Joe's graduation and Happy 16th Birthday Seth!

Thursday morning we got our stuff together and out into the cabover camper.  We knew we had only about an hour and a half of a drive, but also knew we wanted to make sure we were there in plenty of time to make it to the Carson Nugget somewhere around 1200 or so.  

We left home at about 0830 or so and headed out.  Ken had the Tundra and cabover on the trailer and I had the blue Jeep Patriot.  We were able to pull straight into site #1 and there we were.  It was cold, so turned the heater on and then got ready to go.  

Put ourselves into the Jeep and headed the 7 minutes or so to the Carson Nugget.  Joe, Stacey, Rylee and Susan (Stacey's mom) were already there along with Joe's mom and step dad.  Grabbed our seats and waited for the ceremony to begin.  Turns out it started just about 1300 and then they had you go table by table through the buffet line.  Great food and the way they had it set up not much waiting for food.  Food was awesome! Fresh cooked and tasty.  

Joe, Rylee and Stacey

Joe's stepdad, Jeff, Joe's mom, and brother Philip..

Once everyone got their food they restarted the ceremony and once most people were finished they presented the class of cadets.  Very nice and it kept moving along.  

Once that was over we decided to go celebrate his new status with a beer or two (not me)..We met at Cactus Jacks and then headed to Fox Brew Pub.  Joe definitely was enjoying his beers but after two we left and headed back to camp.  Ken made a lovely fire and we enjoyed being outside.  Without the fire, we would have been inside the camper.  Eventually we did go inside and just had a little snack of crackers and cheese. 

Clouds at the campground

Our site..

Set the alarm for 0400 this am, visited with our blogging friends and then we headed to Dennys in town for a quick breakfast before I left for CA.  We don't eat there very often and now remember why.  On top of the fact that it's on the expensive side ( I did have a coupon for $5.00 off)..it was very salty and I mean very!  

Dropped Ken off at the campground so he could get things tied down and off I went to CA.  Nice drive but lots of trucks on highway 80. Not my kind of drive anymore.  Spoiled I guess.  Picked up some donuts for the boys and arrived at Russell's house at just about 0930.  I had Jacob at basketball practice a little before 1100 (Eric picked him up at 1500) and then we headed over to the Carmichael area.  We had a few minutes to stopped at Ross to see if I could find any Christmas gifts. Found a couple of little dolls for a 1 and 2 year old, but that's about it.  

Got to Garcia's about 1145 and a few minutes later Chris and the birthday boy showed up in his new to him, Jeep Cherokee.  Nice! He takes his driver test on December 4th so then he can drive himself to school!  We went inside and
spent a nice couple of hours there with friends and family!  

Birthday Boy Seth and girl friend Jordan

Friends and family..

Eric our middle son

Gage..he sure loves the big boys...

Seth..

Mason..

Mom Christina and Eric

Seth's new to him 2002 Jeep Cherokee..

After that we came back to Russ and Lori's for a while and then Eric and Chris left, and I took Seth's girl friend home a little later.  I had given Jacob his birthday $ because we won't see him next week.  He had that money burning a hole in his pocket so we stopped at game stop and he bought a video game.  Dropped Jordan in Lincoln and headed back home.  Dinner was simple tonight, Little Caesar's Pizza. 

What the boys do waiting for the video game to load

Today was little Owen's 3rd birthday.  We'll see him tomorrow evening for his celebration. 

The boys are in the living room with the new game and I'm about to call it a night.  Tomorrow got to have Aaron at 0730 and the day progresses from there. Hope you all had a great day, we did!

Seth through a few years:

Seth and his birthday buddy Owen..3 yrs ago..

Seth on the back 

Seth today..with his 2002 Jeep Cherokee

Seth and Mason when they were much younger..

Antoine, Michael, Russell and Steve..4 founders of Sacramento
Beer Enthusiasts in Sparks, NV making a new beer at Revision Brewery..
looks like a good time was had by all!

A note from this am...Yesterday, Friday Novemeber 10th was the holiday for Veteran's Day.  Today, November 11th is actually Veteran's Day.  The Kay and the Phillips family have many Veterans in our 2 families.  We celebrate each and every one and sincerely Thank them for their service and sacrifice! It's a day to remember and Never Forget....