Xavier Turns 14!!

We spent the Friday before Xavier's birthday celebrating together as a family.  He requested Mexican for lunch and everyone enjoyed that treat.

We did have a little shopping to do and ran to TJ Maxx and Five Below.  

We just had a good time with no real agenda.

I realized that it was Sonic happy hour when we got done shopping so we went through the drive through and everyone got to pick a drink.  The kids have never done Sonic drinks before (food dye) so this was a new experience.  We just relaxed and let them choose something - some loved theirs and some traded.

Xavier had requested Main Street Donuts, so we hit that next and everyone got a snack.

Next up we wandered the (sadly depleted) mall and waited for mini golf to open up.  

Evie made a plan at Claire's.  This girl...

It was a hot sticky day so indoor mini golf was a winning activity.

After golf, I quick ran through the grocery store and we headed home.  I worked on supper and Mike and Xavier went to friends' house to buy his new to him birthday bass guitar.

We had supper and sang to the birthday boy.

One last gift.

On Sunday early Mike and Natalee took off for a mission trip.  I invited our families up to have lunch to celebrate Xavier.  My folks were able to join us and we had pizza and Grandma brought desserts.

Monday was Xavier's actual birthday.  He attended an applied technology camp on campus so he and I were up early to have a yummy birthday breakfast before he left.

He requested bacon, eggs, and biscuits and gravy.

A new belt before he headed out.

Xavier had a great morning at camp and then had leftover pizza for lunch and fresh banana cookies.

We took Jace a happy birthday plate of cookies and then zipped over to the DMV to take the permit test.

Waiting on brother....

He answered the first 20 questions correctly which is a pass, so he finished quickly.

Congrats, Xavier.

We spent the afternoon at the pond with friends and then had tacos for supper.  Xavier took me for a cruise before bed and did a fine job!

Happy happy birthday, Xavier.  We are so proud of you and love you very much!

Zayden's Baseball Season

Zayden had a wonderful 2024 spring baseball season.  We made a hard (hard for mom!) decision to move Zayden up from machine pitch to kid pitch to keep him with his school (grade) peers and it turned out to be a wonderful decision for him.  Zayden held his own and surpassed our expectations both in the game and as a teammate and friend.

April 22nd - a late night game to start off the season.

Zayden played the team his cousin, Rogan, is on.

April 25th - crushing it at catcher in Eddyville.

And trying his hand at pitching.

Slugger...

Getting outs behind the plate!!

April 29th 

Catching - he doesn't let much get by him.

Isn't the sky beautiful?

May 1st

Zayden took his turn sitting on the bench, but also played a lot of pitcher, catcher, and occasionally 1st base and shortstop.  Positions where he's forced to pay attention work very well for his brain.

May 8th

A little collection of the game....coming in, pitching, batting, an out at 1st....and my favorite - pointing way out to the outfield where he wants his ball to soar to.

This particular inning was a great one for Zayden on the mound.  He shut down an inning.

May 15th

Grandma and Papa came to watch!

And treated to ice cream!

May 20th

May 22nd

On the mound...

Played against some buddies on this night and snagged a picture with one of them.  Same #s!

May 30th

Xavier was a big asset to Zayden's team this season.  He gave pointers, made sure they were ready to go out, helped them warm up, and offered encouragement.  He really took the disappointment of his own season getting canceled and turned it into the best thing he could (and he signed up to play church sb for the summer).

June 3rd

June 5th

June 10th

A tough and exciting battle in our single elimination tournament and our team ultimately came up short, but what a season!!

So proud of you, buddy.  Zayden was offered a position on the All-Stars team - quite an accomplishment as one of the youngest players in his league.  Because of vacation and church camp plans he would have missed a lot of the action, so we decided to give his spot to another kiddo who would be able to serve the team better.  Regardless, a great season of hustle!