Happy 10th B-day, Dev!

Happy Birthday Devin! Hard to believe he's a decade old today. On Saturday night he took Sam, Blake, Gavin, & Cooper to a Raptors game. For those of you who don't know-the Raptors are the Dodgers Minor League Team...so of course we would pick the Raptors over the Bees;) The boys had a lot of fun, being loud and silly. We stayed for the entire game...four hours or so...and the Raptors came from behind in the eighth inning. The highlight of the game was getting autographs from the players...who knows, they may be Dodgers someday!


10 Great Things About Devin:
1. He is very creative. He can make something out of anything.
2. He can recite lines from just about any movie he's seen; examples: Nacho Libre, Sons of Provo, The Best Two Years, Napoleon Dynamite....
3. He looks out for his little brothers-making sure his parents are, too ;)
4. He is very trust worthy. He has a great track record of making good choices.
5. He likes to hang out with friends, but a lot of the time he likes to hang out with us. We hope it stays that way for awhile!
6. He is becoming an expert on baseball-especially the Dodgers.
7. He makes us laugh on a daily basis.
8. He is a great example.
9. He can do anything he wants to, when he puts his mind to it.
10. He is the best 10 year old in the world & we love him!!!

One Crazy Week

Last week was a little insane for us. On Tuesday I was invited to Laurel Camp up at Camp Woodland in Morgan to teach a class on finding "Mr. Right". I was pretty nervous, but it was so much fun. It was great to be among beautiful YW and their great leaders. Right after returning home I hurried over to Devin's baseball game-his last of the season-and then had to miss Sam's because I had to run to enrichment night-my last one as enrichment leader. On Sunday I was called to be an Achievement Days leader, I'm really excited! On Wednesday my Mom took the grand kids to Classic Fun Center in Layton for lots of skating, jumping, climbing, and arcade games. The boys had so much fun. Even Noah could get on some of the blow up toys because there weren't a lot of people there in the beginning. On Thursday we headed off for our one summer get away of the year. We went to beautiful downtown Sandy :). Devin had a triathlon in Riverton on Saturday, so we decided to get a hotel in Sandy for two nights and make a vacation of it. On Thursday afternoon we went to Boondocks in Draper. The boys played laser tag and drove the go-karts. Then we went back to the hotel and swam. On Friday we went to Thanksgiving Point and spent a good three hours at the Museum of Ancient Life. What a cool place! If anyone has wondered about going, I would recommend it! It had really cool exhibits, and a lot of hands on activities as well. The boys even got to drill out their own real fossils! Too cool. We brought a picnic and ate in one of the gardens for lunch. Then we went back to the hotel and swam, again :) On Saturday we got up early and headed out to Riverton for the Shark Attack Triathlon. This is the third year Devin has competed, but the last two years it was held in Honeyville at Crystal Hot Springs. We liked the course in Riverton much better. Devin was pretty nervous, but he did awesome! In fact he took 2nd place in his age group! It was a 100 meter swim, a 4.5 mile bike, and a 1.5 mile run. His swim has improved so much over the last year, it was exciting to watch him do so well. He also beat last years time on the bike, and he was riding Mark's mountain bike with road tires on it, so it was a little big for him. Devin said the run was tough, some of it was uphill. But, we could tell he really enjoyed himself. We are hoping Sam will be a confident enough swimmer by next year so that he can compete, too. Anyone want to join us next year? The kids have to be 7 years old to compete. I promise, you'll get emotional seeing those kids work so hard. It's great! After Devin's race we went out for breakfast and then headed home for loads of laundry. It always seems like I need another vacation to recover from the vacation! :) This week is looking pretty boring, which I am happy for!

Boys of Summer

We LOVE baseball at our house. The boys used to play soccer, basketball, and baseball. But, after they whined one too many times about going to soccer games, we figured we were wasting our money. So far, Devin and Sam have both stuck with basketball and baseball, and although they like them both-baseball is definitely the favorite. Mark and I both played growing up, so we enjoy practicing with them, and watching the games.

Last year was Devin's first year in the minors. They have a draft where the coaches watch the kids hit, throw, and do some fielding. Then the coaches pick who they want on their team. Devin had a great coach last year, but he didn't really give the kids a chance to play the positions they wanted to. Devin had always wanted to pitch. His coach let him practice a few times, but he never got to pitch during a game. This year I talked Mark into being a coach (He would say I "made" him). The coaches automatically get their own kid on their team, so I knew this would give Devin the chance to pitch, and I also knew that Mark wouldn't care as much about winning as giving the kids a chance to try all the positions and get some confidence. It has been so fun watching Devin and some of the other boys try their had at being pitcher. Devin gets better and better every game, he has had several innings where he has struck out the first three batters.

Sam loves to play catcher. He plays machine pitch this year and is lucky to have his uncle Chris as his coach. That means he gets to play with his cousin Carter, and he has a coach who understands his little idiosyncrasies, and doesn't put up with his crap. :) He is an awesome hitter, too. He usually hits them right into the hole in right field. When Sam is having fun, everyone knows it! It is so great to have a kid who can be so enthusiastic, the joy just bursts out of him. We see this a lot when he's playing ball.
The boys both play on Tuesday and Thursday nights, so it gets a little crazy. But, we love watching them. Take us out to the ball game!!

Relay for Life

Thanks to Travis' sister Aleesha, we had the great opportunity to take part in the Relay for Life this year at Stewart Stadium on the WSU campus. It was really a lot of fun. I am probably the only one posting this early because everyone else stayed there all night-I got to take Noah and Ty home to sleep for the night.

Anyway, my favorite parts were the Survivor's Walk (pictured), the Luminary Ceremony, and seeing my kids have so much fun hanging out with friends and cousins. During the Luminary Ceremony a lady talked a little about remembering those who lost their battles with cancer, and celebrating the lives of those who are fighting and who have survived cancer. I am so grateful that Travis is doing so well, and I know we are all praying that he will continue to stay healthy for many, many years to come. I can't think of a more awesome person to celebrate.

Thanks Aleesha for putting so much time and effort into this! The capes were so cute! Everyone was talking about them...and Ty will be wearing his 24/7 for awhile :) I hope we can do it again next year.