2010 Baseball Season in Pictures

Happy Birthday Super Boy

This kid can bring a smile to my face, no matter my mood. We're glad that he is in our home. We're happy that we could celebrate his 3rd birthday with him.

Hands on the hips is one of his trademarks.

This picture warms my heart. He is rarely found without his glove, ball or bat - including while he is sleeping. Most kids have a blanket or stuffed animal. . .

Silver Lake

A view from our campsite.
We started hiking Thursday evening. The trail to the lake was 2.3 miles and climbed 1,000 vertical feet. Brock said his least favorite part of the trip was hiking. It took us 2 1/2 hours to hike up and 1 1/4 hour to hike down.

On the approach to the lake and our camp.
Brock's favorite part of the trip was carving spears out of tree limbs with his Swiss Army knife. This activity kept him busy from morning until evening. I had to beg him to fish.
One of our many catches - this is an Arctic Grayling (Salmon Family), its dorsal fin expands to become very tall. I wish I would have pulled it out for this picture. We also caught Brook Trout.
By the fire, night two. It was a chore keeping the boys out of the fire. No major injuries to speak of.
Armed with his torch.
Leaving camp for the hike back to the truck, morning of day 3.

You're a Grand Old Flag

Biesbol

Our only real aspirations are that these kids gain confidence in who they are and their abilities. And it sure is enjoyable to watch them in that process. But Brock is one heck of a ball player. I've never had so much fun as a spectator in my life. College football has never been so boring, watching three hours of 8 year old baseball every Saturday puts it to shame!

Good Timber

Good Timber

by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

We're thankful for our parents - you have had to toil, you have had to win your share. Charmayne and I were talking tonight about how important you (our parents) have been in our lives and how important you are to our children. You were larger than life to us and you still are. You are larger than life to our children. You are manly men and womanly women. You are our patriarchs, you are good timber.

Athletes

I had always believed our kids would be good athletes, even before they were born. I know that expectations like that aren't always realized. In this case, it has proven to be true. After watching Paige run and swim this summer, there is no doubt she's an athlete. Braden always has a ball in his hand and wants to be in every game that is played - here he is playing catcher for the cousins baseball game in Idaho.
On Saturday Brock was 2 for 2 at the plate, hitting an inside the park home run and double. He had 3 RBI's and struck out one batter in an inning of work as a pitcher. There was no doubt that he is one of the best on the field, a realization which made me very proud.
Sidney had her first soccer game on Saturday. She scored 1 goal - taking the ball coast-to-coast fighting off two boys who were trying to take the ball from her. She was able to score the goal kicking the ball between the two boys and was visibly excited to score!

One thing is for sure, the younger kids have a decided advantage when it comes to playing sports. They have been able to watch their older siblings compete and know what to do when playing. Braden is patiently waiting his turn for formal competition.

First Place at the Fun Run

Paige entered a fun run (400m) recently. As you can see she didn't have an equal. The boy in the blue shirt was with her until the last turn, then she hit another gear. All the boys were pretty disappointed that a girl was that much better, including her brother!

Going for Gold at the Utah Summer Games

Brock got into the action. His 4x400 team won Gold!
















Paige and one of her gold medals on the podium.





















Paige finishing strong during the 200 meter.












Soft landing during the long jump.











My favorite picture of the weekend. Paige taking flight.

We're Back

8 months have passed since our last post, sorry for the delay. We'll get you all caught up in short order. We have a ton of pictures and experiences to share. Stay tuned.

Charmayne and I passed the 12 year mark this past June. I still think I caught the best girl I possibly could have. I feel sorry for anyone that is not married to Charmayne.