SCHOOL ROCKS!

okay so all of my enthusiasm for being at school has been completely restored! it's now a place that i can't wait to go to again! some of you know what i'm talking about. it's not that i didn't like school last year, it's just that i was getting bored with the curriculum and i didn't realize that was the problem until about half way through. i decided to loop up with my class and it's been awesome! when school gets out, i can't wait for it to start again the next day! it's been great starting the year like we never left! i'll tell more about it later but right now lucero and i have to go to a party down the street so later people!

Happy First Day of School!

Tomorrow is the first day of school! I'm really excited because I'm moving up with my class to third grade. I already know all the kids and parents and that means we can start the year off rockin! It's going to be a great year! A lot of stuff will be different, and that's a great thing! To all the kids who start school tomorrow:

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Never touch the white pieces

Yet another reason to remember not to touch the white pieces if you ever have the experience of playing Settlers with John. We played perhaps the most uninspiring game ever of Settlers last night. We were trying to teach two new people who had never played before but between the new puppy eating and pooping, the five kids that we tried to herd into bed and coerce into going to sleep, and the neighbors who came over to tell us that all of John's work in burying an invisible fence line was in vain because he buried it halfway across the neighbors' yard, it was a little difficult for all of us to concentrate. It was uninspiring, but hilarious!

Upon looking back...I suppose it was a rather typical game for us...

Welcome Home Lego!

Lego is Kathryn's new horse. Kathryn went to Raleigh today to get him and bring him to my parents' farm in Scottsville. Here's a picture of her walking with Lego in the pasture.

Lego introduced himself to the other horses, and everything was going okay until the horses broke through the fence after dark. Everyone ran out there to repair the fence, and fortunately none of the horses escaped!
Edith came with me to see the new horse and we went for a walk down to the lake. On the way, she said she wanted to throw some rocks into the lake and make wishes. I told her that was a good idea and I suggested that we pray for Mommy's job. She picked up a rock, handed it to me, and said, "Yeah! Have a rock!" Then I said, "I'm going to pray too for Miguel - that he will do his homework when school starts." Edith picked up a huge handful of rocks and said, "Here. Have lots of rocks for that wish." Hahahahahaha! Here's a picture of her throwing the rocks in the lake.

We went for a boat ride too in the canoe. She had never been in a boat before and she was so excited! She didn't know what an island was, so we paddled around the little island 3 times so she could see how it was surrounded by water. Finally she said, "Ohhhh, so the only way to get here is with a boat. Or if you know how to swim. But you can't walk." I said, "Right! Unless you're Jesus. He can walk on water." She did the confused puppy look with her head turned to the side so I put the paddle down and told her the story of Jesus when he walked on the water. She thought that was really cool!
Before we left, Edith gave all the animals hugs and told them she'd see them soon when we come back! Here she is with Baxter:
And here with Calabaza:

Happy Birthday Leland!

Yesterday was my nephew Leland's 2nd birthday! My sister Cameron had a little party for him at a park. My niece Payton was there, and my parents, my brother Ryan, and some of Cameron's friends. It was really nice in the park, with lots to do! The top picture is of my stepdad Mike with his two baby grandkids, Leland and Payton. Here's a picture of Leland with his dad by the river. They were looking at little baby ducks and Leland was saying in the cutest voice, "Baby ducks! Baby ducks!"
Here's Leland with his Transformers cake. He didn't care about the Transformers part. He just wanted the truck that was on it. Ryan went to wash the truck off and Leland was very worried about its location. We couldn't continue on with the blowing out of the candles, cutting of the cake, or eating of the cake until Ryan returned with the truck!
Here's the cool wooden train that Leland got from his grandmom and grandpop! It's very cool and he liked it so much. He was so good about saying thank you after every present and going to give a hug to the person who gave it to him.
Here's Grandpop reading a book to Payton and Leland. Leland thought the lizard's tail was a snake so he kept pointing to it saying, "SNAKE! SNAKE!"
Look at all the ducks and geese in the river! The kids loved seeing them all!

so close...

So we almost won the championship! We made it to the playoffs where we had to play against the first place team (we were 4th place). We were missing our main pitcher and two of our best players, and we lost by one run! One run. So close...

The fall season starts in two weeks and then we have another opportunity at the fall championship in October. We can do it!

Ann and Alicia

I GOT TO SEE ANN AND ALICIA!!! On Sunday I went to Harrisonburg because two of my bestest friends were in town! We met at a Mexican restaurant there called Doña Rosa. It was supposed to be really authentic Mexican food but almost all of the workers there don't speak spanish. That was weird. And they didn't have really, really spicy salsa. Their version of spicy salsa didn't do anything. No me pica. But all the other food was really good! Then we went to Barnes and Noble to look for a new bible for Alicia. Alicia's doing this pottery class in North Carolina where she lives and she makes really amazing pottery. She should seriously sell it for money. She's really good. I gave her a challenge - to make a piece of pottery of Zorro. I want to see how she does with that one! Well it was really cool seeing them again! Here are some pictures of us from our visit on Sunday:

Me and my buddy

I got to hang out with my buddy Brian tonight cuz his grandma and grandpa got married today! I was the photographer and videographer for the wedding! It was really beautiful and we had a great time! Brian has really cool grandparents!