Blessed Memories

We all enjoyed watching Thomas play 2 soccer games in the evening.

I received a new Scrabble game, which we had a lot of fun playing together!

My 38th birthday was full of wonderful memories with my dear Lainie, Corbin and precious children. I am so thankful for the blessings that surround me, God has truly given me more than I could ask for- His Holy Spirit and the presence of Christ truly redeem me and help me to see how blessed I am. Thank you for your phone calls and cards which made my day all the sweeter:)

Toby and T-ball

THIS is what I am dealing with!!!! But he sure is cute!

Shelby's first T-ball game. "The Storm"

Big day at the Crowell house!

Abby Kate donated 10 inches of her beautiful hair to Locks of Love today. It was a little shorter than we anticipated, but she is more gorgeous than ever! We are proud of her!

Don't these 2 look alike?

We got the new camper today! Here are the girls trying out their bunk beds!

Mal's painted room

Cheri and Jodi - are you happy now?? :)

Mal is so excited that her room has the only color in the entire house. Her two aunts have been campaigning for this for quite some time. I traded with a friend from church - I taught his kids swimming lessons and he painted Mal's room. It looks great!

Happy First day of Fall...and Some More Soccer

Thomas likes to run on the field, and his momma likes him to burn off all that energy he has:)
I am letting his hair grow longish (you read it right, I said LONGISH:) I love his sweet wavy curls. We are all so blessed to have healthy children!!

Go Wildcats! Corbin coaches his team, and they have a good time. What fun for all three cousins to share their jersey #5 this season!

Pine Springs Celebration

This is Pine Springs Church Camp, where Luke has been a camper every summer since 4th grade, and Lane has taught for 12 years! Jake has also attended for years, either as Lane's "helper" or as a camper. Next year he can go to "High Teen Week" with Luke.

Hummingbirds outside our cabin.

I have a picture on my fridge of Jake when he was 3 or 4 years old wearing a shirt with a picture of Boon on it (Boon was the camp dog). At the time I took the photo, Jake was taking a nap using Boon as a pillow. This is the same dog, Boon, who came back with his owners to visit the camp during the camp's 50th birthday party - the reason for our visit. Now Boon is napping on Jake!

Church camp is Luke's all-time favorite activity. The singing is AMAZING. I was moved to tears during the devotionals this past weekend, listening to my boys sing their hearts out with the mountains as a backdrop. It doesn't get much better than that!

Red Cross Canoe Clinic

This weekend, Mason attended a Canoe Clinic put on by the Red Cross. He received his certification that is good for life with no renewal. He also received the Boy Scout Canoeing Merit Badge.

The weekend started off with rescue breathing training. I was quite glad that he and Justin were in the first group after I saw the abundance of saliva when they were finished!

The next element of the training was the swim test.

They had to demonstrate that they could put on and secure a PFD in deep water. (You guys probably call them "life jackets." We trained professionals call them PFDs for "Personal Flotation Device.")

Knot tying was a significant element of the training. They had to demonstrate 10 different knots to two different instructors and get them signed off.

Mason and Justin in the tent.

Yes - it was still dark when we got up each morning.

It turned out that Crocs were not a good choice for water shoes. He had to get them duct taped to his feet. It actually hurt quite a bit.

I thought that you just got in the canoe and started paddling. Wrong. There are so many different techniques and strokes. And......did you know that you are supposed to paddle on your knees? You can lean back on the seat, but your feet are to be under it and you are to balance on your knees. Mason moved up from where he is in this picture and put his knees on the pad in the bottom of the boat.

This was a pretty neat drill. They learned how to help another canoe that is filled with water by bringing it up onto their boat.

For those of you who know and love Mr. John, I'll put one picture of him on here. John was paired up with a nice gentleman who - how shall I say this - was constantly giving John directions, but really had no idea what he was doing himself. There were moments while I was watching that I thought I might wet my pants laughing so hard. At one point, I was actually standing on the shore talking to John while his buddy was giving him some tips. He started his sentences with, "John, you see, your problem is..." John was so incredibly kind to this man. John did not care a thing about the certification, but his partner did. Luckily, they passed the water test and this nice man has his lifetime certification.

In this picture, they are still in their canoe. This was the "get to the shore in your sunken canoe by paddling with your hands" drill.

Soccer Season 2009- Hannah

This is Hannah's first season to play...she is on the Pink Princesses!!

She did great! Just went to the ball, and headed down the field!!

She scored 4 goals in her first game!!!!!!

Just taking her turn sitting out a quarter....

She enjoyed this game...

Okay, this is cool- Faith has been #5 since the beginning (Faith was just given that number when she joined the team, and Hannah just

got assigned her number,too...and it is #5- like her sis! I just was so excited

when I saw she had the same number!

Soccer Season 2009- Faith

Faith had her first soccer game today..she's on the Pink Angels.
She scored a goal!- since they moved up to a bigger field- they had
positions and she played goalie for a quarter and had 2 saves!!!

She enjoyed playing goalie for the first time!

They are picking heads/tails at the beginning of the game.

Go Pink Angels!!

This and That

Toby is having a blast at his Aunt Cheri's house!!!!

Bonding!!!!!

This is the table that Ryan made me...he got the granite top back when we were

in Sugar Land (a company was throwing it away as scrap!) but he made the bottom

drawers/cabinets from his own plans....we've got handles/drawer pulls to put on yet.