Baby Lucas Arrives

The Nash family is very excited to welcome Lucas Bennett Leo Cochrane. Congrats to Paul and Charlotte and we are looking forward to becoming the number one babysitters.

State Fair 2011

So the 5th grade first semester project is the State Fair. Every student gets a state and 'we' then learn everything you could possibly imagine about that state. Jess was assigned West Virginia and had to make a scrapbook and banner, write a report, plan an Enrichment piece, and then present all the information to the rest of the school in a half-day-long extravaganza. It was really fun and Jess - dressed as an apple farmer - passed out cups of apple juice while she taught the other kids about her state. (State fruit of West Viriginia - the Golden Delicious Apple). It was quite a success, but a LOT of work. Next semester . . . science fair.

World Cup in New Zealand

Not a ton of photos, but a few that I had from Adrian's trip to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Overall a great trip and next time the entire Nash clan will attend.

Basketball 2011

Trying to catch up on posts. It has been a crazy busy fall in the Nash household with school and double sports. In addition to soccer, Jessica was on the school basketball team. The girls started the season 0 for 4, but then turned it around and finished somewhere around 5 and 5. Really strong finish and they already can't wait for next year.

Wiggle Waggle Walk 2011

This year Jessica and PJ participated in The Wiggle Waggle Walk - a fundraiser for the Pasadena Humane Society - with her trainer Penny Scott-Fox and the entire Scott Fox team. The turnout was amazing and Jessica and PJ were featured in the team booth at the event.

MORE SOCCER 2011

Wow - What an amazing season on the soccer field. Despite Adrian's best efforts to get Jess more time in the MIDDLE of the field, Jess has ended up being quite a star goalie. Last week, as the clear underdog on the Quarter Finals, the game ended in a tie. Jess was the goalie for the 5-shot PKs (penalty kicks). Jess won the day allowing NO goals and her team managed to get one in past their goalie, thereby sending Jessica's team to the semi-finals. It was quite exciting and a real nail-biter with the parents on both sides going crazy. I have some shots from Jessica's saves, but most are blurry due to low light and fast action!! VERY difficult for mom to watch the other kickers slamming balls at Jessica from about 12-18 feet out.

Soccer Season 2011

So dog training is on hold for three months while Jessica starts soccer and basketball. Between school, two sports and homework, we are finding it tough to get our schedule on track. Fun start to soccer so far, and winter practice for goalie has made a big difference. The first basketball game is next week.

JESS and PJ Join Therapy Dogs International

We're very proud of Jessica this summer. She decided she wanted to take a training course with PJ to try and qualify her to be a certified therapy dog. The course was eight weeks and we were pretty ahead of the game with PJ due to all the other fun training and classes we've already done. PJ was definitely the star of the class and although the final test was UBER stressful, Jess and PJ came through with flying colors. We've now submitted our paperwork and once we get everything back, Jess can sign up for a variety of therapy visit options. She is most excited about the program for kids held at local libraries - Tail Waggin' Tutors. She and PJ will need to do six visits a year through the program to stay certified and I think this is a great experience for her. Well done Jess and PJ!

Baby Birds Summer 2011

So we had a great nest right up in the roof of our back porch. Very hard to get a good shot as we had to shoot through the glass and screen from inside. We think the nest had three babies, but only ever saw two at a time. Mom was very watchful and would fly off as soon as we tried to peek.

Paul McCartney in Las Vegas

Because Adrian is the best-dad-ever, he surprised Jessica with tickets to see Paul McCartney in Las Vegas as a special 4th grade graduation gift. We did a last minute drive to Vegas and Jess and Adrian were in the very front row right on the corner above the stage. Yoko Ono and son Sean were sitting nearby and Jess is convinced Paul waved right at her a few times. We have some video also and I'll post that once we figure out how to get it out of Adrian's phone. Needless to say, the show was flipping amazing, and a real once-in-a-lifetime show for Jess.

The Living Gallery Project - 4th Grade

For the final project of the school year, the students have each selected a person that they think is important. This person can be historical or current. The students had to learn about their person, write a paper on why they were/are important, and then create their own 'living gallery' for the school. All day the classes from K to 8th come to the gallery and learn from the 'paintings.' A really fun experience for the kids and a unique learning opportunity. Jessica was John Lennon.

Master Bath Remodel

So it only took us . . . uh . . . 14 years - but we finally gutted our master bathroom for a major remodel. Stripped it right down to the floorboards, many of which had to be replaced. Mr. Nash had final say on all elements (Ms. Nash got to handle the spare bath remodel). Amazing result so far and should be all done in another week.

Fall Track Meet

This year the 4th graders got a taste of track at a practice meet vs five other elementary schools. The kids had four race options - 50 meter, 100 meter, 4x100 relay and the mile. Jess ran the 100 (took second in her heat), the anchor leg of the 4x100 relay (they took second in their heat) and she ran the mile race - which was a huge group of kids and it was really just a challenge for everyone to finish. A really fun day for all the kids and brought back some memories from my own track years. OH, and is it tacky to say we saw Harrison Ford at the meet, there to watch his son who went to one of the other schools.

Maui Holiday 2011

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Yet another GREAT holiday in Maui this year. We loved the fabulous Sheraton at Black Rock - a great location for snorkeling and hanging on the beach. Perfect weather and perfect company as we were joined by Sharon and Jackson Cooper and Jackson's friend Josh. Hoping hubby Scott will make it next year, but work kept him home. We still managed to have an amazing time - snorkeling, snuba'ing, zip-lining, whale watching.

I do think the best day of the trip was the boat to Molokini and then snuba'ing and swimming with turtles. I wasn't worried about going down myself, but when I saw Jess put in her regulator and then dive right in, I got a bit nervous. She was amazing though, but sadly recent colds for both of us kept us from going too deep because our ears would not clear. Something we'll definitely do again on our next trip.