20 Year Anniversary

 The hands tell the story maybe better than we ever could…

20 years of…

…holding each other

…jostling babies

…packing and unpacking boxes

…fixing cars and houses and bikes and toys

…budgeting and growing

…gripping the sides of hospital beds

…folding in prayer

…letting go of what wasn’t ours to keep forever

…maturing and aging

…raising arrows to release to adulthood

…loving

The hands are older now. They are callused and freckled and a little wrinkly in places. The world would say wiser…and, while we cannot confirm that, we can definitely say “experienced.” These hands have experienced loss, fear, pain…and so much more joy than we deserve. These hands have clasped together in funerals and hospitals and hard places…and cheered together at ball games and concerts and joyful events.

What a ride.

Cheers to the next 20, Mr. Beeler, and however many more the Lord blesses us with.

2025

2005

A few weeks before our anniversary we took our rings to the jeweler. Mike had worn through his band and it need fixed. My ring needed sized (IYKYK). The afternoon of our anniversary we went to pick those up. We also chose an anniversary ring for me and upgraded Mike's smoking and grilling capabilities (a win for us all).

Thanks to Jess for keeping our crew that afternoon so we could get a moment together.

Happy Birthday, Xavier!!

Xavier celebrated turning 15 today and I think it was a great day!

He started his day by taking the driving portion of his school permit test and passing!  

For the next year Xavier can drive to work and school/allowable school activities (HSAP classes, etc.) without an adult.  After completing the year without violations he'll be ready for his intermediate license at 16.

After his test it was back to home for hootenanny (oven pancake) and bacon.

And a couple of gifts...

He spent the rest of the morning relaxing and reading, then we had tacos for lunch with dirt cake for dessert.

He opened some gifts from family that came in the mail and one last one from Dad and I...he has a new bike on the way but it won't be here until Saturday.

A new tool belt....which made Mom a little nostalgic.

He's a very loved young man.

Xavier played some video games, pitched some balls to his brother, and read a bit more to pass the day, before we headed to youth group.

We have the best youth pastor who heartily agreed when we asked if we could bring pizza to celebrate the birthday when we saw that youth group was scheduled for tonight.  We were hoping to celebrate Jace, too, but he had a band event, so the teens sent him a lovely video singing happy birthday.

We slung pizza, chips, and ice cream and then Pastor Shawn had a couple of really fun games for youth.  There were several friends gone who were missed, but summer is just hard, and I would say overall it was a really great night.

Back in the day, our youth pastor and his wife were such positive influences to "young Mike and Jenn." In fact, almost (tomorrow) 20 years ago our youth pastor married us.   

We are so very thankful for those who help us pour into our kids.

Loved this moment....because we crashed the youth event Mia and Zayden played the games.  In this round Zayden was the only man standing on his side versus a LOT of teens still standing on the other side.  He held his own really well for quite a while!  Nothing like a mom watching her 9 year old take on a group of teens solo to make the heart pump---all in good fun. 💓

We came home and Xavier admired a new survival kit from some friends and played a game of Telestrations before heading to clean up and call it a night.

All in all, I think Xavier did turning 15 up just right!

Xabe, you are a blessing to us.  You shoulder a lot of responsibility and execute it very well.  You love working hard, playing hard, and living hard.  You see the big picture, are a good friend, a good brother, and a good son.  We are thankful for you.  Cheers to another year, Bud!

Don't Blink... {On Little Boys Growing Up}

Time....both a thief and a gift.

I could put so many little cheesy sayings in this post....about how we shouldn't blink, and that the days are long but the years are short.  

Nothing helps you understand these things when you are in the thick of raising your first little ones and you're just trying to care for them emotionally and physically and spiritually....you just can't really "get" it, I'm convinced, until you live it.  What a gift our oldest children are to us...the ones who helped raise us into parents.

Young parents....you're doing it.  I'm cheering you on.  There's nothing I can say that will make the tantrums feel any less significant or the sicknesses any less scary.  I wish that I had done better at letting the small stuff be small stuff and enjoying the little moments.  However, just....well, golly, hold on tight.  It really does go so fast.

Xavier - December 2014 (age 4 1/2)

Xavier - June 2025 (age 15)

A new toolbelt for his birthday....but he still needs suspenders to keep it up. :)

Zayden's Little League Baseball Season 2025 {Minors}

Zayden played minors little league this spring and had a wonderful season.  He had a fantastic coach (the same coach he had 2 years ago on rookies), and had a real growing year in the game.  His intuitiveness for the game really came through this year and he became a real competitor.  More importantly we were pleased to watch his sportsmanship grow and to witness him being an uplifting teammate.

Zayden pitched a fair amount this season (nerve-wracking for mom)...

He did a good job on the mound and was eager to heed the advice of his coaches to improve his skill.

His coach did an excellent job of moving the kids around, so he also played the other positions a bit and took his turn on the bench when necessary.

He caught flies when they came his way and seemed to always be aware of the where the play should be.

This was a fun night....he made a triple play....I got teary even, not because of what he'd done, but because when your kid struggles with focus and can know exactly what to do in a split second it feels like such a win.

{They did not call the out at first to make it an official triple play, because when the runner returned to first he stepped on the orange bag and the ump reversed the call and called him safe.  After reviewing the rules, we think he should have indeed been called out, but either way, I loved watching it unfold.}

Zayden caught quite a bit (my favorite spot to watch him)...

Man, he's fun to watch behind the plate.  He's quick and unafraid to dive, jump, and twist to make the catch.  He loves to hustle to get incoming runners out, too.

I missed getting the actual video at the beginning but you can hear the ump call the runner out when Zayden got the tag...

Zayden had a great season at bat, too.  He rarely struck out, took the occasional walk, but mostly tried to make contact, even when the ball was a little high (wink).

It was an excellent season, in large part due to excellent coaching.  We also had friends on our team this year which was so fun for us.  Last year we didn't really know any of his teammates.  The games sure fly faster when you have buddies, and it's so nice to have friends to help with practices and getting to games early.

Xavier helped with practices and games when he could.

Coach Rossi had them all sign game balls and everyone got to take one home.  Zayden loved this!