Civil War in the Delta

Saturday we attended the Civil War Celebration in Helena . We toured a few homes, watched canon demonstrations, & listened to some interesting stories. The Battle of Helena was a land battle fought on July 4, 1863. This battle secured eastern AR for the Union and became a base for the campaign to seize Little Rock later in the year. We visited the Confederate Cemetery where as recently as 2002 remains of unknown soldiers were discovered on Battery D in town. The funny bit of trivia that we discovered was one that all Arkansans can totally relate to during July. The Union soldiers dubbed Helena "Hell in Arkansas" due to the heat & humidity. I laughed out loud at that...can't we all relate.
We also visited the Delta Cultural Center & was reminded of the famous blues singers & musicians that came out of this area. We also discovered our blues names. Clay is Cripple Bones Franklin. We had lots of fun, remembering, & spending the day together.

Family Fun

Last weekend we met some of my family in Marvell & Memphis to spend a day at Graceland & playing around. My aunt created an Elvis display for my mom, who has always loved Elvis, before we got there. So we all admired all of the Elvis goodies when we arrived. We had such fun looking at all of the Elvis stuff during the day at Graceland.
I learned lots of things about Elvis during the visit. As a teenager my mom would save her lunch money to buy an Elvis poster for her room. It was fun for her to get to explore all of the "stuff". Clay has developed an admiration for the King of Rock n Roll. He's listening to his music & trying to dance like him...it's really funny. I was amazed by all that he'd accomplished & how altruistic he was. I didn't realize that he'd recorded over 600 songs & starred in over 30 movies. Since I was a young child in 1977, I suppose that he seemed much older than 42 when he died. He was very young; it's amazing that he did accomplish so much in such a short career. We definitely enjoyed the day & had a blast with family.

Splish Splash

The boys were swimming today. Graeson came over to play a while. He was scared at first to jump in the pool, but soon was leaping in. Chandler was extremely helpful in taking care of the little guy.

Panama City

Our week in Panama City Beach was great. We spent time on the beach & at the ball park. The boys were able to ride bikes in the resort area. The area was gated & they had lots of trails to ride on. It was like we used to ride bikes when we were kids...no worries...etc. They had the best time. Clay said...'mom, we looked like a bicycle gang'. They had a blast.
Chandler played very well during the tournament. He pitched a shutout the game he pitched and hit the winning run in during another game. This was our final tournament of the year. I feel fall ball somewhere in our future, but we will have a break for a week or two anyway!

Happy 4th of July!

We spent this Friday night at the Travs game. We've not been able to attend in a while due to other commitments, but thought we'd make a day of it. The game was a close one & went to 12 innings, with the Rockhounds beating the Travs 6-5. Afterwards there was a great fireworks display! We took some shots with our phones...not the greatest, but a memory none-the-less. We leave tomorrow for Panama City Beach. Chandler is playing in a tournament down there. We generally spend the 4th eating bar-b-q with my parents & shooting fireworks at their house. The boys are upset that we won't get to continue with our traditions this year, but I've tried to encourage them, that we'll get to see fireworks on the beach. They're just wanting to go shoot fireworks at Munner's. It's the simple things in life that matter the most. The things that give us memories, family, friends, and shared love & the good times.

We pray that everyone has a great 4th. Remember our Independence. Remember those who've fought for our freedom. Thank God for our freedom. Thank God for our Independence. And most importantly....Remember that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free. God Bless You & God Bless America!

Chandler's Homerun in Omaha

I remembered that I had a video feature on my camera during this game and amazingly I actually caught Chandler's homerun on video. Thought I'd share. Of course this homerun is after the infamous double that he hit where he was rung up by the umpire. The story goes that the coach looked at the umpire before Chandler's previous at bat & said, this kid is going to hit a home run. He wasn't being a jerk or cocky, just stating that with this pitcher & batter that Chandler should hit. Well the umpire took it as cocky & when Chandler slid into 2nd called him out. Chandler knew he wasn't out so he just literally sat on 2nd base. Everyone was off the field except him & he just sat. The other coach, Jody, was walking across the field to him as Chandler was trying to talk to the umpire. Jody told me later, he had no clue what Chandler was about to say to the umpire. Needless Chandler was MAD! I can honestly say I've never seen him that mad during a baseball game. His next at bat...he hit the homerun. The umpire then realized that the other coach wasn't bragging and smiled & nodded. We had a great tournament in Omaha. The boys went 4-1. I think it was the best tournament they've played. This next weekend is state tournament. I hope we win it all!

College World Series

It's been a while since I've blogged. Almost a month! During that time, Tom & I have celebrated 19 years of marriage, we've traveled to Kansas City for a baseball tournament & we've directed a summer youth camp. Maybe I'll have time to blog some on that later, but currently Chandler & I are in Omaha, NE. We traveled up yesterday & were able to attend the AR game today. It's been 20 years since AR has won a college world series game, & we were able to experience that little bit of history. It was loads of fun. We snapped this shot of ourselves...Chandler's cap is crooked b/c he was blocking the sun...not b/c he's making a statement! :) We sat behind the cutest little boy who entertained us the entire game. Reminded us of Graeson! Honestly the game was the most boring one I've been to in a while. The first 2 innings lasted over an hour! So if it weren't for the little boy, we'd have died of boredom! AR plays LSU Monday night at 6! If our tournament didn't start on Monday, we'd certainly try to go. One thing for certain...TN might have the coolest fight song--Rockie Top, but AR has the coolest cheer...hearing "whoooooo piiiggg sooie" in a stadium is pretty awesome! We even had all of the random fans around us cheering with us & saying...we've got it now...that's a fun cheer! If you ever get a chance to come to Omaha to the CWS...do it...it's really fun!!! Go Hogs Go!