Summer with this family

I have been a long time away from our blog!

Whitney and Parker have returned from Africa. They had an awesome opportunity there to minister to a young missionary from our church.(for about a month) When they arrived in Portland (after a wild trip home of lay overs, rerouted flights, stranded in Philly and lost luggage) we did not recognise them. They had all ( the team) done their hair in a weave (kind of like corn rows but with out the corn) We were glad to have them home!
In the mean time (or as we say out West "back home on the Ranch") Garrett and Cody (the boys of Summer Ball) were having great Baseball seasons. Both of them made it into the State Play offs at their level. Garretts team battle they're way to about 6th in the State Play offs and Cody's team fought to the second round. But as they say, all good things must come to an end!
No more loading the coolers, packing chairs and canopies from the Sub to the fields...(and the many trips to the Porto Potty's) It will be missed!
We are somewhat back to normal! Now I can water my lawn and start fixing things around the house...!
So what is on the docket for the Smith Clan...Paint and more Paint! My crew is altogether again and now it's time to play catchup!

The "Ear" saga

Isaac's journey to the ENT doctors was not with out incident. Yes they found the toy and yes they did extract it. (which we are saving for him to give to him on his wedding day as a wedding present because we won't be able to give a present...I will still be paying the ENT...you know the guy with the Porsch?) They put him in a child proof straight jacket to keep him from flailing around (umm...sure) he managed to get one arm free and tried to take out the Doc and his two assistants, and was yelling something about not being taken alive before they pend him down. They said you could hear him howling 3 blocks away! (he must have got this from his Mothers side because I don't remember being like this as a young child. My parents said I was like Mary Poppins...you know "practically prefect in every way!") When they got home I told my wife no more Sponge Bob.
Well Parker turned 20 this week...that means I have 2 post teens...wow. Him and Whitney are 2 weeks away from they're trip to Nigeria and are still waiting for Visa"s! Pray they come in time!
Back to the "ear saga" Isaac has promised us he won't stick anything smaller into his ear than his elbow...wow I can't wait to see how they get that out!!

Sunday was my 52nd birthday (when I was in my 20's I thought people in they're 50's were old...now I think people in they re 70's are old...your as young as your kids keep you!) Speaking of young kids, my youngest, Isaac, (5 going on 20) decided that his ears just weren't good enough the way God made them, so...he shoved some large object off the floor into his left ear. You ask why I am sharing this, well Sunday was my birthday and we had 2 baseball tournaments (read the blog "boys of summer ball") so my wife was going to take me out to a movie ( a good one) on Monday for my birthday.
Instead we were in the ER on Monday with Isaac and his modified left ear. Spending 51/2 hours in the Dallas ER with a fussy 5 yr. old was not my idea of a birthday night. We got home a little after midnight with a prognoses of heavy wax build up, but no toy in his ear. So Tuesday we took him to his Doctor in Salem who told us he has a toy shoved in his ear but he could not get it out. (gives you great confidence in the Dallas ER?)
This Friday we have to go to an ENT (ear, nose, throat) specialist to remove this EXPENSIVE ear modification.
The kids always ask me why we don't go to Disneyland, buy a new van or fix the fence's around the back yard...I say remember that time you stuck something in your ear?...the ENT bought a new Porsche instead!

Living out of coolers

The wild summer ball season has begun.(lady and gentlemen start your engines)
Last weekend was our first tournament weekend. We took 3 cars to church because we were going in 3 different directions...same tomorrow.
We initiated our coolers last weekend loaded with water, cheese sticks, apples, sodas, juices and Tuna fish sandwich's. My lovely wife put the sandwich's in a plastic bag ( you know where this is going) and I threw it on top of the ice in the cooler and assured her they would be ok (you have all made this mistake before too) which by the time we got to the game 3-4 hrs in the sun it was no longer a cooler but a not so cooler. Needless to say the Tuna fish bag sunk in the icy water(you would think the Tuna would be right at home) and there was a little hole in the bag. I'm thankful to report that the Tuna fish did fine in the icy waters of the cooler, but the bread surrounding the Tuna did not. The bread was happy to absorb all the water that leaked in to the bag. I promise that by the end of the season I will have the mastery of the cooler thing down.
So the moral of the the sog(a)gy Tuna story is double bag the sandwiches and place them in a float able tray.

Boys of summer ball

Cody just finished his Dallas High School baseball season. He had some great pitching and hitting not to mention his base stealing. (We tell our kids that stealing is bad and yet we encourage them to do it in baseball???...go figure!) Cody gets a couple of weeks off before summer ball starts, mean while Garretts JBO baseball season is in full swing and Parkers mens league Softball season is underway(...and somewhere in the middle of all this summer ball madness I'm supposed to work and my wife and I are trying to raise a family!!) Last week we were playing ball in 40-50 degree rainy weather and then this weekend we're in a tournament in Corvallis and it's high 80's and we're getting sunburned and over heated. Only in Oregon. For the next couple of months we'll be in a ballpark somewhere almost every night and on the road every week eating out of a cooler or some concession stand (if they have good Nachos) This is why we had kids. God blessed us with 6 awesome boys and a precious girl, who by the way has grown into a beautiful young lady. (we'll cover that in the next blog...she is getting ready to go to Abuja Nigeria with Parker this summer. You can catch all the news at http://www.abujabound.blogspot.com/ )

Diet Shasta

No, that is not a drink I'm talking about. That's the Real Life spring retreat that Parker and Whitney are going to this weekend. (Real Life is the name for our church's college ministry) I think about 175 youth ( I call them that because they are soooooo much younger than I am...when I was their age, I...well never mind about me!) are going down to lake Shasta in beautiful northern California. They will be living on house boats, and getting around on ski boats and Jet ski's. The weather is supposed to be 75-85 all weekend...jealous? yea me too. The teaching and the worship will be awesome.
Pray they have a safe time there and that God will minister to them there, and they will have a safe trip down and back. Parker is driving his car with 4 other youth and is car pooling down with another car.
Oh to be young again...sun, water, jet ski's, ski boats, worship, more jet ski's, food lots of food...ahhhhh!

4 yr old view on Easter

Our 4 yr old going on 20 (Isaac Robert Smith) had some interesting comments this Easter. His Mother and him were shopping one day at the used and antique furniture store in Dallas where we live (she's getting him started early) and they came across a shell lamp with a cross in it. When he saw this "Christian icon" he said "look Mom, this is the time that Jesus died on the cross and was swallowed by a giant clam!!" My wife said the lady who overheard his pointed comment almost died laughing when she heard this new twist on Christianity. When she came home and told me what he said, my comment was,"OK no more Sponge Bob for him"!
As we were going to church Easter Sunday we were passing pastures and fields with various animals which we like to point out to the kids (probably because when we were living in the Bay Area there were only fields of buildings, bridges, houses, freeways and parking lots) so they can enjoy the beauty. My wife said to IRS "look at those little lamb's Isaac, they're playing with their Mother" Isaac quickly shot back in a dead pan tone, "yea I know Mom, we ate one of those for Passover."