Pictures of Weekend Tournament

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=1647594021/PictureID=52214662021/a=145801337_1785990021/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Long link, I know... sorry...

Natalie's team is doing great. They just won their second 16U tournament of the season.

This coming weekend will be their last tournament of the year. They may play a few more in January and February, before the team takes a break while most of the girls go off to play high school softball.

Natalie and Annie will be the only two not playing high school ball, as they are the only two on the team who are in 8th grade.

Natalie has decided that she won't be playing softball for Foothills this year. She would rather spend her time playing on a spring travel ball team, which will get her better prepared for the end of the season at the club level.

It's been a great year so far for the Wolves!

Natalie pitching strikes at ASU Farrington Stadium

Video of Natalie hitting at ASU, bases loaded 2 outs

Heading Off To Utah!

Finally - it's time for Natalie to go play softball in Utah. This is something we've heard about for years from other coaches and players. Last year she got jypped a little; her team decided to stay here in Arizona to finish out their season. And well, considering how it ended, it was better that it ended here at home. (LONG STORY!)

So now we are down to a few more days before we leave. Tonight she will go work out with the coaches from ASU and then get to play in a scrimmage game with her team, the Desert Wolves, against the Outlaws. At first we thought the scrimmage would use a pitching machine and she was disappointed that she wouldn't get to pitch. But we found out the other night that they will use the pitchers! I can't wait to take pictures. I've got a picture of her batting with the ASU logo behind her. Tonight I'll get a picture of her on the mound in Farrington Stadium!

I know what our Christmas photo is going to be this year.

I've set my phone to link to this blog, so if I have time while we are in Utah I will send little updates on how the team is doing, and how the trip is going.

Can't wait! Wish the girls luck - with them FOCUS! If they stay focused they will play great and go all the way :)

It's already May

Time goes by so fast!

It's already the end of May, the heat started here in Arizona, then receded a bit. It's been raining here for 2 days, and from the looks of it, it's not over - I cannot see the Four Peaks from my window here in the office - the clouds are low, dark, and they are headed this way.

School will be out next week. Seems like this past year went by so fast. Natalie had wanted to play a few different sports this year at school, but since it's such a small school, sometimes putting together teams can be difficult. There was no middle school volley ball this year, and basketball practices were the same days as her club ball practices - and that's something she just will not miss.

So the only sport she participated in at school this year was softball. This years team was better than last years, a few new players can make a big difference. One of the new girls stepped up to catch and that made a positive impact. The team placed first in the regular season, and 2nd in the Playoffs. I didn't realize it at the time, but they were playing for the Arizona State Charter School Title. It was a tough game, played in the heat of the day. The girls did a great job, but in the end, the other team won.

Her club team is doing well. It's been fun to watch her relax and do her job on the mound knowing that her defense is able to do their jobs and make the outs when the ball gets put into play.

The big excitement is that the team will be going to Utah in July for the World Series. We've heard about this for years and are so excited to finally be going.

Bob is doing great, especially since the new facility was finally finished and they moved in in March. Being in a new facility in an area with a lot more traffic has made a positive impact on business. While it's not at the levels that we've seen in the past, it's definitely been an improvement over the last 18 months. Now to keep that momentum going, that's the work ahead.

And I've been working hard too, picking up more work, new clients and more responsibilities with current clients. The most exciting project I have right now is a book project that I'm writing as the story teller tells it. The "story teller" is a disabled woman who has been able to get past the physical barriers and live a pretty full life. She wants to tell her story in hopes of inspiring others to do what she's done - to live life to the fullest despite the obstacles. Listening to her has really helped to put my life into perspective - and makes me even more grateful for the life I've been so lucky to have.

On a sad note, a friend of Natalie's lost her mother to cancer about a week ago. She was such a neat person, and despite the fact that she had been so sick for the past year, her attitude was always so positive. She was truly an inspiration. The situation hits home for me, knowing what the kids are going through. Losing a parent when you are young will change your life forever.

We never know what tomorrow holds, how life can be changed within a few minutes time. Now that it's been 30 years since my father died, I can look back and know that things happen for a reason, even if it seems unfair at the time. I know that if my father had lived, I would not be living the life I am living right now. To begin to think about it makes my head spin.

But enough of that.

One more exciting thing that's going to happen this summer - my niece and nephew will be coming out at the end of July to spend a week with us. It will be so great to see them, and to share with them this amazing place in which we live. Jill just turned 16, and William is now 17 1/2!! I've got lots of stuff planned for us to do while they are here, but if they decide they'd rather just hang around, that'll be fun too.

Better get now, I'll probably post again towards then end of summer!

First a new year, then a new month

Time sure flies!

We just celebrated the changing of a new year, and already we're half way into February.

So far so good. We've only had two mornings where there's been ice on the water troughs. No frozen pipes – although I think that's because I've figured out that I need to shut the water off to those pipes so there is no water in there to freeze to begin with – HA!. We have snow all around us, in the mountains to the east and north. It's been cold, but nothing like last year, at least not so far.

The work we had done to our well, well, I'm not sure. I realize that we had to do the work so we would know what is not happening. We know that the equipment is good, so that's not the problem. Unfortunately, it's the actual well itself that seems to be the problem. Since we moved in almost 2 years ago, there have been 5 new homes built in close proximity to our home, and two more had families move in. They are also on wells, and must be pulling their water from the same underground source, which is causing our well to not produce what it has been in the past. So, we've had to have water trucked in 2 times so far this year. From the looks of it – according to my daily monitoring of the situation (because the well is in my backyard) we will have to have water trucked in at least once a month and probably more often than that during the summer months.

Chapman BMW is really going to move into their new store! March 2^nd is the scheduled "Big Day", they've even got ads in the local newspaper about it, so it must be really happening. Finally! We are hopeful that this will help the store do better. The location that they are in now is on a road that is becoming a ghost town as more and more dealerships close up shop and move to other locations, if not close for good due to the economy. This new store is a real work of art, and it will be nice to see Bob in a new building with state-of-the-art everything, instead of the little old place he's been in. Although, even though he's been in the tinky little place, he's managed to post sales numbers that are more than the other "big guys" in North Scottsdale – who have been in their "Brand New" building for a couple of years now. It's got to be The Bob.

Lenny is back in action after his surgery in September. We've been on some really good rides. I've been out with a girlfriend on rides with just her and I, and that's been a lot of fun. I ride down to her place, and then we ride out into the Tonto and into this wash where we are able to run the horses for about 2 miles. Cantering is not something I'm used to doing on my gaited horse, but once we get going and into a rhythm, there is no stopping us. It's just as addicting as his gait. It's a blast. We get out into the forest pretty far, where you can no longer see rooftops; it's like being in the middle of nowhere.

Natalie has been taking lots of pictures with her film camera that my mother gave her. She really likes taking pictures in black and white, and has taken some pretty good ones. She wants to buy a digital body to go along with all the great lenses that she got with the camera, so that she can have the ability to look at the picture immediately instead of having to wait to develop film – you know, the whole hour it takes… It was funny having to explain to her how film works, that she could only take 24 shots per roll ("Why, it says 400 on it?") But she's getting it. She's taken a couple that I would like to enlarge and frame.

She's also doing great on her new softball team, The Desert Wolves. The girls just won their first tournament for the year. They've come close a couple of time, but had been struggling lately, so yesterdays win was a big one. They run ruled the first 4 games they played, and then won the championship game 10-3. Natalie pitched against her old team, Team Intensity, and won that game 16-0. She was in the "zone", and loved every second of it.

And she's been given an opportunity to take some summer school classes at ASU, something she's pretty excited about. She has to take some tests to see if she qualifies as a "gifted" student first, so she's got some studying to do!

Bobby is applying to business schools, one of them being here at ASU. It would be great to have him out here with us, not that I think he would be moving back home, but if he did we would love that. He hasn't moved home since moving out when he was 18 and going into the college dorms at Long Beach State. Even though we're quite a commute to the college, we're cheaper than rent. The other schools are in So Cal near him (USC & UCI) and then Texas and Pennsylvania. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ASU.

Patrick is doing well, just got a raise at his weekend job and is getting the hang of his day job. His roommate and best friend since grade school is getting married soon, so we know Pat is going to be going through some changes too.

I've been writing and working at a pretty steady pace. Networking on all the sites has helped bring in projects, so I'm staying busy. The hardest part is staying focused and getting the work done before the deadline starts breathing down my neck, which doesn't help! But when the weather is as beautiful as it has been, all I want to do is be outside and in the saddle!

Tomorrow we're going to the Arabian show. Some friends from California are in town for it, so we'll go visit them. And they want to come out and see "the ranch" (so I better vacuum!)

OK, I'll get this posted and then get some new pictures up. I'll add them to the dot photo account, which is the second tab on your right.

Happy February!

Goodbye 2008

New Years Eve

I've heard it so many times in the past few days, "I can't believe this year is over." It's true, it's over and it went fast.

How to sum up 2008…

The year started with a snow storm, putting snow on all the mountains around us for a little while. We had pipes freeze, and burst, and layers of ice an inch thick on water troughs. I learned how to solder pipe. We saw rain, lots of rain, and WIND. We dug lots of ditches to handle the water. I watched Natalie pitch her way into one state tournament and one western divisional, placing second in both. We had one horse escaped death with an amazing surgery to remove a 7 pound entrolith from his gut. We learned that Scottsdale has a really nice hospital when Bob had to have his belly shaved too, to have a hernia surgery. We survived another summer, the heat and the monsoons. We traveled to Prescott, Payson, Flagstaff and Sedona, and learned that Arizona is more than just a desert. We went to the Arabian show and saw what I call "Barbie Doll Horses" (what a trip). The family welcomed a new baby girl when Bobs niece had a baby in April, and we said goodbye to a cousin, aunt and an uncle. We watched as another family member battled breast cancer and won. We celebrated my mother-in-laws 80^th birthday. We're surviving this economy, saw a "half-white guy" (as I prefer to say) get elected to President and we watched more Saturday Night Live than I've watched in a long time. We rode many miles and explored a lot of area around us on horseback. We still love to get up every morning at the crack of dawn to feed and clean stalls. We watched meteor showers from the view deck and counted up to 22 shooting stars in one hour. We've seen amazing sunrises and sunsets. Patrick moved back to California after living with us for 8 months, trying something new. Bobby is applying to Business Schools to pursue an MBA degree. We are still awed and amazed when we come "over the hill", HOME. We've met lots of new people and made many new friends. We've rescued dogs and mini horses when they've escaped their homes. I've gotten involved in volunteer work and have begun taking real steps pursuing my dream of becoming a writer. Bob is making a name for himself in the Arizona car business, just as he did in California. We celebrated our second round of holidays here, and we all agree, it seems like we have always lived here.

Yes, it's been quite a year.

2009 has big shoes to fill. We're pretty sure those shoes will get filled, and then some.

Happy New Year Everyone.