A day with history

I am sorry I have not been more faithful in blogging.  I could make excuse but that doesn't matter.  Please know that I want to share what is going on but I haven't and I am sorry.
To catch up a bit.....
After coming home from Kenai and having a relaxing time at home.  We had another round of games at home which keeps us all busy.  We then welcomed Justin Dillard back to Alaska.  He traveled with us in 2003 as a player.  He currently has his own baseball ministry Complete Game and works along high school students.  It was awesome having him with us.  First, he understands the game and that gave him a quick in with the guys.  Second, he pursued deep conversations with the players and was helpful in every way possible.  Thirdly, it was so encouraging to see him walking faithfully with the Lord.  It was neat to see how the Lord has worked in his life.  He then left this week and Chris is teaching again.
Our coaches family, the Groth's also left this week for a wedding back at home.  They were great and I wish I could have spent more time with them.  I got to spend quite a bit of time with their son, Caleb, who helped me in the merchandise booth.
So everyone has left and we have 2 weeks left.  These two weeks tend to be the most crucial.  It is a time when a lot of conversations are happening.  Pray for the guys and us...that we will finish strong.
So what does all that have to do with the title for this blog....nothing!  But yesterday the boys and I got to experience history.  We went to Mr Altius (we have talked about him in previous years) house.  He has been a fan of ours since we started coming to Alaska.  He is a retired Army chaplain, who loves baseball.  He is 81 years old.  So we went to his house and he showed us his gun collection.  We held a gun from the Spanish America War, Sgt York's riffle and two WWII rifles.  I am sure if Ryan was writing the blog he could tell you all the names, but I forgot.  Anyway, after he showed us his guns and gave us a gun safety lesson we went to his friends house, where he goes every Thursday afternoon, and we shot pellet guns and bow and arrows.  It was so much fun.  We shot the pellet guns in his garage and then his friend showed us his homemade bows and arrows and we shot all the target animals in his yard.  I have to say I had quite good form with the bow and arrow and felt like Maid Marian from Robin Hood.  As we left, the boys were so excited.  They kept sharing how they had held a piece of history and how neat it was that Mr Altius wanted to share that with us.  It was such a sweet time to experience history through his life.

4th of July, road trips and purity!

Well this week was full of events.  First, my kids got to see fireworks on the 4th of July.  I know you are thinking how unamerican I am, but in Alaska in the summer it doesn't exactly get dark, thus no fireworks.  But the town of Eagle River has them anyway.  So we stayed up till midnight, and the boys were thrilled.

Then we left for a road trip to Kenai.  It was rainy and cold and unfortunately I got sick.  So the boys and I headed home and left the team and Chris in Kenai.  I am feeling much better and Chris got some good one on one time with the players. And the boys were troopers coming home....and we had so much time just getting to relax.

Chris is currently teaching on purity with the guys.  This series usually takes about 10 days and the guys really enjoy it, although it is hard to deal with their sin.  Typically we start to lose games during this time too.  Which is what is happening...we have lost the last 4 games.  Pray for these guys.  Pray that they will want to boldly follow after God and His Word.  Pray that they will feel His grace and forgiveness.  Pray that their hearts are open to Him. And pray for Chris that he will have endurance and strength for the last 3 weeks.  We have no more disciplers coming...and it is just Chris.

Mt Baldy or as Ty calls it Mt Bald Eagle

Today we hiked Mt Baldy.  It was quite steep but thankfully we saw no bears.  We saw a moose on the way home.  Even though it wasn't clear it was beautiful.

Road Trip

This last week we traveled 6 hours up to Fairbanks.  We had a great time seeing friends, but were rain out of some of our games.  The boys and I traveled to the North Pole to see Santa.  Unfortunately I haven't learned the ins and outs of my new camera and the picture didn't come out.  After arriving in Fairbanks on Monday we left Wednesday night.  Then on Thursday through Saturday we had home games.  Sunday and Monday we had a away games and today we had the day off.  Tomorrow we are off on another road trip to Kenai.

The boys love helping at batting practice

Oh we also went to the Highland Games.  Yes they have Scottish games in Alaska.  We aren't sure why but we thought it would be fun.  We listened to the bagpipes and watched the athletes throw large stones and flip huge logs.  The boys even got to try their hand at the games.  Ty claims I was "Captain Fun" that day since I splurged on Hawaiian Ice and Kettle corn.  And here I thought I was always Captain Fun!