Little Firefighters

Last week one evening we headed down to Mike's firestation to check things out. The boys have been wanting to go see his station for a while, so we made the trip to Rancho Cordova to see everything. His station has a fire boat because it is on the river. The kids thought it was very cool. Mike took them for a ride in the big fire truck, let them squirt the hoses, showed them all the gadgets on the different trucks, and gave them a tour of the fire house. The kids loved it and Andrew was especially excited when Mike came to his school on Friday and did a presentation about firefighting. He had made a video with pictures of our visit. Andrew was beaming after school when he told us that his friends all yelled, "hey, that's Andrew V" during the movie. Thanks Mike for a fun visit!!!

A HUME weekend with the Girls

Oh how I have missed Hume Lake....6 girls headed up this past Friday for our first ever women's retreat. It was different to be there and not be with highschoolers, but it was a glorious time. God's beauty never ceases to amaze me up there and it is so refreshing to truly "get away." Our group consisted of...my sister Toni, Christina, Melanie, Hannah, and Jessica. We all came together in a random way, but we had a blast together and shared many times of laughter. We were filled with worship, messages, and talks about God's grace in our lives. Friday night the snow started and it was perfect. Everything was beautiful and we had a great time playing in the freshly fallen snow. Saturday we enjoyed some meetings, a hike through freshly fallen snow, the screamer, quiet times, delicious food, and a picture perfect landscape. Sunday we woke to more snow and discovered we were only getting down the mountain with chains (which we didn't have). After much help from the Hume staff, they found us a pair of chains which we only had to pay $25 for, they put them on for us, and we started our trek down the mountain. Toni drove like a champ and the camp had men along the way to make sure we were safe and to help with chains. We were more than taken care of. It was so fun to be back at Hume and it made me very excited for our 2 week vacation there this summer as a family. I treasure this time I got to spend with some amazing girls and escape life down the mountain. Andy had a great weekend with the kids and he did so many fun things with them. He is a great daddy and husband and he helped make this weekend possible for me. I can't wait to head up the mountain next year with some girls to be refreshed and enjoy God's beautiful creation!

Game Ball Kid...

Although it's been a rainy start to baseball season, Andrew has been loving it and is making huge progress with his skills. He is very fun to watch. Last week Andy and I were in Southern California for a memorial service. Grandpa and grandma were with the kids and took Andrew to his game. Grandma was sending me texts the whole time about how well Andrew was doing. He got 3 out of 4 hits and played awesome at pitcher and first base. It was the first game they gave out a game ball and guess who got it....our Andrew!!! He was very excited about it and wanted to surprise us when we got home. Of course grandma and grandpa were so excited they secretly let us know. When Andrew woke up in the morning and we were home the first thing he said was, "I got the game ball." His face was beaming!!! We are so proud of him and all his hard work. This is his third year of baseball and I think I have only missed a few games, but every year I have always missed the game when he gets the game ball. At least I know my boy plays hard even when I'm not there yelling and cheering for him.
We are so proud of you Andrew...you are a great team player and we love to watch how hard you work out on the field!!!

Allie gets her Hair Done

Last Monday TT had Allie and I at her salon to do our hair. This was Allie's first big haircut at the salon. She brought her babies and played with them while mommy got her hair done. Allie then got to get her hair washed in the big sink and sit in TT's big chair for a haircut. She thought she was quite the princess. Her little "bob" haircut is adorable. She may have this cut for a while since her hair grows very slowly and very uneven. She looks ADORABLE!!!

Opening Day of BASEBALL!!!

Our little guy started baseball season this weekend. It was a beautiful Saturday to spend out at the baseball field. We headed out at 10 for Opening Ceremonies. Andrew did a great job running in with his team, THE PIRATES!! After the ceremonies we watched the first game, which was between to teams out of our Champions league. This is a league for children with special needs. The kids were very excited to watch, especially Andrew. It was wonderful to watch and see the older baseball players from our league buddy up with the Champions to help them play a game. After their game Andrew got warmed up for his game. He moved to the next division up this year, so I feel like we play with the big boys. It's 3 strikes your out now and everyone doesn't get to bat each inning. IT will take a bit of adjusting after being in the t-ball league for 2 years, but Andrew is ready for the challenge. He was the centerfielder and 3rd baseman for his team. Both times up to bat he got a hit. He was out at first base each time, but we were so proud of him making contact with the ball. It was faster pitching than he is used to, so he did great. We are excited for this new season and Andrew is part of a great team!! GO PIRATES!!!

Luke's Artwork

Just one of Luke's daily drawings. This one happened to be for Allie. He copied it from a book we have, but Andy and I still got a laugh out of it. I guess he really wants his sister to know that being a five year old isn't so easy! I love his little crafty side!