Skeeter Hiking

We had a hard time figuring out what we should do on our day off. So Ty, Jack and mom thought we should hiking. But we didn't think we would get a nasty surprise which is the bug that everyone dreads....the deadly mosquito. We drove to Birch Hill Ski Area. After about 5 minutes of walking we were attacked by the skeeters. We quickly drenched ourselves with bug spray but they still swarmed us. We kept thinking they would subside a bit but they didn't let up at all. So after about 20 minutes we quickly turned around and walked as fast as we could to the truck to escape the deadly attack. Of course dad thought mom was crazy with her brilliant idea. But she still has memories of hiking in Germany where the killer bug isn't as common. It is nuts here...those bugs are everywhere. When mom asked Ty on the way home if he had fun...he said "No those bugs are nuts attacking me." Even now as we write this the smell of OFF is everywhere.
Ryan

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

Saturday we had a day off with dad. It was raining so we decided to see Kung Fu Panda at the theater. The movie was great with lots of action. When we got home we recreated the movie with our Kung Fu moves on daddy. After naps we went for a walk and a little bit of football. It is cold here so it feels like football weather....50 degrees. Then we were headed up for dinner when we found out that five of the players were coming over for dinner. So we scrambled everything we had and still had leftovers. We had fun hanging out with the guys and playing with Quinlann. We finished the day with an episode of Daniel Boone on the laptop in bed while dad played cards with the guys.
Jack

Finally a Win

Last night it finally came a Win for the team. Ever since we have been here in Fairbanks we have had a losing streak, which is not only hard on the players but the boys too. Wednesday night after the lose Ryan was beside himself upset over it. Yet we have to keep reminding ourselves that although we want to do well in the league and win there is alot more going on than just baseball. These guys hearts and minds are being challenged with the Word of God. They are realizing that they have a choice to make whether God will be Lord of their life or just something that they grew up with. I want to ask you to pray for one of our guys Eric! He came thinking he was saved but has realized that really he isn't. He is wrestling with the decision before him. Pray that he will come to know the Lord. We play again tonight (Friday) and then we have Saturday and Sunday off and practice on Monday with a game on Tuesday. Pray for these young men....that the Lord will grip their hearts.
Danielle

Putt Putt

Well today after waking the kids up at 10:45 (yes Ty really slept that long :) we headed to Pioneer Park with the Gillespees. We usually go there a couple times a week. It is a park next to the ballpark which has different things to do. It has a huge playground, air museum (really old airplane junk), train, carousel, old wooden riverboat and a few shops and places to eat. The kids always look forward to going. Today they all wanted to play Putt Putt golf. So Ryan, Kirkland and Kaylee took the hard course and Jack and Ty took the "easy" course. It was so funny watching Ty take hacks at the ball. He would just keep trying and trying and still not make it thorough the loop de loop. He finally looked at me and said "I stink at this game" yet he never gave up. We finally had mercy on him and would only count 10 stokes instead of the 20 it might of took to get the ball in the hole. Jack tried to teach him and Ty would listen and still just take a hack. On one hole he was an inch away from putting the ball in the hole and it probably took him 10 tries to get it in. Jack and I were laughing and so was Ty. What impressed me about the whole thing is how Ty never gives up on something he wants to "do himself". I pray that one day his heart will be that way for the things of the Lord. He has a lot of determination. At the end of the game Jack had a 71, Ty had a merciful 101 and the other three somehow had a three way tie of 70. Of course Ryan had a stellar moment at the 19th hole. If you get a hole in one you get a free game and he made it. He was beaming with confidence.
Danielle

Stinky Cheese Van

We have been waiting to receive a car since we got to Fairbanks. Dad has been using the van which we like to call the Stinky Cheese Van because it has a horrible smell in it. Yesterday dad got an extra car so mom could have a car for us. He got a sweet, brand new silver truck from the dealership. But he gave us the Stinky Cheese Van.....us boys are in an uproar over this. Of course every night after the game we are hoping to drive home with dad in the sweet ride.
Jack

We are in Fairbanks

Well Sunday we arrived in Fairbanks. The kids did great on the drive. We are getting settled into our apartment. We are on the third floor so trying to keep three boys from jumping like crazy is a bit hard so we are praying the people below us are gone most of the time. Yesterday we had our first game in the rain. It then got delayed in the 5th inning and we will try to finish it today, but it is still raining. So we will see. Ty helped Mr Henschen in the ticket booth. Ryan and Jack worked the dugout and Kaylee was our mascot. She got herself a moose hat and is now the moose mascot. We had fun although very wet. Ryan and Jack came home with dad after dinner of pizza with the players. While Ty and I came home to snuggle under the covers with our new Jesus Storybook Bible (thanks to Bob and Nancy Wells). Ty loved the book. Today we are waiting to see if we will play.

Continue to pray for our players.

Danielle

Bear Tooth Theater

Today we went to the Bear Tooth Theater. It is a movie theater that serves food. I never expected to get to eat pizza while watching a movie. We watched Horten Hears a Who. It was cool because there is a table in front of your seats. We had a great time. Tomorrow we leave for Fairbanks! I am not a big fan of the drive but it will be good to get there.

Ryan

Sleepover at Alex's

Last night Jack and I went to our friend, Alex's house for a sleepover. First, we went and played miniature golf. That was very fun. After that we went to his house and played football and then war. We had a delicious dinner of burritos. Then we got to watch a movie and then we all got a good nights sleep after chatting awhile. In the morning we got to watch the military channel and Mrs Wuerth made us Swedish Pancakes for breakfast....which I didn't care for but Jack liked. We had a great time there.
Ryan

Ty gets to be bat boy!

Well Ty's dream has come true....last night while his brothers had a sleepover with Alex he got to be bat boy. He was jumping up down when I told him that he would get to go in the dugout. He made sure that he had his uniform on, snacks packed and a smile from ear to ear. He stood with daddy for the National Anthem. And then hung out in the dugout. At the end of the inning he would run out to get the bats holding on to his huge helmet all the way. He was thrilled and it took a long time to settle him down last night for bed. Of course this morning he woke up asking if he was going back in tonight. He doesn't really understand that this was a special event that may take place periodically. But it was a great night for Chris and Ty. Of course it was nice for me....I actually got to watch the game...although we got crushed 10-0.

Danielle

Playing all week at the Wuerths

All week while here in Anchorage we have been blessed to hangout with friends. My roommate from college lives here in Alaska....so we have been with them all week. The kids look forward every year to going to Alex's house. Of course living in Alaska is different then the lower 48....for example at home in Ohio I send my kids out to the backyard by themselves....but here in Alaska you have to go out with them to be on bear patrol. Seriously...they get bears in their yard. And the boys have had fun playing basketball in their house. Yes in their house....but hey it is Alaska. And baseball in the backyard. We have had a great time though catching up. The older boys are thrilled to sleepover tonight too.

Fun at the Wells

Here are a few pictures of the fun we had at the Wells house while we were in California. The last night there we had chocolate fondue which was huge hit with all 6 children. We are thankful for such dear friends that open their home and hearts to us every summer. The kids always look forward to it. And it is great to see their friendships developing. We were all thankful too for how well Ty and Ethan hit it off this year....they became great buddies. We will miss them but look forward to seeing them on our way back through.
Danielle

Our crazy Hotel

Well it has been interesting ever since we arrived at our hotel. The night we arrived at 1:30 am it took the clerk about thirty minutes to check us in. Why it took so long we are unsure of that. Of course Jack really had to use the bathroom so mom ran him to the room as soon as we got our key. Of course our key didn't work...so dad who was thrilled to be carrying all our luggage at 2am ran back with Jack and Ty to the front desk for the potty and a new key. Then after we made it in we all went to bed. The next morning the toilet started to over flow while at the same time Ty burned his hands with the water trying to wash them. The toilet was shooting water everywhere. Of course dad was thrilled to call the front desk for help. They sent Mr Hung who plunged and dried up the mess....although not to moms standard, there was still water everywhere. Mr Hung kept complementing how handsome the kids are and how they look like their handsome DAD. So after insulting the mother then Mr Hung looked at daddy and mentioned that people would tip him for such service. Mom and dad were a bit dumbfounded since it was the toilet that broke. Anyway we moved on till that evening when mom couldn't figure out the shower. So we waited for 25 minutes to receive help. But of course it really wasn't that complicated but hey she grew up in Germany and they don't have showers like this there. So then today of course our toilet over flowed AGAIN. Yes water was everywhere and the front desk is learning our name. They sent Mr Hung over. But today he didn't ask for a tip which was probably wise since mommy was a bit annoyed from the whole hotel experience. I am sure the people at the front desk are looking for a way to kick us out of here. By the way we are all a little scared to use the restroom now. And Ty hand are fine.

So you all might want to pray for us...we will be here till Sunday.

Dollar Game at the Airport

On Monday we flew out to Alaska. While at the airport I saw a dollar on the ground...as I tried to pick it up it started to move. Then I noticed our players had a string attached to the dollar. I cracked up. So I decided to help them in their game....of people picking up a dollar bill and the bill moving away from them. Most of the people laughed at the joke and one lady who fell for it even joined in on our fun. On the airplane the stewardess who was watching us play our game tried the trick with the peanuts she gave us but it didn't work as well.

After our 4 1/2 hours we finally arrived in Anchorage, AK. We then met at the church to drop off the players with their host families...then we came to our hotel.
Ryan

Soledad Prison & Warnock Party!!!

Saturday the players went to Soledad prison to play softball with the inmates. Of course they got smoked but it was great for the players. They interacted with the inmates which definitely got them out of their comfort level. Then we ended the day with the Host Family BBQ at the Warnocks. This event is something that always bonds the players together. And Ryan, Jack and Ty look forward to it every year. As we were driving up to the Warnock house they had the chant going. As soon as we arrived Ryan was busy getting his crew together to throw Chris into the pool. As soon as he was tossed in Ty was screaming his head off because they had thrown his daddy into the pool. Pretty soon the whole team was either thrown into the pool, playing basketball, playing football or jumping on the trampoline. It was a great day. We are so thankful for the host families at West Hills Community Church. They are so excited about our players and ministry. We will miss them as we leave for Alaska tomorrow.

Friday Game

Well Friday we spent the day going to San Jose to watch our team play. Unfortunately we had a hard time finding the field. It took us about 20 minutes driving around looking for lights to find the field....only to realize this field doesn't have lights. But we found the vans thus we found the field and were able to go to the game. The bummer was we lost both games.

San Francisco

We went to San Francisco yesterday. It was really warm. We went to Oakland A's and New York Yankees game. We got hats for the big game. Jack and Ty got a Yankees hat and I got the A's. My team won 8-4 over the Yankees. This was Ty's first year coming with us to San Fran. We went down the steepest hill and the curvy road. We also went across the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge. We also went to Pier 39 and had lunch. We howled at the sea lions. I heard alot about the Bushman but we didn't see him. It was a fun but long day.

Ryan

Pray for our health

Pray for our health....there seems to be a bit of the stomach flu with the Wells...pray we don't get it.

Our First Game

Yesterday we went to our first game in Monterey. I was the bat boy. We won 12 to 1. I was very excited. I met Mitch and Jonathan. I ate lots of snacks. It was warm but we had a great time. Ty kept getting seeds from all the guys. Our guys are having fun. Today they have practice and tomorrow we will go San Francisco for daddy's birthday.
Jack

Bobcat & Mixers

Today lots of cement trucks came. The trucks poured lots of cement out, which took a long time. There were 9 trucks. They flattened it and now it is drying. The Wells are making a basketball court with all the cement. The bobcat digs the dirt. He knew what he was doing because he went fast. I played with squirt guns and trucks with Ethan. I call him Big E. He sucks his thumb. He is a good friend. We played work man in the house. We ate lollipops. It was great day.
From the mouth of Ty

Beach Bums

Well today we enjoyed a day at the beach with the Wells. We had such a great time and the kids loved it. They never stopped rolling in the sand and playing in the water. Ryan enjoyed the waves. Jack loved digging in the sand. And Ty loved everything about it...from the water (which was freezing), to the sand, to all the snacks we brought.
We then came home to all the crazy clean up. And then Chris came home from his first day with the team. We were excited to hear that a player from last years team, Kirk Nieuwenhuis got drafted in the third round of the amateur baseball draft to the New York Mets. We are very excited for him and look forward to hearing where more guys are placed tomorrow.
It was a great day...
Danielle

Meeting New Friends

We met our new friends for the summer. They are Kaylee and Kirkland. Their dad is the coach for our AIA team and they are traveling with us all summer. Kirkland is 9 years old and loves baseball. Kaylee is 6 years old and likes to draw. Kirkland favorite team is the Yankees which is cool since we are going to a A's and Yankees game next week. Kaylee likes the Cubs. Their dad likes the Dodgers. We talked with them a lot last night. Then dad surprised us after dinner and took us all to Cold Stone.

Our players are coming today and we can't wait to go see them this afternoon.
Jackson

Planes & Bombers

We had a great day at West Hills Community Church. It was great to see friends and worship in our old church. Then we went with Grammy to Chevy's to celebrate daddy's birthday. The waiters snuck up behind him with a Sombrero and sang in their best English "Happy Birthday". After that Ty went home for a nap and Jack and I went with Grammy to the San Martin Air Museum. The air museum has lots of models of planes and bombers. There were some planes that still fly today. There was also B25 there. They are refurbishing it and next year that plane will give people rides. The B25 was in World War II. There was also a British plane that we got to play in. The tour guide was very talkative and answered all of our questions.
Today all of our staff comes and on Wednesday our players will come...let the games begin.
Ryan