Sunday, September 19, 2010

Living in Mayberry

I love the town I live in. It sits at the base of Mt. Diablo and is bordered on two sides by rolling hills that are green for about 2 months in the spring, the rest of the year they are a beautiful gold. We also have the Sacramento River Delta bordering another side and the rest is farmland. Farmers here grow Cherries (see Groundhog Day with Celia Fae), apricots, Fuji apples, strawberries, scrumptious white corn and oodles and oodles of tomatoes. From Memorial Day to Labor Day we have farm stands selling all kinds of fruits, vegetables, homemade jams, dried fruits and pies. Developers have planted a lot of houses in the past 10 years, I'm not so in love with that.

Brentwood is also centrally located for fun. Skiing is only 2 hours or so to the east. The California coast, Santa Cruz, Redwoods etc... is only 1 1/2 hours away. If you're a "foodie" Sonoma and Napa Valley are a little over an hour. We have two amusement parks within an hour, the capital an hour and a half north, Yellowstone is only 3 hours away to the southeast and San Francisco and all the museums, sports teams and crazy people are also only an hour to the west.

When Byron and I married, we knew that we would settle here. It is only an hour from my hometown of Modesto and Byron's entire family live here. Brentwood was a little like Mayberry and a little like the Cheers bar...25 years ago when we came, every one knew your name and any scandals spread like wildfire. I couldn't "run" to the grocery store, it was a sure fire hour long commitment because I knew so many people. At that time we knew it was the perfect place to raise our family. Over the years we have watched stoplights come, chain grocery stores, a bowling alley, fast food restaurants,sports leagues, a aquatic center and now, a mall. It's still a great place to raise kids...just bigger.

My children have all attended Liberty High School, a school with 105 years of tradition. We have two high schools in town now. It makes me sad because there are cross town rivalries and all that goes with that. One of the wonderful, sweet traditions we have at Liberty is the down town Homecoming parade. This was Homecoming weekend, so for my Lauren who loves her school and still bleeds Cardinal and Gold....pictures!!



Our Homecoming Rally on the Football field, the booth was built in 1953.




My favorite student, the Jr. Class President, decked out in Liberty colors. He takes his school spirit seriously.



The Jr. Skit, complete with the Liberty Lion and minus the President, who was too busy to go to
practices...he was totally bummed. Not.

.


Two of my very favorites, #9 is my TA, #26 spends a lot of time in my office, he doesn't TA for me. Get it?




This is our Leadership teacher, she looks like one of the kids. I want to adopt her I love her that much.



"Extinguish the Eagles!" The Jr. class float.



The Junior rooter truck...for once Jeff's loud voice came in handy!



The Employees of the Year...I'm still (not) bitter about being nominated and LOSING six years in a row. I would love the parking spot, but I don't know about the back of the car riding in the parade. It doesn't seem too flattering.




Our death defying Cheerleaders. They really are impressive.



Our marching band, 70 members strong. And they sound pretty good!!!


The Math and Physics club float, yes, the stereotypes are correct.


The FFA float, they were practicing roping on it, and chewing...hay.


The Transition program float. This is the program at Liberty my Rachel attended. All the students have mental and physical disabilities. They are a beloved group of students, and are mainstreamed and really cared for by our "normal" kids. This is one reason Liberty is a great school. Last year a young man with autism won Homecoming King by a landslide.




The Senior float won the competition. Duh. They always win. That yellow square...what does it look like to you? I thought it was Spongebob, which didn't really fit the title. Turns out it's a waffle...


.
Our Queen Brooke. She really is a sweet girl and beautiful too!! Love her.



Our King, Tony (in the black tux). He is our star football player so he wasn't in the parade.
He's a sweet kid, love him.



Our very diverse Homecoming Court, all fabulous kids!



The dance. The girls are adorable, I wish they had worn a bit more however....




PS. Don't you just LOVE my new bloggy layout? My ultra-fabulous daughter Lauren, who I love dearly and is SO SO SO creative.... spent HOURS designing it.

PPS. Here's my gratuitous picture of my favorite subject...have I mentioned I adore him?
And his parents.

12 comments:

Rochelleht said...

He is PRETTY cute!!

Sound very idyllic. Too bad it's in California. ;-) Hoping y'all are still in business in the next year.

Erin said...

I'm sold. :)

Lisa-Marie said...

How's the hunting? That's always Kendon's first question. Then, we might consider!!! It really does seem like Mayberry. I'm glad it makes you happy.

Love the new look on the blog. That Lauren. She makes cute babies and blogs!

Tristan said...

I'm super homesick after reading this post and seeing all the amazing photos! I will be back someday! ;-)

Good Time Charlie said...

Love the new design. Love the pics. Thank you for the fab shout out to btown! Hmmmm, maybe that EOY car should have hit a bump and someone maybe tipped out the back? JK!!! It will be you next year, but it will be a chariot and you can wear a crown. Nothing less deserving and fitting for the countless hours and service you have devoted to your job, the students and the school. Lot of love to you. Mwah, Mwah. (cheek kissing sounds)

Lauren said...

YAY!! Now make updating more regular, we miss your blogging! I miss Brentwood homecoming and all the festivities!!!

martyrudd said...

Oh Yeah....seeing these pictures makes me homesick for my three LHS graduates!, but not envious of all the work I missed out on with float building:)
And yes, Jeni, I can tell you are always thinking of Lauren when I read your write-up of Brentwood and you said that YELLOWSTONE was 3hours to the southeast!! Again, make me homesick for my Karlee and your Lauren!! Love you girl. Thanks for all the great pictures. Marty

Lauren in GA said...

I loved hearing all about your Mayberry, Jeni. It really does sound like a special place. I love how you love the students so much. You take such good care of everybody.

Those socks that Jeff and some of the other kids are wearing are absolutely fabulous! That is so great that Jeff has such school spirit.

I love your new layout! Lauren did a great job!

You make me laugh...the FFA float riders were chewing...hay. Glad you specified ;)

diane said...

Jeffrey is decked out in school colors and cute girls. That boy knows how to accessorize.

Love the last picture too.

Jessica said...

I'm obviously late getting here...but had to comment because that was SO my high school experience, in Tracy. Fun fun!

Jake said...

Finally getting around to blog visits! My dream is coming to your hometown for a long weekend and a real life visit.

Linsey said...

Your new blog is cute, but your Carter is still cuter!

Seems like a nice town you've got there.