Triple Crown Memorial Weekend Tournament 2nd Place

This weekend's softball tournament was in West Valley at Hobo Park. It's really called the Redwood Recreation Complex but McCall calls it "Hobo Park" because the first time she played there the restrooms were all locked up because her coaches said that there are a lot of transients around there. McCall didn't know what transient meant so when she asked what that was she was told it was a hobo or homeless person.

We spent Friday and Saturday at "Hobo Park" watching the Pirates take second place in the tournament. They played in the championship game but this week-end couldn't make the Utah Thunder "walk the plank". McCall had some sweet catches this week-end. I am sure we will be meeting up with the Utah Thunder in future tournaments and there will be a MUTINY on the ball field! YO-HO-HO IT'S A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME(every weekend)!!!

I had to come back and edit this post because I had to add some extra things according to McCall. First, I have to explain the first picture of the team and the reason why they are posing as they are. There is this girl on the Utah Thunder whose name is Dusty she is #21 and plays in left field. When she was on base she would put her arms out like the Pirates have theirs in the picture and say "come get me" or "you can't get me". To put it plainly she was cocky and not a good sport, so the team was mocking her.

The second thing I need to add is that McCall actually saw a hobo at "Hobo Park". In fact, he came and sat by her when she and some of her team mates were in between games and watching another game. He started asking question about the game. He said, "Shouldn't the mound (pitcher's) be higher?" Krista, one of the Pirates' pitchers said , "No, that's in baseball." So then the hobo asked, "Well what's the difference between baseball and softball?" Krista's mom came and sat next to McCall and eventually the hobo left. We don't call it "Hobo Park" for nothing!

P.S. I am really "BUMMED" (hee-hee) that I didn't get a picture of the hobo to put on the blog.

Dawson's Baseball Game

Dawson started his baseball games this week. I didn't get any pics of his first game, but I got a few of his second game. He has been the catcher for his two games. The first game I sat behind the backstop and I was telling him what he should be doing. He didn't like that too much, so I guess it was good that I had to miss most of his second game because I had to take Kirk to the doctor to get his mission physical. The catcher's gear is too big for him so he has a hard time moving around just to get the ball if he misses it (which is quite often). He's figured out that he has to hurry and get the ball instead of taking his sweet time.

Dawson the Angel?

Batter Up!

Seminary Graduation

Kirk graduated from Seminary today. Neither Phil or I are graduates of Seminary. Of course we weren't members of the church when we were in high school, but I guess that's not an excuse... My mom graduated from seminary and she wasn't a member when she was in high school and unfortunately is still not, but she loves her Seminary teacher whom she had for all 4 years - ELDER BOYD K. PACKER!!!

The Pirates Win The Gold Rush Triple Crown Tournament

We spent this weekend at another softball tournament. This tournament's outcome was much better than last weeks. The Pirates actually took first place! It was AWESOME! On Friday, McCall made this BOMBCIOUS catch in left field. She did like a dive and a roll and stuck her arm up in the air to show us she had indeed caught the ball. It was one of those ESPN play of the day moments. She also stepped up her hitting game and surprised us all.

Saturday, the Pirates had a game at 9:00 a.m. which they won and then had a break until 12:00 p.m. They lost their 12:00 game against the She-Devils which put them in the losers bracket. They played 6 games straight in a row from 12:00 to 10:00. They ended up having to play the She-Devils again for the championship. Since the She-Devils hadn't lost any games in the tournament we had to beat them twice to win the championship (because it was a two game elimination). Now the Pirates like to be the comeback team. You can never watch a game and feel like they've got the game in the bag. They like to get their monies worth at every tournament and play as many games as they possibly can. If you are not familiar with tournaments, if you lose a game you get put in the losers bracket which means you have to keep playing lots of games usually in a row without any breaks. If you don't lose a game then you stay in the winners bracket which means you play less games and get to have breaks in between games. I think the Pirates have done that once (been in the winners bracket), but for the most part they like to be in the losers bracket and play more games and then make this miraculous comeback. So anyway, the Pirates beat the She-Devils in the first championship game, which meant that they had to play one more game. They totally dejected the She-Devils in the first inning and crushed their spirits for the rest of the game. The score was something like 13-3. I decided I can't watch the game and keep score at the same time. This tournament we had all the girls back because they were done playing for their high school teams. The PIRATE MOJO is back! It was fun to have all the parents back too! We have a great time cheering on the PIRATES!

Mother's Day 2009

What a special Mother's Day! Kirk was ordained an Elder today. I think that's a pretty good Mother's Day gift. To top that off... right after he was ordained he got to stand in the circle as I was set apart for my Primary calling. It has been since January that I have been a Primary teacher, but I just forgot to get set apart for it. I guess there was a reason for that...

Our Stake High Councilman Mark Harvey conducted the whole setting apart thing and asked me if I would bear my testimony. I was caught off guard and was really feeling put on the spot with that panicky feeling. That doesn't happen to me too much except in math class. I don't remember all that I said, but I talked about how my primary lesson today was about "Faith" and even though I was not raised a Christian and did not know much about God, I had faith and believed that there was such a thing as God and heaven that my friends told me about. I did not know or believe that I was a child of this God. I said I was thankful for 2 missionaries at Temple Square who gave me my first Book of Mormon and I was thankful that that night I began to read it even thought I laughed about getting the book when I showed my mom what I got. I was thankful that when I began asking my friends questions about the Book of Mormon they knew what I needed and so they set me up to have the missionary discussions. I said I was thankful for the two missionaries who taught me and helped me to know who I was, where I came from, why I was here, and where I was going and baptized me a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I bore testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and how Heavenly Father sent it to us because he knew it is what we needed here on Earth at this time and that it brings people to our Father and Jesus Christ. I wish I could remember all the things I testified of... I testified of Joseph Smith restoring the gospel and bringing back the priesthood ordinances so that his work can continue. I testified of how becoming a member of the church has made all the difference in my life and as I look at our family what a difference it has made for each one of us. Because 2 elders taught me the gospel, look what else became of it. The work of missionaries changed the destination of our family. I spoke of being grateful that now Kirk, you get to become an elder and can be a missionary and help do the same thing for other people and help change the destination of their generations. (Really I did not intend for this post to be this long today.) Phil ordained Kirk an Elder. Because we are not the big "Mormon Family" all that were there in the circle of Kirk's ordination were: Phil, Bishop Hansen, Brother McKinstry, Brother Hackbarth, Mark Harvey, Tom Ingraham, Aaron Edwards, & Allan Bennett.

We had my family over for dinner tonight. This is a picture of what my sister got my mom and I for Mother's day.



Phil got me a gift card for Kohls. Guess whose going shopping tomorrow??? The card was really cute too. The kids gave me some of my favorite candies. Dawson gave me the cute stuff that kids make in their class at school. It was a folder with all of these papers that he had written things about me. Like I'm as nice as a fuzzy kitten, I'm as helpful as a helping robot, etc.

I had a great day today. Thanks you guys! I love you all!!!

Beat Like a Drum in Tooele

Today we were at a softball tournament in the metropolitan city of Tooele. We watched McCall's softball team, the Pirates get "beat like a drum". They got back some of their team members back today who were playing for their high school team. I thought that they would do a lot better with getting most of the team members back, but the PIRATE MOJO wasn't there. The good thing was that we got to come home early and that we didn't have to play the championship game at midnight. McCall would have never made it. She pretty much turns into a pumpkin after 10:30.

Since we didn't have to stay all day and night at Tooele, Phil took me out to eat for Mother's Day. We went to Osaka Sushi. It was oishiikata (English translation: delicious)! We tried a new sushi roll it was called the Funky Roll. It was a deep fried roll with fish, crab, cream cheese and had some yummy sauce drizzled over it. I'm for sure going to get that the next time I go there.

Oops!!! I Missed a Day

Since I'm new to this blogging thing missing a day is allowed... right?? Well, if not I did it anyhay. I'm just going to write random things today, so beware!

On Wednesday when Dawson got home he pulls this picture out of his backpack and says, "Look what I made you Mom!" He holds up this picture...

I asked him, "Did you mean the peace as in the peace sign?" He says, "Yes." So I told him,"You did spell piece right, but that is the piece like as in "a piece of pie". The peace that you are talking about is spelled P-E-A-C-E." He looked kind of disappointed, but I said, "Don't ruin it I want to keep it because it's funny." I hope those of you who read this find it humorous too!

Dawson bought this flower for me from his school's outdoor greenhouse for mother's day. It's my favorite type of annual. Snapdragons remind me of my childhood at Grandma & Grandpa Fujikawa's playing with my cousins, Clara, Debbie, Karen, and Kenna. They are the ones who taught me how to make the snapdragons snap.

Gangsta Dawson

My sister's dog Rodie got hit by a car today. I went with her to get him and take him to the vet. Her dog is a boxer, so he is big and heavy. We had to get a blanket and roll him on it because he couldn't get up, and then we had to carry him and put him in the car. When we got him to the vet she said that more than likely his spinal cord was severed and that is why he couldn't get up. She also said that he probably has internal injuries and is bleeding internally. She said she could stabilize him and then take x-rays to find out what is going on, but if his spinal cord is severed he would never gain recovery of the ability to walk and his internal injuries could be severe. My poor sister had to decide what to do. She had just done this very same thing with her dog Kobe 6 months ago. She got Rodie after Kobe had to be put to sleep. Dawn (my sis) decided she didn't want Rodie to suffer so she made the ever painful decision to have him put to sleep. That's the worst part about having pets. It's so hard to lose them and when you are put in a position to choose whether to let them live in pain or to free them of their suffering by putting them to sleep it isn't easy. It was heartbreaking for Dawn, but I'm glad that I was with her. She came over to our house after and she hung out for the night. I hope that being with us helped her feel a little bit better.

My Mom's Birthday

Today is my mom's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! My brother, sister, my cousin Candace and I took my mom out for breakfast this morning at Mimi's Cafe. We left my dad home because it is my mom's birthday and she deserves a break from him. He didn't even know it was her birthday. ): Now there's a shocker! Everything is all about my dad 24/7 (because he makes it that way). We just wanted to take her out and enjoy her day be it only an hour. I think she had a good time.

I just want to share some of my feelings and memories about my mom. She devoted (and still does) her whole life to us. If you were to ask me what my mom's passions or hobbies are I couldn't tell you. I guess the only thing I could say is "us". Now days it is my dad. Not that it is her hobby to cart my dad around where and when he wants to go, but she has given up so much of herself to serve our family. To give you an idea of her selflessness, when we were growing up I remember my mom wearing socks with holes in them and her underwear had them as well. The holes in her socks were not just little ones, but it was like the whole heel was a huge hole. She did this because she felt it was more important that her children had nice things to wear, so she did without. In someways she still does this. She is always bringing stuff over to share with me (like food items). She's always been this way towards everyone. Willing to share all that she has. She truly is an exemplary of service and charity.

We went out to dinner tonight for mom's birthday. This time my dad, Kirk, McCall, and Dawson came. We went to Imperial. When you go out to eat with my dad it's always an adventure (an embarrassing adventure). First of all he can't hear very well and neither can my mom so they are the deaf speaking to the deaf. Second, my dad gets up and wanders around the restaurant. Third, he chews his food but doesn't swallow it so then he spits it out (tonight he did spit it out in a napkin). Do you want me to stop now???? Because I could go on forever... So there's a guy sitting at a table nearby and he gets his food which was a sushi dinner. My dad gets up and walks over to his table and checks out his food. I thought he was going to touch it, because he was pointing his finger at the sushis. We are all yelling at him to come sit down. The guy was a good sport, but I mouthed to him, "I'm sorry!" Then he starts picking at Kirk's scab that he has on his elbow. Kirk's yelling at him to "Stop touching it!" Yes, and we do have to talk loudly because of the hearing problem. My dad asks the waitress for another napkin as he spits out his food in his current napkin. I look at him and can see that he has a mouthful of more food to spit out. Is this TMI??? Yeah, needless to say it is gross and embarrassing. It's sad, but my dad is like a two year old. Now here's the kicker... We are leaving and going to our vehicles. Kirk brought my dad to the restaurant, so he was going to take him home. Kirk and my dad get to the truck and Kirk's telling my dad, "It's right here grandpa, get in the truck." My dad says, "This isn't it were's the car?" then my dad says, "Did we come in this?" This is what my mom deals with every minute of the day. Now you see why we tried to give her a few "just me" hours away from dad.















I'm trying to get a picture of my dad... Everytime I take the picture he decides to look away or take off his hat.

Shopping for the First Time in a Year (Grocery Shopping That is...)

"So I was up really late last night or really early this morning trying to get my blogging MOJO. I went to bed a little before everyone else was to wake up. I thought I was going to get more sleep on my hiatus..."

Today I went grocery shopping for the first time since I don't know when. It has to at least been a year. No, we haven't gone without shopping for a year and living off our food storage. It's just that "I" haven't been the one doing the shopping. Phil took over all the domestic stuff I used to do BS (before school). I think I like it when he shops better. He spends less money. Although we haven't been shopping for a couple of weeks so that could explain the $$$ expenditures... When I came home from Walmart, McCall helped me put the groceries away. She said, "I like it better when you do the shopping." I brought home some bakery items, hence the reason why she likes it when I shop. Oh, she did say a few minutes later, "When you go shopping you buy lots of packets of Kool-Aid (like 30 only because they were 10 for $1) not just a couple like dad." It's amazing what things your kids find important... Kool-aid, who would of thought! Yeah, after we got the groceries put away she said, "Dawson, you want me to make some Kool-aid?" She made this Kool-aid that just looked like water, it apparently tasted good because they drank it all up.

Dawson had his first baseball practice tonight. His team is the Angels (again). He was kind of bummed that he didn't catch any pop-flies. I said, "Just keep your eye on the ball." He got a little upset and said, "I was but I didn't catch any of them." McCall told him that she would help him practice catching pop-flies. After Dawson finished his homework, she went out and helped him work on catching a pop-fly. What would I or our family do with out McCall??... I certainly don't know what I did to deserve to be the mother of such a unique spirit.

Hey Look I'm Blogging!

So, this is my first official blog entry... Now that I am not going to school this summer, I'm on a mission... A blogging mission! McCall came home from softball practice tonight and saw me scrolling through a plethora of blog backgrounds. She said, "Is my mom blogging?!!!!!" I said, "Yup, I told you I would once I wasn't so busy studying." So now she is helping me figure out how to get my blog to be like Sarah Burke's. She is the Bombcious Blogging Queen!

Today was an enjoyable Monday. I'm off for the semester and I'm off track from work! Dawson and I were home together today. He goes back on track tomorrow. He said, "This is the way I like it, when it's just you and me home together and there's no one else around." Yes, he is a momma's boy and I love it! My other boy Kirk, got sustained as an Elder yesterday at Stake Conference. He should be filling out his mission papers sometime this month. I worry about if he can handle being a missionary... The Lord doesn't give us commandments without preparing a way for us to accomplish them. I have faith! Kirk text me today telling me he didn't pass the math UBSCT. This was his 5th and final time. I am really proud of him. He has tried really hard to pass it the past 3 years. He never gave up. He would stay after school and go to a class that helped him prepare/study for the test each time for 2-3 weeks before the test was given.

"Things have never been easy for you Kirk, but you try and do your best and that's all the Lord, your dad, and I ask of you. We love you and are proud of you!"