And now for more fun pics

As Laura has said, baseball is in full swing. Brad and Connie are playing for the local little leaque and Amy is playing tournament ball. Connie's first game gave me a little scare. She hit the ball ok but she didn't care for those other players to be standing on the bases as she was running. She she did what any kid would do...she pushed them off! And I don't mean she lightly pushed them off...she ran at them with her arms stretched out and palms up and just basically ran straight into them! Boy they were surprised! It just didn't occur to me that I should have told her that in practice there is no one standing at the bases, but there will be during the games. Now that we have a few games under our belt, she is better. Then the other night at a game she ran up to second base and when the baseman wasn't anywhere around she left her base to go tell him that he should be over there watching the base. It was too far to get a good picture, but she was standing there with her hands on her hips telling him all about it. Of course, we have to keep in mind that she does not particularly care for the part of the game where she is in the field. She spends that time flirting with her coaches, picking flowers or just dancing around singing. So I am not sure where she gets the authority to tell anyone how to play. But she is having so much fun! And that makes it all worth the effort...(just remember that our Connie is always the clown, so I hardly ever get pretty pictures, but they all make me smile)




And I actually have a few pics of Brad playing too....

Thesnthe bottom fell out...

Not long after the Lexington trip, I got the call that I have been dreading for months...well, actually years. Dad had just been here for 3 weeks in February but reluctantly I had to send him home to see if they would be able to give him his chemo treatment in California. We were so trying to get something worked out so he could stay with us but the stars just weren't lining up for us. Anyway, his girlfriend called on Sunday, March 15th, and said that he was not doing well at all. So, off I went to California to spend what was the worst and yet somehow the best 10 days I have ever spent with my Dad. I am still not even close to be able to deal with it, and I am not sure I will ever be able/willing to deal with the loss. I knew as soon as I picked him up at the airport in February that his time on earth was much shorter than I was ready for. We had known that he wouldn't survive his cancer, but there is never enough time to spend with the ones that you love. He passed on March 23rd and I still have not been able to organize a memorial service for his friends and family on this side of the country. That just seems to final and I'm not ready.

He made peace with himself in those last days and that is all we can ever hope for someone. He accepts Jesus into his heart and finally felt that he would be forgiven for his sins and that Jesus would take him home. That process was a miracle in itself and I truly feel blessed to have witnessed his journey to forgiveness.

Anyway, I made a memorial site if anyone is interested...http://memorialwebsites.legacy.com/alanross/homepage.aspx

The site has been good for me to have a virtual place to see his pictures. I can't take down his picture on our refrigerator, but I can't look at it either. Somehow on the internet, it doesn't seem so sad.

So my words for today....give everyone you love a hug, a kiss and a prayer every day because you just don't know how many days we have.

The boys trip to the USS Lexington

I really hadn't realized how long it has been since I have posted here. I guess there goes another New Year's Resolution down the tubes.

Anyway, back in early March, Jeff and Brad went with our Cub Scouts and spent the night on the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi. They said it was loads of fun...and I agreed that it probably was...for them. The girls and I stayed home and just spent some time painting fingernails, doing hair and watching movies. Yes, folks, that's my idea of fun. So here are some pictures...