BASEBALL 2010

I was so excited for baseball season this year (almost as excited as Jaxson was). Last year was such a good experience that we couldn't wait to be part of Kody and Scott's team again. As tryouts approach, I started having anxiety about Jaxson not getting to play on Kody's team, it even kept me up at night. Sure enough about a week after tryouts Kody gave us a call and all my fears were out to rest. Being on Kody's team meant he would play with several of the players from his last years team including Kaden, Tyler, Jacob and Karter. It is so much fun to watch these boys play; in addition to building the friendships that they do.

One of the things I love about Jaxson is he is always excited to play, it doesn't matter if it is practice or a game, he has a positive attitude and never complains. he looks forward to it all and can't wait until the next baseball event. If there is a day that goes by and there is no baseball, he is actually disappointed.

This year his team was the New York Mets! Jaxson played outfield most of the season; however did get to play 1st or 2nd base as few times, which he really enjoyed. Where Jaxson excels is batting. His coaches tell me he has great hand/eye coordination. He is never afraid to swing and hits the ball the majority of the time. He is not a power house hitter yet, but I know that will come with time. Jaxson was moved up to 2nd position in batting because of his consistency throughout the season when it came time to bat.

Sitting back and watching the games this year was a little difficult for me because of my competitive personality. Last year our team took 1st place and we never lost a game. This year was a different story, we moved up a league to Pee Wee Nationals and it is a whole new ball game. We learned a lot about the rules just watching the game, not only were the boys were allowed to steal bases (which was very exciting) we had to always pay attention and know when the ball was in play. Needless to say our team didn't take first and we lost about half of our games. The boys always had a good time regardless of the win or loss, which is one of the reasons the coaches are so important. I know it was hard for them to lose as well but they always wanted to know if they had fun because that was most important. They taught them several things this year including that if they struck out, they should do it swinging the bat and they would never be mad, not just to let the ball go by.

There were a lot of errors this year (they are young) however there were several outstanding plays as well. It is weird to think that Jaxson still has seven years to play ball before high school ball starts. That is a lot of time to learn and grow. Hopefully I will still enjoy it as much then as I do now.

At the end of the season we had a BBQ with our team and had a parents vs. Mets game at the park. The boys won; however the parents did have to hit the ball with the opposite hand, run backwards and we had to get three outs. It was a great time! The coaches all purchased trophy's for the boys as well to hold their games balls they received during the season. This is one of my favorite things Kody does, at the end of each game he pulls in the team for a pep-talk about their strengths and what they could improve upon. He then takes the opportunity to hand out the game ball to one of the players who impressed him during the game. Jaxson received the first game ball of the season because of his batting! He was so excited about getting the ball.

As the season was coming to a close, I received a phone call from Kody stating that All-Star tryouts were going to be the following Saturday and he thought that Jaxson had a pretty good chance of making the team. He encouraged him to try-out and told me that all stars were coach invitation only.

Jaxson and I headed to the baseball field again for try-outs, along with four others from his Mets team. I felt he did an amazing job at tryouts; he hit the ball well, we made several good catches, etc. At the end of the two hour tryout the all star coaches stated that everyone that tried out would make a team. Now we just hoped our Mets team would stay together, it would be weird to have the boys start playing against each other. To our surprise all five boys from the Mets were put on the same Bingham B team. What we weren't prepared for was the amount of time all stars was going to take. In the past it was one game; however moving up to the National league it was a whole different story. Jaxson had two hour practices pretty much every day, they were signed up for two tournaments, we had to pay an additional $100 and we had to check him out of school several times just to make the games; plus one of the tournaments was in Magna. Again Jaxson loved every minute of it! He especially loved his new Bingham uniform! For the next three weeks baseball ruled our lives - everything revolved around baseball and Jaxson. The first tournament went really well, the boys found their grove and had some stellar wins. One of the games ending score was Bingham 17 - Hunter 4. It was so exciting to watch them really play ball. Most of those runs came in one innings, Jaxson got up to bat twice in the same inning (which never happens). In tournament play there is a time limit, so we were all clenching our teeth because the inning kept going. If we didn't finish the inning the score would go back to the score from the following inner which was 3-3. Bingham prevailed with 14 runs that inning and then got 3 outs very quickly to end the game with 4 minutes to spare.

Jaxson again excelled in batting, during the entire tournament he struck out twice, which was in the last day of all stars. The state tournament was a little harder, we played some fantastic A teams and held our own. Our team even had a few home runs during the tournament, but in the end we lost. During the final day of the tournament Jaxson was up to bat with a very fast and accurate pitcher from the other team. He was hit in the chest by the ball and he immediately collapsed on the ground. We are lucky we was not seriously injured, I think he got the wind knocked out of him for sure. He was so tough and brave! He got up walked to base and scored for the team. What made me the most proud was that he was not afraid to get up and bat again. A lot of kids back away or shy away from the ball after they are hit, not my Jaxson! He didn't back up at all and hit the ball again. I was a very proud mom that day! (He ended up with a bruise on his chest from where he was hit)

All-stars ending was bitter sweet! It was great to be able to extend the season a little longer; however it will give us time to actually do some other things.

Jaxson has started a love of baseball in our entire house, he has everyone playing catch with him including myself and his sister Madi. We have all purchased gloves and have starting playing some fun ball together as a family.

5 CHINESE BROTHERS

Jaxson had his 2nd grade puppet show today. Every year Mrs. McCurdy has the class form into groups and each group picks out a story that they have read in class and revises the story to make it their own. After they re-write the story each student makes a puppet from paper mache'. They even sew their own clothes for the puppet. At the end of the school year they perform their puppet shows for the parents. Jaxson's group chose the story of the 5 Chinese Brothers. Each brother had a unique gift and they were all able to help each other out due to their gifts and talents. Jaxson was brother number two, his brother's gift was bones of iron! It was a great show!!!

ZOO DAY

Melissa and I took Reagan and Cash to the zoo today. The most exciting part of our adventure was seeing the leopard. He was very active and just kept pacing back and forth behind Reagan and Cash. Both of them thought it was the coolest thing, they were screaming with delight and chasing the cat as he went back and forth.

The other fun thing we saw today was the new baby elephant Zuri. On our way to the zoo Reagan kept saying that she wanted to see the elephants the most, so having a baby elephant at the zoo made her day.

MANTI PAGENT

I thought it would be a fun treat to take the kids to see the Manti pageant this year and have them learn a little more about the Book of Mormon prophets. The pageant starts really late, so I wasn't sure if they would stay awake; however we ventured out anyway with high hopes. It had been years since I had been to the pageant, so we took blankets just in case the kids fell asleep. The blanket area of the pageant is very small, so we sat on a hill (not the most comfortable place to be), but we did have room to stretch our legs.

When the pageant started, all the kids were wide eyed watching; however as the night went on Madi fell asleep, Dan fell asleep and Jaxson fell asleep. Who would have thought that Reagan being only three years old would stay awake during the entire pageant. Not only did she stay awake, she talked my ear off with questions about the pageant. Here are a few of the things asked about...

"Mom, that angel is scary." (referring to Angel Moroni) I told her he wasn't scary and she then said "Oh, the angel is nice, I like the Angel."

She then started asking questions about Joesph Smith and him praying in the sacred grove. She asked "Mom, is the bush his home?" I told her yes, because sometimes it is just better to agree with her then start an argument because she is very head strong and opinionated. Later in the evening she asked, "Mom, is he said because he can't go to his bush home?"

When Jesus Christ was visiting the America's she kept talking about how Jesus loves the Children and how everyone was coming to see Jesus.

Later in the program, she asked when the Angel was coming back and kept saying "What is the Angel's name again." I would tell her and she would say "Oh, yeah, it's Angel Moroni" (however she would slaughter his name every time she tried to say it.)

At the end of the night I had mixed feelings of joy and astonishment at this little girl was so in tune with what was going on. At the same time I was ready for her to be quiet because she wouldn't give me a moment to enjoy the show and soak it all in myself.

Maybe next time the rest of the family will get to enjoy the entire production as well. I knew going into it that there was a very good chance the kids would fall asleep, I just never thought Reagan would stay up. Overall it was a great experience and I am sure we will be taking the family back again in the near future.

LITTLE GYM GRADUATION

Reagan graduated from Little Gym today. She was very excited about "her show" and that we were going to be able to watch her. The first half of the show was watching each kid in the class do a routine in the gym. Reagan loves being able to show off her stuff and play around in the gym. She is such a monkey. The second half of the show was watching the kids perform a number of songs they have learned throughout the year. Reagan is definitely a singer and knows every song; however when it came time to perform, she decided to turn around and not participate. No one could get her to turn around on her chair, she is a very stubborn girl. At the end of the performance she received her medal and certificate of participation. She accepted both gladly. At the end of the performance I asked her why she didn't sing and she told me "Because I wanted to be shy." Go figure that girl is not shy at all - she just beats to the sound of her own drum.

HIP HOP TILL YOU DROP

Jaxson has been taking HIP-HOP from Wasatch Arts with his good friend Karter Jones over the past year. They have really learned some moves and have had a great time in the process.

Jaxson has always had a love of dancing, it started at his uncles wedding when he was three years old. After the ceremony they had dancing and out of no where Jaxson started break dancing on the dance floor, while he was singing "Everybody do the moves!" This went on for quite some time over the next year; Jaxson would just start busting a move anytime music would come on and he would repeat the same phrase. It wouldn't matter if we were in a movie theater, if music came on at the end of the movie, he would get up out of his seat and start busting a move in the isles. I have to admit the kids has some rythem and some moves.

The boy's hip hop routine was specatular with the moon walk, the wave and cool tricks. After the preformance I told Jaxson, great head stand and he replied by saying "Mom, it wasn't a headstand, it was a stall."

JAZZ PIANO RECITAL

Madi had another piano recital tonight. The theme was Jazz! She played a number called Swinging Beat. She has only been playing now for two years; however I am very impressed with her talent. The only thing we need to do now is buy a real piano so she can continue to grow. I know she doesn't enjoy practicing very much, but deep down she loves being able to play. She keeps wishing we could pick up popular sheet music at the piano store, but she isn't quite there yet to be able to just play these songs. I bet in another year she will be.

BOULDER BOULDER - MEMORIAL DAY TRIP

Over Memorial Day we all decided to visit Jared and Erin - which meant another road trip for our family. We were fully prepared seeing as we had just been to California on a road trip. The idea to travel to Denver started when Jared announced he would be running the Boulder Boulder 10K race. Scott, Ali and Melissa jumped on the band wagon to run with him. I sat on the fence for a little while and then decided to run with the group. I figured it would be a fun experience, until I remembered I hate running.

The month leading up to the trip I started running again, mostly at the gym because we had a cold and wet spring. My training was put on hold a couple of weeks because I got a bad cold and I couldn't shake it. Jared came into town prior to the race so we decided to run together one morning, boy was that a mistake. I was a total disgrace! Running outside is very different from running inside and I couldn't breather, let alone my nose kept running. All and all I made Jared walk with me most of the way. After than morning I was very discouraged about racing and almost backed out. Over the next weekend my family talked me into running the stake 5K as a practice. They were all surprised when I actually showed up. Running this time wasn't as bad, I ran it in 37 minutes and this kept me positive for the next week. I ran a few more times before the race; however I had never ran more than 3 miles. I knew if I had to I could walk part of the race and it would be OK - my goal was just to finish.

Our weekend began by leaving Thursday afternoon, it was a very long drive to Denver, especially caravaning with the whole family. At one point on the drive Dan's GPS system took us in the wrong direction and we had to try and find turn back around. Dan started having a meltdown trying to figure a way back when, Reagan started crying that she had to go to the bathroom. (She was in a pull up for the drive but refused to pee in her pants while we were in the car. It is amazing that she can go such a long distance and not pee in her pants, however when she is playing at the house it happens.) She started crying so hard that her nose started to bleed as well. We finally pulled into a Walmart parking lot around 10:30 and I took her into the restroom to go potty and clean her bloody face and clothes up. I thought she would go to sleep at this point, but about 20 minutes later she had to go to the bathroom again. (I love road trips!) Luckily we were not too far away from one. After she relieved herself at 11:30 PM, she fell right asleep. We arrived in Denver around 1:30 in the morning, checked into our hotel and collapsed.

The following day we all went to lunch together (because it was nearly lunchtime by the time we got up and ready) We met at Old Chicago pizza, there were so many of us we were at three separate tables. My cousin Tammy and her family met us there as well. After lunch we all got ready to go to the Rockies baseball game. The weather got a little cold so we were all huddled together in our jackets and blankets. The best thing I had a t the game was a cup of hot chocolate, just holding the cup made me all warm inside. At the end of the game it started warming up again, The Rockies played well and beat the Dodgers. We had a great time, it was really fun to take Jaxson and have him watch some incredible players and see how fast they react to everything.

The following day we went to visit my good friends Cory and Courtney Fabrizio. They invited us over for dinner and then we spent the afternoon playing at the park. Cory, Courtney, Melissa and I all went to school together. I few years after school the Fabrizio's moved to Florida so Cory could attend Dental school, about nine months ago, Cory graduated and moved to Denver to start practicing. They only live about 20 minutes away from Jared in Highlands Ranch. The kids had a ball spending the day together. Madison and Chiara have been friends since they were babies and re-connected very quickly. Bryson and Jaxson got along great as well, they are both boys and love sports. The kids introduced them to kick ball and they played with the dads. Breya and Reagan were very cute together and Courtney's little Trevin is adorable. While at the park a bird landed on the cake Courtney made and walked across it. When we were cleaning up we were surprised to see bird tracks all over the cake, very funny indeed.

The next day we all arose at the crack of dawn to head down to Boulder for the race. The Boulder Boulder is the 2nd largest 10k in the nation - I had no idea what 50,000 people running a race would be like until we got there. Not only were there thousands of people running, there were hundreds of people dressed up in costume running the race; quite the party! Our start time was 9:03 AM, we all run at different paces so off everyone went. Jared and I ran together for the first mile or two, they we broke off from each other. I was glad I had my ipod and running track to listen to. I love I Got A Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas, it is my favorite running song and gets me in a great mood. Along the trail there were bubbles, cupcakes, marshmallows, Gatorade and water being handed out to all the runners. The hardest part about the race was there were so many people that you had to move around them. Sometimes I would have to slow down because of the enormous amount of people on the street, this made it hard to start back up again. I am happy to say I never stopped, I did walk a brisk walk half of the time which was just as fast as some joggers. (For those of you that know me, I don't walk slow, I am a speed walked all the time.) I finished the race a 1 hour and 19 minutes, just 3 minutes behind Jared and Melissa. Scott and Ali are speed demons, so I can't compare myself to them. I was proud of my time and that I actually did it. I do have to see that it didn't make me want to run another race though. I was pretty tired! The worst part of the race was after it was completed, the race ended in the university stadium and to get out of the stadium you had to climb over the bleachers/stairs to get out. I thought I was going to die because I was exhausted!

As we were all walking back to the car (another mile) Jaxson was so excited about the race and asked if he could run it next year. Apparently this is going to be a new family tradition! Could be fun, we will have to wait and see...