Angels Game

I might need a little welcome back to blog land. I have taken a long break and really kind of liked it.  Now is the large task of catching up... please be advised this might bore you to tears.

In April, Dennis took the family to Disneyland. This was his Christmas present to all of us, and there couldn't have been a better gift. When we arrived in California we went straight to an Angels Game. Landon caught a ball in batting practice that was thrown to him by one of the Blue Jays Pitchers. He was so excited. That is his second MLB ball. Here is his first.  He is one lucky boy!

The game was fun, but it was colder than we had expected. I guess that is why they gave everyone a beanie that night. The best part for me was the rally monkey. If the Angels are tied up or behind after the 7th then they bring out the rally monkey. They sale these stuffed monkey like crazy and then the fans swing them around, dance and basically go nuts! Addie danced in the isle and a man in front of us bought her a rally monkey, she loved it! They ended up going into extra innings. We were so cold and the kids were spent from the long drive and 10 innings of baseball, so we left. Then Gav, Garrett and Landon went back to the game and watched the Angels win, after I think 14 or 15 innings. Gavin said his favorite part of the game was singing the traditional 14th inning stretch of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." He basically got two games for one! Bonus! :)

6 Months

Carlee is 6 months old. She is growing and rolling and smiling all the time. She weights 13.81 lbs (11%) and is 25.5 inches long (41%). She is a whopper!! ;) Dr. Thompson wants me to bring her back in a month because her weight has fallen a little on the chart, he wants to watch it. I told him it is just because she is such a easy baby. She hardly cries so sometimes I forget to feed her! With 4 kids it's like that saying "The squeaky wheel gets the grease." I guess Carlee needs more "grease" it's just that she doesn't squeak! :) I have started feeding her twice a day with solid foods and she loves it. She likes to eat in her Bumbo when everyone else is eating dinner, she grins and looks around so proud to be apart of it all. She is now bathing with her sister, both love it. She isn't sitting up yet, but getting closer. She is pulling her headbands off a lot lately. She squeals and coos. Addie said "Carlee has bubblegum teeth." Gavin and I thought it was a great analogy. She does have "bubblegum" teeth! Probably not for to much longer though, she is biting and rubbing her gums on everything. I think a tooth will be popping through anytime. Love this girl so much.

Young Women SLC Trip

Our Young Women had the great opportunity of going to SLC and meeting Sister Elaine Dalton, the General Young Women President. They also went to the General Young Women Broadcast held at the Conference Center. Carlee and I were able to go on Friday with them and meet Sister Dalton.
It was such a unique and special experience, one I hope these girls won't forget. Sister Dalton is wonderful, witty, happy, caring, amazing... my list could go on and on. She spoke to all of us and I could really feel her love for each Young Woman.  The picture on the right is the view from her office on Temple Square. Isn't that view unbelievable. We were told each morning when she gets to her office she says "Good Morning Moroni!" She is so refreshing. She has asked each girl to commit to 4 things.

1. Pray every morning and every night.
2. Read in the Book of Mormon at least five minutes every day.
   
3. Smile!
   
4. Obey and live the standards in For the Strength of Youth. Become familiar with these standards. Share them with others. And be an example of the believers.
   

As our Young Women work on these goals so am I. Sometimes it isn't easy, but I am trying. I know if I do these daily it will help me be a better mom to my children and leader to these beautiful girls. They teach me so much.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma Reber had a great birthday celebration! Mom went all out fixing a big spread with ribs/chicken and salads. Lex made yummy dutch oven potatoes. It was a fun party with the family. Happy Birthday Grandma! Here is to many more! 

Tub Time

How do you recover from a long weekend of baseball?

 Looks good to me.

March Madness

 March Madness is a tournament that won't be forgotten, not just because the Sliderzz won a 35 team tournament, but because of the experience that happened after all the games were over.

This is probably the biggest club baseball tournament in St. George during the whole year. Last year the Sliderzz didn't even make it to the Championship day. The boys knew going into it they had to be on their A game, and that they were! The boys played awesome in the four pool play games. The first two were in Hurricane in the wind and cold. I hardly got out of the car the first day. Thank goodness the warm sun came out for day two.

The "fans" had a great time in their short sleeves playing at the park. It finally felt like spring! The Sliderzz played great baseball in Toquerville and set themselves up to be the #2 seed in the playoffs.

Carlee had fun too! 

Glad we took a few pictures on Friday, because Saturday I was so nervous I hardly got out the camera. I have a tenancy to forget when I get wrapped up in the game. 

Saturday came, we beat the Edge in the first game and then moved on to play the Marshals. The Marshals jumped up on us quick scoring 6 in the first inning. The boys looked deflated, Gavin and Shane gave them the big pep talk as they were coming off the field. They picked it up and ended up beating the Marshals 14 to 8. Then it was time for the Championship game. Wow there was electricity in the air. Lots of people watching and the boys were pumped to win. It was a tough battle back and forth. In the bottom of the 7th we were up by two. Three outs and we win! Our closer Logan was on the mound, he had pitched great throughout the day and everyone was getting excited because we were so close. Right off the bat he had the batter in a hole with two strikes, then the next thing I knew he was hurt. He grabbed his arm and said there was a burning feeling in it. Everyone was sick. 

After evaluating the situation, the coaches put in Kyler to finish the game. Ky did awesome, he looked so confident out there on the mound. The Sliderzz got three outs and won the tournament! It was a beautiful victory.

Everyone was excited, but mostly sick because of Logan's arm. The coaches gathered the team together after all the trophies were given, and pictures were taken. The boys were nervous for their friend and teammate. Bishop Brad suggested that the team say a prayer. That helped calm their nerves. Then they decided Logan needed a blessing. Right there on a bucket of baseball's those 10 boys got to witness something a lot more important than baseball. They saw the power of the Priesthood at work. They watched their Coaches along with Dads administer to their friend in need. It was a powerful moment. One I know I will never forget. This helped me realize what is really important, baseball is secondary. Our Father has a beautiful plan, a plan that allows the Priesthood to be on the earth. I am so thankful for it, and for the power I felt on March 19, 2011 on a baseball field, and I know those little boys felt it too.

On a lighter note... Look the Sliderzz made The Spectrum!! Pretty cool! :)

Spring Break

Spring Break was low key this year. We enjoyed a few days schedule free, and that was vacation enough!

Here are the highlights:

* Tangled = Darling! (Only took me 5 months to see it! Just in time for me to go buy on DVD, a must own!) 

* Playing with friends.

* Sleeping in.

* A "double sleepover" with Jake.

* Cousin Fun.

* A Haircut.

* The filling of the sandbox! (Another thing that has taken me months and months to complete. Thank you Dad, for getting the dirt and Gav for unloading it.)

* Finding bow material. Now just have to make them! 

* Baseball. (This deserves its own post should be coming soon.) 

It was so nice to have a much needed break, the weather even cooperated the first few days and let us wear our shorts and flip flops. The week off did give me glimpse of what the summer is going to be like and I am not sure if I am ready for that one or not! ;) I will have to make a few more trips to the grocery store that's for sure. :)