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...

REAGAN'S 3rd BIRTHDAY

Reagan has been a Mickey Mouse fan since the time she turned two, so we had to have a Mickey party and celebrate in style. No party would be complete without Mickey ears so i found some at the party store for everyone to wear. The evening was full of Mickey surprises. I made Mickey Mouse plates by stapling salad plates to dinner plates as Mickey ears. I made Mickey Mouse Cupcakes, we decorated the basement with pictures of the Reagan at Disneyland and Disney World I even made Mickey Mouse tortilla chips to go along with our Mexican feast. Reagan was elated to have a Mickey party!

Reagan received her first little scooter for her birthday along with some dress ups, go-fish game, a baby doll high chair and a limbo game.

CALIFORNIA... HERE WE COME

Dan and I have been wanting to take Reagan to Disneyland ever since she became addicted to Mickey Mouse. I believe her love for Mickey came right after we took the kids to Disney World last year. We thought Reagan would love it; however she was a little overwhelmed by it all. We knew this year would be a different story and we wanted to take her before her love of Mickey went away. We have always been Disney fans; however we have never had a child into Mickey Mouse like Reagan is. Everything is about Mickey - Mickey computer, trains, coloring and painting books, stories, stuffed animals, puzzles, fruit snacks, etc.

With money being a little tight, but stress being at a level of its time to get a way, we decided to take a road trip this year and use our time share in Anaheim. We invited Grammie and Papa to join us and we started planning. We also did a day of service to earn free tickets to Disneyland. Our family made and tied 18 fleece blankets and donated them to Circle of Love. It was a fun project with a great reward at the end. As we continued to plan the only thing we were missing out on this trip was the beach - California beaches in April are not so good, so we started looking 3-4 day cruises. We were able to score some really good rates and decided to make the most of our trip (and get the best of both worlds) by using part of our time going on a cruise.

We broke up the trip by stopping in Vegas each way, we were also able to use our timeshare there as well and the resort was beautiful! The first day we took the kids down the strip and walked them to death. They were so tired by the end of the night, but we wanted them to see all the amazing hotels. We stopped in at M&M World and the Coke store. We took them to see the Volcano show at the Mirage. We saw several street performers and got a big kick out of them as statues. We went to the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur for dinner and the entertainment. Although Madi's allergies got very severe, I believe we all enjoyed the show. The food on the other hand left something to be desired. The fighting scenes were fantastic and Reagan loved the horses.

The next morning we continued on to California, we spent two days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Our first stop was Toon Town to see Mickey and Gang. We had never spent time here before and I thought it was super cute. Reagan was in heaven and was so excited to meet Minnie and Mickey. She was jumping up and down with her hands over her mouth to try and contain her joy! (I loved every minute of it!) She wanted to meet everyone (but there just wasn't enough time in Toon Town) We toured through the houses and then went on to bigger places for the older kids. Indiana Jones is still my favorite ride, although Splash Mountain is a close second. I love that Madison and Jaxson will go on anything, they have a love of adventure. Having my parents along for the ride is nice to because we can take turns going on the rides with the kids. Reagan was a great sport, whatever ride she was tall enough to go on, she did and never cried. Space Mountain is at the top of both Jaxson and Madi's list of favorites. The first day was almost a complete success until it got a little chilly and Madi needed a jacket. We started looking for a hoodie in the shops on Main Street when Reagan decided to have a good time shopping as well. She was trying on sunglasses and showing everyone, her favorites were a pair of rainbow star sun glasses. At the same time Jaxson started to get a migraine so it was time to get going. As we left the park we realized Reagan did not have her glasses on. My mom and I ran back to the store where she was trying on glasses, but had no luck. (First day in the park and her brand new glasses were gone.)

The following morning we went to Goofy's kitchen for breakfast, this is a favorite of ours because so many characters come out to play. The menu is also very silly with peanut butter and jelly pizza, mickey mouse waffles and pancakes, lot's of Goofy style treats and more. We met Pluto, Goofy, Princess jasmine, Bleu, Chip and Dale and Cinderella. Reagan didn't care much about meeting the Princesses, however was very happy about her encounter with Goofy and Pluto. (I know that will all change soon.)

After breakfast we ventured over to California Adventure and went straight for The Tower of Terror! By far this is the best ride in any theme park, I laugh every time we go on it because it freaks me out. Madison and Dan love it as well, not so much for Jaxson, but I'm sure that will change with time as well. We went to Playhouse Disney Live on Stage for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We spent time at the California Screamer (one of Madi's all time favorites and Jaxson's too). Then we get to experience the new Toy Story 4D arcade ride. We waited in line for this ride longer than anything else on our trip, but it was worth the wait! Had the line not been so long we would have done it 3 or 4 times. What a ball it was shooting all the screens and competing with the person next to you! Reagan loved California Adventure and really got into riding all the rides. They had an area with smaller rides and she just wanted to keep riding like the big kids, it was fantastic to see her have so much fun. Several of us went on the big water ride and Jaxson got completely drenched - we laughed so hard because it was him and not us. We spent every last minute at the parks and enjoyed the fireworks because we missed them the evening before due to the headache.

The following morning it was time to get on the cruise ship, so we drove to the port and started our second vacation! This was our first time going with Carnival - they are the only line that now does Baja Mexico cruises. We were lucky enough that this cruise was taking us to Cabo San Lucas, a beautiful destination none of us had ever been to, so we were all excited about our upcoming travels.

Reagan's birthday was on our first full day on the ship, we knew we needed to do something big (even though we took here to Disneyland for her birthday) So I pre-purchased party hats and we had a birthday celebration at dinner. We gave her a few small presents and our waiter brought her a piece of cake with a candle on it. This made her day because she had requested party hats for her birthday and a birthday is not complete without cake. (She had been talking about cake for weeks.)

Cabo was breathtaking as we pulled up to the island. The huge disappointment was we had to be ferried off the boat and the wait on the ship to get off was over an hour. When we did finally arrive on the island, we took a water taxi over to land's End and Lovers Beach. What we didn't know was that the waves were very rough coming into the beach so there were people on the beach trying to escort you off and expected tips in return. One of the guys fell over with Reagan in the water and it scared her silly. (he still wanted a tip) She would not touch the water the rest of the day. I still can't decide if that was a good or bad thing because it didn't have to worry about her running off. Jaxson and Dan attempted to snorkel; however the waves were too strong to get past. We decided this was not the best beach for us and had the water taxi take us over to the public beach instead. On the way we saw Sea Lions. We go to feed the fish as they came jumping out of the water, it was a riot. The public beach was nice, we sat out on some hotel chairs and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine. Madi and Jaxson had a fabulous time playing in the water and on the beach. I loved being able to read, drink a pina-colada and just relax.

The following day on the ship it was overcast, it was a bummer to have our last day on the ship be cold. We braved it for a while to watch the ice sculptors and have lunch but after that we headed inside for some other activities. We did build-a-bears with the kids and went on a family scavenger hunt around the ship. We had tea and desserts at 3:00 We stopped in for chocolate covered strawberries and played Bingo. We enjoyed Karaoke that evening and a performance by Fun Force; a break dancing duo from Brooklyn. They are extremely talented and Jaxson was in awe. He even participated in the show by showing everyone what the wave was. Madi thoroughly enjoyed her freedom on the ship; she got to hand out in Circle-C, which was for the 12-14 year olds. She came and went, sometimes came in after us. She met a few girls on the boat and loved hanging out with them without her parents.

Dans favorite part of the cruise was going to dinner and having Carnival's special warm, chocolate, molten cake with ice cream for dessert. He and Jaxson looked forward to it every night. I think we all ordered it everyday with another dessert of course. What is a cruise if you can't order and try everything!

Our waiters were awesome. Silvia and Ivica were extremely nice, accommodating and took care of our family for breakfast and dinner each day.

The next morning we were off to Vegas again - we spent the day swimming at the pool. The resort even had a lazy river. We couldn't have asked for better weather (80 degrees) It made us not want to go home. We wanted to hang out for days and just soak up the sun, especially because we got gypped on the last day of the cruise with the weather. That evening we took the family to Serendipity 3 for dinner. It is located on the strip and Caesar's Place. The joint was fun and had great food. We shared a frozen hot chocolate and then headed over to the Bellagio for the water show. We watched it a few times because it is amazing!

The next day it was time to head out and home, but not before we swam again and played some shuffle board! The kids were fantastic on the road time. I was a little worried about them being in the car for that long but they did great. I was fully prepared with movies, games, treats, pipe cleaners, bend-a-roos and pre-made vacation books with several activities for them to do. (I probably went a little overboard, but I would rather be safe than sorry)

The best thing about the trip was I didn't have to go back to work the next day. I actually had time to do the mountain of laundry we had and get things put away the following day!