AWANA

I volunteered this year at AWANA which was a great experience. The kids enjoyed having me there and it was a lot of fun being there with them.

Ethan did an amazing job with his memory work this year. He finished his book, review scripture verses and extra credit book by February. Audrey finished her book and review scripture verses by May which was great for her, but Jacob was the one who knocked it out of the park. He finished his book, silver section and gold section. His teachers told me there has only been one other kid who finished all of those sections in one year. It was no small feat for him to complete. As we were getting close to the end he was losing hope, but I was cheered him on and he pressed forward to complete the book. For his final Gold section on his last night he had to say 75 scripture verses for memory. He didn't think he would be able to do it, but he did. He was so proud of himself and so was I.

This is our neighbor from across the street with Jacob.

Baseball Season

Baseball season was a lot of fun this year. We had the kids play for the Mascoutah Khoury League which is a great league for them to play in. The coaches were really good and it's in a small town near our house, so it has the small town feel with the people you meet. 

 Fredbird came out for picture day! He's very funny and had the kids laughing the whole time.

 Audrey wasn't normally dressed in curls for her games. It just so happened that she had her dance dress rehearsal the same day as a game. I think she really enjoyed looking like a princess while playing softball.

Ethan's game improved dramatically this year. He was one of the best players on the team. Right now he is all baseball all the time. He's practically memorized all the stats on his baseball cards and he has quite a few. He definitely knows all the players, who they play for and what position the play. 

Jacob's games were on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Ethan and Audrey would often get bored at the games and find a way to occupy themselves. They found dirt to be the best remedy for boredom and often required baths when we got home.

 They were so proud of their accumulation of dirt. This picture doesn't show it as well as it could, but they are covered from top to bottom. They spent quite a bit of time throwing the dirt up in the air so it could land on top of them.

Below was a typical scene from Audrey. I think her goal was to see how dirty she could get. It was trying on Doug's and my patience to watch, but she was having so much fun it didn't seem right to stop her from this simple enjoyment. And let's face it, it's way better than putting a phone in her face so she could play some games. 

CARDINAL'S KIDS CAMP

Jacob and Ethan went to a Cardinal's Kids Camp and guess who was there...Fredbird! How many kids get to get a picture with him twice in one year.

     

 Jacob worked so hard at baseball this year and it showed. Like Ethan, he improved dramatically from last year. We were very proud of him and loved seeing his determination to do well.

CARDINAL'S NIGHT AT BUSCH STADIUM

The Khoury League has a night at Busch Stadium each year. The kids got to walk around the perimeter of the field with their teams. However, since no one from Ethan's team showed up he walked with Jacob's team. Afterwards we had tickets to see them play the White Sox.

 

                         

Jacob's 8

 Wow! Can you believe he's 8 years old? 

The thing about Jacob is that no matter how old he gets, when he's happy, he giggles, laughs and has huge smile across his face. He loves to enjoy life and that's what I love about him. I hope his excitement never dims, it's been so precious to watch all these years.

For his 8th birthday we did things a little different. We had a family day today. We took the kids to see Cars 2, out to lunch, to the skating rink, and then came home for cake and presents. 

It was a great day!

Boys Golf Outing

Doug took the boys golfing last Sunday. 

Surprisingly, it ended up being cooler than normal that afternoon, which made their time on the course very enjoyable.

Did you notice that they are all wearing Yankee hats?

Next Sunday we are driving up to Chicago to see the Yankees play the White Sox for Jacob's birthday. 

He can't wait...or should I say, we can't wait!!

Blast Summer Camp - June 20th-23rd

The Simmons' were in town visiting for a day that week, so Drew and Shelby got to go to camp with the Edwards' and Jones'!

 Boys (left to right): Luke, Alex, Ethan, Drew, Jacob

Girls (left to right): Shelby and Audrey

This was that last time our kids got spend time with Luke, Drew and Shelby. They are now on their way back to McChord.

On Sunday the 26th, the kids performed during the Sunday service. Ethan got his finger stepped on before the picture was taken, so he didn't feel like smiling.

Signing Alex's cast!

June Soccer Camps

June was a crazy month for soccer camps. Bell Clair Soccer League is an outstanding league ran by Dave Fernandez and he held three soccer camps in the evenings broken up by age groups. So, Audrey was in the first camp, Ethan was in the second camp and Jacob was in the third camp. It was a huge commitment on our part to spend every evening, three week in a row at their soccer camps, but we felt it was worth it and the kids had a great time!