Baseball Tryouts.

I do so love it when I get to an event

and I lug my camera around for hours

in 104* heat and then go to take a picture

and I do not have a card in the camera.

Nice.  That was the scenario today.

However, I did capture a couple

of pics with my phone.  

Luke had baseball tryouts in the

miserable heat of the day!  He made

the team!!! Yeah!!!!!

Here are a couple of pics that I 

took with my phone!  I could not 

zoom in nor could I get very close . . . 

This was mostly my view of the

tryouts . . . Thank the good Lord that

Jeffy went with me to tryouts!!!  We

had fun talking and laughing while

the boys were working so hard out

there!!!

A big congrats to my Luke.  He will

play American Legion ball this summer

and try out for Desert Oasis High School

baseball when school starts in the fall.

High School . . . I think I blinked!!!

Whitewater Rafting.

Not the best pic . . . It took this pic

with my phone off of Luke's computer.

This picture is not worth a thousand

words, but the expression on Luke's

face when he got out of his 

Scoutmaster's truck was!!  He had a

wonderful time with his troop 

camping and whitewater rafting on the

Kern River in Cali on a beautimous

day!!  I am so, so, so thrilled for him!!

He is my outdoorsman!!  This is just

what my sweet Luke needed!!  I am

thrilled that he had such a wonderful

time!!!!  Now to get my guy into a

shower and the haystack!!!!

Whitewater Rafting.

Luke is going on an exciting whitewater rafting

trip with his Scout troop this weekend.  Today

was a flurry of activity as we packed his

backpack and gathered all of the necessary

items that he will need to have a fun time

on the Kern River in California.

Unfortunately, Luke is comparing this trip

to his birthday river rafting trip where I 

took Zach, Sam, and Luke down the 

Truckee River when it was running after

a season of the most rain in like 100

years.  It was a disaster!  Seriously, we

are lucky to be alive.  The waves 

crashed around us, submerged our

raft multiple times, rocks hit us,

trees scratched our faces . . . We 

were seriously out of control,

unprepared, and totally unsure of 

what to do on the Truckee River.

Hence, my Luke is a wee bit nervous

about this experience with the Scouts

as he is comparing it to our horrendous

near-death experience down the Truckee

on his birthday . . . 

Can't wait until he returns on Saturday

to see how much he loved it!!!!

Baseball Time.

Out of our four boys, Luke is our bestest

athlete.  Give him a ball, racket, bat, or

club, he is a natural.  The Mom part of me

cannot believe that my youngest boy is

starting high school next year.  Did I blink

or something?!?  Luke is going to try out

for Desert Oasis baseball team.  He will

have an extremely busy summer ahead 

of him.  That means he would play American

Legion ball this summer . . . a game almost

every single day with practice every single

day!!!

While it is beyond our imaginations

to believe that our Dad is not here

to coach our Luke, we are so incredibly

thankful for our Uncle Jeff.  He has taken

Luke under his wing and is going to work

with him every.single.day until tryouts.

Once again, we continue to be amazed

and incredibly thankful for our wonderful

family and friends who have stepped up

to the plate in so very many ways.  We

seriously do.not know what in the world

we would do without them.  While I still

struggle to even accept the reality of it

all, there are those who have and have 

been such a blessing to our family in 

more ways than anyone could ever

imagine.

I struggle with the fact that my boys

earthly father is in Heaven.  It is beyond

my comprehension that our wonderful

Dad will not be here for Luke's baseball

games, has not here for Sam's golf

tournaments this season, is not here to

root Tim on with his guitar playing and

career choices, is not here to see how Zach

has managed to work and go to school

this semester.  Has not seen Luke's 

incredibly darling little friend Faith or

meet her amazing family.  I do not like

the fact that Mike has not been here to

talk about my dissertation or the fact

that tomorrow is my last principal interview

or the fact that I am working on Chapters

4 and 5 . . . 

Pretty crazy to even begin to comprehend it

all . . . Thankfully, I do not need to worry

about carrying that burden all alone!!

My Luke.

Unequivocally, my Luke is THE bestest

thirteen year old on this planet.  I love him

like crazy.  He melts my heart.  He is an

amazing human being.  He is sensitive,

kind, loving, Christlike, and loves all others

above himself.  Plain and simple, without

Luke, I would be toast.  I lean on him

when he should be leaning on me.  He

takes such good care of me.  He is so

concerned about my well-being and puts

that above his own.  I worry so about my

youngest, losing his precious Dad at the

tender age of thirteen.  How could that 

possibly be.  Seriously, I know that I have

said it a million times before and I will

probably say it a million times again, I

simply.cannot.believe.it.  Truthfully, I do

not know when your heart and your mind

accept such a devastating loss.  Is it a

year from now, five years from now . . .

As we begin to emerge from our protective

cocoons and venture out into the big world

out there, it is only with the help of those

like my Luke who are so gentle, kind, and

thoughtful.  I am so thankful that he has a

plethora of good friends . . . yet, he is the

nicest and bestest friend to them.

My Luke is pretty darn amazing!  There is

not a moment that goes by that I forget

to thank my Heavenly Father for this sweet,

wonderful, talented young boy.

The Wiz of Oz.

 Sam's sweet friend Faith performed

in the play "The Wizard of Oz" with

Calvary Chapel Christian School.

Luke and I had so much fun attending

this play together.  I just love

mother and son nights . . . I get

to have them EVERY night!!  How

lucky am I?!?

The play was wonderful!!  Luke and I

loved the cowardly lion the mostest!!

He was so funny and made the play

awesome!!!  Wonderful, wonderful day

of fun!!!!

Luke's New Bike.

This is Luke's new bike helmet to go with

his new bike!!  Luke's bike IS MOST
DEFINITELY the best investment our

family has made . . . He loves being 

outdoors and has so many friends and

things to do within riding distance.  Giving

him these wheels was the bestest idea

EVER!!!!  I am so thrilled that he is having

so much fun!  I love that he is outside and

getting exercise also!!!

Great buy!!!

Calico Basin.

My Mountain Man.

 Sam, Luke, and their buds hit the hiking

trail on this be-a-uuuuuutiful day today!!!!

 They hiked all through Calico Basin with their

buds from church.

It just doesn't look like they were having

that much fun . . . 

I am so happy that they have awesome

people to do fun activities with.

An answer to prayer for sure!!!

Scout Awards.

Luke's Scout troop held a Court of Honor

tonight . . . 

. . . of course our Luke received THE MOST

merit badges and awards!!!!!

Love, love, love that boy!!  I am so very

grateful for his determination and amazing

spirit.  He.is.a.wonderful.part.of.our.family!!!

Luke's In the Money!

My little entrepreneur, Luke has quite the

business going making paracord bracelets.

Kids at youth group and Scouts purchase

these bracelets by the dozens from him.

He is always thinking of ways to make

extra moola.  I really appreciate what a

hard worker he is.  The bracelets are quite

the rage and are functional also!

He's Off . . .

Our sweet Luke and his buddies are

headed to Cali on a chartered bus 

with our church youth group for

a weekend winter retreat.

Selfishly, I hated to see him go!

I miss him already!!!

He has great buds and wonderful

youth leaders!  He is going to

have a wonderful weekend.

My Eli Whitney.

 What do Legos . . . homeschooling . . . and

Luke have in common . . . 

 experiments, of course!!!  Our sweet Luke

has never met an experiment that he did

not like.  In fact, he spends much of his time

creating his own!

This latest experiment actually was the

brainchild of spending a day in the Springs

Preserve during a Merit Badge College for

Scouts.  This is an automatic plant waterer

complete with a timer that turns lights on

automatically at night.

Love that Luke. Love that he loves

learning sooooo much.

Breakfast ala Luke.

Luke loves strawberries.  Luke loves whipped

cream. Luke loves syrup.  Luke loves waffles.

Tada. Today we whipped up a batch of waffles

topped with everything that our guy loves!!!

Sausage completed the fare for the morning.

Our brothers were only to excited to join in.

Happy Holiday Monday.

The Right Idea.

My Luke sure does have the right idea.

Through my travels last night, I observed

Luke's new wallpaper on his computer.

Is he amazing or what!?!  Time after time

throughout this past year, family and 

friends have either spoken, emailed, or

texted me this scripture.  My sweet Luke

proclaimed it loud and clear!!!  He has

hidden this scripture in his heart!!!!

I especially love the words that he has

chosen to capitalize.  

Court of Honor.

 Tonight was Luke's first Court of Honor

with Troop 219.  While it was difficult

to attend this event without our Dad, we are

so thankful for our family and friends who 

came to support the many accomplishments

of our Luke.

We realize that all of these "firsts" will be

difficult.  We also realize that new and old

things will be difficult . . . It is just plain

difficult.  We know that our God is in control

and are so very grateful for our many

wonderful supporters.

We are excited for a new day tomorrow!

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into

problems and trials, for we know that they

are good for us . . . they help us learn to endure."

Romans 5:3

They're Off.

 After 24 looooooooong months . . . Luke

got his braces off today . . . 

 Watch out ladies!!!!!

Happy Camper.

My Luke had a fantabulous time hiking and

camping in the wilderness.  He came home

one tired Scout.  Before I new it, he was

cozied up under the CHRISTmas quilt

right.next.to.his.Dad.

A Hiking We Will Go.

 Luke and his Boy Scout troop left early this

morning for a ten-mile backpacking hike at

Kimball Scout Reservation.

 A true survivalist, Luke packed all of his

gear, including only a tarp for a tent.  The 

weather was perfect today for the hike,

in the mid fifties in the mountains.  The

night air may be a little nippy in the forties.

 Luke was more than excited to hit the

trail with his troop!!!

Off they go!!!

MIKE UPDATE:  From the very bottom of

our hearts, our family is truly grateful for

prayers that have been spoken on behalf of

our husband and Dad.  We are so thankful

for the support that we have received!!!

Mike entered hospice care in our home

today.  We are so grateful for them and

the care that they have already given him

Mike has rapidly declined over the past

two weeks.  There was a flurry of activity

in our home for many hours today in 

order to receive all that we needed to

care for our Dad right here in our cozy

home.  Thankfully, the oxygen and 

needed medications arrived and Mike

is now resting so much more comfortably

than he has for the past two weeks.  We

pray for God's will and safe travels for

our Tim as he travels home from Ft.

Lauderdale as soon as his ship docks in

port on Monday.

"If He leads you to it . . . He will lead

you through it!!!"

In the Pink.

Mr. Macho stepped into the orthodontist

chair today and accepted the pink bands

in support of breast cancer.  What a guy!

Being the youngest of four brothers, they

busted his chops a bit!  If NFL football

players and major league baseball players

can do it . . . Luke can too!!  I was

pretty surprised myself . . . but if  any guy

can rock the pink bands, it's my Luke!!

We Did It!

A wee bit blurry and a mouth full

of congratulatory M&Ms, Luke

finished four-week courses in order

to earn both his Lifesaving and 

Swimming merit badges.  This

class was not for the faint of heart,

every single night for four weeks.

(I think I must might whip up

a little merit badge of my own!)

Congratulations Luke!!!