Who's your hero?

It's not a fair question really.

Most of us have several.

 

But for our boys, two of whom are native born Texans, the list would include Josh Hamilton

 

Josh played several years with the Texas Rangers, including the 2010 season when the Rangers won the ALCS and the 2011 season when they did it again and came within one strike of winning the World Series twice.  We have fairly clear memories of the boys sitting around the TV watching playoff baseball and chanting, "Ham-il-ton, Ham-il-ton."

 

At the end of 2012, the Rangers traded the oft-times inconsistent or injured Hamilton to the Anaheim Angels.  I remember turning to Jacob at the time and saying something to the effect of, "You know, with his track record of getting injured, there's a good chance he'll come to Salt Lake to play a game or to for the Bees on a rehab assignment.

 

And in May of 2014 he did just that:

 

He sang the song:

Stepped into the box

 

Squared his shoulders

 

And went 2 for 3 with a single and a ground-rule double!

 

Our boys know the whole story.  They know that Josh made some major mistakes in his life and worked hard to overcome them and try to make things right.  I think that's part of the reason we cheer for him.

 

When we learned that he would be coming to Salt Lake for a three day assignment, Thursday through Saturday, we decided to go with the sure thing and squeeze in a trip to the ball part on Thursday night.  As it turns out, he didn't play Friday or Saturday night, so we saw him on the only day he played in town.  It was a lot of fun to watch the boys as they cheered on one of their heroes.

 

Josh, thanks for fighting your way back and giving us all something else to cheer for.



 

Mother's Day 2014

We decided to wait a week for the best Mother's Day tradition ever (pictures at Temple Square with no complaining because it's Mother's Day and they can't :) because the weather wasn't great last week.  Unfortunately for us, that meant fewer flowers!!  Rats!  We still were able to get some great shots with these handsome boys and we all know that if Mom's happy, everyone's happy!!

What we might look like with a little girl in the mix (she happens to be my sweet niece, Irie!)

Fifteen years next week and we still got it!!

 Thanks for humoring me boys!  Sure love each of you so much and you make being a mom wonderful!!

My hero...

As I contemplate my life as a mom today, I am inspired by my kids.  They are amazing.  They do a lot of really great things that either they didn't think they could do, or frankly I wasn't sure they could do!  I know I should have a lot of faith in them, but I also try to keep it realistic as to not break their hearts.  Take Jacob for example.  The kid has amazed me this spring.  He decided to join the junior high track team.  I was really excited about this!  I'm a runner + my kid wanted to run = I am all for it!!  It was a bit more intense than I had anticipated.  Jacob had practice every day after school.  About 2 times a week he went straight from track to baseball practice.  Throw some scout activities and homework and trumpet practicing in there and his days were packed!!  But he did so well with it, we couldn't complain.  He took things in stride.  One of  the days I was tired just from hauling him around the town, he was ready to stay after scouts to play basketball at 9:00 after he had gone to track, baseball, homework, mowed the front lawn and gone to scouts!!  Amazing!

What really impressed me about Jacob though, was what he wanted to compete in at track:  The Hurdles.  Just the word hurdle sounds like a huge obstacle that I would not even want to attempt.  Track is for the 7 - 9 graders at the junior high.  So not only was he one of the youngest, but I'm quite sure one of the shortest out there.  Sorry Jake, but I thought he would try it once or twice and give up.  Not so.  This kid was determined.  He went to extra practices at the high school and worked really hard to learn the correct hurdling form.  He was ready to give it a shot.

As I watched the first meet, one of the kids in the first round knocked into a hurdle and it in turn knocked into another kid who fell as well.  What had I done allowing my kid to participate?  I was quite concerned.  Jacob did great, but stumbled a bit right before the last hurdle and had to walk around it because he had lost his momentum.  It was fun to watch though.  Jacob had really gotten over nine hurdles (again, I would have knocked at least 6 of those down if I had gotten that far.)

At their last meet, Jacob was excited and determined to do well.  Grandma and Grandpa Baird were able to come watch.  He was in the final heat and in complete control.  He made it over all ten hurdles in what I thought was a great time!!  Pardon my yelling, but here it is: 

Jacob won his heat and more importantly showed himself and his mother, that he can do hard things.  I hope Jacob remembers this experience.  In life, there are many "hurdles".  Some are taller and harder than others, but just like those 7th grade hurdles, with a little training, preparation and a few spills during practice, they can be overcome too.  Thanks for leading the way Jacob!!