Happy Birthday Dustin

Dustin turned 17 on Thursday. It is hard to believe that he is that old. We are grateful to have Dustin in our family. He is a very smart, athletic boy. We have enjoyed watching him grow up all of these years. We appreciate all the times that he babysits his brothers and supports them in their activities. We are proud of him for being so active in seminary and Young Mens at church. He is setting a good example for Corey, Tanner and Kannon. We love you Dustin!

Here Dustin is just a few days old. It really doesn't seem that long ago.

He didn't have his day all planned out like Corey so we just tried to do some of his favorite things. Barry made French toast for breakfast which is a favorite for everyone. I got him a "Firehouse Sub" for lunch (another favorite of everyones) and then he took off for a ballgame. He hit a homerun in the game which they won so that was an added birthday present. We had ice cream cake and presents later. He had the chance to do lots of fun shopping in Omaha buying a T-shirt for I think every team that was in the World Series so his presents were limited to some of his favorite candy - Snickers and Twizzlers. Next week, we are going to a Redbirds game which is something we always do for his birthday also.





On Sunday, we invited Barry's family over for a party to celebrate both Dustin and Corey's birthdays.


Another video game for Corey. He was so excited!



Dustin got cards and money. When you are 17 money seems to be the best present there is. :)



All the cousins had fun running around the house and up and down the stairs. We sure enjoy spending time with our family.

Kannon in the News

We had gotten kind of used to seeing Dustin's picture in the newspaper with all of his baseball but seeing Kannon's picture took us by surprise. He was so happy to be in the paper "just like Dustin". He was playing catch with Barry at one of Dustin's ballgames. I was at Young Women during this ballgame so I didn't see him get his picture taken. He told me that some lady had taken his picture and it was going to be in the paper. I know that photographers take a lot of pictures and not all of them make the paper so we were excited to see him in the newspaper the next day.

Trip to Omaha

Barry and Dustin had a fun week in Nebraska at the College World Series. I was going to let Barry write about the week but he is always too busy so I will just write about what they have told me. Dustin's American Legion team played in a tournament in Omaha along with going to the World Series Games. They would play a game at an area high school and then go see a World Series game that night. Barry said it was the perfect week. They loved the stadium and said it was such a fun atmosphere. Dustin had a very fun time shopping - buying T-shirts for all of the teams playing. He also got all of the boys a shirt and even me. They didn't talk much about the Legion Tournament which they won 3 and lost 2. I think the main reason for the trip is to see the World Series games. They definitely had a great time.

The TROPHY

This is the Gold Glove Trophy - one player for each position gets this - I think.

This is a trip that Dustin and Barry will be talking about for a long time. I am glad that they had the chance to go. Yeah, Fresno State!

Father's Day

Barry got to go to his favorite place for Father's Day Weekend. He, Dustin, Corey, and Kannon headed up to St. Louis for a Cardinals game. He only had four tickets so Tanner and I stayed home and had our own fun little weekend. They had a great time and the Cardinals even won. They stayed in a nice hotel right across the street from the ballpark and had a great buffet breakfast that morning.

Do they look excited to be in a hotel? My boys love staying in hotels.

At the Ballpark

It was "Run the Bases" day. Corey and Kannon got to run around the bases after the game. Kannon thought it was so cool to be on the Cardinal's field.

I am glad that Barry had a fun baseball weekend, he deserved it. He is a great dad and gives all of his freetime to me and the boys. He is my best friend and our family means everything to him. Happy Father's Day Barry!

Happy Birthday Corey

Corey turned 11 on Friday. He had the whole day planned out. We started off with breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We were glad that NaNa was visiting and was able to go along with us. The waitress found out it was his birthday so they all came and sang to Corey and brought him a mug full of ice cream. Corey was thrilled!

When we got home from breakfast it was time to open his presents. He got two different PlayStation II games which he could hardly wait to open. Also he got his favorite movie - The Little Vampire. Then it was up to his room to Play the new games.

He picked out his favorite foods for dinner - hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, fruit and soda. Then we had chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Corey said that he had a great day!

Corey is such a blessing to our family! He is the kindest and sweetest kid you will ever meet. We love you Corey! Happy Birthday!

A visit to NaNa and PaPa's House

Corey, Tanner and Kannon went to visit in Mountain Home with NaNa and PaPa while I was at Girl's Camp. They were very excited to go. They stayed pretty busy with fishing, miniature golf, a trip to the library, and visiting the neighbors horses and goats.

Tanner caught 10 (little) blue gills. He was thrilled.

While they were fishing they saw some commotion in the water and went and watched a boy wrestle a fish out of the water. It was hooked on a line but the string was not strong enough to pull it up. It was like an episode of "Crocodile Hunter" :)

It ended up being a 40 pound catfish. Now that is a fish!

Playing Miniature Golf

NaNa brought the boys home on Thursday in time to watch Dustin play baseball. She spent the night with us and then did a little shopping before going back home. Thank you NaNa and PaPa for keeping the boys. They had a great time.

Girls Camp

I just returned home from three days of Girls Camp. I was expecting bugs, heat, more bugs, more heat and not much sleep. But I was so wrong! It was great. The camping area was made up of about 20 nice cabins (with electricity for fans), a big lodge with great food (I didn't have to cook it or clean it up which made it even greater!), and a lake for swimming and canoeing . We left early Tuesday morning with 15 girls. They were all so excited. They were all assigned to cabins according to what year they were. Each cabin also had two cabin moms. I was assigned to the leaders cabin which ment that I might get alittle sleep during this camping experience. I had a camp director from our Ward and also a good friend of mine whose daughter was attending camp for the first time come along to help with all of the girls.

Me, Melissa Mobley and Mendi Turney - Jonesboro Leaders

We had the biggest group of girls at camp and I think they were the BEST too! I was so proud of how they acted and how nice they were to each other. It was a blast being with them!

They had things scheduled pretty much throughout the day for the Young Women. There was time for crafts, swimming, and canoeing each afternoon also which was the most fun.

Each night there was a program of singing, skits, spiritual thoughts, or a slide show and then a testimony meeting on the last night. Thursday morning was the big 5 mile hike that all of the girls dreaded. It turned out great. It was shady most of the way and was on a very well marked path and road. I was assigned to the back of my group to make sure we didn't have any stragglers. Everyone made it just fine and were very proud of themselves for making it all the way.

Ready for hiking?

We survived the hike!

Thursday afternoon, a rainstorm came in rather quickly which cancelled the swimming and canoeing for the afternoon but the girls found other things to do. The waterslide idea was a big hit and seemed to be enjoyed by all of them.








I left on Thursday night to get home to my family but I really wouldn't have minded another day or two. It was a very fun week and the girls were a lot of fun.

Baseball Wrap Up

The end of May brought a close to the baseball season for Corey, Tanner and Kannon. They each improved so much and had a great time. Barry and I loved watching them play.

Cousins

Brett was on Kannon's team and Shay just came to cheer them on. Shay rode with us to the game and I heard Kannon tell Shay, "Now, when I start running home that is when you cheer for me." Kannon is always saying something funny. One time he and Shay were playing and he was trying to teach her to shoot the basketball. They worked on it awhile and I guess Shay wasn't doing it the way Kannon thought she should. Finally he said, "Shay, you just be the cheerleader." What a stinker!

After the last game, Kannon's team had lunch at Pizza Inn and then they each got a trophy. Those little T-ballers were so excited to have their own trophy. Very cute!

Tanner's team finished second in their league. He played 1st base most of the time but the last few games you got to play pitcher which he liked. He hit two home runs (inside the park) which he loved to tell everyone about.

After Tanner's last game, they had a team gathering and handed out trophies to all of the players. Kids love trophies!

Tanner's coach played American Legion baseball with Barry back in High School. They had fun having their boys play together this year.

The highlight of Corey's season was when the coach gave him the "Game Ball" after one of their games for being "a big hitter". He was very proud of that. After winning a close game I heard one player say to Corey, "We couldn't have done it without you." The kids on his team were so nice. It was a great season.

Dustin had a great High School season but now he has moved on to American Legion Summer Baseball. He is playing for the Jonesboro Ricemen which is the AAA team. Kannon asked me the other day if Dustin was famous? I said to us he is. I guess with all of the news coverage of the State Championship he was proud of his "famous" brother. Tanner brought home his 1st grade Journal at the end of the year and I was reading some of the different entries. On the day back to school after the State Championships he wrote: "I wint to my brother State Champeen ship. The stecent basmen got the ball and tostit to Dustin and he thro it to the ferst basemen and he was out. Dustin won the game." I thought that was very cute. It even made Dustin smile.

Here are a couple of fun videos we found on YouTube. Beware there is a lot of screaming - I promise it is not me - well not all me. :) The first one is the ending of the semifinal game against Gosnell in the State Tournament. We finally won in the 11th inning 5-4. The second video is of the State Championship Game. It is hard to see but the game ends on a double play. Dustin is on the far left side of the screen. Both very exciting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3keHy3wx10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy2SwtoxEko

Our Pool

We finally have our pool up and ready for swimming. It took a lot of cleaning, and waiting, and then filling it up , and more waiting but it is ready for fun. The boys swim at least once a day if not more. Now that it is getting hot it is a great way to cool off.

Is it ready yet?

We love summer!