Merced Bears comin' to town!

Brad Reed brought his 8 Varsity Basketball girls to SF for a tournament. Instead of fundraising for a hotel, they crashed in at the Nashes and the Thathiah's for the night. They arrived Friday at our home in time to walk over to Amici's Pizza for dinner. The girls LOVED the pizza. All agreed it was the BEST they ever had! For dessert, we stopped in Tuttimelon and enjoyed a Gelato - again the BEST they ever had. I think food just tastes better in SF! :) Four of the girls stayed with the David and Vasi along with Coach Reed and 4 of them stayed at our house. We stayed up for about an hour talking with the girls, getting to know them, sharing basketball stories and playing with Gabby. Needless to say, Gabby enjoyed the evening!

On Saturday morning, after feeding them donuts, cinammon rolls, juice and fruit we went on a run while they got ready. Coach Reed picked them up and took them to Fisherman's Wharf until GAME TIME!

Dick and I went to the 3:00 pm game and enjoyed watching them play! It was fun to see them in action. Dick really enjoys basketball and was coaching up in the stands! The best part?

WINNING!! :) Bears: 65 Bulldogs: 47

And the TROPHY!!

No, not really....the BEST part was helping out the team with their food and accomodations. You can tell Brad really enjoys coaching so that was fun to watch. The girls were very appreciative, kind and respectful. Really, all teenagers want (well, everyone does, but ESPECIALLY teenagers) just want people to listen to them, be interested in their thoughts, ideas and dreams, and to respect them as individuals. It was a treat to share with them and we hope we can make it an annual event - as long as Brad is coaching! The basketball season officially begins this next week! GO BEARS!!

p.s. the trophy was for second place in the tournament. All of the other schools in the tournament were from San Francisco area. Merced traveled the farthest.