Friday, August 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Coach!

Cheers to the Birthday Boy!We have had a full few days! We had a cookout at Grandmother Beth's on Saturday to celebrate Tim's 36th birthday. Sharon, Tami and Neal and the kids, and Grandmother Beth were there with us (Larry is out of town on a mission trip!). Neal grilled the biggest pieces of pork tenderloin any of us had ever seen (except for me...I picked it up at Sam's and had to dig and dig to find it--the smallest one I could find). We had some leftovers...

The boys played hard. They love jumping off the board. Making the biggest splash is one goal...doing the craziest jump is another.



Trevor has figured out how to dive! He says he learned by jumping on my bed...which I have not inquired further about. I don't even want to know...

This one doesn't even look like my kid! I can't figure out what exactly makes Samuel look so un-Samuel here...what do you think?

All the boys (Trevor, William, Samuel & Judson) love playing in the pool together. The grown-ups can sit and relax now that the boys have all learned to swim.
All the grown-ups except Tami, that is. Mary Grace also wants to compete in the splash contest.
On Tim's birthday, we opened presents. Here's a card William made him. The boys were very excited.

Here's a stack of fun things he got. Thanks everyone for the great gifts!!

The boys have started soccer. William and Trevor are on the same team! How fun is that? We had a great experience last year, and had such a pleasant coach. Of course we were praying that this year God would show us favor again. Little did we imagine that Tim might be who God had in mind! Actually, Tim is the assistant coach, which suits him perfectly. Here's Practice #1.

Here's Coach Andy, pumping the kids up, apparently.

At the soccer try-outs, we were pleased to see Levi, one of William's buddies from school. We have spent a little time with Levi's family, and really enjoy them. Amy, Levi's mom, told us that they were lacking one coach...did Tim want to do it? Tim said he would be willing to assist, but not be a head coach. Amy called her husband, Andy, and asked him, and he said he would be willing if someone would help him. So that worked out great! And now here we are, where we never thought we would be...coaching kids.

He's a good looking coach, yes?

There was quite a group that first practice.

Here's Jabree...he was on Trevor's Team last year. Tim picked him to be on the team again. He's a great player. We have soccer practice 3 nights a week for the next 3 weeks. (Yikes!)

We have been getting a ton of banana peppers from the garden, and more cucumbers that we can eat. I got a recipe from Grandma that I modified and

We

Made

These!!!

Whoo! I am so excited. Before I put them in the jar, I tasted one little pickle. It was SO good. Hooray! The recipe says to let them set a week...I can't wait to tear into that jar!

We also made these jars of peppers. I am really proud of us. It was truly a team effort, and a fun one at that.

Here's the recipe I wound up using for the pickles:

Easy Chill Dill Pickles

2 cups sliced cucumbers

2 c. white vinegar

2 c. water

2 T. pickling salt

1 t. dried dill weed

1 clove garlic, halved

We boiled the water, vinegar and seasoning for 3 minutes. Then we poured the hot liquid over the cucs in a glass bowl, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then we packed the cucs in a pint jar, with the liquid (there was some left over) and sealed the jar!

Thanks for the help, Grandma!!