a few highlights

Through our travels this summer,

I was able to go to some

new places and meet some

new people.

We played at LSU and

I met head football coach,

Les Miles, and his

daughter, Macy

I also met Nolan Ryan's
granddaughter, Victoria.
She was our bat girl when
we played at a Minor League
ballpark in Corpus Christi, TX

 At the beginning of my summer
journey, I stopped by Texas to
speak at a VBS- the kids were
adorable!

 One kid told me how cool
I was because I had gold
medals and that he wished
his mom was cool like me
haha

The best story that I heard is

about the photo below.  The dad

of a girl I met at VBS wrote to

me on facebook and said that

after hearing me share, she

went to her softball team and

lead them in a prayer!

I love the hearts of young

children!

I was a color analyst again for ESPN
for College Softball Super Regionals.
Softball is it's own little world!
I did the game at Univ. of South
Florida where my 2004 Olympic
Asst. Coach, Ken Eriksen, is
the head coach.  It was fun to
see his family and visit with them
all.

 I also did the Radio Broadcast
again this year for the Women's
College World Series Championship
Games.  I love the staff with
Westwood One!  I was even
more bummed that softball
wasn't into the Olympics
this year when they told
me they wished it was in
the Olympics and they would
have taken me to London if
it was to be the analyst for
radio!

I'm grateful for all my opportunities!
I'm mostly thankful for the people
I get to meet along the way.  I want
to live out God's plan for my life. . .
no more than that, no less than that!

Celebrating Jake's 11th Birthday

We celebrated Jake's 11th Birthday

in Florida

at the USSSA Pride

Owner's House (Don Dedonatis)

in July

The kids swam all day

 They ate lots of food, cake & ice cream

 They hit the pinata (we celebrated
Don's grandson's Birthday, which
is why it was such a fun party, but
it just happened to be Jake's B-day
too, so we had lots of fun!)

 The got lots of candy!

 Jake got some presents and
he got a Nook from Tommy
and me.

And we ended the night with
the biggest and best home
firework show ever!  It
was like a professional
show right in the back yard!
The kids loved it and so did
the adults.

One thing I forgot to mention,
we went on an alligator hunt,
but came up empty.  But we
did see tons of creatures this
summer in Florida.  That was
definitely different than
being in CA!

Happy 11th Birthday Jake.
I love you so much!

Florida: Summer 2012

I can't believe it's been a month and a
half since I last posted something!
But then I start to think of how busy
we are and all the places I've traveled
to since June 2nd, and I am amazed at
how little down time there has been.

As I type, my husband and boys, and
my sister-in-law and my niece and
nephew are sitting on our coach and
watching some TV together.  It's so
great to have all of us together again!
Up until 2 days ago, Tommy and I
had not seen eachother for 5 1/2 weeks!
The boys hadn't seen him for 3 1/2
weeks and were so excited when he
arrived in Florida.

We have had so much fun while we've
been here.  Outside of me coaching
the pro fastpitch team, the Florida
Pride, we have been keeping busy
having fun too.We have been to 3 theme
parks:

Islands of Adventure (the best roller
coasters are at this park!)

Universal Studios

Animal Kingdom (Disney)

There were storms each time we went
to the parks, but that ended up being
a good thing because the parks were
much less crowded after the rains. We
were wet, but I'll take that over 90 degree
weather with humidity!

Our house in Florida is perfect: 4 bedrooms,
3 bathrooms, lots of space and a POOL!
The kids have loved having a pool in the
backyard and many days they go out to
swim 3 or 4 different times. 

We spent one day at Cocoa Beach (it
is about an hour away from where we
are staying).  The water is so warm here
which is nice because with this heat, I
was definitely going in the water!  The
kids have been having a blast.

My sister-in-law has been amazing!
She is helping me with my kids
when I practice and travel.  She
also cooks dinners and cleans
up all the time.  I wouldn't have
been able to do this without her
help! 

One thing I've done is take each
of my boys  on a trip with our
team when we had an out of
town series.

Jake went with me to Chicago and
Luke went with me to LSU.  Drew
is traveling with me next week to
Ohio. 

Here are some photos from our
summer so far:

From Oklahoma City

I'm in Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series. This is my 2nd year doing Radio for NCAA and Dial Global Sports. I have really enjoyed being a color analyst for both ESPN & radio. I get to talk about a sport that consumed my life for over 20 years. It's fun to share my insight for the game. Oklahoma & Alabama are playing tonight for the National Championship. They have played 2 games so far, each team won once. Both teams are very talented. Both have stellar pitching, speed & power in their line-ups, & great coaching. I have been able to spend some time with the Oklahoma Coach, Patty Gasso, and her husband, Jim. I have been inspired by their faith in the Lord and how this team has been striving to glorify God in their play. It is a true testimony to how God works in us and then through us when we seek to know Him more. I know tonight's game will be a battle. I also know that God's will is going to be done. I just pray that people will see the light of the Lord in the lives of the athletes on the field who love Him and are playing for an audience of ONE. The crowds have been awesome! Last night there were 8,385 fans in attendance- The only other games with that type of crowd was when the Olympics were in Atlanta and We won the first ever Olympic Gold Medal for the sport of Softball!