this time he caught a pass in the left flat and broke several tackles to find the end zone for the first time in his career!!! I was excited and I know Cody was also!!

P.S. Cody is # 2,

First day of school

Last week Brynn had her first day of pre-school, it was a very exciting day!!
Miss Nicole, a neighbor lady has completely transformed her house into a pre-school. The kids spend 2 hours, 3 days a week in a very structured school environment. Brynn loves it so far and can't wait to go every time. It is so cool to see her so excited about school and learning. It looks like she will be as smart as Devan and Cody, and that is saying something!! (they must get this from their mom).:)

Huge news

Big news for Devan;

During Devan's "Start of the Senior year" meeting with her counselor, she was informed she is ranked FOURTH in her senior class!!! Her counselor also wants her to submit her application for class Valedictorian. Also on top of that, Devan will be running for President of the National Honor Society!!! Wow what a busy, busy girl!!!!

YOU GO DEV!!!!

New blog

Welcome to our family blog.
Here you will be kept up to date on the doin's and what-nots of the Arizona Mannings,
Kelly, Scott, Devan, Cody, and Brynn.
Please feel free to visit often and please leave comments, we love to hear from you all!!!