Baseball

Our last baseball game of the season was last night.  I am not lying when I say that I am totally bummed that the season is over.  I will miss watching those games and running kids to practice.  I love watching Shawn and Bryson play catch in the back yard.  He's getting to be a pretty good little pitcher.  I love throwing the ball to Cutler at the other kids games.  He hits it almost every time, then he runs so fast around the imaginary bases.  Sometimes I get him out, and sometimes he outruns me and makes a homerun!  Jenika is super fun too, even though baseball is probably not her best talent.  She looks very very cute up to bat.  Sierra doesn't really play baseball (like her mother).  I kind of feel bad about that.  It's probably my fault, cause I kindof talked her out of playing....I didn't think that I could do FOUR kids in different baseball leagues!  Plus, she really does play baseball like her mother.  Poor girl.....

So, here's the run down:

Cutler had a great season...he can hit the ball, catch the ball, and throw the ball.  Highlights of the season include him hitting the ball and running strait to the pitcher's mound; and the dog-piles in the outfield because the kids were fighting over who got to catch the ball.  Seriously....seven or eight four year olds piled on top of one another, and when the coaches would peel the kids off one at a time, the one on the bottom would triumphantly hold up the ball - every time.  HILARIOUS!

Jenika learned a lot about baseball this year!  She found a really cute stance for the out field, and learned how to fix her hair in a pony tail - just right to fit through the little hole in her hat.  :)  Jenika finally hit the ball this year.  Actually, she hit the  ball a lot of times, but her best hits were when I wasn't at the game!  (With so many baseball games to watch, we had to split forces a lot)  She had fun, but I secretly think that the thing she will miss the most are the treats at the end of the game AND going to games and practice with her best baseball buddy.

Bryson's games were so very entertaining to watch.  Between the very hot tempered coach and the huge amount of improvement he made, I looked forward to those games - especially when the weather was warm.

 The highlights of his season include....Bryson finally figured out how to get a good hit off of a pitcher; the coach got kicked out of one game for yelling at the ump; and Bryson got to pitch during the last game!  He did a great job too.  He only walked one or two players the whole time!  He has really practiced hard this year and has improved a great deal.

So, I am a little sad to see the season end, but we have all kinds of things to fill our extra time up with, and now that the summer has actually arrived in Idaho, we will definitely find things to fill it up with!

Lead Kindly Light

"Lead Kindly Light, amid the' encircling gloom.  Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home.  Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see;
The distant scene - one step enough for me.

"I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path, but now, Lead thou me on;
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears;
Pride ruled my will, Remember not past years.

"So long that pow'r hath blest me, sure it still Will lead me on;
O're moor and fen, or crag and torrent, till the night is gone
And with the morn, those Angles faces smile,
Which I have loved long since and lost a while."

It's amazing how the past few years have prepared our family for what the Lord has had in store for us all along.  I had no idea when I was prompted (strongly) to go back to school five years ago that I would need that degree right now.  We had no idea when we felt so strongly that we should move to this area three years ago that Shawn would be starting his own business and attending BYU-I for the program that they just started offering.  We also had no idea that when Shawn lost his job a few months ago that it would open up so many opportunities for us.  He is opening up his own medical equipment business from our home and preparing to go to school starting in the fall.

Honestly, who would have thought (we certainly didn't) that Shawn loosing his job would be such  turning point.  He would have never had the courage or the motivation to go ahead and jump into school without the desperate need for security that we felt when he lost that job.

This is definitely not a victory speech; nor am I preaching to anybody to follow in our footsteps, because we know just as well as anybody that our plans could change quickly and without warning.  I also have a feeling that our trials in this matter are just beginning.  But, I am feeling tremendously blessed and humbled, and maybe a little validated that maybe, just maybe this as a mini testimony that we are moving in the right direction and that the Lord is looking out for our needs and for our greater good.  Also, that I truly know only a small portion of the Lord's plan for us, and that our purposes for being on this earth are not only to be tried and tested, but to help others of our Heavenly Father's children out along the way.

3Nephi 13

"28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the ^alilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin;
33But ^aseek ye first the ^bkingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Confession

I have a confession to make.  I have been writing all kinds of blog posts.......but have not been publishing them.

The reasons:  Some of these things are near and dear to my heart, and I don't know if I am ready to share them.  Some of the posts didn't ever get finished.  Some of them needed a photo.

Nevertheless, I have had a change of heart.  I will publish the posts (at least most of them), finished or not, pictures or none.  I can always add them later, right?