SHE has A League of Her Own!!!

Katie with some of the girls on her team. So far the team remains "nameless" but we're working on it.


Katie demonstrating her awesome batting form and fighting off a foul ball. Look carefully in the bleachers and you'll see Mom, Zhi and special guest, in the yellow, Mr. Butcher--her 6th grade teacher who came because Katie invited him. What a great guy!!


Going for the long fly ball in center field. It was a GORGEOUS CATCH! Good job, Katie!!! (ok, really this was taken during warm-ups, but it was good nonetheless.)

Spring In Utah----ya gotta love it!!!

Yes folks, this is correct. It is April 15th. Officially SEVERAL WEEKS into the spring of 2009 and this was the weather when the kids got out of school today at 1:30 PM. They had to make a mad-dash to the car in an effort to avoid gettting soaked from the snow that was falling. Needless to say, Katie's softball game scheduled for tonight was "snow delayed" and they spent the afternoon watching a movie on the big screen and munching on popcorn. Honestly, will it EVER be spring???

PLAY BALL!!!

The Boys of Summer have hit the ball fields and this is the first year Zhi is playing baseball. He's excited to be a "Met" and is loving playing with his teammates and coaches.

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Z's first ever "at bat." He ended up getting hit by the pitch and was credited with his first ever RBI because the bases were loaded!!! Pretty good stats for a rookie...


His first experience as a "baserunner." He made it to second on a base hit by the next batter, then was forced out on a fielders choice on the next play. His team ended up winning 11-0 with the mercy rule after 5 innings. It's gonna be a fun summer!!!

Zhi becomes a TEENAGER!!!

It has finally happened...there is a FOR REAL TEENAGER living in our home!!!
Zhi Wei celebrated his birthday for as long as he could--stretching it out a couple of weeks-- and he is now 13 years old.
He had a big party with the family and a kite-flying party with some friends.


Katie made him a "poster birthday card" and taped it to his ceiling, filled with confetti. When he pulled it down...well, look what happened.







He had his heart set on getting a new bike for his birthday, and guess what??
HE GOT IT!!

We hope you had a WONDERFUL birthday, Zhi. We Love You!!!

Dual Gotcha Day Celebration

Today we celebrated dual gotcha day--or family birthday. Katie's gotcha day was 11 years ago on Feb 19th. Zhi Wei's was 5 years ago on Feb 20th. The kids chose the Golden China all you can eat buffet---surprise. We ate all we could eat. Katie and Zhi Wei tried the crab legs. I can't believe all that's happened in the last 11 years. We've come a long way as a family. It's taken a lot of hard work--I feel I'm aging in dog years! I had a "tender mercy" moment last Wednesday when I dropped them both off at the church for YW/YM activities. It's all been worth it just to see them grow, gain testimonies of the gospel, make friends, have dreams and goals, and to share their lives.




They're not just little kids anymore...pretty soon Zhi will be taller than me!!

St. George Trip

The kids in their "We're 12 Years Old" picture. For just about 2 months every year my kids are the same age. Katie turned 12 the end of January and Zhi Wei will be 13 the first part of March. We try to get one picture each year that is the designated "same age" photo...this is it for the 12's.



This past weekend we made the 2nd annual trip to St. George for the BYU Invitational Softball Tournament. It was a lot different weather-wise than it was last year. This year we were bundled up with jackets and blankets. Luckily, the rain stayed away during all the BYU games, but made an appearance several times during the weekend. We watched a 10-inning nailbiter between BYU and Tennessee's Lady Vols--who ended up 2nd in the nation last year. It was scoreless until the top of the 10th when there was a very questionable call at the plate allowing Tennessee to score the first run of the game--I still think she was out, but the umpire thought otherwise. The kids opted to visit our friends, the Millett's, so they spent the day with Katrina and Sarah watching TV and playing games. We loved the getaway and had a wonderful time seeing our friends and enjoying the fresh air, even if it was cloudy and rainy. It makes us all look forward to spring when we can get out of the house and ride our bikes and ripsticks and take the dogs to the park.

Boys vs. Girls

Everyone has different roles in life...some are meant to entertain, some to work and some just to play. The other day it occurred to me that the kids are in the same boat. Zhi Wei is a good worker. He got the opportunity to learn the "man job" of running the snow blower when we got a dousing of snow. Katie, on the other hand, is obsessed (in a good way) with golf. She loves it and is motivated to get better as she loves to hit a bucket of balls. She loves it so much she talked Vicki into taking her on New Year's Day to the heated driving range--most of you know that didn't take much persuasion!


Katie's target was the old BMW car that was sitting in the middle of the range.