Evolution of a Bruise....

Taylor has found that when playing baseball, the pitchers only hurt the ones they love....

Tuesday -  An experienced pitcher - fast and accurate.  Ball 1, strike 1, and take your base.... The father of the pitcher screams out "Why do you keep hitting her?"  The only reassuring thing is that it looks like the Eiffel Tower, and we are getting a lot of miles out of it.  A short sleeved shirt is a must.

Wednesday - The arm is sore, the pitcher is devastated. He won't talk to Taylor but he continually inquires through others about her well being.  Torey is very reassuring, insisting Taylor is fine.  Taylor is nervous about batting against him again.  This is not the first time he has hit her.  A bargain is struck, a deal is made, five dollars is on the line.

Thursday - Rematch.  Ball 1, Ball 2, hit by a pitch.  {{Again!}} Same pitcher, same arm, same spot.  Take your base.  The pitcher is devastated, though extremely accurate.  Taylor is forgiving, and all he can say is "All I could think is don't hit her, don't hit her, and I hit you!  I am so sorry."  More bruising, more attention, and some minor pain.
One week later....  The body is healing, the spirit is unbroken, and the drive is unstoppable.
Dear Taylor, 

I know that it is hard to get out of the way when the balls are coming so fast, but do you think perhaps you could try harder?  Grandma Joan can't take it.  She screamed like a girl and wanted to rush the mound.  It was all I could do to stop her.  The cheering from your older, former teammates drowned out the bad names that Grandma was calling the poor guy.  I was so proud that you didn't cry, either time, except for some watery eyes the second time, while running to first, but who can blame you?  I am sure it hurt like the dickens.  I am super impressed that you repeatedly got up to bat, and didn't back out of the box.  You are one tough cookie.

Love, Mom

P.S.  I am kind of sorry I laughed the second time you got hit.  I just couldn't believe the irony.  You have to admit that the chances were so slim that it would happen twice, thus the reason I had to pay you five bucks.  

Spring Break Review '09

This year, instead of taking a fantastic Disneyland Vacation, we decided to have a "Staycation" with the kids.  The first day of Spring Break we took the kids, along with the Mag family, to the big city - Salt Lake City, to be exact.  We walked around The Gateway for a few hours and then went to Temple Square.  We enjoyed the beautiful temple grounds, and then watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" at the Joseph Smith memorial building.

That night we cheered for the home team as we enjoyed a Salt Lake Bees game.  For optimum viewing, please tilt your head sideways.  I obviously have no idea what I am doing.
The next day we took the kids bowling at Jack and Jill bowling.  As it turns out, I am not a great bowler.  I am not even a good bowler.  I will say that I am the only bowler that left with some dignity, because I was the only one who did not use bumper pads.  Reed, you know who I am talking about.
On Wednesday, our family spit in the eye of Mother Nature and decided to go swimming.  While we were enjoying ourselves Mother Nature spit back.  As we were leaving we discovered 3 inches of the wettest snow you have ever seen.  The next morning we woke up to 10 inches.  I was too sad to take a picture.  At least I didn't cry about it.  Jake, you know who I am talking about.
On Friday and Saturday our bodies and our pocketbook were exhausted, so we decided to have a movie marathon.  The kids discovered the "Man From Snowy River" movies and we enjoyed them together.  We were also lucky enough to have our cousin, McKell, over for a while.  All in all we had  a great time.  And that, my friends is what we did.  What did you do?

Happy Easter....

Happy Easter from all of us.  For a beautiful talk about the Savior go here.

Grandpa Kerry Rocks...

or rather he makes arrowheads.  He has recently discovered a hitherto unknown talent to "bop" beautiful rocks until they conform to the standards of ancient Native American weaponry.  This talent recently became extremely useful when Torey announced she had a "Mountain Man Rendezvous" and needed something to trade at the trading post.

After some hugs, kisses, and sweet talk, Torey managed to convince Grandpa that he was the man she needed.  He graciously made her these arrowheads to take to the school trading post.  He also issued a directive that if she was going to trade them, she should not take just one smartie candy, but a whole bag.  He knows Torey well.  There is no price too steep for candy.
Grandpa also made this knife for Reed, and a similar one for Jake.  He also made Jake an arrow for his birthday.  We have loved to see what he can do, and the different materials he uses to make them.  He recently bought some glass from a marble (toy marble) factory, and they have made some really cool arrowheads, like the striped one above.  Thanks Grandpa for helping us out.  We love you!

Bring Me My Goose....

For the past few months Jake and his first grade class have been practicing for their play, "Jack and the Beanstalk."  I have repeatedly asked him if he had any lines to practice and he would tell me that his only line was "Bring me my goose."  (He was a servant in the morning play, but in the afternoon play he was the Giant.  The irony is not lost on us.  We are well aware he is one of the smallest in the class.)  Anyway, I heard him singing some songs to himself throughout the past few months and I just figured that they were songs they were learning in class.   Today, Reed and I arrived at the school to watch Jake perform his labor of love.  You can imagine our delight when what we thought was a small speaking part turned into a singing part as well.  Apparently it was all a part of the "surprise" they were planning for us.  Jake spoke a small part, but sang a GIANT part.  He, along with the rest of his class, did a fantastic job, especially considering they are only 6 and 7 years old.   Jake was so incredible that the audience was blinded from overexposure to pure awesomeness.   Please enjoy the following clips with us...

Jack and the Beanstalk...

Here is Jake as the Giant when he first discovers something smelly has invaded his castle.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  Thanks to Torey who was the videographer for this grand event.  I didn't even know that option was available.  It takes a tech savvy kid to discover the joy of my camera!

Jake Continued....

Jake, as the Giant, discovering that his goose is gone....  

Coupons...

Spent:  $11.86

Saved:  $49.00

Thanks Jammie for all the help.  We sure do love you!

Nova Graduation....

Taylor graduated from Nova and won a Constitution Award.  Congratulations.

April...

March came in like a lion, and left like a lion as well.  April 1st brought snow and cold.  It kind of blows a hole in Al Gore's global warming theory.  Poor guy's DVD sales will probably plummet.  No matter.  We planted some raspberries and peas today.  We are holding out hope that they will blossom into some wonderful food for our little family.  At this point all we can do is hope, and weed, and pray.  Baseball practice is well underway, and we are hoping that the weather will warm up so we can enjoy the season, instead of just enduring it.  The snow does make the mountains look beautiful though.  We hope that it will offer us plenty of water for the summer.  There is a lot of hoping in this paragraph, but isn't that what April is all about?  The hope of something new...