Monday, January 27, 2014

The start of another year. . .

My 1-yr-old Niece, Halle

2014 is here and life is moving along
as quick as usual!  The holidays were so
wonderful.  I always love the down time 
with family when my schedule has nothing
on it!  
We loved having Nana & Papa from Boston 
again this year!  We love our family and 
it is hard to be so far away, but we
are thankful for the time together over
Christmas.
 Christmas Eve at my house is so
much fun.  The past couple years
we have even had my sister-in-law's
family spend it with us.  The more
the merrier!  I love spending quality
time with people I care about.
 I was so far behind on posting so
I'm going to do a quick re-cap
of some highlights of 2013:

Dec: God & Country Game
Phoenix, AZ
Wounded Warrior Amputee
Softball Team vs FCA All-
Stars (once again, another
great time with these heroes!)
 December:
Serving at Operation Christmas
Child Packaging Center with
my Bible study friends and
some of the girls (including
my 13-yr-old niece, Taylor)

I will definitely volunteer to
do this again next year!
 October:
Another great trip to New
York for Jennie Finch Softball
Camp meant a red-eye flight
and half a day in NYC!
Toni, Dre, and I made the
most of our time!


Summer:
First time to Niagra Falls!
I know I posted about
this but it was one of
the highlights of my year!

 Summer:
We took a quick family trip
to San Francisco and walked
on the Golden Gate Bridge.
We saw the seals and had
dinner at Pier 39.  We ate
a chocolate fudge sundae
at Ghiradelli Square and rode
the Trolley street car for the
first time! We walked to
China Town and took pictures
above Lombard St (the crooked
street!).  We ended our trip
in San Francisco at the Boston
Red Sox vs Giants game.
The boys had a blast and we
want to go back again soon!




We took the scenic (LONG) route
home.  It took forever but it was
worth it driving by the beautiful
coast.


We took another family trip to 
Zion, Utah.  The boys LOVE going
to Zion with their cousins and
I enjoy watching them run
around and enjoy being outdoors
and exploring.
We hiked to the top of Angel's
Landing again and this year
Tommy and Jake did the hike too!
I commentated the Finals
for the NPF (Pro Fastpitch) on
ESPN: Pride beat the Bandits
to become the Champions
We had some quality time with
my brother-in-law, Bob.
The boys have loved spending
time with their uncle but we're
all sad that he had to move back
to Minnesota in the winter.

 Fall 2013:
I spoke in Indiana for
Sports World and I was
blessed to also be able to
speak to an Amish school.
They even let me join in
their softball game!  It was
so fun meeting these sweet
people.
This part of the country was absolutely
breathtaking in the fall!  It was
gorgeous!
I even took my first buggy ride!


Fall: Drew and Luke played in their first
season of soccer.  They were on the same
team.  It took some time for them to
learn the game but both of them
improved a lot by the end of the
season.
In October I took Drew with me to
Louisiana for our camp with Jennie
Finch.  We had so much fun
on their land, on an airboat, by
the Shrimp boats and he even
shot a gun for the first time ever!


Because I homeschool, we have flexibility
in our schedule.  That allowed us to
spend a day helping hand out
clothes/shoes to families in need
in LA with the Fred Jordan Mission.
My boys said they wished they could
do that all the time.  It was really good for
them to see others who don't have much 
and to feel like they were making a
difference.

I went back to FJM on
Thanksgiving even though 
there were so many volunteers
and I didn't get to do much.
It was fun to go with my
friend, Kristi, and my
oldest son and my nephew.

Fall:
We took our annual family
trip to Oak Glen

Drew took karate/jujitsu for
a couple months again in the fall.
2013 was full of travel and adventure for
our family!  I am so thankful for all
the opportunities we have had to 
spend such quality time and make
memories on many different trips.
I am excited to see what 2014
has in store for my family.
God is so good to us and we
live to bring Him glory and
He gets all the thanks for
all that we have, all that
we are, and all that we do!