Moving Day

 The day has come to say "see you later" to Hermiston and Stanfield. On Wednesday night we had a group of hardworking friends help us load up for our Thursday departure. The day was made more chaotic by the discovery that Mitch and Shannon have Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. Lovely.

 The kids helped and then went to the neighbors to swim. 

 The u-haul filled up faster than we thought. As I feared, it was too small.

 Nonetheless, we got a lot inside! 

 Janet was the master puzzler, loading that beast like a wizard.

 When we realized it all wouldn't fit, Kirby hooked us up with a trailer and we kept loading.

 It was hot and our crew was wonderful!

We had friends from church (Bruce, Janet and Bill), friends from school (Lacey, Dan, Brad, Marilyn, Scott and Trevor), friends from the neighborhood (Jeff), and family friends (Kirby). It was so kind, and overwhelming to have so much help.

We bid farewell to 29 W Cedar Dr. What a wonderful home! 

Wrapping Up

We have been filling our final days here in Hermiston with lots of friends and fun (in between packing!).

The Sharps kindly hosted a BBQ dinner and we enjoyed an evening with friends. Lorry was there for another photo op with "her" kids.

We went to a Tri-City Dust Devils game with the Warners and these two blondies were ridiculously cute together.

Our 6 kiddos for the evening had a great time!

 We got to have Carter spend 3 days and 2 nights with us and the kids had a blast!

 These two played for hours - getting up and going straight outside for backyard baseball!

Meanwhile, Shannon helped demonstrate the awesome beauty of our hydrangea, in its farewell swan song.

Bryan and I celebrated our 10th anniversary with a nice dinner in the TriCities. We bought this home on our 1st anniversary - what a lot of life we've lived here!

We made a quick road trip to Wenatchee to see Aunt Phyllis and celebrate the Pobst anniversary/birthday weekend. Lots of swimming and delicious pie!

This week we have our second week of swim lessons. Mitch is getting so much better!

Shan loves her lessons, too. No fear for the blondie!

This week we are also doing VBS, at least partially. We have so enjoyed having Bruce and Janet at the church and will certainly miss them!

It's been an emotional month and it's winding down. How do we really say good-bye to our home here in Hermiston? In bits and pieces, I suppose, knowing that the time is right for us to go even if it's hard. 

Last Day of School

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This is Mitchell ready for his last day of kindergarten. What a year it has been for him! He met his goal of learning to read this year and did a great job with his math as well. So many great advances and we're grateful to his teachers.

 He enjoyed field day with Carter and Samuel

 He told me Abby is his girlfriend - you know, Mom, a friend who's a girl. Sure, bud. Doesn't hurt that she's smart and cute!

Meanwhile, Shannon spent the day with the Warners.

Happy, feisty blondes!

Last day of Coach Pitch, too. It's hotter than the hinges and we are so ready for vacation!

State Champions!

Bryan's Tigers played for the 3A state title at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer. They had a send-off at the school and rode a cruiser to the game.

Focused boys ready to take on the defending state champs, a private school, Santiam Christian.

Before the game, Bryan and Mitch played some catch. This is how Bryan's been all year - graciously letting Mitchell be part of the team and sharing his time and attention.

Infield-outfield went well and Coach Johnson (and his team) looked good.

Stanfield was the visiting team - always a more challenging position.

Game on! Mitch worked hard in his role of batboy. Lots of ground to cover and he was hot and exhausted!

Focused coaches

Grogan pitched a strong game, with 9Ks and no earned runs in 8 innings of work.

This guy was voted 3A Coach of the Year in Oregon. He's awesome.

Bottom of the 6th with two outs and SC scored 3 runs to tie the game. A meeting on the mound to refocus. A.C.E.

Bottom of the 8th and SC has the winning run coming home. He neglects to slide and we have a beautiful relay from Keeney to Flores to Monkus. OUT! On to the 9th!

Vicki, Rachel, Dad, Mom, Ryan, Betty Ann, Russ and Julie came to watch from our family. There was a great crowd supporting the Tigers, in spite of the train derailment that closed I-84. 

To of 10, Bailey scores on Woods' hit for the second run of the inning. Score is 5-3, Tigers.

Bottom of the 10, score of 5-4 Tigers after a wacky error, and this is the final out! Tigers are State Champs!

Let the celebration commence!

Coach Johnson piles on

Happy mamas

Proud coach and exhausted batboy

Hugs from Shan

3A OSAA State Champions - such a poetic way to finish Bryan's coaching career.

"It feels good!" he announced, after the celebratory ice bath. Felt a bit like victory, I'd say.

Proud sister

Mitch and Brody bonded

The coaching staff. What a fairy tale finish. We are so happy and so fortunate. Ah, baseball. Sometimes you really are a beautiful game!