Real vs. DC United

The final activity for the month (if you were counting: 3 concerts, 3 fireworks shows, and 3 games) was against DC United. I got to introduce Chandee to soccer and it was a good game for her to start with, even if we did get drenched. (I did have to laugh since she also noticed the refs did not always seem to call things fairly, like in the favor of the other team and they were able to get away with a lot more things than we could - and I didn't even say anything about it as she asked me questions.) I left the wedding right after the ceremony so I could get to the game. We weren't too late, but we did get there right after the first goal was scored, which was thirteen minutes into the first half. Oh well. The important news, Beckerman played the whole game. The sad news, Morales left with an injury to his foot. We'll have to see how that plays out in the future as there is no news yet. Final score: 3-0. Getting into a discussion with the other team.

That could have hurt.

Saborio going in for the play - this wasn't his best game ever.

Findley getting in for the ball. Again, I don't think this was his best game either, but he did score our second goal.

Williams going in for the ball.

I am pretty sure there shouldn't be the jersey pull, but there was no call.

Wingert gets some height while going for the ball (I think he was actually called for this play).

Going for the header.

And he got it.

Some fancy footwork going on.

Celebrating with Nelson Gonzales. (He was brought in the final four stoppage time minutes and made an extremely sweet goal.)

He was extremely happy with his goal - can't say that I blame him.

Not really sure if he was happy or sad here. Could have been yelling at the refs for a bad call or running in to celebrate a goal.

Did I mention it was a little bit wet on the field? There was a lot of time spent on the ground as players did a their own slipping and sliding.

Great way to end a great month. And I am finally up to date on the blog.

Congratulations, Shannon and Paul!

I didn't get my camera out for this one, but still want to tell Shannon and Paul congratulations on their big day. It's been a long time coming. Now they have the opportunity to be man and wife. They have a cute little family, complete with Paul's son. And they were both so happy at the ceremony. (I didn't stay for the reception, but I hear they continued to be happy then as well, which is a good thing. I'd hate to think the wedded bliss only lasted for half an hour.)

24th of July Weekend

What a fun weekend! And I am not actually including everything in this one entry. On Thursday, Chandee and I met up to go up to Idaho for a concert. For lunch, we stopped in Twin Falls so I could introduce her to Gertie's. I was so relieved that it was as good as I remembered it being. It's always a little bit scary to be excited about food, introduce someone to it, and have it bomb. Fortunately that was not the case. In fact, Chandee is already ready to go back for a little bit more - we may be doing another trip when we both have the time off work.

We made it up to Boise for the whole point of the trip. We went up there for the Trace Adkins/Toby Keith concert. They had another opening act, Jaron and the Long Road to Love, who I really enjoyed and have downloaded the album. It helps that he's not too hard on the eyes. I loved his sense of humor and it totally comes through in the songs he's written. (You may recognize him as half of the duo, Evan and Jaron.)

So, instead of trying to do a running commentary on the pictures, which are not all the very best because of the distance to the stage, but our seats were great for watching the concert. So, I'll just tell you when the new act started and move on. I will say there wasn't anything I would change about the concert. We laughed, sang, yelled, and got a little bit more insight into some of their songs.

Jaron and the Long Road to Love (he did tell us the Long Road to Love couldn't be there that night so really it was just Jaron):

Trace Adkins (he's huge):

Toby Keith (Yes that is a truck on stage):

For the encore number, they both came out to sing together:

The concert was fabulous. The drunken conversations in the bathroom afterward not so much. It's amazing what people will say to complete strangers when they are drunk that I am truly hoping they wouldn't say if they were sober. Plus, there was the whole personal space issue. And, for whatever reason they people who designed this bathroom only put in one stall, you had to go very quickly because otherwise people became angry.

When we, mainly me - good thing there was a noon check out - got rolling in the morning, we decided to continue our little mini vacation by going to Lava Hot Springs. Okay, we had actually decided this before hand, but got a little later start than originally planned. Last time I was there the mineral springs were actually under construction so it was nice to be able to take part of them this time.

Before indulging in the springs, and after doing a little walk through the town and having dinner, we had massages. Chandee had never had a massage before. We have a convert. I needed this. I thought for sure I was going to break my little masseuse's fingers. But, as she pointed out, that's why she had elbows, and she used them.

After that it was time for relaxing in the springs. They were wonderful. As we sat there, we realized we were maybe a little too relaxed to drive home and were very happy when we discovered one of the hotels had a last minute cancellation and we were able to take it. When we got in and laid down on the beds and realized we were just lumps, we knew there was a reason we stayed the night.

The springs, the massages, the concerts, good friend to share it with - it was a great way to spend the weekend. It was funny to listen to some of the conversations going on around us. Sometimes it amazes me what people will say with complete strangers around. I know I'm not the only one who was listening into other people's conversations since one guy we met decided to not only listen in to us trying to find a room, but decided he needed to remark on how much we were spending. He really thought we should go back to the spend the night at the KOA they were staying at (he was a teenager trying to be a little more cool than he maybe was). I wanted to comment to him, "You're listening to us trying to find a last minute room, what makes you think we have camping equipment for a KOA." Then when he exclaimed over what we were spending on the room (which actually was not a bad deal for a last minute, holiday weekend night), his dad said, "What do you think we are paying?" When Chandee called to tell her significant other not to expect her tonight, I made the comment that one of these days I would need to actually meet him, he just couldn't get over the fact that I didn't know her husband. (Granted, in high school, you do immediately meet your friends relationships; that's not so much how life necessarily works outside of high school.) I think this little guy could be in for a rude awakening when he gets out to the real world.

We decided to take a free tour of the newest bed and breakfast in Lava, The Lion's Gate Manor, before we left town. It was a great time. We're already trying to figure out when we'll do another trip. Long vacations are wonderful, but sometimes it's the little ones that help get through the weeks and months in between.

Real vs. Chivas

The holiday weekend ended with another game. The Stadium was completely sold out. It was our second game of the season against Chivas USA. And, maybe most importantly, Kyle Beckerman was back on the field. It was a bit fitting that he made his comeback against the same team that took him out. He played 60 minutes, which was the plan, so, hopefully, all is well with the injury. They played to a 1-1 draw, which was not the plan. It should have been a win. But, their goal came from a very rare goalie mistake. While he is completely taking credit for what happened, one of the reasons why I love this game is one player doesn't make or break the whole game, there were ten players in front of him that should have prevented the ball from getting to him. So, that's how it played out. It was an extremely sweet goal from Ned Grabavoy (which then went on to win the MLS goal of the week) shortly after he was subbed in for Beckerman. Saborio and, I think, Russell, getting into it while trying to make a play for the ball.

Javier Morales doing some fancy footwork.

Will Johnson making sure his presence is known.

Ned Grabavoy and teammates celebrating the goal.

Pablo Campos going for it.

Chris Wingert fighting for the ball with Nat Borchers watching on.

Andy Williams on the ground with Espindola checking on him while Borchers, Beckerman, and Johnson have a discussion on what happened.

They followed up with a fireworks show. It was pretty cool.