The Last 3 Months Of Our Lives

So most of the last 3 months of our lives has been at the ballpark for Little League games. With 3 different kids on 3 different teams with 2 or 3 different games a week at 3 different times, it got crazy. But well worth the time. We had a blast going to the games to watch Drex in Minors (DBacks), Braden in Coach Pitch(Cardinals) and Sadie in T-ball (Angels). And I think there were only 2 games that did not have parental representation, so that's not bad. So enjoy some pictures from our last 3 months.

Jo with candy











Braden











Sadie and Caitlin











Drex after winning the championship











Sadie on the Angels











Sadie with cousin Halle











Some of the regulars











Amy, Bomb and Atlie










Abbie in the middle with cousin Emmie
(left) and friend Emma (right)

Who needs pictures?

So would I totally be embarssing myself if I admitted that the reason I haven't posted anything on here is because I don't know how to download pictures off our new camera? I'm sure I could figure it out if I really tried, but who's got the time? So crazy rain day, huh? I thought it was fabulous. Matt also loves it, but it reminds him of Provo and he now wants to move to Utah again. He said I can come if I want.

Me and the girls spent a good part of the afternoon outside emjoying the weather, and Abbie and her friend found a little snail. They played with that thing for a good hour, finally concluding that it was hungry and needed a concoction composed of ketchup, mustard and fake berries picked from my door wreath. Yummy. It's still out on our front porch if anybody needs a midnight snack.

So, last day of school - Hooray!?!? The kid's reactions were varied: Drex - comes home, throws his backpack in the middle of the floor and asks, "Can I play computer?" Braden - comes home, throws his backpack in the middle of the floor and asks, "Can I play Play Station?" Sadie - comes home bawling, tears flowing down her sweet cheeks, throws her backpack in the middle of the floor and proceeds to tell me about how her teacher was crying, she was crying, all her friends were crying, quite an emotional time for a kindergartner. There's little boys for you, there's little girls for you.

Atlie also had quite a day, rolling over a good three times by herself. That and just being too cute for words pretty much exhausted her by bedtime.

And the news on Jo? Well, she only escaped naked outside twice today . . .

Drexy - The Closer

So last night in Drex's little league game (he plays in Minors this year, coached by the great Clint McGrath and assisted by the great Kyle Thornton), the team was up by about 7 runs going into the bottom of the last inning. The relief pitcher they brought in struggled a bit and walked 6 straight batters. So, Drex came in to pitch, something he enjoys doing but hasn't done much of this year. He's better at 1st base. But he came in with the bases loaded and no outs., and we were only up by 5 now.

After a strikeout, a few walks and a groundout, not to mention a few passed balls, we were up by 1 with 2 outs and the game-tying run at 3rd base. The runner on third kept taking a big lead off of third, trying to taunt Drex into throwing it to third, but smartly, he kept going back to the mound after getting the ball from the catcher, ensuring there wouldn't be an overthrow at 3rd and letting the tying run come in easily. But until the pitcher is on the mound, the game is still live.

After a pitch and getting the ball back from the pitcher, Drex started to walk back to the mound. Before getting there, though, the runner on third tried to be sneaky and ran for home without Drex looking. The stands erupted, yelling for Drex to turn around. Instantly, he turned around, saw the runner almost home, and threw a perfect strike to the catcher, who made a great catch and tag at the plate just before the ruuner's sliding foot hit home plate. 3 outs. The good guys win by 1.

The fans went crazy in celebration, and the team threw gloves and hats in celebration. The victory essentially guaranteed them the #1 seed in the tournament starting next week. They gave the other team a cheer, shook hands, had a quick team meeting, and then were thrilled as always to get their treats, the most important part of the game, really.

On the way home, I heard Drex use the words "lucky" and "miracle", but we're very proud of him and the progress he has made this year. He's solid at the plate batting left and becoming a pretty good fielder. Let's hope they keep it up for the tourney next week! And thanks to Mary for the pic!

Why Ames is AWESOME!!!!!

So, I normally am up and out the door for work before Amy and the kids even get up. No, they're not lazy, I just have to get up earlier to deal with my 30-40 minute carpool commute. So, my breakfast situation is usually not the best. I don't like to get up extra early to make my own breakfast because in my mind eating that early before the sun comes up (or is barely coming up) isn't ideal for me. Ya, I'm probably making excuses. So, I usually skip breakfast or something gets picked up on the way. Both of which are not good or healthy options.

But this morning, something beautiful happened. After i showered and dressed for the day, I stepped into the bedroom to kiss Amy good-bye as she sleeps, but she is nowhere to be found. She must be feeding the baby. I walk down the hall and Atlie's door is shut. No Amy there. And then it hits me...this beautiful scent of cooking food downstairs. Not just any food, but French Toast.

Now we have some great friends, the Krummenachers, who own 2 Krazy Sub sandwich shops here in town. We highly recommend them (both the Krummenachers and Krazy Sub.) One is on Power and Main St, and a new shop across from MCC on Southern and Dobson. Great sandwiches. The Torpedo is my favorite, partly because of the taste and mostly because of the name. Anyways, they sometimes bring us some bags of their day-old bread, that is still great for family use, but not up to the standards of the shop. And no, no one is allowed to start asking for the bread. They are doing a great job bringing it to our house.

Anyways, with all of that as background, Amy this morning had made the most beautiful French Toast with thick cut Krazy Sub bread, drizzled with butter and syrup, and with a tall glass of cold orange juice. The day could not have started out better. I even left a little syrup right on the side of my lip to remind me of the morning that was. And it was lights out! Love you, Ames! Can't wait til tomorrow morning. Hee Hee.

Proud of Braden!!!

If you get the Friend church magazine, check out May 2008, page 19. (The link we had was bad. Sorry. Read story below in comments section.) It’s a way cool story from a little over a year ago that happened with our second son, Braden and Amy. My dad told the story in his Stake Conference last May when they had the General Authority (I think Elder Jensen) with them that is in charge of church magazines. He said it was exactly what they were looking for for stories in the Friend. So we sent it in a year ago and never heard anything, until it came in the mail over the weekend. Pretty cool deal.

We are very proud of Braden. We are also proud of the reaction from his siblings, particularly Drex. He made a bunch of copies of it and was excited to take them to school to show everyone about his little bro. Very cool!

If you look at the illustration in the story, however, Amy is not thrilled that her first representation in a church magazine includes her crying and floral couches. But, you can't have everything you want, I guess. :) Braden did used to have dinosaur pajamas though, so that's fun.

Matt

We finally got her picture taken

Matt has called this my "Initial post to the blog," so I guess I better make it a good one. So I thought the best thing I could do would be to post some pictures of our very sweet Atlie Rae. Finally, at six months, we have documented her existence. Enjoy!

Our First Post

Hello All.

Though Amy is for some reason not 100% on board with my brilliant "hey, let's make our own blog so we can join the rest of humanity" idea, we're doing it anyway. I mean, forget content. Our first order of business was to figure out our Playlist of songs and a few key widgets like the BYU football one. Had I brought it up to Amy, I'm sure she would have strongly encouraged it. Plus, any good blog has to have a counter, so we installed that. And 6 months from now, and you are the 20th person to this blog, please let me know and I will create a special post especially for you.

Thanks You!

Matt