Baseball Update 06/25/08

2008 Nationals

(Kenny is in the bottom row, middle)

First off--way to go FSU! But as exciting as that game was, it couldn't hold a candle to Kenny's quarterfinal game today. The teams went back and forth for 5 innings, until Kenny's Nats finally pulled it out in the bottom of the 5th, scoring 2 runs to win 13-11. The game started off a little slow as the Nats pulled out to a slim 1-0 lead after the first and were losing 3-1 after the 2nd. That was when the ball got rolling. We thought we had the game in hand after we scored 5 runs in the 3rd and were up 6-3, but the opposition stepped up to the plate and blasted 4 runs in the top of the 4th to go up 7-6. Kenny helped his team go up 11-7 in the bottom of the fourth as he got a single, but they couldn't keep the lead and went into the bottom of the 5th and final inning tied 11-11. However, the team didn't choke. The first two batters of the inning got on base with singles setting up the league's most dominant hitter--first baseman Dylan. He crushed a double into centerfield, knocking in the winning run, and sending the Nats to the semifinals. The game will be played Saturday and I will keep you all updated. Kenny played shortstop most of the game, had one assist, one error (we won't focus on that one too much as it was a wicked bounce), and two hits--a double and a single.

Ana in New York

I have to admit--I'm not the best when it comes to giving gifts. As many of you know, if I draw your name for Christmas, you usually don't see a present until Easter! But this year I decided to go out of the way for Ana and, for Mother's Day, I bought her a ticket to New York. With her Mom now living there along with her best friends and cousins, I thought she would have a great time. Well she's been there a week and apparently I finally got it right. While she has missed me and the kids, I believe she has had a great time visiting with everyone. She has gone to all the major stores including those on 5th Ave., the giant toy store where they filmed the movie Big, Macys (which she says is two full-city blocks), and Victoria Secrets (no complaints here.) Since some of her friends live in New Jersey, she also went there. She comes home on Thursday and hopefully will bring some pictures back with her that I can post on here.

Celtic Storm

Vanessa made Celtic Storm! Most of you are not familiar with the Storm, so let me give you a little background. Celtic is the top-ranked female soccer club in the state of Utah and one of the most highly respected clubs in the nation. During the last 4 years, the Storm has sent an average of 20 players a year on to Div. 1 college programs and have one former player, Katie Larkin, who currently starts for the U.S. National U-23 Women's Team. Vanessa was extremely excited when she heard the news. This was the first time she had tried out for the team and she was nervous, so when she received the phone call from Coach Blake she immediately called me at work and hasn't stopped talking about it. Good job, Ness!

End of School

Allright, so a lot of time has passed since my last entry and a lot of things have happened during that time. Probably the one thing that makes the kids the happiest is the end of another school year. But I have to say that I was very proud of the kids' academic achievements this past year--starting with Frisco. Throughout the entire year he had all A's with three A-'s. He was also awarded the "Greatest Kid" award for his class. Not too far behind was Kenny. Their school does not start to give letter grades until the third grade so I can't really say what his grades were, but he was awarded the Top Academic Achiever for his class--and he didn't get suspended even once all year! Vanessa also did a great job--especially with her busy schedule. She maintained a 3.5 GPA for the year, played soccer, ran track, and served as the Beehive president. She was also voted the "shortest girl in 7th grade."
Now I probably took this to an extreme and am bragging a little bit, but I want my kids to know how much I love them and how proud I am of them. Love you guys!