Happy Birthday Nate!

Nate and his girlfriend Rachel are both at the same college now!

Our nephew Nate has had a big week, he moved away to college on Tuesday and today he turns 19! This will be his first birthday away from home, from the sounds of it he is loving his first few days of college life. Just wait till classes start on Monday! We spent yesterday on the boat with the rest of Nate's family who are still at home and it was very different not having him around. Even Dayton said " I miss Nate". Happy Birthday Nater!!!

Busy Weekend

Myah just loves her Nate! Aunt Bev, Vicki, Aunt Ginger, Me, Aunt Barb and Aunt Jan, l-rMyah loved jumping with cousin Blake
The beautiful quilt hanging from the deck, they have the best backyard, complete with a babbling brook!
I love me some cake!Boating with Kim on Friday night

The Bulldogs waiting to play their game.
This is how Myah looked when she woke me up on Sat. morning, she had tights on over her pjs.

This past week has flown by, seriously, we have put 1,000 miles on our new car in 7 days, we have been so busy! We had a baseball tournament this past weekend and had a four hour rain delay. Dayton hit in the winning run and advanced us in the tournament, it was very exciting for him and all of us! That meant that we had an early Sunday game in addition to our nephew Nate's open house. We were on the go! We played the #1 team and were tied 1-1 in the last inning with 2 outs and bases loaded, never had I hoped we would make and error, I really wanted to go to Nate's party and not sit through another game! (Bad mom, I know but it was a long weekend at the ball park I assure you!). We ended up losing by 1 and so we were able to get to the party a bit early. It was so nice to see all of Mark's family, we love them all and miss them so much. Myah was her true self and bossed everyone around, she made out like a bandit, Uncle Charlie gave her pop, Aunt Vicki took her to see the bunnies and colored with her, Aunt Jan caught her in her arms as she raced down the hill, Blake and Sydney jumped on the trampoline with her, Aunt Bev and Aunt Barb gave her cookies. Dayton played ladder golf all day long with Sean barely taking time out to eat. The highlight for many of us was seeing Aunt Ginger, who just had her last radiation treatment and is as pretty and sweet as ever, such an inspiration to me! Nate was so cute, I think he enjoyed himself. Lora had all of his many awards displayed proudly. She had made gorgeous scrapbooks for him, my how the years have flown! Just like many grads, he was anxious to add up his earnings, we gave him a laundry basket filled with supplies for dorm living. A small trash can, laundry detergent, softener, towels, bathroom cleaning supplies, hangars, an iron and small ironing board, and Spaghettios of course! His grandma made a gorgeous quilt from all of his old jerseys through the years, Lora hung it over the deck, it was such a special touch. We stayed afterwards and had a bonfire with Mark's brothers and their families. We always enjoy spending time with our families that is for sure. Here are a few images from the weekend.

Nate's Night at Comerica

Nate before the game hanging out in the dugout. He got to go into the locker room as well. Nate's biggest fans, Rachel, Dayton and Taylor taking it all in while leaning over the dugout. (this is where we sat!)

Our family eating in Greektown before the big game.

Nate is throwing out his first pitch in this picture. We were the first people to arrive at the stadium!A very proud set of parents watching Nate run out from the bullpen!
Nate is sitting in the bullpen after warming up in this picture, he said the bullpen had vending machines in it!

Our family with Nate after the game, they were waiting for us to quit taking pictures (see the man on the right!) We had such a great time!

Nate and his friends posing with his coaches.
After the game, he is in the dugout watching his crazy family.
Star Spangled Banner

Last night we had the pleasure of watching our nephew Nate play in the Michigan All Star Baseball Classic game at Comerica park (where the Tigers play). This was a huge honor for Nate to be chosen by the Michigan High School Coaches Athletic Assn. as one of 32 of the best high school seniors in Michigan. He had attended a banquet on Monday night and was put up in a hotel and attended a practice with the team and then played in the East vs. West game Tuesday night. We were the first family to arrive at the stadium, we got down there so early! We were all able to go to Greektown and had a fun time at dinner before the game. We were able to sit in the front row right above the dugout. Such a cool night! Nate got to warm up in the Tiger's bullpen and pitch from the pitcher's mound, it was awesome! He had the largest crowd of any other player rooting for him, several of his teammates came across the state to watch him play. Some of Mark's extended family also came for the game. Nate's biggest fan, Myah, was happy at our friend Val's house for the night, (thanks Val, she had a blast!), so that we could enjoy the game ourselves. We were the last family to leave the game, they were basically kicking us out of the stadim, (too many pictures I guess!). We are so proud of Nate and told him that we have him to thank for giving us one of the coolest nights in all of our lives! His team lost 3-1 but it didn't matter, it was a great game and we got to see some awesome players, all of the young men are going on to play at colleges, who knows they might make the big leagues someday and we can say that we were there! When we were in the parking lot to leave Nate realized that his luggage was in one of the coaches cars, we laughed when we got home and looked up the city where the coach was from and it is 5 hours away from their house! We had to laugh! Oh and a bonus to the evening was that we were able to celebrate Mark's younger brother Eric's engagement to Stephanie, Congrats to you both!

Congratulations Nate!!

Way to go Nate! Last time I saw him walk down the aisle was when he was ringbearer in our wedding, this time he was in a gown! Gosh that was almost 15 years ago!
Nate with his family and girlfriend Rachel.

Nate giving Myah some love, she was very fascinated with his hat!
And also with Rachel's little brother Joey from Guatemala
Our family with the graduate! Myah was not cooperating a whole lot, she did however do amazingly well during the ceremony!

Dayton really looks up to Nate!

Happy Birthday to our niece Rachel! She is 14 today!!
Nate and his adorable girlfriend Rachel, they both graduated with high honors (Nate lost his scarf after the ceremony!), they are both attending the same university in the fall! We just love them both!

Our oldest nephew Nate graduated from high school on Thursday evening. We went to WMU for the ceremony and it was such a wonderful celebration. Our whole family was there to share in the excitment. Nate is an outstanding young man and I can brag on him a little bit. He graduated with high honors. He has chosen his college to attend in the fall. He was offered full scholarships to other colleges to play baseball as a pitcher but he turned them down. He was thrilled the other night when the college that he chose called to say they want him to play for their team and have held a position for him! We are so happy for him! Nate has received so many honors in baseball lately that I just have to share them. We were able to be at the game where he broke the school record for the most career wins, it also was the conference record as well with 29. Nate is not a large guy by no means, but on the plate it doesn't matter what the size he has 4 pitches that he can throw consistently, his record is 30-2. Nate is very humble, you won't hear him ever brag at all, he likes to blend in with his team. He never has a bad game, he is very consistent! I don't know how he does it, seriously, I don't! They just won the district championship in a very exciting game on Saturday and are hoping to advance in todays game. He was thrilled to receive a huge honor this past week as well (actually the same night as the university call), he has been chosen as one of the 32 best players in our state to compete in the East vs. West side game at Comerica Park (Tiger's Stadium) 16 from the East side of the state vs. 16 from the West side. Out of all the divisions. This actually brought a smile to Nate's face, we can hardly wait to go watch him play in a few weeks! We are very proud of him! What an honor.

The extra special part of watching Nate pitch is seeing his younger brother Taylor behind the plate catching for him. Taylor and Nate both took 1st Team all conference honors this year. Taylor is a sophomore and is a very decorated athlete and scholar as well, he has just been chosen as one of 8 students across the state to serve on the MHSAA Student Advisory Board. This was a super huge honor as well. I told my sister in law Lora to share her secrets to raising such fine young men and she simply replied, "lots of prayer". She and Scott have raised their family in the church and have always put God first in everything that they do. God gets the glory for all of their accomplishments. It is very refreshing to see young men who aren't afraid to bow their head in a restaurant before a meal and pray. They are very thankful.

We pray for a bright future for Nate, he is entering into a business law degree. We wish him the all the best and are so very proud of all that he has done so far and can't wait to see what his future holds!

Nate the Great

Next stop... the cover of GQ!
So handsome!
I love this one not so much for a portrait but because I snapped it while he was laughing at himself after I asked him to pose a certain way and and he couldn't do it, we all thought it was hilarious!

I know. It just doesn't seem possible, our nephew Nate is going to be a senior in high school this year. Not only does his birth seem not that long ago, but I also realized that when he graduates next spring, it will mean that I graduated 20 years ago! Oh my gosh!!! Time just flies! We are so proud of all of our nieces and nephews. Nate is our oldest. He just received many honors this year in baseball, lets just say, the college scouts are calling his cell phone already, yeah, he is that good. But not only is he a great pitcher, he is an exceptionally good student, he is a strong Christian, a great son and grandson. He was our ringbearer 14 years ago, I remember when we asked him if he would like that position in our grand event, he replied a few minutes later " I want to be a ring lion" not a bear. So my mother in law sewed the cutest little lion patch on the back of his little pillow that he carried down the aisle, he was a ring lion inside! I have been thinking about him so much lately, probably due to the fact that I took his Senior pictures last week and I have been staring at his face for the past few days editing into the wee hours of the morning. I see such a special young man, quiet and respectful, yet quirky and humorous. He is a great kid. We look forward to his bright future! Here are a few of my favs from the other day.