A "Winning" Season

For better or worse, Little League Baseball is an organization run by volunteers. Unfortunately, Adam had three coaches this season who had never coached before. As a result their team had a record of 1 win and 19 losses. Some people might consider that a "losing" season. Fortunately for us, there was a lesson to be learned that was worth those 19 losses. Here's the story - Adam struggled a bit at the plate all season. The constant criticism was a bit much for his little ego and did nothing to inspire him to greatness. Near the end of the season as I was sitting on the edge of his bed I told him that I didn't care if his coaches believed in him or not. The important thing was that his Dad and I believed in him and we thought he was a great ball player! And lo and behold - he started playing like a great ball player! His batting average shot up and he started having a "winning" season. Lesson learned. Children who have parents who believe in them - and tell them that they believe in them - will accomplish great things!

Happy Mothers Day!

Our family has been having so much fun following the adventures of all our many cousins and long lost friends through their blogs that we decided to start one of our own. So for Mother's Day Brad gave me my own blog! Of course we don't have any cute little toddlers to amuse you with, but we'll do our best to entertain! I'm sure you'll be able to tell that I have no idea what I'm doing -- like the fact that our blog looks exactly like Jenny's and we can't figure out how to customize it -- but I'm sure we'll be able to figure it all out eventually!

Finally a Member!

When we started having lessons in FHE last month about being baptized, it was with utter disgust that Camille exclaimed, "You mean I've been going to this church for seven years now and I'M NOT EVEN A MEMBER???!!" Well, she's finally a member! Her baptism was yesterday and it was a lovely day. She was the only child from our Stake being baptized this month, so it was all about her and very special. Thanks to all of our family and friends who were there to support her. So, all of our kids are baptized! Brad and I figure we can call ourselves successful parents now . . . I mean it's all coasting from here on out - right?

It's a Family Thing!

The boys have been playing for years, but this is the first time Camille has joined in on the family sport. She started playing softball this year because one of the girls in her class wanted a "buddy" to play with. She enjoys playing the games, but she hates practices because "they do the same thing over and over!" She got a base hit right after I took the first picture, which means that you get your name in the local paper. She LOVES seeing her name in print. But her favorite part of all is sitting on the bench with her friends and cheering on her teammates. Their chants are hilarious, and I must admit that they are my favorite part of the game as well.

Just Like Mom!

We never knew what real drama was until the letter came from the school nurse that said Camille needed to have her eyes checked. I asked her if she took a vision test at school and the tears started flowing. "The letters were so small . . . nobody could possibly read those letters . . . I saw her write a 60 (for 20/60 vision) on my page and I didn't like that at all . . . " Luckily our former Bishop is her eye doctor and they are great friends of our family. She handled the exam very well, but when she had to choose a pair of glasses the tears started flowing again. "I hate pink . . . I don't like the square ones . . . that color of blue looks gray . . . I'm going to be so weird!" Finally the dreaded day arrived. Her glasses were here. The eye doctor delivered them to the house, and when she put them on her whole face lit up. "WOW!! I can see!" Drama over. The apple doesn't really fall very far from the tree. I can remember having all the same emotions when I was a second grader with glasses.