School's In

Here are some pictures from the first day of school. This year the triplets are in Mrs. Timothy's 5th grade class and Jake is in Mrs. Graham's 3rd grade class. Every year our neighbor Kirsten hosts a neighborhood breakfast where everyone gathers before walking over to the school. It is fun but the kids are usually so excited that they don't eat breakfast. Next year we will have to have a pre-breakfast.

Claire, Miss J., Miss O., Miss B., Kate, Mr. N., and Matthew. The neighborhood 5th graders.


Mr. L. and Jake. Best friends. (Wow L. is tall!)

Miss. O., Kate, Miss C., Claire, and Miss E.

?, Mr. C., Mr. P., Mr. E., Matthew, Mr. H., and Mr. P.

The flag ceremony

***Note, I know my method of naming people in pictures might be a little annoying but because I don't have permission from their parents to post their pictures or their names I feel an obligation to not give their full name. You might say, why list them at all? Since this is really a family journal I hope that when we look back at the pictures in 25 years it will help us to remember their names.

State Champs! #2

Matthew's all-star/superleague baseball team has had a great year! They also won the State All-Star Championship. Which means they get to go to California to play in a big regional tournament. These boys did such a great job. They were undefeated through the All-Star season and really played incredibly. I must say that having your son pitch in the final innings of a VERY CLOSE championship game is NOT one of my favorite things to have to go through. I would have taken pictures of the game but my camera is jinxed. Whenever I get it out to take pictures the team makes big mistakes. Here is the team picture and some of the post-win activities.

Also, I want to thank all of our awesome coaches, Rick, Mark, Matt, Dave, and Larry. We couldn't ask for any better. Their knowledge of baseball, coaching, and kids is fantastic. Baseball is my favorite parent sport. We have such great families on our team and I am so grateful for that.

California here we come!

One of Matthew's rare smiles.

Again one of the lamest trophies ever made. I guess that isn't what matters though right?

Coach Vance getting the soak.
Some of the kids got mohawks. I think the clippers eventually broke.

State Champs!

Well Jake's All Star team did it! They won a double header last night and are the Pinto Pony State Champions! It was such a great game and all of the boys hit and fielded well. We were a little nervous because the team we were playing had previously scored 51 runs in another game. Wow! Jake played exceptionally well. I wish you all could have seen his nearly perfect fielding at short stop, his awesome base running (he is really fast and can usually stretch a double into a triple), and fantastic lead off hitting. I think he has the best batting average on the team. We are so proud of him and his team! I must be proud because I NEVER brag this much but they WERE awesome! Matthew's championship game is tonight so hopefully we will have the same result.

Jake's team


Jake getting his trophy. (Quite possibly the whimpiest trophies ever but oh well.)

Amanda, Jake, and Matt

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

It is the end of July and we are so lucky to still be playing baseball at our house. Both Jake and Matthew's all-star teams are playing for the State Championship. Jake plays tonight and Matthew tomorrow night. I am so proud of them! I really love watching them play and love the community of families on both teams. Thanks to all the coaches (my husband included) for taking many hours out of their busy lives to coach these boys!

Matthew



Jake



Go Olympus!

The 40 Hour Project

This is what dominated my life for a solid 5 days after trek. It was such a fun thing to be able to do. This is the slide show that we showed at the trek fireside and every participant got a copy of it also. It is kind of long so I will not be offended if you don't watch.

valley view stake pioneer trek 2010 from amanda lewis on Vimeo.

Also for those who participated, (or if you didn't and just want to see more photos) you can view and download the image files here.

I'm Home...

...and Pioneer Trek was INCREDIBLE!

Trekking

Tomorrow morning I leave to go on Pioneer Trek with the youth in our neighborhood. This will be my fourth time on Trek and I am looking forward to it. Honestly I am a little nervous about my physical ability this time around. Luckily I am the official Trek Photographer and won't have to pull a handcart. I just have to schlep 20 pounds of camera gear on my back. Wish me luck and also Matt who will be home with the kids. He claims he will have everyone and the house whipped into shape. (I'm not sure how I should take that but kudos to him if he can.)