End of summer fun

We have had a busy month. Friends sleeping over, Dodger games, Hawk Nelson concert, cousins visiting from Washington, water park, beaches, tide pools, shopping, swimming pools, barbecues, and 2 full weeks getting to babysit my precious nephew.

Catching up

Alot has been going on since May 19th........ We have had 2 birthdays, Mark turned 44- WOW he is getting old - LOL -and Mark Jr. 16- the most wonderful 16 year old a mother could ever want!!! I have 4 amazingly special men in my life!!!


My dad has been having lots of new health issues lately. He has had a cough that when he cant stop he passes out. It happened once while standing in the driveway and my mom could ony watch as he fell over on the cement. They have put him in a wheelchair ever since so he doesn't get hurt. He has been going to many doctor appointments and has many more to go. They just can't seem to find the sources of his problems. They are now looking into blood disease and lymphoma. Hopefully they begin to figure things out!


We had company in Orange County last week, we went to my sisters for the fourth of July and her husbands nephews were there visiting from Utah. They are 3 boys, 14,15 and 17. They are almost identical in personality to my boys so they hit it off right away 3 years ago and love each other like brothers. We spent a few days with them, at the beach, at Knotts Berry Farm and the fourth at my sister's pool.
Ryan, Kevin, Mark Jr and Cory and Cody are on the bottom Josh is on mark and Cory's back.
Mark jr and Kevin went together to Long Beach and did an MLB tryout. The Florida Devil Rays held a try out and we thought it would be a good experience for them. They were happy to go and to go together!














All three boys have made all stars in baseball and games have been going and going and going......

We have a game today in Westhills for Ryan and later in newbury Park for Josh.

The most exciting news lately though was last night, Josh had been in a little bit of a slump the last couple games. Sometimes he gets caught up in trying too hard and forgets he supposed to be just having fun. I could see him up to bat looking back at the catcher trying to see where he was setting up for the pitch, it was causing him to think too hard and not trust himself. After this continued for the next couple pitches I yelled at him to stop looking back, trust himself, see the ball and HAVE FUN, well apparently he listened........
BAM went the bat hitting the ball, on a 1 ball 2 strike count, OVER THE CENTERFIELD FENCE!!!!!
SOLO HOME RUN to tie the game. The smile on his face as he rounded the bases and jumped into the crowd of his team waiting for him at home plate was something even I wont forget. JOSH WAS BACK!!!

COULDN'T ASK FOR ANY MORE!!!!!

They ALL did it!!!! Josh played his last game today of the season, first time up at bat..........BAM over the fence!!! After both his brothers have done it he has been wanting it badly. It's been a great season, they all have done great. Mark Jr. has hit two homeruns, Ryan hit one and at the last moment so did Josh!

All three boys made all star teams so baseball does continue a little longer. Mark and Ryan start playoffs this week and then all star games begin.

I missed it!!!!!

Last night I was in Newbury Park watching Josh play baseball and as he was hitting to the fence and having them bounce over for a ground rule double.............MY RYAN was in Camarillo hitting a HOME RUN over the fence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is his first ever and I missed it, but I am so proud of him. Of course we got the ball, it flew approx. 290-300 feet.
YEAH!!!!!

HE'S MY BOY!!!!

We had the daddy of all games Monday night. Mark Jr. played at 7:45 in Camarillo and it was a game we wont forget. The game began with the other team in the lead first inning, 4-0. Unusual for Marks team. They were really struggling. Second inning we got 1 so 4-1, third inning we both scored 4 so 8-5, fourth inning they scored 1 so now 9-5. Fifth inning we started to wake up and scored 7 they scored 2, so now 11-12 we were ahead. sixth inning no scores, we were home team so they cam up in the seventh the last inning and they tied it up.
12-12
We were now at the top of our line up (our first batter for those who don't know what I mean) so we had hope. Our first batter got on with an error, we'll take it. Then comes MY BOY.................





Two balls are pitched no strikes. Here it comes.................
BAMMMMMMM!!!!!
A WALK OFF HOME RUN TO END THE GAME!!!!!!!
The ball flew approx. 350 feet over the fence. It was so great!
Game ended 12-14 WE WON!

These are the FUN games to watch!

BASEBALL has begun........

Well it's that time again. The boys are all on teams in Camarillo.
Last year I was Vice-President of Camarillo this year it's Marks turn.
He is Managing Mark Jr's team of Colt players 14-19 year olds.
Managing Ryan's team of Pony players 13-14 year olds and helping his good friend John coach Josh's team of Bronco players 11-12 year olds.
I don't believe Camarillo has ever had someone manage 2 teams at the same time.







Crazy we are!!!
I help him out though, I place kids in their positions each inning, do the line-up and tell him stuff he is missing. Mark is great at teaching these kids how to play or at least improve. We both love baseball so this is a fun time of the year for us. After being on the board last year it made me not really want to get back into it but I love seeing my boys play and have fun! I will be back soon with pictures of Josh and Mark, right now this is just Ryan and his team huddled around Mark. Yes, most of the kids are taller than Mark is, but you still should be able to see him in the crowd.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH------WOW 12 YEARS!!!!!

Happy Birthday Josh! I love you very much! You are such a great son! A great younger brother, and a super "older" cousin to Brian and Jeena! You are pure joy to me! You make me laugh, you always have. I am very proud of you!!!

Love,
Mom

Bunco with the girls.......

SLEEPOVER BUNCO AT THE BEACH ON POINT MUGU WITH MY FRIENDS!!!!

Laura made her famous cinnamon rolls and Julie liked them a little bit TOO much!

We had a great time! We did play Bunco, but we also had a fire, ate treats, scared Laura while she was in the restroom and watched a movie.

Sleeping in the kitchen on a roll away bed with a blow up mattress on top was FUN, FUN, FUN.

ME

Your Birthdate: February 4

You have an extraordinary character - moral, responsible, and disciplined. You sincerely and honesty shine through in almost every situation. Driven and focused, you rarely let your emotions get the better of you. You're level headed and rational. People count on you to look at things objectively. Your strength: Your unwavering loyalty and ethics Your weakness: Your rock solid stubbornness Your power color: Navy blue Your power symbol: Shield Your power month: April

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

NINETEEN GREAT YEARS!

Jan. 3, 1988 was THE day!

Mark and I have been through ALOT together and here we are still going strong. Marriage is about loving each other through: the good and bad, happy and sad, easy and hard, smooth and rough times, knowing you are together forever!

We have been BLESSED with 3 wonderful boys who LOVE God and LOVE each other. We have made so many memories, I look forward to the many more we will make together!

M-akes sure I am happy!

A -ssists with MOST household duties

R-ealizes his mistakes and says he's SORRY!

K-icks butt at his job

And that's MY MAN!

Are you ready?

This will get your attention

January 2007 already here!

Well it has been a pretty busy 2 months. We went to Oregon for Thanksgiving, Hawaii for 6 days, and Orange County for Christmas and New Years. We are home and back to the routine of things. Hawaii was great! We had to fly over on Mark's work airplane but we did it because it was free. What an experience though, it is extremely noisy, I mean noisy, you have to wear ear plugs to protect your ears so it makes it pretty difficult to communicate with one another. So for 10-11 hours I didn't get to talk to anyone. We had to stop in San Diego to pick up cargo and 4 guys who were on their way to, I think, Japan. The plane was empty before we picked up these huge crates. So the problem with the crates is that they blocked the access to the curtained off potty. Well, I wish I could last 10 hours but I couldn't. I sat there looking at the crate and dreading the moment I would have to get over it. I watched my boys and Mark do it and I was not sure I could. I was going to have to climb up the steps on the corner and ROLL, ya I said ROLL across the top to the other side where they had a ladder I had to climb down. Along with the added difficulty of these San Diego guys sleeping up top making there not be much room to maneuver around, not that there was to begin with. You can see in my slide show a picture of one of the boys going up and how much room there was up there. Well since I was dreading the moment I knew it was making the urge worse so I finally gave in. I asked mark to go first and I followed. It was not a pretty sight and poor Mark has to work with these guys who watched me coming feet first on my stomach down stairs I can't see. I made it back across without a problem and never ate or drank another thing until we landed.


Hawaii was beautiful!! We had a great room with a great view, we went snorkeling every day and swam with the turtles....


Mark Jr. is taking a picture while I get a picture of him.

We rented a car for three days which is the way to go! We drove all around the island looking for fun places to stop. We saw some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. They looked fake! We ate pineapple ice cream and saw the sunset and sunrise on the beach. We had a great week, this was a vacation we will never forget.
The ride home was a little better, I at least had easy access to the toilet.
We had a wonderful Christmas and had a great time with my new niece Jeena who was visiting from Korea. She will be back in June and I look forward to seeing her then!
Time goes by too fast, children grow too quickly, I want to enjoy every minute I have with family and friends! That's what matters most, loving God & following his word and loving friends and family!

NEW SLIDE SHOW

I will be back soon to update you on our recent happenings, for now enjoy the slide show!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

OUR DEAR AUNT CLARA

The day has come that Aunt Clara has gone home to be with Jesus, her mom and dad and her brother (my Grandpa George). We are so thankful that we and so many other family members were with her this past week. She passed away in her sleep peacefully with my grandma (her sister-in-law) by her side. She was a terrific lady, one of a kind. She loved to laugh, she loved baseball and loved her family! We look forward to the day we will all be together again!

Aunt Clara with her great niece Debbie.

She LOVED those chocolate shakes from Goody's Ice Cream Parlor.

July 2006

We took her one at Hospice last week. She loved it!

Aunt Clara with her great niece Amy.

She loved to go to Drake park and watch the people and the birds. She loved to talk with the birds! She just enjoyed being able to get outside these last few months!

Aunt Clara with her great great nephews Josh, Kyle,

Mark Jr., Ryan

and Alexander at Drake Park in July 2006

Picnic in the Park!

Aunt Clara with Minnie, Mickey and the biggest mouse Debbie.

Aunt Clara with her great nephew

George III

I want to give special attention to my VERY special Aunt Bonnie! She has devoted the past years of her life taking care of Aunt Clara, getting her moved to Oregon from CA so she could be closer and able to come spend her afternoons at her house on the porch talking to the birds and being around family. It became a daily occurrence the last few months. Aunt Bonnie gave her whole heart to caring for Aunt Clara and she loved every minute she got to share with her. She spent MANY hours by her side holding her hand and even singing with her in her last few days here with us, "Jesus Loves Me". The convalescent center didn't know what hit when they came across a family who cared sooooo much for their dear Aunt Clara. The many doctors appointments, meetings with hospice, moves from hospital back to home back to hospice again, Aunt Bonnie has been there through it all. She is a genuine jewel in God's crown of glory. I know He is smiling down on her with Aunt Clara and her mom and dad and brother George by His side. Uncle Darrell has been right there doing what he can to help even by just making sure Aunt Bonnie got to bed at a decent hour to get some rest. Thank you to the both of you from the bottom of our hearts!

Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Darrell

Aunt Bonnie with Grandma Adele (her mother) and Aunt Clara's sister-in-law.

Thanksgiving in Oregon

We are enjoying the hot tub and loving the snow falling on and around us! This is the life!

This is Goody's, the best ice cream and candy shop in Oregon!
It is a MUST for us EVERY visit!

We are having a great time in Oregon. It keeps snowing on us but not enough to stick. The boys went to the mountains today, (15 min. away) and had LOTS of snow to sled on. The girls went shopping downtown. We had 30 family members at our Thanksgiving feast and everyone had a great time, it was an all day event. We will leave Sunday so tomorrow will be our last day. We will probably try to go sledding one more time and enjoy our last day together. We are here mainly to visit with my great Aunt Clara. She is really going up and down, when she goes down it's pretty hard. She goes comatose and then can ask for hot coffee with cream and sugar. It's pretty bizarre, hospice themselves are baffled. We are VERY thankful she was still here when we got to Oregon and that we have had a week to spend with her, (a little every day). She is a great lady and will be dearly missed!
That's all for now, I am looking forward to coming home to some warmer weather, the 30's (which is actually very warm for this time of year) is cold enough for me.
I am looking forward to the Christmas season ahead! I love this time of year!

Where has the year gone???

Gosh Halloween really crept up on us. I can't believe this year is almost over. We are looking forward to many things before this year comes to an end. Thanksgiving in Oregon, Brian's first B-DAY! Christmas and my brother Mike and his wife Hye-Young and their new baby girl coming to visit from Korea!!
We have so many things to be thankful for! My dear friend Julie has just been told she needs to start the process of getting on the double lung transplant list. She is the most real example I know of someone completely relying on God and you can NOT miss those single footprints in the sand!!

We have had a tough but great year. Mark's young cousin Stacey was taken home to be with God this year, leaving behind a wonderful and loving husband, 2 great kids and parents who loved her more than anything! Mark and I were so thankful and appreciative to have been there as she left this world and entered a kingdom WE CAN ONLY IMAGINE! She will always be missed and I ask God daily to give her a hug for me. We look forward to the day we will see her again.

On a very cheerful note......Mark finally did it!!! He is now CHIEF MARK STOVER We are all so proud of him!!!!!!

Here we go.......

OK....I will do a little blogging to get things started.
I have a big praise! I found a bulge on my chest that has been cat scanned and ultrasounded and it shows nothing so we aren't looking at anything serious. I had my first mammogram (just to rule out the little normal cysts the doctor felt) they checked out OK but OUCH! Actually it wasn't quite as bad as I thought.
So I am healthy and I can continue being a support to my sister Julie!
So here is what is new with us, We went to a family camp in San Diego and while there in the area we went to Sea World. We had a great time, we got to camp in our new camper and we loved it.
Then the boys and I went to Las Vegas with my sister for a week since she had a convention to be at for work. So a paid for trip and a room at the Venetian! WOW! It was beautiful! We had a great time there also. We went to the top of the stratosphere.....

This week my cousin is coming to visit from Washington with her 2 boys so we are going to Orange County to go to Disneyland and visit with them. For Thanksgiving we are going to Oregon to be with alot of family....aunts, uncles, cousins, great great aunts, great grandmas, brother and family and not sure who else.

Fun stuff on the way!

I will come back soon and add to my page!