no game :(

Tonight I had my first scheduled baseball game of the season but we ended up having to forfeit because we didn't have enough players. The other team stayed to practice though so Miguel and I practiced with them! It was Miguel's first time playing baseball so I was explaining all the rules to him. He couldn't catch with the glove on (without the glove, he can catch great) but he sure can throw well. He'd probably make a good pitcher actually. He's really accurate from really far away. I was hitting really well, I think because I got new batting gloves today. I haven't had batting gloves since high school and these gloves rock! It really helped me put all my power into swinging without worrying about stinging my hand. I love batting! I'm sad that we didn't get to play though because all of our games are on Thursday nights (unless it rains and then we play make-up games on Sundays, like today). And I have my Spanish class on Thursdays so unless the games are at 9:00, I can't go to them. So today is probably the only time I'm going to get to play until mid-May. I love baseball!

great game!!!

So tonight I went to watch two of my favorite people play soccer! They play for MHS and were competing against CHS. They started out the game thinking they were going to get crushed and everyone started to get disheartened when CHS pulled out to an early 3-0 lead. But then MHS held them there and pushed back the score to a tie 3-3 game in the second half! They went into DOUBLE overtime, still going strong. Right in the final minutes of the second overtime MHS kicked it towards the goal and the goalie missed it but as the ball was rolling into the goal, he pounced on the ball and the ref said it WAS NOT over the goal line. But he was back at midfield and couldn't really see and the goalie was completely covering the ball anyway. So anyway I personally think they won, but the game goes in the books as ending in a tie.

Zach and Ivan both play for MHS and I had a surprise when they announced the name of a kid for CHS that I knew too! I've known him since he was like 2! It was awesome seeing them play! I can't wait to see them again!

No, I am NOT in Florida...although I'd like to be

Just to satisfy many questions and curious minds, I am NOT IN FLORIDA. I am currently in my bedroom, in my house, in Virginia. I've been fielding questions, phone calls, and emails all afternoon and evening about why I'm in Florida right now...even though I'm NOT in Florida.

See...funny story...I wasn't at school today because I had a conference. So this kid in my class told everyone he saw that I was in Florida. So now kids and parents from every grade have been contacting me, asking why I'm in Florida. I'm not sure how he got to THAT many people in one day, but it's quite impressive if you ask me. The thing I'm confused about though is that I TOLD the kids in my class that I was going to a conference in Charlottesville today...so I'm not sure why NONE of them said to him, "Um no, actually you're wrong. Remember she said she was going to a conference today." Instead they all went along with it and it's now spread to the whole school. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA crazy kids....

So no, I'm here. Although in 11 days I'll be in Florida. Soon to be 10....

Easter 08

Here are a bunch of pictures from Easter! We had a great time, being together with the whole family! All my brothers, sisters, nephews, and niece were there! Miguel and Peter came too! We had an Easter egg hunt, Kathryn and baby Leland rode Chick the horse, we played soccer, ate dinner, and played with the kids!

Here is my mom feeding my niece baby Payton for the first time!

Baby Leland, my nephew, riding a horse with Kathryn.

My nephews Nolan and Ezra during the Easter egg hunt - Nolan's pointing out some more eggs to his little brother!

Miguel with a loaded basket of eggs after his first Easter egg hunt ever!

Me trying to fill Easter eggs with candy, but having a very hard time with the curious nose belonging to the little white puppy on my lap!

My brother Ryan and his new baby daughter Payton.

Cousins Leland and Payton with their arms around eachother!

Georgia the puppy dragging Uncle Baxter around the porch to get him to go where she wants him to! It was hilarious!

Miguel, me, and Peter after a fun day of hunting eggs and playing with puppies!

My favorite picture of my little nephew Ezra!

it's coming, it's coming, i can taste it!

12 school days until spring break! 12 school days until disney world! 12 school days until freedom! 12 school days until sunny, warm weather in florida.

so much power in the number 12.

Hosanna in the highest!

Let me preface this by saying the pictures have nothing to do with this post...they're just awesome pictures of Miguel's brother playing soccer on Saturday. He really is a GREAT player!

On Sunday at church, the message was about the Triumphal Entry for Palm Sunday. It was a really great message. Our pastor has a wonderful way of taking a topic/story we've heard many times and capturing a new aspect of it to make it really interesting.

So anyway, I was translating the message for Miguel and he thought it was really cool. At the end we sang Hosanna (can be found on the latest United Live cd and the latest Passion cd - God of this City). This is a song that Miguel knows well and often requests to hear in my car. It was one of the first songs he learned in English, but on Sunday it took on a whole new meaning as we learned what Hosanna really means and read the story of the Triumphal Entry where it says "Hosanna in the highest!". So during the second verse of the song, I leaned over and said to Miguel, "Imagine we're kids standing at the Eastern gate and we're holding our branches. We're waiting for Jesus. Listen! What's all that cheering?" He looked up at me and smiled and said, "Yeah!" Then I pointed and said, "Look! It's a donkey! It's Jesus!" And right then the song hit the chorus which goes "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!" And Miguel put on the biggest smile ever and for the first time ever, closed his eyes, spread his arms out wide, and shouted out the chorus, "Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna in the highest!"

Words can't describe how awesome it was to see a kid really worshiping, really understanding what the words mean for the first time!

Saturday at the Dogpark

KATHRYN'S HOME!!! Just in time to avoid the crazy tornadoes in Georgia! On Saturday I got to meet her puppy named Georgia for the first time! This puppy is SOOOOOO cute! She is such a good dog! Peter came with us. Miguel and his brother Ivan came too because they had soccer games that afternoon and the dogpark is at the soccer fields.

We saw tons of cute dogs there, like a chocolate lab puppy named MOOSE!!! There was also this gigantic mop of a dog named Heavy. He ran around trying to tackle everybody, in a nice way. Georgia and Moose were probably the cutest ones there!

Kathryn was all proud of the fact that her puppy was the only one running around and NOT panting. I guess that means...well...actually I don't know what that means. But Kathryn was awfully proud of it!

This picture here has to be the funniest picture of Kathryn I've ever seen. I guess she's predicting the imminent danger of being tackled and/or being sat on by the mop of a dog, Heavy. Look at Kathryn's face!

Little Beth and Kathryn pics

Look! It's me and that scrawny little sister of mine!
Kathryn and my dad feeding um...what are those? geese? ducks?

Little me.

My dad, me, and my cousins Laurie and Amy.

Zorro's Series of Unfortunate Events

My new pet fox, Zorro, had a rather unfortunate weekend. It all started on Friday when I dropped the boys off after playing basketball. It was very late and very dark and Zorro fell out of the car when the boys got out. Nobody saw him fall. So when I got home I looked everywhere for Zorro and I couldn't find him, of course. I thought maybe one of the boys carried him inside the house by mistake. So the next day I went to look for him. I went to Miguel's house and he said that his mom saw Zorro that morning when she was driving. She saw him on the side of the road (which is unfortunate because the side of the road is all muddy and it poured rain all night) and said, "Hey it's Zorro!" (cuz everybody knows Zorro).

So Miguel and I ran up the street to look for him. But we looked and looked and couldn't find him anywhere. Sadly, we went back to Miguel's house, very worried about little Zorrito. When we got there, Miguel's mom was standing

at the door and she called out, "I FOUND ZORRO!!!" We took off running to the door and she brought out a muddy, sopping wet fox.

Miguel, Brian, Ivan (Miguel's older brother), and I all gathered around the poor little fox and squeezed the water out of him. Then Miguel's mom tried to wash him in the sink, but it didn't work. Finally I took him home to give him a bath in the washing machine.

On Saturday, I was riding in the car with Zorro when my car slid all the way down the lane and crashed into another car. Zorro went flying through the car and slammed into the floor. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, just a little scared.

Then Miguel and I took him snowboarding on Sunday, thinking that would make him feel better after his awful weekend. Except the snow all stuck to his fur and he froze hard as a rock. We had to thaw him with the heaters in the car on the way back. At least he's a forgiving fox.

Fridays with Peter Pan

Lately I've been having some awesome Fridays! Miguel hangs out with me on Fridays because his mom and brother both have to work until midnight or later. Peter has been coming with me to hang out with Miguel and we take our other little friend, Brian, who was in my class last year. We go eat at Guadalajara, our favorite restaurant, because two of the servers there named Olga and Susana just LOVE Brian and Miguel. As soon as we go into the restaurant they motion to us and say, "Come sit in my section!" After a delicious mexican meal, we go play basketball or soccer or swimming. The boys call Peter "Peter Pan" and they think he's the coolest person EVER.

Well last night before going to eat, we went to Family Christian Store first. Both boys had never been there before and they LOVED seeing all the things about Jesus in the store. Peter Pan bought Brian a picture bible that is in comics and Brian didn't even wait to leave the store to read it. He just plopped right down on the floor of the store and began reading all about Samson. When we got to the car, Brian and Miguel read Genesis 1 and then prayed to God, saying "Thank you God for this great bible!"

When we got to Guadalajara, we all said a blessing and the boys prayed, "Thank you God that we're all here and please let Miss Tice and Peter Pan play with us every Friday because they're our best friends."

Then at last we went to play basketball. We played for about two hours until midnight. Brian took breaks every twenty minutes or so to go read his new bible! Finally the boys were wiped out (by midnight I would hope so!). Brian begged Peter Pan to give him a piggy back ride back to the car like he usually does, so he carried Brian out.

It's so awesome hanging out with kids who have so little, but who are so excited about God! I am so blessed to have so many great friends, from Peter Pan and the kids, Ann, Alicia, Katie, Niklas, my sister, Jenny, Jonathan, Kim, Sara, Diane, my grandparents, the Riley's, the Arispe's, the Smith's, the Adams', the Boggs', the Nachmanovitch's, the Marks' and all the families at school that support me, pray for me, and keep track of what's going on in my life! And I can't forget my favorite pets, Chaos, Calabaza, Tucker, Cody, and Zorro!

Wintergreen Field Trip

We went on a field trip to Wintergreen!!! The weather was perfect and the trip was close to perfect! The kids were so well-behaved! We went on a digital scavenger hunt and then spent the afternoon snowtubing! We have a new class pet, a fox named Zorro, and he came with us too! He got lost once when he fell out of one kid's tube, but then another teacher rescued him! Here's Zorro in his own tube. He loved snowtubing as much as all the kids did!