DECA Western Region Leadership Conference

This week, Summer attended the DECA Western Region Leadership Conference in Anaheim with other representatives from Tanque Verde High School. They got to spend the first day in Disneyland, which, of course, made her the happiest girl on earth. The next few days were spent listening to guest speakers, attending breakout sessions, and having fun. She really enjoyed the conference and learned SO much!

DISNEYLAND!!!

The TVHS Delegation

 

Video From The Flyover

Not sure why the video didn't upload to my last post, here is the video of the flyover.

Veterans' Day Flyover the Can-Am 500

This weekend the HaggisFam attended the Can-Am 500 at the ISM Raceway in Phoenix. Den led the flyover over the racetrack during the national anthem. It was such an honor for him to be able to represent the state of Arizona and the A-10 community at such a huge event. As a bonus, Saturday was his birthday!

Dennis flew up to Phoenix on Friday to take care of all the last minute details for the flyover and the girls and I joined him on Saturday. We got there in time to walk around the Infield and catch the Whelen 200. A big congrats to Christopher Bell for his win!

We had the chance to tour the garages where the crews were working hard to get the cars ready for Sunday's race. 

Once the race got going, we spent some time out on pit row and got to see the Ross Chasten and the #4 car's pit crew in action up close and personal. Paige loved that it happened to be sponsored by Flex Seal. They even had the boat they cut in half out in the expo area. 

It was definitely warm out, so we finished off the day with Kona Ice in the shade.

Sunday was race day! Dennis left the hotel to head over to Luke AFB to prep for the flyover and the girls and I headed to the track with the family of Den's wingman. We explored the infield a little more and then headed out on to the track for a concert.

The girls borrowed a marker and signed the Start/Finish line

At 11:40 we met a representative from Team Penske who took us out to meet the drivers and get a close up look at the cars.

Well, hello there, Ryan Blaney!

After being out in the sun for a while, we went in search of some water for the kiddos. Trevor Bayne's crew invited us in for some snacks and showed us around the trailer. The kids were super-excited to see that there was a whole other race car in the compartment above their heads.

Doesn't everyone keep a spare engine in their kitchen cabinet?

Thanks to Roush-Fenway and Trevor Bayne Racing for the hospitality!

Finally it was time for the big event! After the invocation and as the last strains of a beautiful rendition of our national anthem echoed through the raceway, over the mountains came a shining example of American airpower! A dissimilar formation representing Arizona made up of Davis Monthan A-10's and Luke F-16's, with Dennis in the lead. There may have been a tear or two in my eye. The last time I saw him fly, he was leaving for Afghanistan, so this was SO much better!

The girlies were super proud!

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the race trackside. It was such a great weekend spent together as a family. We are so grateful to NASCAR, Team Penske, Roush-Fenway Racing, and everyone else who made us feel so welcome.

Happy Birthday to Shelby!!!!

On October 23rd, we celebrated 2 years of our Shelby dog! She was an excellent sport about wearing the birthday crown and we celebrated with ice cream and a new toy. 

Wild West Classic

This weekend the girls competed in Mountain View High School's Wild West Classic cheer competition. The last few weeks have been tough - drama, injuries, etc. They still have some major work to do before next week's qualifiers, but, given the amount of actual practice they've had, they did pretty well. They placed 2nd in their division and the two all-girl stunt routines went 1 and 2!

Way to go Hawks Cheer!

One of the girls' friends brought flowers for them!

These three have become Summer's "big brothers". They should be honorary cheerleaders because they always show up to support the team.

Hello September

"By all these lovely tokens, September days are here

With summer's best of weather, and autumn's best of cheer,"

--- Helen Hunt Jackson

September has arrived here at Casa de Haggis, bringing with it football, festivals, and fun. We are looking forward to finding fall here in the desert. Friday Night Lights has kicked off and it is definitely a different experience here than it was in Texas! There's something special about small town football, though. (Even though we live in a good-sized city, the Tanque Verde valley kind of exists outside of Tucson itself, and has much more of a small-town feel. It's one of the big reasons we came back here) Summer is happy to be back on the sidelines, doing what she loves.

Last week the TV cheerleaders had a cameo on Friday Football Fever!

New uniforms came in. They are so cute.

Our sideline photographer caught this shot on Friday night at halftime. Thanks ARJ Photography!

Since we're on the subject of football, we attended University of Arizona's season opener against BYU. Our seats were awesome and Paige loved her first game as a member of the Zona Zoo. 

On the renovations front, the backsplash is up and the fireplace is stuccoed. Dennis continues to amaze me with his mad renovation skills. Move over Chip Gaines. Here's a rare sneak peak!

Also, we inherited this potted cactus from the previous owner, and it is growing to be quite obscene. Maybe I'll plant it right by the front door. LOL

I found a headset in my bottom desk drawer at work, so now I can wear all my cute earrings without having to take them out after an hour because they get in the way of the phone.

Paige has had some pretty big firsts in the last couple of weeks. (Other than starting college) She received her first lab coat and VOTED in the Arizona Primaries. I was really impressed with her determination to learn about the candidates and their positions on the issues. It was really important to her that she make informed choices.

 Her classes at U of A are going well. She attended a chemistry club meeting this week and has discovered that the dean's office brings in dogs one day a week for students to love on. I think that's awesome, especially for the kids in the dorms who had to leave their own doggos behind. As a part of her VA benefits, she has access to the VETS center, which offers tutoring, free copying, etc. 

Coolest mural ever in the VETS center!

Dennis is plugging along though his requalifications and is enjoying being a member of a fighter squadron again. Between that and reno projects, he's too busy to take or pose for pictures these days. Hopefully I'll catch him in some soon. That's pretty much what we've been up to the last couple of weeks. Be prepared for picture overload next week because it is Parents Weekend at U of A and Homecoming week at Tanque Verde!