Opening Day

April 5, 2014
Baseball season is upon us! :) We were at the park from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm today. (With a 1.5 hour break in there.) Let the craziness begin! ;)  Both boys are playing for the first time this year.  Harrison in Coach Pitch and Jackson in AA Minors. They each had their first game opening day.  And they looked very strapping in their uniforms!  :) 

Opening Ceremonies, parade of teams.

 Harrison's game.

Coach Swain! It's coach pitch, so he is also our pitcher. Most of his pitches were hittable.  ;)

Sis having some fun of her own.  Very few things made her as happy as that bat did.  hahaha.

 Jackson's game.  He had a great 1st game! First season with kids pitching, so it was kind of different. But he made it on base 2 out of 3 times at bat (it should have been 3 out of 3, but there was some confusion about the rules.).  ;)

Mr. Grant having some fun too.  Love that smile.  This kid did so well, it was a long day!

This dusty dirty place will be our second home for the next couple of months.  And we wouldn't have it any other way!  :) 

Opening Ceremonies

February 7, 2014
2014 Winter Olympics... Opening Ceremonies...  We really get into the Olympics at our house!  ;)  Patrick gave the kids his Olympic pep talk, he is still hopeful that one of them will someday go.  haha.  (Although winter sports are a bit challenging to master in AZ.)  But man, we love it!  They each drew their own Olympic dream picture. 

They got their own gold medal.  :)

Jackson is going to compete in both summer and winter games as a track and field sprinter and as a snowboarder. :)  

Harrison is going to be a hockey player.  According to him, he is the one scoring the goal, playing alongside Shawn White. The goalie he's scoring on is Justin Beiber. Hahaha.

We also had our own light show.  haha. 

Both boys.

Harrison

Jackson

And even our treats were patriotic.  ;)  Graham crackers and frosting, yum!  

It's something we look forward to every 2 years, and all we watch for the entire 2.5 weeks.  The Olympics are always full of inspirational stories, amazing wins and heartbreaking losses.  The world coming together to compete somehow brings out the very best in humanity.  We sing our national anthem, we celebrate and cheer... we get to live it.  And it's never disappointing!    

Fall BaSkEtBaLl - Our New Baller!

Oct. - Nov. 2013

Jackson has been wanting to play basketball for awhile, it was just hard to fit it in with everything else he wants to do (soccer, baseball, etc.), but he finally got to... and he is a natural!  :)  He had wonderful coaches and he really enjoyed playing!  It was harder than I think he expected it to be, but he worked hard and he just got better and better all season!  He is actually one heck of a defender!  :)  He had some great plays and lots of baskets!  (He played on Saturdays, while his dad usually worked, so it was hard sometimes to get pictures while juggling 3 other littles.  I feel bad that I don't have more, but I was a SUPER loud cheerleader!)  :)  He's #5.

Uncle Eric came to visit and got to catch one of his last games.  :)  

He had a great season, we are so proud of his hard work!   CONGRATS DUDE!

Fall SoCcEr & the BEST GAME EVER!!

Oct. - Nov. 2013
Harrison decided he wanted to give soccer another go, which was fantastic!  And as it turned out, one of his Primary teachers was putting a team together and wanted him on it.  :) So he got lucky and had a whole team of friends.  It was such a great experience and SO much fun!

Their team struggled a little.  They went nearly the entire season without so much as scoring a goal!  :/  They were getting a little discouraged.  But in game 8, the second to last game of the season, Harrison was bribed by me (yes, I'm that mom) with $20 for a goal (we were desperate!).  ;) And apparently money was the motivator that flipped the little switch in his head and it all just came together!  Hahaha.  It was amazing.  Like it just "clicked" and a miracle happened... down the field he went...

He shoots...

He SCORES!!

That face says it all!!  Saying we were "happy" for him feels like the understatement of the year!  Patrick and I both were SO excited for him!  (We were even admittedly teary eyed.)  :)

Everyone was screaming!!  I mean, EVERYONE!  Every kid on our team, every parent on our sideline! There was a serious delay of game for celebration!  :) (The other team probably thought we were all crazy, freaking out over a goal like that, but they didn't know how long we had waited to cheer!  How long our kids had been waiting to feel like that!)  :) It was SO incredible!  After watching them struggle ALL season to score, it was AMAZING!!  And of course, without skipping a beat, he runs over to me and says "You owe me $20!".  Hahaha.  I looked at him and said "Go do it again!".  He smiled at me with a grin of confidence we had been hoping and praying for all season!!  And said "Ok!".

....And sure enough, that's exactly what he did!!  :)  They WON that game.  The only win of their season.  In Harrison's words, "THAT WAS THE BEST GAME EVEERRRRR!!!".... it really was!  :)  I loved what scoring that goal did to him, for him.  He was a different kid, he had some swagger in his step, he was less timid and SO much more aggressive, he was excited and happy!  He has a hard time getting out there in front of everyone sometimes, I can honestly say that night was a turning point for him.  He discovered that he could do it, that he could be great, that he could be a leader!  He believed it!  And that is why it was THE BEST GAME EVER!  :)  

And a GREAT season!!  Can't wait to do it all over again! 

 CONGRATS BUDDY!!  :)