All-Star Game... This Time for Brianna!

We received a phone call one night last week telling us that Brianna had been selected for the All-Stars team for the Floyd Youth Softball League! The game was held tonight after the Awards Ceremony for the season. First, Brianna got a trophy for her team performance throughout the season, then she played the All-Stars game and came away with a medal for that! There were four girls from her team that were selected to All-Stars! Brianna's All-Star team did end up losing the game, but it was a really good match up of players from all the teams in the League! Brianna didn't get any home runs in this game, but she did get 2 singles and a double and scored 3 runs in the game! I have posted some pictures from the Awards Ceremony and the All-Stars game... Way to go, Brianna!!!

Here is a picture of Brianna before the All-Star Game and one with her team trophy!

The Deck Is Done!!!

As most of you already know, CJ and I (along with help from the kids!) have taken on the project of building a deck this summer. We started it on Father's Day and finally finished it this week on Monday night!! Wow!! I know it seems like it took us a long time, but it really didn't... we were only able to dedicate 3-4 full days of working on it , along with a few hours here and there each week. Most nights were impossible to work on it because of the kids' ball games, or because of our work schedules! Anyway, the project is now complete and we consider ourselves very proud to have built something all by ourselves!!!

The previous deck that was already on the house was only 4' X 20' and ran along the length of the house towards the back yard. It was rotting and falling apart and I never liked it because it was too small to do anything on and it also had no way of getting to the back yard. If you walked onto it, you had to turn around (or back up since it was so narrow!) and go back to the front of the house and around the other side just to get to the backyard. I told CJ that if we ever put another one up, I wanted it bigger and I wanted steps going down to the back yard. Well, with this deck, I got both things I wanted! The new deck is 8' X 20' and we put some steps going down the back! Since this deck is sitting over a "hill" that runs down to a retaining wall, we had to build a level platform of some sort for the steps. This is where our wonderful friends, Tom and Sara helped us out! Tom was in the landscaping business for 10+ years, so he was a real lifesaver here because we didn't have the first clue on how to go about doing this!

As you can see from the pictures, Tom did a really great job of creating a landing for our steps... and CJ, the kids and I did a great job of building this deck, if I do say so myself!! Check it out!!

Little League Baseball State Tournament

We left Friday morning and journeyed down to Des Moines for Zach's State Tournament! The first game was scheduled for 6PM on Friday evening against Johnston. We ran into rain about halfway to Des Moines and it rained the rest of the drive there -- needless to say, by 4PM the game was cancelled for the evening and the boys had a free night! Most of them went to the new Jordan Creek Mall and saw Batman -- this movie is 3 1/2 hours long, so by the time they got back to the hotel, it was almost curfew (10:30)! Zach said the movie was okay, but he did start to get bored and tired... he thought it was too long. Brianna wanted to go swimming, so CJ and I sat around the pool with all the other parents of younger children who wanted to swim also!

Later on Friday night, CJ and I went to Ames to pick up my brother, Derek, when he got off work. He wanted to come down and see Zach play, so we went and got him since Ames is only 30 minutes away. Of course, when we got back to the hotel, we stayed up way too late visiting and had a little trouble get up to the alarm when it went off at 7AM!! The hotel had a free breakfast buffet from 8AM - 9AM that was really good! Then we had to get ready and be out at the ball park by 11AM. My sister, Jenny, and her fiancee, Matt, and all the kids came down for the tournament also. They showed up just before the first game started! Zach's Morningside team played Indianola for the first game and won 4 - 1. Zach did an awesome job at 1st base, and he batted a double and a single when he went up to bat! Morningside played Dubuque for the second game and won 7-3. Zach played 1st base, then pitched during the last inning! He did a great job at both! My cousin, Amy, came to this game since she only lives about 10 minutes from the ball field! We finally got to meet her boyfriend, Joe... a really nice guy! It was so good to see them and visit while watching the game! Zach kinda remembered who Amy was, but Brianna doesn't remember... this only means we need to get together more often!!

After the game, the team went to Hooters to have a late supper. Derek really enjoyed the waitresses and the service, not to mention the view... if you know what I mean!!! While we were in there eating, it started to downpour... buckets and buckets of rain coming down! When we were leaving to go back to the hotel, the parking lot was such a "raging river" from all the rain coming down that I almost lost my flip flops trying to run!! What a mess! We thought for sure the games for Sunday were going to be cancelled, but when we got up in the morning, we were told the games were still on as scheduled! Surprising, since it rained more on Saturday night than it did all day Friday. I think they didn't want to postpone any more games and have the tournament run into Monday, when most people had to be back to work, etc.

Morningside played their "makeup" game at 10AM Sunday morning against Johnston. We started out really well, keeping them from scoring the first 3 innings and the score was 2-0. It was really hot and humid out there with no breeze whatsoever. By the 4th inning, we started making errors in the outfield and Johnston just took over the game. We ended up losing 11-4. We still made it into the Championship game since we only had one loss! We ended up playing Johnston again for the Championship -- needless to say, Morningside lost 8-4, but it was a really good game! Zach played awesome at 1st base, got a double and finally got his homerun his last time up to bat!! He brought 2 runs in with this homerun! Way to go, Zach!!! Nothing like waiting till the last minute!!! Johnston has a very good ball team... their high school team is ranked #1 in the state and are undefeated this season! So Zach's team didn't feel so bad losing to them! Now baseball season is over for Zach and we were on our way back home while Johnston is on their way to Regionals in Fort Wayne, Indiana!

All in all, it was a great weekend! Saw some really good ball games and spent time with family! Who could ask for more, right??!

Iowa District 6 Champions!

Zach had the All-Star District Championship game last night! What a game!! Both teams were "neck and neck" up to the 6th inning! The score was 1-1 at the end of the 1st inning; 2-2 at the 2nd inning; 3-2 at the bottom of the 3rd, with Morningside (Zach's team!) taking the lead. I had to leave the game when the 4th inning started because I had to take Brianna to her swim lessons. She couldn't miss this night because they were testing over everything she has learned. She had to be there to see if she could pass the class or not. While sitting at swim lessons, my sister Jenny kept me updated with texts and phone calls! The score became 5-4 in the 5th inning, with Morningside still in the lead. Morningside then ran away in the 6th inning with 4 more runs, making the score 9-4. We had "last at bat" so once Headid went up to bat at the top of the 7th inning and didn't score any runs, we had the game won! Zach played really well and got a lot of doubles when he went to bat! I got back to the ball field right after the game was over and we had a meeting about the State Tournament, which starts this Friday in Des Moines! Wish Zach and his team well!! We will update this blog again with the results of the State tournament when we get back!State Bound, Baby!!!!

All-Stars...

Zach's team beat Lawton-Bronson on Sunday night! The final score was 16-4... still no home run from Zach. He did get a single and a double and brought several runs in, though! Since Morningside remained undefeated during this tournament, they will be playing in the Championship game tonight! Three other teams ended up in a 3-way tie for 2nd place (their tournament records were 3-2) so 2nd place was determined by which of these teams gave up the least amount of runs. We will be playing Headid (from Sioux City's northside) for the Championship! Go Morningside!!!

All-Stars Update...

Zach has played two more games since the last All-Stars posting. On Friday night, Morningside (Zach's team) played against Headid (a Sioux City team) and beat them 12-5. Zach struck out once at bat, mostly because the other pitcher was a lot slower than what Zach is used to. He did manage to get a double and a single his next few times at bat. Two of Zach's friends on the team got home runs during this game, but we are still waiting for one from Zach!

Today, Morningside played Northwest (another Sioux City team) and this game was just miserable! We had them 10-runned by the time the 3rd inning started, but we had to play out the whole 5 innings... the final score ended up being 22 - 1. Zach got a single, a walk, and a double -- this last hit looked like it was going to be a home run, but it dropped just inside the fence out in center field! Darn it!!!

Morningside has one game left in this district tournament. Tomorrow night they will play against Lawton-Bronson. Since Morningside is the only team in this tournament that is still undefeated, there is a pretty good chance they will be playing in the Championship game on Wednesday night. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Let's Play Ball!

All-Stars Baseball has finally started for Zach! It was supposed to start last Sunday, July 6th but there was a rain delay due to severe thunderstorms coming through the area. We had a tornado touch down on the north side of Sioux City that afternoon in the Stone State Park area. Rain continued on Monday morning, so all games scheduled for Monday night had to be postponed because the fields were too wet...


Zach had two games last night. The first game was against Hinton... Zach's Morningside team won the game 14 - 2! I don't have any "stats" or details since I didn't get to go to the games. Brianna was home sick with the flu so I stayed home with her! Morningside played their second game against Westside (another Sioux City team) and won this game 18 - 2! Way to go Morningside! Still no home run for Zach, but he did get a triple with two runs batted in!! If this keeps up, we could be looking at a trip to State! Woo-hoo!!!!

Happy 4th of July... Belated, That Is!

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Ours was pretty "mundane" this year. As some of you know, CJ and I are building a deck on the side of the house. We started on Father's Day and have basically just been working a few hours here and there when we are not running off to a ball game! Since we didn't have to work on the 4th, we decided to spend the day working on the deck.

Brianna's friend, Nichole, invited her out to their cabin out at McCook Lake for the July 4th weekend! McCook Lake is in South Dakota, but is actually only about 6 - 7 miles from home! It is just over the border! They went out Friday morning and spent the night and Brianna came home Saturday night. She had lots of fun and it worked out for us too, since she wasn't bugging us all day while we worked! Zach was home and he helped us out quite a bit, but he also ended up going with the neighbors and shooting off fireworks later in the evening. This was fine with us... we were just glad we didn't ruin the holiday too much for them! They are used to going over to South Dakota and getting fireworks and shooting them all off all night long! When this deck is done, we are going to owe Zach and Brianna some "quality time with mom and dad"! They have been really good about it, though, and we try to let them get involved with building this deck as much as they can so they can say that they built it too!

End of Phillies' Regular Season

The Phillies' regular season ended on July 1st. I know I quit posting "game stats, etc." but it was getting pretty monotonous... I felt like I was just typing the same thing for each game! I will just sum up the season with this post!

Zach had a wonderful pitching season, and he did get a lot of doubles and triples, but no home runs this year! He still has All-Stars, so maybe we can get one out of him then?!

The Phillies ended their season with a record of 20-1. Good job, Phillies!!! They had three games that were shut-outs, and basically almost 10-runned everyone they played. They ended up with the 1st place trophy from the League. The team that came in 2nd place was six games behind the Phillies! Zach's team had some really good players this year! Congratulations, Phillies!!!

All-Stars Baseball

Zach found out at the end of June that he was selected for the All-Star baseball team, so he will still be playing baseball throughout the month of July, even when the regular season is over on July 1st! Great job, Zach ~ We are proud of you!


The All-Star team is made up of individuals from each of the teams in the league. The players take a vote on who they think should make the team, however they cannot vote for themselves or anyone else on their team. The kids with the most votes (the top 12) are then on the All-Star team representing our Morningside Little League. They will play against other leagues included in our District 6. If they win at the district level, they go to state! YEAH!!! Good Luck!!!

City Youth Softball Tournament

Brianna was in a city youth softball tournament on Saturday, June 21st. The games started at 8:00 AM and went on all day. The girls at this age level - 8 years old - play 3 innings per game, so each game is pretty much about 1 hour long. Brianna's team was winning their games, so it was working out that they play for an hour, have a 1 hour break, then play again. As the teams got narrowed down in the afternoon, they played back to back up to the Championship game. Brianna's team ended up playing 5 games and getting in to the Championship game, which they lost by ONE lousy point!!! They played really well all throughout the day and ended up going home with the 2nd place trophy!! Brianna had an awesome day -- she had two grand slams and two homeruns throughout this tournament!!! Way to go, Brianna!!!

Happy Belated Birthday, Mom!!

Okay... time to get this blog updated! Thank you for being so patient!! This still may take me a few days to get them all published since we are still busy every night!!!

First of all, I want to say a belated "Happy Birthday" to my mother! Her birthday was June 20th (I know I'm a little late... I said "belated", didn't I?!) Mom came to Sioux City for her birthday. We grilled steaks and had cake on Friday night, then Brianna had a softball tournament all day on Saturday. Saturday night we took Mom to Awesome Biker Nights downtown on Historic 4th Street. It was packed with so many people that you couldn't even look around to see if there was anyone you knew! We went to see Night Ranger perform! This is a band from the 80's -- some of the members looked different and the keyboardist was definitely a different person -- he didn't even look like he was 30 years old yet! The lead singer looked exactly the same -- same clothes, same long hairstyle, etc. He had sunglasses on, but when he took them off and they showed his face on the jumbo screen set up by the stage, then you could see how old he really was! They were still really good, though!

All in all, this was a good (and busy!) weekend -- I think Mom enjoyed it!!!