I love summer...

 So many blessings in our life right now!

Matt is really getting into Skeet. He is getting the hang of it too. He shot 15/24 for his first round on Saturday. He even got the two last birds that are the hardest for him. All dimples on that one!

 Today is our hottest day of the year. Matt and his friend Andy made the best of it! 

me... 

I am just glad to be so excited to photograph again:-)

Off to baseball! 

I am going to miss it. It has been a great part of our summer. 

A great night for baseball

 Matt had a double header tonight. It was a perfect night for it!

 I can't tell you how much I love these games. They have been so much fun for Matt and I.

 He hit that ball pretty hard out to second...but it was caught. A very nice play by the other team. 

 At this point they were down 5-0 and the team decided to rally

 Matt was on fielding first base...and keeping an eye on mom

 back up to bat

 on to a base

 where is my mom?? Oh, I see her

 He is about to be an RBI

I really stink at keeping track of the score. I decided to cheat and take a photo of the book. I am glad Mike said it told the whole story of the game...whatever that means..ha!

His team managed to stay undefeated even though both games were pretty well played

Game one was 7-2

Game two 7-5

He also pitched in game one and did pretty well. And then in game two the coach had him try being catcher. 

It was a great night!

freckles...

He is pitching again tonight. I will keep you posted on how it goes. 

if it were baseball...

His batting average would have been .500 

Not bad for a whipper snapper just starting out.

These young Veterans are sure fun to hang with. 

He is...

going into 7th grade... no really! WTH happened??

loves baseball(despite what the shirt says)

LOVES fish and wants to go to college in San Diego

is getting really good at mowing lawns

still has a very soft heart for animals

makes me proud all the time (a few weeks ago he went up to an older man at the store who was wearing a WW2 hat and said "Thank you so much for fighting for me" The older man nearly got tears in his eyes. He told Mike how grateful he was that someone Matt's age even knew what the hat meant. Matt really meant it. Mike and I are just proud that he is brave enough to say that to a stranger. 

He is going to get to fish Montana soon!! 

Lucky kid

the photos of the day are...

 My tomatoes are coming along well:-) I can't wait until they start turning red! I love fresh tomatoes. 

I thought you might like to see Matt and his best fur pal. Both kind of hate getting photos taken. 

I am making a commitment to take more personal photos and post more. I miss it. 

Happy Summer!

Breaking clay

 Matt has found a new love. Uncle Claron took Matt skeet shooting last summer. Matt was a big fan. 

On this day the boys were only shooting clays.  

 This photo is my favorite of the day. I just love that smile.

Mike and Claron's turn 

 (hottest man I know)

 nailed it!!

 That is John pulling the clays. 

 Matt had lots of coaching. 

 It was an awesome day! 

Then it was back to work on our doors...

Yeah for summer!!

Happy 4th!

 My husband really is the most handsome man I have ever known... I love this photo of him

 Chester just loves him

 It has been a fun few days already. We went mini golfing yesterday and for once I won! I even won by 5 strokes. That never happens! 

 Then we messed around in the toy shop attached to the mini golf. 

 This photo is for Grandma Dot...

 This one is too! 

 This one of for me. I took one of Matt in this same rocket years ago and I wanted to see how much he has grown. He was not so excited. If I was not more exhausted I would find the post and link it... Maybe I will have to do that tomorrow. 

 We went downtown and watched the fireworks for the first time ever. It was really fun! 

 The city of Rochester at night reflected in Silver Lake

Mike took this photo of Matt and I as the grand finale lit up the sky above us.

Our fourth was really nice. A far cry from last year's doggie hospice. It is hard to believe it has already been a year since we spent that last night with Charlie. He is deeply missed in our hearts. I have said it before but I will say it again. It is hard amazing the difference a year makes in your life. 

Happy 4th All!

The trouble with hounds...

 It is hard to believe that it has almost been a year since we lost Charlie. Yes, we went from two old, mellow, well trained, quiet dogs... too puppyville. 

Now puppyville is not all bad.  It can be loud, as we are training him not to hate squirrels with such a passion. He is incredibly cuddly and one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen. 

 There is of course Matt's dog that is 2 going on 10. There is just something about this dog that really makes me wonder... I just feel safer with him here.  I can tell that he knows how lucky he is to be rescued.  He has never really ever acted like a puppy. 

PJ on the other hand... 

Well a hound will be a hound. 

Happy 4th! 

Life is good... 

Academic Triathlon

Our life is not conventional right now. It will be again, and I am thankful God has given me such patience with it...and faith...a whole lot of faith. Mike and I have listened though, and we have believed in the message. When I am silent I hear the words "Just hang on a little bit more". Sure there are hard days, and there are amazing days. There are days when I just know we are doing the right thing. We are sacrificing a lot for the well being of our family in the long run. The short term has to be overlooked. Last night as I watched Matt thrive with his Academic Triathlon team I was reassured that we were listening to the right message. Academic Triathlon has not been a good thing for Matt...it has been a great thing.
My favorite part of the night was how excited Matt got when the other team won 2nd place. I was so proud of him. His team went on to win 1st place.

Life is good...

Dear World,

     I found this picture today and wanted to share it with you. Our lives have changed so much since it was taken... and we are finally getting our footing. We have an incredible new teacher and Matt is thriving in school. I could not be more impressed by his sense of humor, kindness, even being stern when needed to be, and a true love for what he does. In fact his only flaw is that he is a Packer's fan(if you ask Matt) 

      Mike's new career has taken hold and the company is growing stronger everyday. His boss called me yesterday to tell me how hard he is trying to get us someplace that works for us to be a family. He is an incredibly honorable and Godly man and it is nice to see.

      My faith is finally growing again after a bit of a sabbatical... time, space and reflection have showed me how much it was hurt by the wrong influence. I will choose my teachers with greater clarity in the future. I take some responsibility too(don't get me wrong)

      Our dog population....well it was 2 then 3 then 2 then 3 and now 2 again. We had fostered a little hound dog that we called PJ. He was here when we had to put Charlie down. We all tried to resist his charms but he floppy ears and coon baying won us all over as he licked our crying faces. What can I say... the Willits are dog people.

       Me...Well, I have finally managed to get a handle on things (between photo shoots and editing) but the yard? Well thankfully my new neighbors are not yard people either. They totally get the morning glories growing in the center of the yard! I miss the days when Mike made this his personal battle. Someday:-) I am really loving life right now though. Despite the unconventionalness of it. I am so thankful to have such a man beside me. He is my hero and he knows it.  I also value the closeness I have found with Mike's grandma. I really should start writing down all the stories she has told me. I would not trade our time for anything!

        Well that just about sums it up! Off to pick up Matt from and early out day. Lucky kid

~M