Goodbye!

On the 4th of July, we had a dear friend of the family pass away. Our friend Kathren, whom we called Katie, passed away in her sleep, just as everyone would like to go. The thing is, she lived to be 104! I can't even imagine living to be that old. She lived a rich full life, although the last couple of years have been harder for her as her mobility diminished.

I was lucky enough to know her, and for her to love me. I met her when she was 94. Our first outing together was not very pleasant. I was having a rough time, and I was immature and didn't know how to deal with things in an adult way, so I was sure I had ruined any chance for Katie having a high opinion of me. Somehow I was wrong. I thought she had forgotten the incident, as I had tried to do, but she has reminded me quite a few times of our first meeting! She never forgot! Yet she looked past that first impression and got to know me and loved me for who I was.

My father in law took Katie for years to the hair dresser on Saturday mornings. After her appointment she would take him out to lunch. Sometimes my father in law would invite us to come along, and we would enjoy a wonderful lunch with Katie at her favorite restaurant. This restaurant went out of business, and a few others were tried, but it just wasn't the same. So she and my father in law started going to McDonald's! They always went through the drive through, which made it easy, but can you imagine a 100 year old lady going to McDonalds? Many times when my father in law was out of town I would take her to her hair appointment. I felt so honored to be helping someone out. We would park underneath a tree and eat our lunch and just freely talk. Even though Katie had trouble hearing and seeing, there were some days when I felt like she heard my every word.

She loved Bailey. She always loved to see him. I have a picture of him with her when he was 2 in his halloween costume. Mackenzie got her middle name from her. Katie never had children, but I wanted her legacy to live on somehow. She wasn't a perfect lady, she made mistakes and many times didn't mince words, but she was a good person and a good friend. We said goodbye to her today, but I know I will see her again.

Princess Mackenzie

Let's Go Cubs!!

So the spring baseball season is over! What seemed like a million rainouts and chilly weather in the beginning ended up being crazy hot in the end. The team ended up 5-7, which was about middle of the pack in their division. I think it is funny how little league has divisions. Bailey had so much fun playing. He is a baseball junkie. He is constantly playing, watching, or talking about baseball. He probably gets it from me.

Jared was head coach again this year. He only had two returning kids from the previous year, but the new bunch of kids were great! So many nice kids and great parent support. Jared fell in love with each kid, and would send personalized emails after almost every game to the kids mentioning what they did good in the game.

Here are some pictures from the final game of the season. But in August, fall ball will start up and we will be doing this all again!


I love how this picture turned out!

Bailey playing 2nd base. He played a lot of shortstop this year, but I think he is better at 2nd.

Bailey reaching first after a hit and being coached by Coach Scott. He's been great to Bailey!

Leading off, ready to run!

Team picture after winning the final game! (Bailey is the one hugging his teammate, if you couldn't pick him out. Actually there were a couple kids that I had trouble telling who was who with Bailey. Bad mom, I know)

Because you have been patiently waiting

Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment. I sort of got out of the habit of taking pictures, so a couple of these are so last month.



My cute little niece Lotus. She is getting so big!

Mackenzie modeling her underwear. She was doing pretty well potty training, but had an accident Friday night at Bailey's baseball game that has made me nervous. Tomorrow we will get back on it!

Her hair was so cute that night. I just wish she would wear a headband more often. Or at least leave it on like she did that night.

A picture I took with the automatic timer and a tripod. It would have worked better if there wasn't so much other stuff for the camera to focus on instead of us.

A River Runs Through It

Gotta love all of the rain that has been going on lately. I thought I wasn't going to have a back yard for awhile, but now it is back to normal. I am also very glad that we have never had any flooding problems in our house (knock on wood).

More pictures (this time of the kids) coming soon!

Slightly Disturbing

Mackenzie and I went to the grocery store today. As we walked to the doors to enter the store, we had a small "welcoming" committee. A mouse greeted us, ran over to the outside wall, and climbed up the front of the store.

And yes, we continued to walk into the store and shop. Now if we had found that same mouse just 3 feet over inside the store, it might have been a different story.

School's Out!

I find it so amazing that the older I get, the faster time goes by. When I was a kid the school year would drag on and on. Now that I have my own kids and observe other people's kids I can't believe how time flies. Maybe I am having more fun now.

Today was Bailey's last day of 2nd grade. Wow, how did that happen? Wasn't it just August and he was happy his best friend was in his class? Bailey agrees that the time has gone by quickly. We hope that he has advanced to the 3rd grade, but we haven't seen the paper that proves it. Report cards were supposed to come home yesterday, but Bailey's class didn't get theirs because of a "broken printer". Bailey tells a different story that the teacher (who has been subbing the last month since his real teacher had a baby) forgot to finish the grading. I don't think they will be offering her a full time position next year!

If I was a good mom, I would have taken a picture of him on his last day of school. I guess if I was a good mom I would have also been home when he got off the bus. In my defense, I was just a couple blocks away and it was a half day and I had gotten confused when school would be out (when I was a kid and we had a half day it just made the school day 2 hours shorter, not half as short). So he wasn't totally neglected.

In other news, the poor Neon is having AC problems. Not a good problem to have in the beginning of summer. Because the part to fix the AC is something like $700, Jared will have to sweat for a little bit. Sweating helps you lose weight, right? The Neon can't help it, it is 15 years old, but it needs to hold on for 17 more months. Please. I don't usually pray for inanimate objects, but I have prayed for that car. If the Spirit moves you, you could also pray for the Neon in its old age.