Visit from Allen and Stacey

We had a nice visit from my brother Allen, who lives in Washington State. He and his wife Stacey travelled to Tennessee to visit my niece, Allison, in Bristol, and stopped in for a visit with the Knoxville contingent as well.

We all took family portraits with the happy couple.

Megan and Tia being camera hogs.

Riley is a cutie, isn't she? She just loves her cousins Nicholas and Megan!

Come back and visit soon, Allen and Stacey!

First CSA box

Our first CSA box of the year!!! Yay! Picking were a little slim due to the earliness of the season, but we got radishes, turnip greens, green garlic, parsley and mint. Looking forward to next week already!

Picking out clothes

Nicholas's instructions: "Go pick out your clothes for school tomorrow."

He was very proud of his arrangement of said clothes. See how they are going to fit his body perfectly?

"Nicholas, did you forget underwear?" No, of course not! It's under the shorts:)

Willow Creek Softball Tournament

Finally a tournament close to home -- right here at our home ballpark-- Willow Creek.







The boys can have fun as long as there's some dirt to play in.




The girls enjoy the down time between games.

Back to business!

We finished in third place. We really could have won this tournament, but the girls lost a little focus in the semifinal game. Oh well, it was fun!

At least we came back in our league game later that week, beating the tournament's winning team 11-1!

Happy Easter!

Look at our new webkinz!











Easter finery.











Obligatory post-Mass photo-op.










Happy birthday, David! Notice how Nicholas is helping blow out the candles.
















Riley likes bubbles. So does Nicholas!










Laika supervising the festivities.








Riley likes Nicholas's Darth Maul light saber too!











Happy Easter!

Crossville Softball Tournament

Another weekend, another softball tournament! We continue to be blessed with the most beautiful weather. It is certainly not the worst way to spend a weekend: sitting outside in the sunshine, with good friends, watching our daughters compete in a sport that they love. This past weekend was a three-team tournament in Crossville, TN. We finished second. We just couldn't beat a very good team from Kentucky. They played very tight defense, they were very disciplined. And they took advantage of a couple of walks with some aggressive baserunning to score just enough to beat us every time. Oh well, somehow, it doesn't hurt as much to lose to a team who played that well.








This field is popular with the girls and the little brothers alike due to the readily accessible playground adjacent to the fields.









The "other" Megan on the Thunder had a great weekend with 2 over-the-fence homeruns. Here she is holding one of her homerun balls.






Megan, Abby and Sarah checking out the competition.

















A little batting sequence with Megan demostrating her slapping form. She is a battler at the plate, frequently fouling off multiple pitches before she lays down a hit (or draws a walk). Lay off that high stuff, Megan (she likes the high stuff :).

Two little brothers enjoying a day at the ballpark.








David, assistant coach in charge of keeping the book.


Talking strategy with Dad in the dugout.















Megan and Sarah getting ready to bat.


I love this picture!