Adios 2012, Holla 2013!

A real vacation, one that was just about family, fun and relaxing, has eluded us for some time.  Several years in fact!  This year we decided it was time to remedy that and we did!  The day after Christmas we boarded a series of flights that dropped us in the Caribbean where we enjoyed five nights in Puerto Rico!  We rang in the New Year a full 4 hours ahead of California!  Here are a few photos from our trip!

2012 - Our Year in Pictures

Greetings friends and family,

If you are reading this you must have received our holiday greetings!  2012 has been a typical year on many fronts, with a few downs, but mostly ups.  We have been experiencing some "firsts" and a few "lasts" this year.

For instance, this was the first year we didn't spend nearly every weekend at a softball complex near or far. And it was the first year we made a visit to Apple Hill in the Placerville area, even though we've been living in the Sacramento region for 6+ years now.  This year Margaret visited Minneapolis for the first time ever - for less than 24 hours! This was also the first year of boyfriends! (One each, thankfully.)

Recently, Kali has been reminding us of the "lasts" we are experiencing as a family.  The last time we'll hang Christmas lights, buy a Christmas tree, etc.  Somehow she has this opinion that when she goes off to college she no longer calls our house her home.  Duane suggested that if this were true then she should not plan to bring any laundry home when she visits!  Of course this is also the last year that Kali & Melia will start the school year together at the same school.

As many of you are friends with us on Facebook, you undoubtedly know the day by day, blow by blow, script by script info our our lives, so I'll bore you no more with my words, but instead share with you some of our favorite memories through pictures.

Happy Holidays from Margaret, Duane, Kali & Melia

 In February we enjoyed a day at AT&T Park for the annual Giants FanFest!

 

The 2012 Varsity Season was a great one for the Wolfpack and the Roberts sisters were a BIG part of that success!  Both girls made All-Conference teams - Melia earned a second consecutive first team honor in her sophomore year and was on the short list for conference MVP. Kali made the prestigious All-Conference Scholar Athlete team, only available to upperclassmen and one of two players from COHS.

The highlight of the 2012 season for Melia was undoubtedly hitting a two-run home run to get her team within striking distance of tying and winning a playoff game.  It wasn't to be ultimately, but its the memory that stands out when Melia thinks about her sophomore Varsity season.  She's gearing up for 2013 already!

We took two road trips over the summer to visit colleges in Southern California.  Getting there was a challenge for these city slickers.  As we drove down highway 5 through the southern Central Valley I looked up to see three very disgusted faces.  These lightweights couldn't handle the dairy scents we passed.

 Our first road trip covered Los Angeles area schools and we returned home via Hwy 101 to collect Uno from Grandma and Grandpa's on the way home.  Of course we had to stop at UCSB (not on Kali's list) as we came through Santa Barbara and see the campus.  We can never pass up the chance to visit the 'old stomping grounds' where Duane and I met as young kids back in 1989!  Our second visit took us to San Diego where we found time to relax on the beach and roam around the campuses a little longer.  This mural photo is undoubtedly my # favorite with Kali & Melia mimicking the women in the image behind them.

 Mothers Day weekend was full of fun and family. My sister Debbie treated my Mom and I to a day at Filoli Gardens for the three of us and my niece Katie.  We had a wonderful tea and roamed the grounds of that beautiful estate for a couple of hours.  I miss my Friends of Filoli membership!!!  On Sunday we enjoyed brunch with Dinah & Ron down in Pacifica.  It was breezy at the ocean front but and enjoyable time for all.

Whether dressed up for a nice dinner out or a family wedding, or sporting their school colors and eye black for the annual Powder Puff game (juniors won!), these smiles never fade!  And we celebrated a milestone birthday in late September when my grandmother turned 89.  I guess she needed all the help she could get blowing out those candles - even my Dad is blowing from 5 feet away!

Researching our family history - fascinating finds!

Back in August I wondered momentarily what I would do to keep busy with all of the free time that was suddenly thrust upon me when the girls announced they were giving softball a rest. It didn't take long for me to fill the empty hours! I've been spending many of those weekends and evenings feverishly researching every branch of our family tree.

Recently I found another old photo courtesy of some extended family member also building a tree with common ancestors. On that tree I found a few photos of 3rd, 4th and 5th generation ancestors from me. In the photo below is Bertha Violet (Hughes) Edmunds (my great grand aunt), her mother Sarah Jane (Neel) Hughes (my 2nd great grandmother) and Delileh (Sarah Jane's mother - my 3rd great grandmother). These relationship designations are courtesy of Ancestry.com - they are the experts. I'm not sure who the baby is on Bertha's lap, but her children were born between 1910-1915, so I'm guessing it's one of her children which would make this photo approx. 100 years old. Isn't it amazing how you can see the family resemblance in each of these women from one generation to the next?! They lived in the Indianapolis area during this time.

Technology has changed so many aspects of our lives and not all good. But I am so thankful that it enables me to find information and photographs of long gone ancestors that I could have never known, but who are shared by others through photos and family documents that I can find from the comfort of my home!

2011 Year in Review

The Roberts family wishes you a…

Most Improved Player 2011 COHS Varsity Softball (Kali)

Earned her California Driver’s License on first try! (Kali – Nov 11)

Rode the Giant Dipper rollercoaster for the first time in ~ 20 years! (Margaret)

Road trip to Las Vegas for softball tourney!

Yard sale! Netted the girls $85 each in spending money for the month.

Chattanooga, TN for ASA 16U Nationals (Aug 11)

Hit two homeruns over the fence this summer! First was a Grand Slam! (Melia)

Reno, NV for Rib Cookoff – yummy!

Investigated ancestry to find roots in Germany, England, Ireland, Spain, Mexico!

Scholar Athletes x2 (Kali & Melia – COHS Varsity Softball 2011)

Three different jobs this year! (Duane)

MLK, Jr. Memorial site in Atlanta, GA, CNN tour, Gladys Knight’s Chicken & Waffles.

All-League First Team – Sierra Valley Conference (Melia – 2011)

Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ with friends! Posed with Buster! Go Giants!!!

and..

Happy birthdays – 15 and 16 this year for Melia & Kali!

Another first place conference finish for COHS Wolfpack softball!

Played tourist at Pier 39 and the Wax Museum last summer.

Pup Uno spent his 'vacations' in Aromas with Grandma & Grandpa.

Y’all ever been to Cracker Barrel? It’s easier to find than Starbucks in TN!

Newly discovered uncle found through ancestry research on the Roberts side!

Easter Sunday spent at AT&T Park with 43K+ other crazy Giants fans!

Washington, DC for a 48 hour visit to attend a board meeting (Margaret)

Yawn – countless Netflix movies Margaret fell asleep in that Duane and the girls watched.

Earned academic honors as sophomore and junior (Kali).

Ate a Koolickle in Chattanooga, TN. (It’s a pickle soaked in koolaid.)

Rang in 2011 at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland!

2011 was another busy year for us! We hope you enjoyed this creative look back at the past year. Of course it was again mostly filled with softball. The #1 best thing for us this year was stepping back from coaching softball and simply enjoying the experience with our girls. Cheering them on with their high school team was exciting in the spring. Summer ball brought new adventures and new friends. Most notably was the trip to Tennessee to play in the 16U ASA National Tournament with 176 of the other best teams from around the nation.

Professional adventures took me to Keystone, Colorado and Washington, DC this year. I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to get involved with industry groups for the benefit of my job at University of the Pacific. The conferences I attend allow me to learn from my industry peers at the top business schools in the nation and internationally. I count my blessings every day that I get to work in higher education.

I have spent many hours this year researching family ancestry and in early November attended a day of workshops in San Francisco. It was fascinating! The average age of attendees must have be 60+. Perhaps I'll have finished my research by then and can spend my retired days visiting all the places my ancestors lived. The most gratifying find so far - my father-in-law's long lost Uncle Cary Woods. Ronnie hadn't spoke to him in over 40 years and we never even knew he existed. Found randomly through a Google search when trying to gather info on Duane's side. Through that discovery we got photos of Duane's great-grandmother who he also never met and heard some wonderful stories about Ronnie's childhood and summers spent with Ma Evie.

As the days and months march on we are beginning to realize just how soon some big life changes will be upon us. Next summer we look forward to visiting colleges with the girls as they begin to seriously narrow their school choices. College is just around the corner!

Here's to wishing 2012 will be the year that we get to go to MORE Giants games! And to spending more time enjoying life with family and friends!

Love from -

Duane, Margaret, Kali, Melia & Uno

Summer 2011 Softball Escapades

Just back from an 8-day trip to the Deep South, we may have enjoyed the last softball tournament of our family's life. While we won't ever say never (at least Duane and I won't), the girls are insistent that it's time for them to explore new interests. Here's a look back on our 2011 summer of softball. It's been undeniably the most successful season for the Roberts girls considering they (hugely) helped their team make it to the 16U ASA Fastpitch Softball National Championship tournament.

At the start of pre-game warm ups the team always placed their bats and gloves in this creative configuration. Kali & Melia's bats and gloves are in the center of the lower half of the photo.

The USA Elite - Cherry 16U team was in the championship game in four of seven pre-Nationals tournaments this summer, taking 1st place at the CSA tourney in Elk Grove in July. The 2nd place finish at GSSA Metros on Fathers Day, June 20, 2011 earned the team's berth to Nationals. Melia hit her first out of the park home run, a GRAND SLAM, to clinch the win and send the team to Nationals. She hit another 2-run homer later in the summer in a tournament in Lincoln, CA.

Are you wondering what in the world will the Roberts family do with all the free time we'll

have on our hands now? Duane has suggested that we take up geocaching. Stay tuned.....

USA Elite takes 2nd in as many weeks

USA Elite 16U faced seven opponents this weeked in our first 18U tournament. The first six games were mostly batting practice for the team as they combined to score 50 runs and allowed 2. Finally in the championship game we faced a worthy opponent in the Pajaro Valley Tremblers - yes, Margaret's home town team. The USA Elite girls did not give up at any point in the game, even rallying in the last inning to score their second run with two outs and time expired. But a 1st place finish wasn't meant to be this weekend. 2nd place is impressive in the team's first attempt at the next level.

Last weekend the team clinched a berth to 16U ASA Nationals in Chattanooga, TN the first week of August by taking 2nd place in the Sacramento ASA Metros. In a bitter battle vs. the California Breeze in the initial championship game, Kali hit an RBI single that tied the game, however the game was lost in the final inning, when former Thunder teammate Maddie Lopes scored the go ahead run as a pinch runner in the top of the 7th.

The loss put us head to head against the Foothill Gold - Stinson team, widely regarded by locals as the team expected to take the tourney. We'd faced them the day before and handed them their first loss of the double elimination tourney. Sac Metros wasn't to be for the Foothill Gold team. USA Elite exploded for 7 runs in a shut out win to capture 2nd place. The highlight of the game was Melia's 4th inning bases loaded Grand Slam Homerun to put us up 5-0. It was Melia's first ever out of the park homerun hit. What a game!

Banner Year for Roberts Girls

The Roberts girls had a 'banner year' in academics and softball for 2010-11! As my friend Amber puts its, these are the moments we live for! Seeing all the hard work on and off the field pay off with awards and recognition is such a wonderful thing to share with your children.

Off the field this year, Kali earned her Academic honors letter and Honor Roll certificate. She finished the year maintaining a 4.03 GPA. At the softball awards event she also received a Scholar Athlete certificate for the second year in a row. Melia also earned a Scholar Athlete award on the Varsity team and ended her freshman year with a 3.81 GPA.

On the field the girls had an awesome year on the Varsity softball team. As the only freshman on the team Melia was the lead-off batter for 90% of the season and started every game. Melia was one of the top three hitters in the conference throughout the season, led all batters on her team with a .486 batting average over 24 games, and earned an SVC All Conference First Team honor, along with four of her teammates.

Kali had a great season as the primary starting first baseman this season. She was awarded the Most Improved Player honor by her coaches for turning her offensive game around in a BIG way this year. Kali improved her batting average from a sub-.100 average last year to .356 this season, placing her 13th in BA for the entire conference and 5th on the COHS Wolfpack team. Kali earned SVC All Conference Second Team honors along with two other teammates.

The Wolfpack posted a 12-0 conference record this year, earning their school the first Sierra Valley Conference pennant. Their awesome record put them in the Division IV CIF Sac-Jaoquin playoffs where they went 2-2 to take 3rd place in the D-IV section.

With high school ball finished it's time for the summer travel ball fun to begin! Go USA Elite!