The Seven of Us

Add caption Kenna's softball team rocked this summer!   Although they weren't flashy, they were solid.  Actually, Kenna was a little flashy in one of her tournament games. She hit a grand slam!  And her team was solid enough to win the league title, defeating both Yuma and Ogallala twice.  They were wilted warriors, since they played their tourney during the hottest week of the summer.  I guess the 108* weather just energized them! 

Corbin turned five on November 7.  In some ways five years is a long time:  Time enough to wake up with a restless baby upwards of  three times per night for more than 600 nights; time enough to buy endless diapers & wipes, time enough to listen to a baby scream during every single car trip for an entire year.  In other ways, five years isn't quite enough time:  Not enough time to keep a child close; to teach the gospel; to hear a genuine child's laugh; to foster a sense of self strong enough to weather the world for another ninety years.  It's not enough time to sit close and read together, to watch a child form first letters and numbers, or to listen to a gazillion sincere questions asked with a child's innocence and excitement.    Five years is too many years to capture with the written word.   We celebrated his birthday two or three ways:  At home, where he (hurriedly) opened a few books and a dart...

The following is a facebook post from one of my high school friends:  "I wish my moderate Republican friends would simply be honest. They all say they're voting for Romney because of his economic policies (tenuous and ill-formed as they are), and that they disagree with him on gay rights. Fine. Then look me in the eye, speak with a level clear voice, and say, "My taxes and take-home pay mean more than your fundamental civil rights, the sanctity of your marriage, your right to visit an ailing spouse in the hospital, your dignity as a citizen of this country, your healthcare, your right to inherit, the mental welfare and emotional well-being of your youth, and your very personhood." It's like voting for George Wallace during the Civil Rights movements, and apologizing for his racism. You're still complicit. You're still perpetuating anti-gay legislation and cultural homophobia. You don't get to walk away clean, because you say you "disagree"...

It's been so long since I've blogged that I  forgot about this post. These photos were taken toward the end of summer and are representative of a couple of things Ike and Kenna did often. Kenna really loved playing "Ghost in the Graveyard" (a type of hide-and-seek) with her friends.  It was normal for a group of about 10-12 kids to play as often as 3 times a week this summer! (She wasn't happy that she only got to play about once a week.)  The last time everyone played, her friends Riley & Dawson joined the group.  (They live out of town, so that was kind of special.) Playing around with the Kurtzer kids.  This was in early August--notice Isaac's baseball-bat wound.

1.  Since my last post, we've celebrated a birthday (Caleb's), hit a deer on the highway (Havilah-while visiting teaching. She was the passenger.), survived another football season uninjured, stayed up too late too often (homework, church night, game nights), vacuumed the area rug in the living room more than 125 times, used about 170 lbs. of dog food, attended 2 homecoming dances (Taylor, with Quincy), watched more than 12 high school volleyball games and several jr. high games. 2.  Inorganic chemistry isn't much more interesting than it was 21 years ago.  I thought Haxtun might hold some magic that Hadley-Luzerne didn't, but so far I am truly disappointed.  And while my teacher is a nice guy, he doesn't hold a candle to Mrs. Kathy LaBombard, who finally figured out how to quiet a class of sixteen year-olds by breaking down in tears after trying--and failing--to explain a concept three times in a row.  Poor lady.   I hold out ho...

Caleb played on 3 different baseball teams this summer: his normal border league team, a legion team, and a border league all-star team.  His all-star team did really well; they were just the 3rd team in over 10 years to win the Colorado Ste Tournament and progress to the Babe Ruth Midwestern Plains Regional Tournament.  Below are some pictures of them at their first tournament, which was the weekend of July 20.  The boys were really excited to win the championship.  This was Caleb's dream for years.  He had tears in his eyes when they won. (Notice he's holding the plaque.) The team was made up of kids from Haxtun, Holyoke, Sedgewick, and Chappell.  Some of Caleb'sbest friends on the team are Gunnar Kroeger and  Cole McKinley.  Coaches were Scotty Heath and Kyle Pocock.  Caleb was especially excited to have Scotty coach since he's had him as an ump for years and has a lot of respect for the work he does behind the plate...

So...I thought it'd be good if I finished telling about Jimmer's wedding. "Part I" was about the temple portion of the wedding.  This section will cover the reception.  Part III will cover the end of our trip.    (There were no cameras allowed at the reception, so  I only have the two photos I bought from the professional photographer. At $10 per photo, they were expensive, but you'll see why I bought them later. And I still haven't scanned them. That's on the agenda, but I'm posting this anyway.  I'll add the photos when I post part III.) Jimmer and Whitney had their reception at the Cherry Hills Country Club.  I'm not sure if Whitney's family has a membership there or if they rented it.  It's well-known in Denver.  It's also very expensive: memberships run from $40-95,0000 per year. (I went online to find out their rules...as in, "Can my crazy kids come to this event?" And while online, I read about memberships....