Baseball Boys...

Our boys got the opportunity of a lifetime to go throw out the first pitch (pitches, actually) at a Midland Rockhounds baseball game! My parents own a business in Midland and were sponsors for the game that night, which included fireworks and a nice suite to watch the game in. Our whole family went, and Monica and her family came also, which made it extra fun. Our England cousins were still in the country, so decided to come over from New Mexico for the game as well as Diane and her family. SO FUN!!

I think Spencer likes his PawPaw...and vice versa. Actually, this is a very "posing" baby - he knows just when to grin for the camera - too cute.
We had to have some practice - Tyler hadn't thrown a baseball in a long time. He had actually improved A LOT since last fall - with no practice. Weird.

Nice form, Brady Boo! With Brady we had to work on which hand your glove goes on..that basics!

Luke and Megan will do anything to entertain Spencer - even stand on their heads.

VIP treatment for the boys going to the gate! They thought this was SO cool.

Rocky the Rock hounds mascot greeted us at the entrance

On the field with PawPaw waiting for time to throw out the pitch

This little baseball player was having the time of his life! He's always loved baseball - I have a feeling we'll be talking about this experience for a LONG time.
This was the craziest mascot thing I've ever seen....inflatable? It moved in really interesting ways. Brady couldn't stop giggling when it was around.

Headed out to the field....

First was Tyler - good strong throw but it kanked way to the right. The cutest was when he reacted by smacking his hands on his forehead....the crowd laughed with him...

Then it was Colby's turn (straight to the catcher's glove, by the way)...

Then little Boo threw this cute little pitch that ker-plunked just a few feet in front of him...but everyone clapped and laughed at his cuteness!

AWESOME!!!

Life in the Suite - there were a couple of couches, a kitchenette area and window bar stools. Tyler was MOST excited about the drink refrigerator that had all sorts of sodas and water bottles. "Look, Mom, it's all the drinks we could ever want...for FREE!" Not sure that it worked exactly like that, but it was nice!

Sweet Nonny and PawPaw

This is where Donny perched the whole game - nice inside seat, table for beverage and food placement and a spot to put his iphone so he could post on Facebook the whole game! he!
This was so sweet to watch - Brian took lots of time to explain the game of baseball to his daughter, Maisie - there really isn't any baseball in England. She LOVED it - declared that this was the BEST day of her life and by the 4th inning had declared that she was going to become a professional baseball player someday!
Maisie and Colby had fun cheering on the Rock Hounds together. Maisie LOVED her cap and foam finger!!

And if you get tired of watching the game, you can always go in the suite and enjoy listening to Luke's ipod if you want! Blessings!!

He is Risen!!!!

Easter is like my FAVORITE holiday to celebrate. Right there with Christmas. For about the same reason - Jesus came... for ME...He died...for ME...and He defeated satan...for ME! Great news, my friends. The best news ever heard or declared!

We are usually with family for Easter - typically with my family. This year we were all scattered in different places. It was a great weekend for every member of my family, though - Mom and Dad were able to be in Carlsbad, NM with Mom's sister and her family - it was the first time ALL of the Moss grandkids had been together in, well, forever. My Uncle Jim is battling cancer and their youngest son and his family had been in town from England so it was a very special time. Mom's other sister, Rose and her husband from Austin were also able to be there. I love it when we get to make special memories. Monica was with the Head family who always has a special Easter time together with LOTS and LOTS of other Head family members at Aric's family's farm. This year was extra special - in a good but painful way as it was the first Easter together since losing Aric's cousin, Tim Head, who was killed in a car accident on Christmas Eve. They were right where they needed to be, and I'm so thankful.

So, since my family was scattered around and I was singing in the worship choir all weekend at church, we decided to have a special Easter time with our Yowell "family"! We love them - God has been so good to give us friendship with their family - I would be lost without them!! Here's a little picture highlight of our fun time on Sunday at their place:
My handsome boys - yes, I just had them put on their same clothes that I bought last year...they still fit, so why buy new ones?? Boys don't care about that like I did when I was a girl - he! And I was NOT there when Colby put on those jeans with a big ol' HOLE in the knee...I would have at least had him put on non-holey jeans for Easter lunch!!

One of God's sweetest blessings in my life - my buddy Kim

These 4 have been best friends since BIRTH. Seriously. Colby is planning on marrying Brooklyn and we are fine with that.
Poor Cooper had a "procedure" done so had to wear "the cone of shame" to keep him from licking himself....probably TMI

Let the egg hunt begin!!!

We love to pull out our "Resurrection Eggs" every year - I had the kids help me tell the story of the last days of Christ's life on Earth. The last egg is everyone's favorite...it's EMPTY! Just like the grave!!


May the love of Christ dwell in your heart and in your mind - the tomb is empty! The enemy has been defeated!! Blessings -

Cousin Reunion...

Growing up I always had a very close relationship with my family - on both sides (all 3 to be exact, but that's another story...). I have sweet memories with my cousins - my parents were very intentional about family reunions, holidays together - and we LOVED it.

I have a cousin on my mom's side who lives with his family in England. They come back to America every other year for a visit and this past month was their time to come! We planned a cousin reunion weekend, and thankfully, it worked out to have it HERE! Cousin Diane and her crew (3 boys and super hubby Jimmy) arrived with the England bunch (Brian, Katrina, 2 girls and one little man) on Friday afternoon. We had a great time visiting and eating here together. They all stayed at our place which was a BLAST. I even had my first official "proper cup of tea" prepared by Brian and Katrina. It was quite lovely (if audio were included in a blog entry, that last sentence would have had a nice English accent.)

On Saturday, we headed out to the Stockyards to show the England bunch a little bit of Texas - you sure don't see a bunch of longhorns and cowboys going down many streets in England...

Then we were off to Colby's first baseball game - he thought it was pretty cool to have a whole row of fans cheering for him! More cousins arrived from Austin when we got home, so more visiting commenced! The girls took a trip over to Sam Moon's for some shopping and the guys went to Cabella's (or stayed home and played!). That night we went to eat at Kincaids then stayed up nice and late visiting some more.

Sunday the Carlsbad crew had to start their journey home while the rest of us went to late service at church then lunch. I loved time with my cousins. I loved time with their kids. I really loved watching my kids form relationships with my cousin's kids! May the blessing of family and the connection we have stay strong and continue from generation to generation.

Jimmy (my cousin, Diane's husband) loved holding baby Spencer. He scared him to death at their first meeting (Spencer looked at Jimmy and started bawling) but they became GREAT buddies very quickly! They both have these GREAT big blue eyes...

These kids had SO much fun upstairs...dress up, Nerf gun wars in the dark, who knows what all happened!! I really love that Maisie is wearing a lion costume that is meant for like a 2 year old...and she's 9 or 10 I think! ha!

We had our boys sleep in our room to free up the rest of the bedrooms and bathrooms in the house....Colby and Brady slept in my closet - they thought it was so cool to snuggle down in there!

Family basketball game before leaving for the Stockyards

THE COUSINS
Lynette, me, Brian, Donna, Monica and Diane

And these are all the cousins' KIDS!

Brian and Moni have always had a special cousin bond - he's one of our VERY favorite "cool older cousins".
Amanda (Brian's brother, Randy's oldest daughter) came over for a quick visit with her boyfriend, Jake. She was in town for college enrollment stuff, plus Jake lives in Arlington, and she caught wind of our reunion and scurried on over! She is AWESOME (and we're REALLY fond of Jake, too!!)

Sweet Diane and Jimmy waiting for the longhorns to come down the road

I love these cute little guys on the railroad tracks! Brady sure had fun with Dane and Scott!

Here come the cattle.....

Lock up those varmits!!! I just noticed that ALL the boys were wearing blue. Weird.

I sure do love my Annie girl. She's pretty fond of her Aunt Kendra, too!

Thoughts from the Vaughn Boys (for Mama's Memory Banks...)

These are some cute Vaughn Boy Quotes from the past few days that needed to be recorded:
Brady:" Mom, when I meet Jesus I want to be wearing my Circle of Friends T-shirt!" (This is the name of his preschool - must be a VERY special t-shirt!)

Brady leading the prayer at dinner time in Midland this last weekend: "Dear God, help Annie to NOT eat while we are still praying..." (Cousin Annie was munching happily on a nice bite of bacon BEFORE the prayer was said...a definite Vaughn Boy no-no!) Nothing like conviction of your sins through prayer...he!

Tyler after being given some instructions on what he needed to go do after supper: "Man, I can't wait until I'm an adult and I can do ANYTHING I WANT." Hated to burst his bubble, but he is going to be unpleasantly surprised when he gets to be an adult and learns that unfortunately that statement will just never be a true one. No matter what your age. Sorry, babe!

Colby after I had a very deep discussion the other night about what divorce was and how his parents would never get divorced and how divorce breaks God's heart- I went on for a bit about some other family stuff that is pretty personal that I'd never shared with him - all said through some tears to be quite honest. I asked him if he had any questions for me....his reply, "Yea....can I play on your iphone now, Mom?" Wow. Great moments with those cute Vaughns!

9 years and not slowing down at ALL...

Tyler turned 9 on March 10th. NINE. Wow - that's pushing double digits!! My little man who made me a "mommy" first is no longer "little" in any way except in my heart. This year for his birthday, he invited 3 good buddies over for a sleepover on the Friday night before his actual birthday. He planned the activities for the friends - pizza, ice cream cake, sodas, Wii time, "Thumb Wrestling Federation" matches (Cartoon Network show thing), sleep upstairs, stay up late, watch a movie (with NO brothers allowed!) then doughnut breakfast the next day before the friends went back home. He had a BLAST and that's all that matters. It was really a very easy "party" for Donny and I....minus all the extra noise that was added to our house for an evening! ha!

John, Tyler, Austin and Justin - all super sweet young men

John led us in singing to the birthday boy - actually, John serenaded Tyler with his lovely voice (really IS a great singer!!) while the rest of us giggled!

Tyler printed off Thumb Wrestlers and had his friends pick which one they wanted to do "battle" with...then had Donny video the matches (video in production stage at present!! ha!)

Doughnut breakfast!! Cheers!

Upstairs wrestling before bed time

And this is what happens to even 9 nine year olds when they stay up late and wake up SUPER early the next morning (like sometime between 5 and 6??!?!?). Three hour nap that we had to wake him up from!!

On Tyler's actual birthday, Donny had lunch with him at school and he requested Jason's Deli for supper. We invited family...my sister and her family, Donny's brother and his family and the Yowells (they are our "non blood family!"). Tyler sure loved being celebrated some more, and especially loved all the presents (mostly money and gift cards - every 9 year old's dream gift! ha!)

Singing Happy Birthday to our big boy - he had a cookie cake for THIS party!


God has blessed us so much with this sweet young man. May He continue to give us wisdom as we parent him the way he needs to be parented....our lives are richer for his life!