My girl is a ball player!!

 

Tonight was a great night at the ball park! I haven't been this excited for Ashley...EVER! Here we are in the beginning of tournament play in the West Valley Classic. We played a couple other games earlier tonight, pool play they call it. We won our first and lost the second, Ashley played her heart out! I don't know where this girl has come from. I have been impressed at how well she has done and how much she has learned this year, especially with her coaches on the Allstar team. Tonight, though, she was a different person than even 3 weeks ago. She BROUGHT IT TONIGHT!! She was aggressive and was hustling all over the place. She caught a fly ball and got a couple hits, which is huge anyway, because 2 weeks ago, she wasn't even swinging her bat. Two weeks ago, she was striking out without even swinging the bat and it was really frustrating! Last week, she finally started swinging and got a few hits (we had to bribe her with money, because threatening with grounding wasn't working, she got $15 out of the deal!;D) I couldn't bribe with money for this weeks game because, I could tell she may have found her mojo. I was right!! I just have to brag, because the girl hit a freakin' awesome, honest double, right over right field's head which drove in TWO runs. I wish I had it on film so I could watch it over and over. Ashley's coach who was on 1st base came over and was laughing at me, because I guess I was going a little crazy, on my feet, jumping around, screaming like a crazy woman. It was just priceless to see the smile on Ashley's face that I still don't think has left it. It was a MOMENT! You know, the kind of moment that makes you realize that there is nothing more rewarding than to be a parent, to see your child realize that they can do ANYTHING!!

Girls Afternoon Out

 

I had a fantastic afternoon out on Monday. I had the chance to go see Hello Dolly with Karel, Brenda, Grandma Beazer, Becky, Amy, and Grandma Yvonne at the Hale Center Theater in West Valley. (We missed not having Debbie with us, she is in Bear Lake for the week.) Besides the fact, we needed ski parkas and mittens to stay warm (which we failed to have on hand), it was a very entertaining show and the cast was great. I have always enjoyed going and seeing shows there (Brandice and Mike introduced us to Hale), but it has been quite a long time since we have been back. It made me realize just how much I enjoy live shows like that and how much I've missed it. I hinted to Jeff that season tickets would be a good Christmas present :).
Afterwards, we went to Applebee's for a bite to eat and we had a riot. It was so fun to just get out and spend some girls time together. Sorry, Brenda for teasing you, but you just make it so easy for us to do!! I loved it! I just hope that it doesn't take us so long to do a girls day away again. Love you all!

 

My Own Little Bobble Head

 
 

I just had to share these. CJ is so entertaining at times. Of course, with spending so much time at the track and around motorcycles, he has grown quite fond of them. The other day, he got ahold of Jeff's helmet and wanted to put it on. Not only did he want to wear it, but he had to sit on the motorcyle and make the noises along with it. He sat up there a good ten minutes and was not happy when we decided we were done holding him on the bike. He threw a bit of a fit, but got over it, thank goodness.

An Afternoon at the Lake

We finally had a chance to take the boat out and use it for the first time this summer. Jeff and I decided to take the kids out for an afternoon on Willard Bay. Megan brought her friend Michelle, (who seems to Meg's other half, second pea in the pod, etc. :)) and we all had a great time. We were there only about three hours, but the kids definitely wore their selves out with the swimming and tubing. The lake was a perfect temperature and it seemed like we were the only ones out there. It was soo nice to be able to do and think of something other than motocross for awhile.

Going for a little ride!


Parker having a good time! Belly flops and front flips, it was definitely entertaining!


Tubing time! They probably did this for a good two hours!!


Ash and me

Jeff and Parks

CJ was a bit nervous at first about being on the boat, but really started having a good time. We was our flagger, not out of choice, but he wouldn't give the flag to anyone else. Oh well, whatever it takes to make the kid happy!

The Tradition Continues...

July 3rd in Talon Court has become a major affair, thanks to the master planning of Jami Jerman. Our neighbors here on Talon Court (and surrounding areas) have enjoyed for the last 4 years an Independence Celebration like no other. Our family missed it last year, but were thrilled to be a part of it again this year. Jami is an amazing party planner and it was fun to share in all chaos.

We were all a little tired from our long trip back, Jeff and I took the red eye back from Maui on Wednesday night, flew into Vegas on thursday morning, caught a shuttle to St. George (about 2 hrs), then picked up the car and kids from my sister, Kim (who is a saint for taking them all for 9 days, you're the best!!), and continued home in the car for another 5 1/2 hours or so. (I know, poor us! A week in Maui, wah, wah!) Anyway, to say the least we were thrilled to be home and I'm not in any hurry to get back in the car for an extended period of time anytime soon.

Oh, got off subject a bit...sorry. Anyway, Jami had everything organized and planned with the help of Melissa, Emily, Coke, Trish, and Julie. They had the pony, bounce houses, the popcorn, cotton candy, snow cones, watermelons and even games for the kids to play and win prizes.

CJ found the water game and decided to go for a dip. It actually worked for me because it kept him entertained for quite sometime.

Daddy's Girl!!

What could be better than a snowcone??

CJ LOVED the pony, we had a hard time getting him off and the pony had had enough!

What a smile!

This was the 2nd annual Dad's watermelon eating contest, totally hiliarious!!

It took some begging and pleading from the kids before Jeff would take part. He tried, but wasn't even close to the winners!

This was classic! There were some extra slices of watermelons that were left from the contest that some of the kids started eating into. I turned my back on CJ for just a few minutes and then found CJ eating into a watermelon. I don't know where he got it, but went over to the chair and handed me the watermelon while he climbed in the chair. I gave him back the watermelon and then let him go at it. He was in heaven!! He would have probably eaten the whole thing, but some fireworks were lit in the circle and it completely freaked him out. So, I took him in and put him down for the night.

The Eaglewood Golf Course puts on an amazing firework show that we can see from our neighbors backyard, so we went over and set up camp there to see the show. The fireworks display from the Golf Course was just the icing on the cake. It was beautiful! Thanks all for such a fun night!!

And the Sun sets!!

 
 
 

The time has quickly come for me to say goodbye to the beautiful island of Maui. The trip has seemed to come an end way too fast. I have had such a fantastic time. We have adventured alot, laughed alot, we ate alot, and just all around had a fantastic time. Joel and Julie, thank you so much for inviting us on your vacation, it was awesome, all 100% of it! (haha)

Sunday we went up to Mount Haleakala to see the sunset. It was an experience that I won't forget and words can not describe the beauty I witnessed that evening. Here are some perfect pictures that describe the end to such a great week. I promise these are real pictures, not us just standing in front of a screen pretending that we were standing in the clouds!