ALTAMONT VS EDNA

Ok, I have to admit, that I can't wait until next year when I don't have to sit between the two fields and watch two games at one time.

Tonight the boys did great. They both hit the ball. Carl's first hit was out to the fence and he made it around to third base. His second hit he made it to second, and his third hit he made it to first. I have to admit that it is not fun watching pitching machine games. It is very slow, and most of the kids don't even hit the ball. I think that Carl's team won. I will have to ask him.

James hit the ball tonight. His first hit was to the second baseman who caught it. His second hit was down the first base line and he was out. He played first base the whole game. They won the game 9-5.

Both boys are coming along in their hitting. I think now that James had some work in practice and we talked about it at home, he is figuring out to put more weight on the back foot and pivot the hips around. He has such a wonderful coach that wants the boys to do well. Next games are on Tuesday.

JAMES' PLAY

James' class was putting on a play. When we discovered that it was going to be performed while we were in Utah he was not happy. He had to audition for his part. He played the jester. I think that his teacher arranged for their class to do the play in front of the whole school so that he could be in it. Because they did it again just the third grade on a Tuesday afternoon. I appreciate his teacher doing this for him, if indeed she did it for him.

It was a cute play about the king and queen trying to get a prince for the princess. She doesn't know but eventually finds out. And all she wants to do is marry the jester.

Here is James talking to the king and queen.

The princess and the jester sitting talking.

The princess telling the king and queen that she wants to marry the jester.

The lineup at the end of the play.

ADALYN AND THE CHICKS

Our little chick with the broken leg didn't make it. Now I wish that we would have gotten four healthy ones from school. I didn't realize that each child was going to claim a chick. Carl was sad that he had to kill his chick, but he plays with the rest of them. The boys are doing a great job at making sure that they are fed and watered. Today we went and got a real food dish and water dish for them.
This chick in the picture below is the one that James picked from school. Each class member picked a chick when they went were able to hold them. They all called him Knothead because of the hair on his head makes him look like he has a knot on his head.
This is their first time out in the grass. They enjoyed being out there and able to peck at the ground.

Adalyn discovered the chicks and had a lot of fun trying to get them. These are just a few of the pictures that I took. Haylea and I enjoyed watching her in this great adventure. We had to rescue a chick once or twice from her.

I can see that the chickens will be a great adventure for our family. I am glad that we started out with only three. I think I will be able to handle them better then the 25 that you have to get when you mail order them. If these live we will do a mail order next time.

BASEBALL

One think I love about summer is baseball. Our family really enjoys the boys baseball games. James missed the first two games with us being in Utah. They made up the first game tonight. It was a great game. James played first base. The sixth inning he got to pitch. He is a great little pitcher. He struck out all three batters. He had a few crazy balls but he did good for not practicing very much. We have been so busy that he didn't get out in the yard and practice much. He sure does love pitching. He has a great coach that I hope will work with him. They won 19-2 I think was the final score. He had a great hit also. The next game is on Tuesday. Both boys play on the same night at the same time.

SCHOOLS OUT

The boys finished the school year on Thursday. They had such a great year. They both excelled in all that they did. It has been a long few weeks with field trips, plays and end of the year activities. I am glad that it is over. Haylea is excited to start kindergarten next year. She keeps on asking when she gets to go to school. Isaiah was excepted into preschool for next year. Wow I will have a few hours to myself with just one child home. I don't think that I will know what to do. I will really enjoy the summer with them.

UTAH

Last week our family took Devin to the MTC. What a great experience it was. He was set apart as a misisonary on Saturday night. We left Sunday after church. It was nice that my mom and step dad went. Two children rode with them out there. We arrived late on Monday night. On Tuesday we went to Temple square. The first sister we ran into was from Hawaii. She was excited for him. It was an amazing day. We drove down to Provo that night and got a room. We went to the MTC at 11:30. What a great experience it was. I hope that the boys remember the feeling there and are excited when they get to go. After we said our goodbyes, it was study time for James before taking his final. We found a park and the kids played and took pictures while James studied. After his test we went to Sister Becks families house. They made dinner for us and allowed us to stay at their house for two night. Stephanie took us to the Black rock. It is a big rock that they used to have dances on along time ago, but it isn't so big now. The kids and James skipped rocks into the Salt Lake. That night James and I went to the Salt Lake Temple, and enjoyed a wonderful night. We left on Friday morning and headed to Santa Fe to spend some time with Tony. We drove through some beautiful country. I wish that we had time to go see the arches. Someday we will get there. We spent Saturday and Sunday morning with Tony. It was great to relax. We headed home Sunday. It was a great trip. I think that Adalyn was glad to be home. She didn't sleep very well in the car. On the days that we were stopped she had some good naps. All the children were troopers. It was a great vacation. Thanks to all those who let us stay at their houses.

DEVIN GOES TO THE TEMPLE

Last week was a busy week for us. It seems as though you plan to go to the temple everything goes wrong. Well that is what happened. Our babysitter went to Mexico and couldn't be around children or pregnant people for 48 hours, so we had to find someone else to do it. Little James was sad that he wasn't able to go, so I told him that I would take him to the six temples in the Salt Lake Valley when we went. And I take the car in to get something simple fixed on it and six hours later Claud the mechanic is telling me that he would drive the car to St. Louis, bu maybe not to Utah.

On Friday we drop off the younger children at a friends house and off we go to St. Louis. After going into the convenient store it starts pouring down rain. It didn't stop for awhile down the road. We decided to go through Kansas City and over to St. Louis. This was not a bad trip. Of course we stopped at Cabelas and look around. We arrived at the hotel and decided that we needed to get new pillows. So we ran to Wal-Mart and got pillows. I slept good until James woke me up at 3:00 a.m. freaking out about not knowing where his wallet was. He did find it.

On Saturday we ate breakfast, got dressed and headed to the temple. Everything that happened during the past was worth it for the time that we spent in the temple. I was able to do some sealings before our session. What a great start to the day. It was nice to see the people that came to be with Devin on his special day. Mom and Darald, Sam and Nathan, the Vances, the Wheats, the Cooks, the Westwoods, and James and I. It seemed as though he was on cloud nine. It was such a wonderful day, and I am grateful for the work that I was able to do this day.

When we were done we went out and took pictures. James took the picture of the temple at the top. After dinner at a fun oriental restaurant where we had all kinds of food, we headed home. Thanks to all the people that helped with the children. It is grately appreciated so we could enjoy a wonderful weekend with Devin.