Arcadia is in the News Again!

Mirai Nagasu is a freshman at Arcadia High School and she just won the US National Figure Skating Championships! This has been a very special month at school: Rose Queen, band in the Rose Parade and now a figure skating champion. = - ) Go Arcadia!

Google Reader is the BEST!

I just recently discovered "google reader" www.google.com/reader and it is wonderful! You can easily subscribe to most blogs or websites that you visit so that whenever the blog is updated you see it highlighted in your subscription list. So, you only have to go to one website (www.google.com/reader) to see a list of the blogs you read to see if any of them have been updated recently. It is a wonderful time saver and you can subscribe to "The Hubbard Family Update" on google reader, too! = - )

It's very easy to sign up and if you already have a google acct. then it's REALLY easy because all you have to do is sign in and start your subscription list. Happy subscribing.

Marching Season Finale!

It's the official end to the marching band season. = - ( First we hosted the Tenor Sax end-of-the-season section party (that's all of them minus 2) and then it was time for the Spaghetti Dinner and the Finale Shows (3 of them) in the school gym.

The 3 of us cheered and Matthew found his name.

Dean led as drum major one final time and Kritika twirled her flag.

The band marched into the gym and stood at attention.

Then the band played all their songs for the parade and marching season and the color guard performed their routines to each song.

At the end the lights went out and we were treated to a year end video presentation, Mr. Landes ended the evening with some final remarks and the band showed off all the trophies for the season. They received a standing ovation from the audience.

Here is a 2 minute video of the Purple Carnival parade performance. It may sound like the color guard is performing to a recording, but it is a live performance from the band. Thanks for watching and sharing the season with us. (ps - it's dark because it takes a LONG time for the gym lights to come on after the video presentation).

The Color Purple and Cars

We went to see "The Color Purple" a few days ago and it was awesome!

Matthew's cub scout troop went to the Peterson Automotive Museum - they were impressed by the Batmobile.

Some of the cars from "Cars."

They held their annual Pinewood Derby Race at the museum. All the cars that were entered in the race (Matthew's car is the dark blue one).

Here is a 7 second video of one of the races that Matthew's car won - overall his car came in 2nd place (his best finish ever!)

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Rain... we've had a lot of it lately. The leaf picture is taken through the van sunroof and the next picture is the wind/rain damage in our neighbors yard.

The tree in our backyard also lost a large section of one of its limbs.

Our last rose of the season was a beauty and we loved this picture and caption about the Rose Parade (notice the rose theme).

Normal sunny weather has returned to Southern California - we love the clear blue skies and lush green grass after the rain! = - )

Videos of the Arcadia Performance

Here is a 1 minute video clip of the Arcadia band tv coverage.

Here is another video of the band - this time from the 9th floor.

Finally, a video that shows David at the 15-17 second mark. = - )

Happy New Year 2008!

Happy 2008! The "early riser" team began the day at 4 am and saved seats at the parade route.

We enjoyed our hot chocolate and when Doug arrived with the rest of the Hubbard bunch he brought bagels and cream cheese.

A beautiful sunrise greeted us as Doug's parents looked forward to the parade.

Kathy's mom came to see the grandkids march and Angelica's birth family came to cheer her on, too.

We took our traditional picture with the Rose Parade program and looked up to see the fly over just before the parade officially began.

That's a picture of the Arcadia description in the program and Matthew enjoyed a front row seat with Justin and his mom.

The Wu crew even joined us for the parade, but I didn't get a picture of everyone.

The Rose Court arrived and Queen Dusty heard us cheering for Arcadia (she's from Arcadia, too).

Wonderful floats and bands.

Emeril and his family - BAM!

Getting ready for the band - almost the end of the parade.

Woo hoo! Go Arcadia! They did an awesome job, sounded amazing, looked great and we were SO proud. I also took a great pic of David (if I must say so myself).

Another great shot of Angelica (she laughed at us because we were so excited) and the back of Jennifer's line (look at that great formation). Sadly I missed a face pic of Jennifer - too close to Angelica's line.

There they go and here are a few poor quality pictures from the tv.

The traditional "end-of-the-parade" group picture (no Wu's because they had to leave right away) and Matthew found a fake $100 bill.

It took FOREVER to get home because traffic was horrible so I entertained myself by taking another photo. A few hours later the teenagers arrived home with smiles. They all had an awesome time and the 5.5 mile march was no problem at all.

Jennifer is carrying a few more freebies given to the Rose Parade band kids. Thanks for joining us at the parade via this blog - it was a very memorable day and we're looking forward to Matthew marching in the Rose Parade in a few years, too! = - )