Baseball Dave

Davis recently finished his first year of any organized sport. He has been the first of our children to brave sports and he has set the trend. Shortly after the season started the girls where wishing they had signed up for softball. It was mostly the treats after the game that they wanted but I'll take it. Jack is excited for t-ball next year and Luke would not leave the helmets and bats alone. Davis struggled the first part of the year but we put a lot of work in and by the end of the season he was batting first and playing catcher.

What great form. Tony Pena eat your heart out.
Look at that stance. Back elbow up, feat spread, and legs loose ready to drive the ball.

Back foot down, hands through the zone rolling his wrists, and driving with his hips...an all star in the making. So what if his eyes are closed. The really good ones do that all the time.

I would like to say these next four pics are of Davis going through the motions in his mind of fielding the ball and throwing it over to first from deep in the hole at shortstop but he was actually dancing around in between batters. :( It sure makes for a good laugh for the coaches when one of the Dads is yelling from behind the fence, "Davis! Stop dancing and pay attention!"

It kind of looks like he is ice skating.

He's getting ready for his lift off prior to the triple lutz.

and the tuck is marvelous! He stuck it! It's gold for Wolfley!

Next season we work on the throw from third to first and the triple toe loop.

Helvetia Half Marathon

It's over. We did it. So what if it took us 2:21 to finish. We ran the whole way and did not toss our cookies. Sid and I have been training for the Helvetia Half Marathon for the last couple months and it all came together yesterday on a beautiful Saturday morning on the country roads outside Portland with 5000 strangers. We had never done anything longer than a 5K before so this was a bit of a leap for us. It's safe to say that our long distance running career is over. The side affects of a race of that length on our bodies is not worth the time it requires to train for it. Maybe later in life when we have nothing better to do on Saturdays.

A picture of the happy couple after they crossed the finish line.

Addison was the assistant photographer for the day. Thanks to Aunt Meg for bringing the girls and Lukey to the finish line. It was really nice to have some familiar faces to greet us.

Lucas went a little overboard with the Jamba Juice. He's not used to the hardcore commercial smoothies.

Happy Birthday Lucas Daniel

Our baby is not a baby so much anymore! Lukey is now a big whoppin 2 years old. He believes he is older and acts as if he can do anything the older boys can do. He did get to go out with his grandparents to shopping and lunch. That is a pretty big boy thing to do. We had a low key family party and this was the extent of our decorations. I guess I need to stock up for the many birthdays to come in 2010! Luke loves to go to Davis' baseball games and the whole time he is there he spends playing with the bats and wearing the helmets! When he is at home he tells me at least 4 times a day that he wants to go to baseball practice. So we got him his own baseball gear and he we so excited! He wears it around everywhere even though he can barely hold his head up in it! Ammie feeding the birthday boy! (the one in the hat) The dish duty clean up guy that did nonstop dishes all day long! Here are all the party animals! We had quite the party, can you tell?

Cousins

Our cousins just moved to a far away place called Kansas. We were lucky enough to spend the last night with them having dinner and sitting around singing and playing. Aunt Meg brought her guitar and played a song that she played and sang at our family reunion last summer. (It started the tears)

Here is Beach Bum and Mario age 6

Also Brittney, Jeanette and Eleanor (the chippettes)

Here is the whole gang all together! We sure miss our cousins! It just isn't the same without the mass chaos when we are all together! We have a lot of good memories with them and wish them the best in their new home! We love you Allen Family!

Kennedy, Addison, MaKenna,

Luke, Davis, Samuel, Nathan, Claire, Matthew
Jackson

Blue Claws Baseball

So we have a child playing an organized sport! We haven't had any of our kids playing anything. I think it is because they were just young and our oldest two lack interest in playing. So when Davis agreed to play we were excited. We decided to go with Columbia Little League instead of Parks and Rec. We were told he was going to need to tryout! I have to admit I was nervous for him! It all went well and he was put on the Blue Claws team. I think he is the youngest team member and one of the few who have never played before. The coaches are pretty serious and they have really taught them a lot. Davis has improved so much over these past couple weeks and most importantly he LOVES it!

Notice the ball just to the left of the red chair? He was a little late on his swing in this picture.

He is so tiny and so skinny! I promise we feed him!

The coaches require him to wear a cup! He has spent many innings in outfield punching his cup because.....he can?
There is something that just warms your heart when you see your kids accomplishing something they love and also watching them improve. Davis had one game that he struck out several times in a row. He slowly walked off the field, sat on the bench and put his head down but couldn't keep the tears back. Daniel went and put his arms around him and told him that it is OK because his mom just struck out in her softball game the night before. We took the pitching machine home and went to the park a few times during the following week and now he is hitting like a champ! He is so funny, full of laughter, energy, and excitement. He is a wonderful boy and I am glad he is ours.