Welcome to Leetown United Methodist Church!

This morning Cierra was confirmed into the 'global' United Methodist ministries and she became a member of our 'lil brick church on the hill'. It was a beautiful service where not only Cierra, but her family and members of the congregation took the oath to always be there for her as she continues to grow in both age and faith. She received several gifts as well as a reception after church with cake and punch. We are very proud of Cierra!

Tomorrow is the big day...

For the past three months Cierra has been attending bi-weekly classes to confirm her faith. Tomorrow she will be received into Leetown United Methodist Church. This journey has given her alot of adventure and experiences. They traveled to Washington, DC to tour the catacombs, The Shrine of Immaculate Conception and the National Cathedral. She also attended a Pre-Conference briefing in Hagerstown, Maryland. She has enjoyed the time with Pastor Joanna and Brianna who will also be confirmed tomorrow.
So, check back tomorrow for more on her special day!

Happy Birthday Ronnie!!

We hope you have a wonderful birthday and love you very much!

Bev, Britt, Cierra, Chase
J, Ash & Kayden

The FUTURE lies before you, like PATHS OF PURE WHITE snow. Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show.

It doesn't seem to matter if it is Preschool graduation, Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle or High school, each time we sit in the seats and watch one of our children walk to the front and receive their Certificate of Achievement, it makes me stop and think about all the days past. How can it really be that Chase will be moving on to middle school next year? Wasn't it just yesterday that he cried each morning when I left him at Preschool? Wasn't it just yesterday that his hair was bleached blonde? What about the days when Cierra and Brittany pushed him around in the stroller 'because they could'? The hours upon hours he spent watching Blues Clues, where did all that time go?!

Tonight was his 5th grade graduation. Of course, Brittany and Cierra were there. Ashley brought Kayden while J was playing baseball. The program was nice with a slideshow reflecting on "years past"showing a lot of the children from NJES throughout the past 6 years. The final song was Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" How fitting, I love that song!

Happy Memorial Day!

Fishin' Fools

From baseball to fishing in less than 60! Yes, that's true. Right in the parking lot, Hunter striped down from baseball uniform to fishing clothes and loaded up his gear.

These two started planning their 'fishing' adventure last week and that's all they talked about between games. (luckily it didn't affect their focus) On Friday they spent 7 hours at the ballfield, playing 2games and Sunday 12 hours, playing 3 games.



They were down at the pond until dark last night then watched 'youtube' for fishing tips. We heard the alarm going off this morning and they were ready to go again. Why can't they get up that easy for school :)

So off they go for another day of fishing!

Show Down in the Valley

Summit Point 12U does Rock!! This team went down to Winchester ready to play ball. After two days and 5 games, they walked away the Memorial Day Champions! Congratulations team and Coach Kenny, Tim and Tuck. The championship game was against a DC team with the final score being 14 - 3. Woo Hoo!

Since there weren't enough players for an 11U team this year, Chase had the opportunity to try out for the 12U team. He was picked up as an alternate for the Sunday Travel League however found out late last week that he would actually get to go to this tournament as a sub due to one of the players having a wrestling tournament. Chase was excited to say the least. He had minimal playing time but cheered the team on from the dugout. He was the 'courtesy runner' for the catcher and actually scored 5 runs without even hitting the ball LOL. He also was the catcher for a few innings due to our catcher being hurt. He had two 'at bats' with one good hit which resulted in an RBI.

Now practice this week and on to "Sunday Baseball". They will play a double header each weekend, alternating locations.

Like father; like daughter....all she needs are the glasses!

Forever "In Ink"....

Ronnie has been after me to put this together so I'm finally taking the time. You are either a fan of tattoos or you just don't like them and disagree with those that have them. There are even some that 'look down' on people who have tattoos. Well let me tell you, this family has some tattoos however each of them have meaning and weren't just 'spur of the moment' tattoos.

Britt and I each have one across our lower back and wrist. Rather suttle but meaningful. Ronnie has two as well; one on his wrist and one on his right (upper) arm. Jeremy wins the prize for our family of 'having the most'!!


Here's Britt's left wrist - "faith" - if you are familiar with our blog, you know where that came from.

here's my left wrist - again, if you know me this one makes sense..I truly believe in a lot of ways; you just have to know me.

ok, this one is Ronnie's favorite. He had that picture above his visor from vehicle to vehicle and it finally just wore out. He has always loved it so he decided that he wanted to preserve it forever. He had been planning this for some time without me knowing then got a call from his tattoo artist requesting that he have it done during one of the Tattoo Shows. So, he did just that. Fourteen hours later, and six hours of travel, he accomplished his goal. So, the inside joke now is that whenever I travel, I'm really still here. The kids can tell me good night and I'm always with him. While I wasn't a fan of having my face on his arm, the concept is really cool.

During our first visit to St. John, we purchased 'the Carribbean Hook Braclet' which has different meanings based on the position of the 'hook'. If the hook is facing towards you, you are taken; hook facing outward means you are available (for the record, Ronnie's is facing toward him lol). Ronnie isn't a fan of jewelry however he loved this 'fish hook' bracelet. So..he decided to have it tattooed on his arm. He can still wear his actual bracelet because if he chooses to he can wear his watch (a gift from me for our 10th anniversary) and it covers his left wrist. Another creative tattoo...

Brittany and I both got these on Jeremy's birthday a few years ago. For mine, the heart in the middle is for Brittany, the ladybug in the middle of the heart represents Cierra, the horseshoe hanging to the left of the heart is for Jeremy, the drops of water are for Chase (our Bay boy) and the hook on the right of the heart (which matches his bracelet) is for Ronnie.

Brittany has always been our 'heart' child. She draws hearts, signs her names with hearts and loves heart jewelry so it made perfect sense for her to have a heart tattooed on her lower back.

This one is across Jeremy's back. Hey it saves him from ever having to wear a jersey with his name on it!

Thoughts....

Ok, so I'm standing at the ballfield tonight - my toes are freezing (yes I had flip flops on but it is May people!), sweatshirt zipped up to my neck, hands in my pockets and I'm still cold. So...my thoughts wander to the forecast, it's supposed to get down to 35 degrees tonight!! Then I start wandering about warm weather, Memorial Day is a week away. Don't we go to baseball tournaments, sweating profusely? Aren't there usually family gatherings with swimming and outdoor parties on Memorial Day?! What's up with this weather?

So, the cold temperature takes me to warm weather which turns into summer which leads to vacations which sends me to St. John which then leads me to Kenny Chesney's new album being released at mid-night. Shew....I can't tell you what the score was but I had to dig this out and drool...



So here it is (I loved taking this picture)....Trunk Cay off the beach of Trunk Bay which is the ultimate snorkeling site. We can't wait for the kids to see the blue water and beautiful life 'under the sea'.

This will be our third visit so we thought it only fair to show the kids where we will be retiring to :) I don't know if they could ever be as excited as we are but once they experience the beautiful life on St. John, I think they just might be hooked, too. We're all set and counting down; passports are here (baby Kayden even has a passort), flights are booked and house is rented. Not that I'm wishing summer away but nights like tonight really make it easy to go to the island....

Out like a light -

Kayden's sleeping habits have definitely changed over the past month. She goes to bed around 8:00 and sleeps until 6:00 - could we ask for anything better?! We do pick on her and Mommy though, saying that she just can't hang with the big dogs.

I just had to take this picture with both of her little arms up beside her face...she is so cute!

Yummy....

Food, Fun, Friends and it was even Friday! We did have lots of fun with our 'hands on' food preparation. I think every had a good time - the bar was open so the guys even got all the leftovers!

p.s. just so everyone knows, purchasing pineapples will never be the same LOL

By a long shot...

On Mother's day Jeremy's horse "Bold Getaway" won at the Charles Town Races. Check out the lead....

The grand finale....

Today Ronnie chaperoned the final elementary field trip for our children; that's hard to believe. Chase's 5th grade class went to Antietam Recreation Park. The weather turned out to be nice enough for them to enjoy lots of activities outside....

The Annual Kyle Petty Charity Ride is underway...

Ronnie and I have always been fans of Kyle Petty and enjoyed talking with him when we were in Daytona this year. Unfortunately the 'ride' doesn't come close enough for us to experience this year but we still enjoy keeping up with their trail and we are following Kyle on Twitter where he provides pictures and commentary at each stop along the way (thanks John :-). As always, Dr. Thompson (Brittany's lifelong doctor)is with them as their 'dr. on board'. I dug in the archives and found these pictures from the last ride that came through our area.
All the guys with Nikki Taylor....
Britt with Dr. Thompson & Herschel Walker...
Brittany with Dr. Thompson, his son and daughter-in-law.
The "King" - Richard Petty with Britt...

Dr. Thompson - "The on-board Doctor"

There's no job more noble on this earth, than to care for those whom we've give birth.

I know they get tired of hearing it but I always say "there's no better feeling than to have all my children with me at once". Today I had that pleasure. Thanks for a wonderful Mother's Day J, Britt, Cierra, Chase, Ash & Kayden. I love you all very much!

a special Mother's Day..

Jeremy's horse, Bold Getaway was a winner today. Congratulations J! This will definitely be a Mother's Day you won't forget :-)

Happy Mother's Day to me....

I hope all you "Mom's" out there have a wonderful Mother's Day!

I am very blessed to have the greatest children (you too Ash) ever and a wonderful husband; life is good!

Happy Mother's Day to you too, GRANDMA! We hope you're having a great trip down south.

Happy 1st Mother's Day, Ashley! You're such a good Mommy!!

It's a "girl" thing.....

Ok here we are just hanging out with our 'cocktails', waiting for dinner....lots of fun planned for the weekend and hey, the campground even has it's own channel so we can keep up with where we need to be. It's all about "MOM" this weekend!!

Through a child's eyes....

Big hair, parachute pants, hippie fashion, too much jewelry..... Well, this is how Cierra thinks it was back in the 80's. I'm sure her school will be filled with lots of 'unique' 80's attire today!