Thanksgiving Week Family Fun

A long Thanksgiving Day week full of family, football, fun and food!

But not necessarily in that order . . .

It all started the Saturday before Thanksgiving when Mike brought the kids over to the house to watch another good day of college football on TV.

We took a break in the action in the late afternoon to take the grandkids to local park.

 Mary loves slides

Jacob likes climbing things

 They both love swings

I love when the Huskies win

another exciting PAC-12 game

over the Utah Utes this time

On Monday, Mary got to

play with her favorite

nesting dolls

On Tuesday, it was back to the slides

Wednesday was a GREAT day

for miniature golf/hockey

More hockey than golf

if you ask me

We have to work on Jacob's putting I think.

 Still, he was happy

Thanksgiving Day

in San Marino at the

Ancestral Contreras Home

Jacob with his Great Grandmother Chuny

Kids Table

 Senior Citizens Table

With my Mom, sisters Linda and Marilyn, niece Lauren and grandson Kevin

Linda, in white, cooked an amazing meal for us all!

A great day for all of us on this Thanksgiving Thursday to be sure.

Back in Camarillo

Kevin, Laurie and Jacob

ready for a full Friday of

even more football on TV

They were even goofier

than their shared t-shirts

Thanksgiving was now

in the rear view mirror

Thus, it was ok to put up our Christmas University of Washington ornaments mostly due to the generosity of good friend Paul Sabolic.

We've put them on our hall tree the last couple of years as the collection grew at the same rate as our fear of them toppling our Christmas tree.

Maybe if we both push we can

make Dad/Uncle Andy face plant

 Two Rapscallions

Whoa!

Why are the grandkids dressed up?

Of course, it was Christmas Card

photo time

Saturday night Apple Cup Game

Should have been a good one as both teams were 9-2 coming into the contest and a Cougars win would put them in the PAC-12 Championship Game next Friday against 10-2 USC.

For some reason we were all

losing concentration watching

the Apple Cup

 Our three loves

It was not a good game to watch

but it was a GREAT day to be a Husky

The Huskies dominated the contest(?) from start to finish, if you like tearing the wings off of butterflies then you would have loved this Apple Cup.

Sunday was a great day again

Both the Rams and the Saints are 8-3 now.

The Rams leading the NFC West by one game over the Seattle Seahawks while the Saints are tied for first place in the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers.

All in all, it was a wonderful week with all of our family coming together for a great holiday!

On Monday I had to go to Ventura

and discovered this new bakery

Maple bacon croissant?

WHY NOT!

The cappuccino and maple bacon croissant were both up to European standards.

So was the pain au chocolate.

I know, I know, you will never find a maple bacon croissant on the continent.

American Football Week

in Mexico Looms 

I will be heading out Friday to coach the Europe Warriors U19 Offensive Linemen in the Mexico City suburb of Texcoco.

We will meet with the team for the first time this coming Sunday and start our practices on Monday.

But first . . .

 Friday Night Lights

Our coaching staff will be going to this game pitting Heroico Colegio Militar (HCM), Mexico's Military Academy, vs. West Point's under 200 lbs. Sprint team. 

We spent a day talking football with the HCM staff last August after our Europe Warriors Senior team played the UNAM Pumas.

Just like our military academies in the USA, the Aguiluchos face several obstacles in their quest for American football excellence but the players and coaches adapt and overcome.

The past two years the Aquiluchos have played a home-and-home game with the U.S. Naval Academy's Sprint team.

In 2018, HCM will travel to West Point to play the Cadet Sprint team again.

In 2019-20, HCM will play the U.S. Air Force Academy's Sprint team.

It should be another fun, interesting night.

On Saturday we will drive to

Toluca for the Mexican Division I

National Championship Game

The UNAM Pumas, 9-1 champions of the 22 school public university ONEFA league, will travel to play the Toluca Borregos, 9-2 champions of the 12 school private university league.

After a week of practice . . .

Our U19 Europe Warriors will play

against an all-star team of U19

players from the ONEFA league

on Saturday

But first . . .

  

There will be a PARADE on Friday

Who doesn't love a parade?

Our Saturday game will kickoff at 10:00 a.m. and will be followed at 1:00 p.m. by a contest between a Mexican DI all-star team hosting an NCAA DIII all-star club.

It is going to be a GREAT week for American football in Mexico!

Mi Vida es BUENA!

No?