The Twins

Jake played minor's baseball this year.  He wanted to play Majors, but he missed tryouts for a soccer tournament so he didn't have a choice.  He had a great season.  I missed a lot of games because I was coaching Abby's team, but luckily their games were at the same park and I could look over or run over for a peek now and then.  He was his team's ringer. He was their ace pitcher and best fielder.  He was the steadiest hitter too, always hitting up the third base line.  Every once in a while you'd hear the other team's coach yell at his players to shift for the lefty, only they didn't know they were shifting the wrong way.   He made All-Stars and has been practicing hard everyday for the big tourney that starts tomorrow. 

The fearless, frightening duo who took Prescott Valley Little League by storm 

Pausing before the pitch.  Jake pitched a lot of strikes and struck out a lot of batters.  Only about 2/3's of the way through the season did they finally start hitting him. 

Look at that form.  Hitting out in front of him, knob to the pitcher, starting to squish the bug 

One of the best advantages to batting left handed.  Look at his batter's box compared to the right. 

Jake doing his pre-hit routine, thanks to Ronnie Adair.  He laid his bat down across the plate then drew a line for his feet to line up.  As the season went on, I started noticing  more and more kids doing the same.

Jake worked hard and led The Twins to a great, winning season.  He is a good boy who works hard and puts his mind into everything he does.  Good luck PVLL tomorrow.

The Hurricanes

This year Abby played Farm Softball - aka coach pitch, machine pitch, girl pitch.  I was blessed to get to be an assistant coach for half of the season until they kicked Claire out of the dugout, therefore kicking me out too.  Anyway, Abby was AWESOME!  She worked so hard. She wanted to get to games early so I could throw her some batting practice.  She hustled everywhere.  She actually wanted to play the fun positions, unlike some girls who begged to sit the bench.  She loved playing first base, pitcher and catcher.  About half way through the season they started having the girls pitch.  They'd get 3 pitches, and if they were balls then the coach would step in and pitch to the batter.  Abby was one of our top pitchers and got to throw just about every game.  Her speed, strength and control improved every game.  When we were in Utah, she went outside a restaurant while we were waiting for our order and she pitched tennis balls to Jake.  I love that she has an interest in sports and I have loved watching her improve.  And even more, I love that her improvement has come by her determination to get better by practicing so much.

 Look at that intensity and focus

 Quite the catcher. Pitcher and catcher -now that's where the action's at.

 Abby has a good eye.  Most girls in this league swing at anything.  Not Abby, she waits for good pitches and is very patient.

On the mound.   As the season went on, she started bringing the heat - her pitches started making it over the plate.  Her form and accuracy improved.

(Notice our second baseman in the background.  Most times her glove wasn't on, and if it was on, she usually wasn't even looking at the play, she was writing in the dirt with her foot.  She was concerned only about her lipstick and sunflower seeds - very frustrating)

I'm so proud of Abby and her amazing season.  

Way to go Hurricanes!

Our (Boring) trip to Utah

Jeremy signed up for a class in Park City for his CME week, so we decided to tag along and call it a summer vacation.  We spent the first part of the trip in Provo at Aunt Bev's house and the last part of the trip in a condo in Park City.  Last night on our way home from Utah, I asked the kids, "Quick, what was your favorite part of the trip?"  Giving them no time to think.  Here are their answers:

Abby: Staying at Bev's

Hannah:  Sleeping at Bev's

Jake:  Sleeping at Preston's and watching baseball

Annie:  Playing Barbies at Bev's

Now, Aunt Bev is a wonderful host, one of the best, but I would have said something along the lines of...

- Swimming at 7Peaks - huge water park with tons and tons of slides (no pictures). I'll give it to the kids on that one, it was a cool day with the wind blowing, so I can see how that might not make the favorites list, but it was still way fun.

- Hiking to Bridal Veil Falls outside of Provo.  It was a quick half mile hike with a gorgeous waterfall waiting for us at the top.

- The Bean museum - Tons and tons of cool stuffed animals - the biggest elephant I've ever seen.  

- Hanging out in Park City - we did a lot of shopping and each of the kids got a souvenir.

- Miniature golfing in Park City, or riding the carousel (Annie's unmentioned fav)

- The Alpine Slide in Park City - The kids got to go by themselves while Jeremy was in his conference and I had to stay down with Claire and Annie.  Later when Jeremy got out of his conference, he and I were able to take turns going with the kids.    It was super fun and a beautiful lift ride up the mountain. This was my personal favorite. (sorry no pictures of Jeremy or Annie, I'm a little Grandma Taylor-esque in my photography and only got his feet on camera).  On our last night there, we decided to make one last run down the Slide.  It was 8:30 pm,  42 degrees on the lift up plus a powerful wind chill!  Talk about freezing and scary, but the slide down was still a blast.

- Going in to Salt Lake City. We walked around Temple Square, toured the Conference Center - amazing by the way, and went to the Church History Museum.  My kids love the movie 17 Miracles and so all the pioneer stuff was really cool for them.

- Swimming at the hotel pool, then taking baths in our huge chacuzzi (jacuzzi Annie style)

- Playing mean games of baseball outside of our hotel.  They found a stick, had a tennis ball,  used a stump for home plate, and trees for bases all while being played in a small area on a pretty steep hill with every ball going into the parking lot.  They played it forever.

- Stopping at Lake Powell for a swim on the way home from Utah.

Now, one of those things is what I would have picked.  At least they didn't say watching re-runs of Disney Channel shows!

Not really surprised, but smiling

I'm never really surprised anymore at Annie's get-ups.  They are always fun and definitely her own style.  But there are days that amuse me more than others, such as:

 This fabulous selection in sure to catch eyes:  a blue and green floral top with a rhinestone vest, polka dot tights with yellow and white polka dot shorts over them, fashionably completed with black knee high boots and a homemade necklace.

This trendsetting outfit is sure to be found on Disney Channel tweens in no time.  Annie is donning her new Easter swimming suit with knee length pink tights, a pink shrug and her winter boots.

As always, this girl goes out in public in these get-ups.  Someday I'm sure she'll be cursing me for letting her out of the house this way, but, let's be honest, it is very fun to look at.

Grandma Goodman

Grandma Rita Allred Goodman passed away on  Friday, May 18, 2012.  She was nearly 95 years old.  In my adult years, she became a very good friend and I will surely miss her.
Here are some of my favorite memories of Grandma:
-Going to her cabin as a little girl with Jodi.  We'd walk downtown Strawberry as Grandma got her hair done looking for our one true love.  I vaguely remember playing Rook with Grandma, but it's not a sharp memory.
- Going shopping with Grandma as a girl with Jodi and Dyan.  Grandma insisted on going in the dressing room with us and I remember not liking the clothes she wanted to buy us.
- Going silverware shopping with Grandma before my wedding.  I swear we went to 50 silverware stores and at each one I'd tell her I like "silver" ware, not "gold" ware.  And at each store she'd try to talk me into getting silverware with gold.  We went round and round at each store and I thought we finally agreed on a nice silver setting.  Well, lo and behold, as I opened my gift from her there was gold silverware, just like she wanted me to have.  I groaned, but do you know what - it's been the best silverware I've ever had!
- Grandma and Grandpa came to just about all my volleyball games they could.  They watched me play at EAC, came to Miami for nationals, came to all my MV games I coached.  I could always count on them being there and sitting on the top row of the bleachers - with the assistance of family, me, many other players, strangers, any one we could get to help them up the bleachers.
- Cleaning her house - about 10 years ago we went through a phase where we had to clean Grandma's house.  I remember celebrating when I finally heard the vacuum suck up a piece of dirt.  Grandma laughed and told me to shut up.
- Countless visits to the back room of her house in the past 5 years.  I was blessed to live close and to be able to visit regularly.  She seemed truly delighted to have us stop by.
- On one of those visits, we played "hot potato".  Hannah decided to toss the ball to 92 year old Grandma and I freaked out.  But Grandma caught that ball and tossed it right back to Hannah - it was the fastest I have ever seen her move.  She was not going to be bested by a 4 year old.  It was hysterical.
-  Putting lipstick on Grandma.  The worse I did, the harder she laughed, making it even worse.  It was an ugly cycle, but one of the funniest things ever!
- Grandma's laugh - as illustrated by the above 2 stories.  When you get her laughing, there is nothing better.  Her laugh is genuine and from the soul.  We teased her about her sexy legs - laughter.  I tried to talk her into going back to school at age 90 to finish her master's degree - laughter.  We tried to get her to show us her old cheerleader moves - laughter.  She had a great sense of humor and I felt like I really got to see it in her old age.

Grandma you will be missed, but I know you are with your Ever-lovin' up in heaven dancing, arthritis and pain free!

The Last 2 Weeks in Review

The end of the year has been a whirlwind, so here's whats been happening:

School ended Thursday May 24th -You know what that means, the annual soaking of the kids as they get off the bus.  Jeremy has been dying to participate and this year he had the day off.  We filled balloons and hid out and sabotaged them.  They didn't stand a chance.  As usual, there were tears, but this time by Abby, not Jake (don't worry, by the time we were done, all were happy).

Then it was off to Mesa. We've been talking about getting rid of Bodgie now for 3 years and it finally happened!  There were a lot of tears as we took him to the "no kill shelter" in Phoenix.  I definitely felt bad for my fam as they were crying, but it needed to be done and the kids seem to have recovered.

Then it was over to Grandma Goodman's viewing, then funeral the next morning (more about her in another post).  Then swimming at the Ricedorff's, shopping at my favorite shoe store - DSW and on home.

Saturday morning started bright and early at 5:00 as we headed up to Flagstaff for Jake's final soccer tourney.  He's  been playing Yavapai Soccer and has done great!  It's been fun watching him get better and run circles around the defense.

Is this just natural for all boys to stand this way protecting themselves? Even when the ball is not in play?

Sunday was church and then off to Groom Creek to hang with the Chelsey's.  They were at their family cabin and we crashed their afternoon.  We played a mean game of kickball and visited while the kids got in a scuffle with some punk boys. - see Julie's blog post for more on that funny story.

Sunday night was welcomed with my first breast infection since having Claire and kicked my butt pretty hard.  I'm all recovered now and I love modern medicine!

Now it's officially summer and I'm ready for school to start again.  The kids are eating every snack in the house due to boredom and I'm still trying to play catch up from the long weekend.

Hannah Graduated

The Granville Kindergarters had a huge kindergarten celebration on Thursday.  They stressed the fact that it was NOT a graduation.  However, the kids all marched in to the graduation song, wore graduation caps, and received certificates that read, "Graduation Certificate".  

It was really cute.  The kids sang songs that showed all the stuff they learned during the year - numbers, alphabet, days of the week, how to have fun, the preamble of the Constitution... It really was quite darling.  

 Hannah after her name was called

 Karrie and Hannah - can you see the same picture in 12 years after her high school grad?

 Hannah with her "diploma"

 Hannah with Ms. Martinet, her teacher

Hannah kinda singing (she's in the back by the wall)

Hannah did a wonderful job in her first year of school.  She is a joy to our family and I'm sure a joy to her classmates.  Here's to many, many more!