Bryce's Birthday

There was something wrong from Bryce's perspective this year on his birthday:  his brother Garrett was missing.  Because of this, there was much discussion on what was the proper thing to do and not do on his birthday.  Do we postpone it?  But the rest of July is pretty busy...  So a compromise was reached, we would celebrate over the course of the next month plus with a few milestones over that time.

Building his Minecraft Lego that he ordered from Germany on Brick Owl with Garrett.

A new bike bell and two Minecraft Dungeon figures from Griffin.

Commander Wolffe and some Grogu pajamas from Garrett.

Yummy birthday cake for the 14 year old!

Showing the layering and coloring on the inside of the cake.

Ice cream with cake!

Swimming at Ripon HS and then load up a cup with yogurt ice cream and toppings!

 

My Lego arrived from Germany!!!

Lauryn helped me celebrate my birthday.

One activity on my birthday was watching my brother, Griffin, play baseball in the Ceres tournament.

14 on the bathroom mirror with things written that people love about me!

Mando Monopoly on my birthday.

Griffin pitched a complete game in the first game of the second day of the tournament.

Griffin roped a drive to left-center that one-hopped the wall.

He slid in safely at second with a double.

Griffin lines a single to left to continue the onslaught.

What to do with your downtime this summer?

Mom is working AND getting a neck massage.

Griffin plays Brawl Stars with Jake on-line.

Bryce looks at the Science Closet and wonders how big of a project this is?!

Garrett leaves for Tennessee

Garrett and Hannah boarded Southwest flight #3705 from San Jose and flew to Nashville Tennessee.  Hannah's father, Danny, drove them to the airport and walked them to their gate.  They went to ICC Prep with Media.  While he was gone, Garrett's brothers missed him very much.  He had a great time and the group was one of the most cohesive of the summer with many of them trying to arrange to be there again next summer together.  The group composed many media projects including recording a song in honor of one of the staff:  "Dougie Rouf, Dougie Boy."  Brett picked up Hannah and Garrett at the airport and they shared stories the whole way back home making the commute hour traffic mess seem to be not much of a delay since the stories were so compelling and both of them seemed to have had a great time.

Getting ready to board their flight for Nashville.  A little nervous?

 

The house they stayed at, with the boys (8) occupying the basement and the girls (6) taking up resident on the third floor. 

Judah, Noah, Peter, Garrett, Celeste, Sayer, Grace, Liam.

The Media studio for the Communicate for Change Program.

Garrett, Noah, and Celeste editing their video project.

Taking time for devotions:  Caleb, Sayer, Peter, Garrett.

Most Likely to be in the Yellow on the Mood Meter Prize presented by Katherine.

Welcomed home by his brothers with a nice poster and hugs.

Telling the stories of the week.

Flying home, all smiles with Hannah.

Media Prep Room-Epcot.

4th of July Celebrations

In between Garrett's games on Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a cool hangout at the Smith's backyard where we ate pizza and shared stories and laughed.  After Garrett's late ballgame on the 3rd, Joy, Bryce, and Griffin went over to join Scott, Jill, and Lauryn for some firework shows in their neighborhood.  The following day, after church, we drove into Castro Valley for Caleb's 13th birthday party and some time with our good friends the Jungingers.  On our drive home, we witnessed every city and town having numerous large fireworks shot off in various locations--what a beautiful site.

Joining with Grace, Caleb, Luke, and Anna to set off some poppers while the sky lit up over the Bay Area.

Bryce watches proudly as Caleb opens his birthday card designed by Bryce.

Sparklers forming a great light between Bryce, Lauryn, and Griffin.

 

16u Bel Passi All-Stars

On July 3 and 4, Garrett had a tournament at Mistlin Sports Park in Ripon.  They took on some tough competition, finishing 0-2-1 in the tourney.  Garrett batted third in the order, chipping in with a .286 average with a run scored and 2 RBIs.  He played a solid defensive first base and outfield.  He had his largest fan support for game 2 of the tournament when he had our whole family and 6 other fans attend!

Lauryn, Griffin, Jake, and Bryce played some and watched some.

Cheering for the big #40.

Waiting for his turn at bat while discussing the game with Lucas, Derek, and Champ.

Pre-game speech from Coach Wages.

 

Garrett mans first base while Lucas delivers a pitch in his complete game.

Garrett strokes a single to right-center.

12u Bel Passi All-stars

Griffin was invited to participate on the 12U Bel Passi All-Star team.  He quickly earned the respect of his coaches and was playing LF and pitching on occasion.  He began batting low in the order, but moved up as he proved to be quite capable with his bat.  In the final game of the early July tournament, he went 4-for-4 with a double and 2 RBIs.  In his first two games with the team in late June, he was on base 5 of his first 6 plate appearances, collecting 3 hits, a walk, and was hit by a pitch.  He might be one of the smallest guys on the team, but definitely don't count him out.

Griffin delivers to home plate his favorite pitch, the #2 (curveball).

Base hit up the middle off Griffin's bat.

Coach congratulates Griffin after another clutch hit.

Line drive to left field for a base hit.

 

Kings Canyon

After a roundtable discussion as a family, Kings Canyon was decided as our next overnight destination.  We left on Wednesday around midday and arrived in the park to do the one-hour-long, very windy, steep cliff off the side, drive down to Cedars Grove where we set up camp in the campground we had reserved that morning.  We were able to successfully use the camp stove from Brett's youth to cook our dinner.  We set up our tent and it stood the whole night.  We had much to be satisfied with.  We played some great family games at the table, saw some amazing stars, and then rested up for our bike ride the next morning.  We found a path recommended online that went through a conifer forest and paralleled the South Fork of the King River.  Then we biked along Highway 180 to Zumult Meadow where we turned around and realized how much of an uphill climb we had been on with our bikes.  Then we packed up our camp and drove to the Sherman Grove where we went for a brief hike before heading home in time for baseball practices.

These trees are so amazingly large and tall all at once!

Grizzly Falls in King's Canyon.

The King River Gorge.

Bike crash!

What a beautiful bike path and amazing surroundings.

Bryce and Joy closing in fast.

Griffin and Garrett pause for a picture and some water.

Campsite #1 in Sentinel Campground

The ancient stove roars to life again!

This is not a fake background!  This is the beginning of the descent into the canyon below.