Sad day for the Stoots' family

Well we received a phone call this morning that Kevin's grandfather, affectionately known as Poppy to the boys, passed away this morning. While we are rejoicing that he is with the Lord, we are saddened that he is not with us anymore, but what great hope that we have in knowing that we will see him again one day! He lived a fulfilled 92 years and to hear his stories about the wars, being in the service, and life in his younger days were amazing. And, we'll never forget the times that we were able to worship with him at church and hear him sing! Here is the last picture that we have of him and the boys. I always made sure that I took lots of pictures of the boys with him so that they would be able to remember him! Please be in prayer for Kevin as he travels to Marion, VA tomorrow for the wake & funeral. The boys and I won't be able to make the trip so we'll be without Kevin for a few nights.

We're home!!!

Our favorite characters!

We finally made it home tonight around 7:45. We decided last Monday that we wanted to stay an extra day. We were fortunate that Fort Wilderness had an opening. We all four had a blast at Disney! I took over 1200 pictures so I'll be uploading some over the next few days. It's going to be so hard picking them out! I'm off to sleep in my own bed, but I'll leave you with a couple pics!

We are REALLY off now!

And we're out the door in about 5 minutes. The boys are really excited and had no problem getting up at 4:30 a.m.!!! Next stop....Fort Wilderness!!!!

And soon we'll be off....

Em & KA with their gifts to the boys. The boys showing off their treats!

It's hard to believe that in about 8 hours we'll be off & heading to Disney. Our ticker is finally down to one day, and we're so very excited! The boys want to stay up all night playing their new Indiana Jones Lego game for the Wii so that they will sleep in the van (great thinking boys!!!). We're almost all packed and ready to go too! Myles and Connor have gathered their money that they have been saving plus their money that Moo Moo gave them for soveniers! We have DVD players, mp3 players, toys, coloring books, one Ipod Touch, and a laptop to keep us entertained! Compared to 2 years ago when we drove to Colorado Springs, Colorado non-stop an 8 hour drive should be nothing, right???!!!!

My mom is still in the hospital and was moved to ICU last night due to an infection that is in her access line for dialysis. She had surgery this afternoon to have the line taken out, & she should be feeling much better tomorrow morning. Our next battle will be the gall stones that the doctors have found. We do not think that she will need surgery on her hip. It must be a hair line fracture, which is another answered prayer! We keep joking that we experience new things every day with her:) My dad only had one illness, and it was always the same. The past two days have been quite trying for me. It was four years ago almost to the day that I was so giddy to be going to Disney, but my dad was in the hospital this time. I received a call the next to last day that we were there that things were not looking well. I stayed until we were supposed to leave, and I'm so grateful that God allowed me to have 4 more days with him. All I have been doing the last few days is re-living that experience. My mom wants me to go to Disney, and I know that she wouldn't want it any other way. Please continue to pray for us as we travel and for my sisters as they deal with all that goes along with being in the hospital, etc.

I'm leaving you guys with a picture of the boys and their excitement! My best friend, Robin, made these bags for the boys before she moved to Virginia. I haven't mentioned her move on the blog because I'm in DENIAL about the whole thing and writing about it will make it more of a reality. I do truly miss her more than words can say. Hopefully when I return from sunny Florida I'll tell you guys all about my wonderful friend that God has blessed me with!

Prayer Request

What a day yesterday. Father's Day is especially hard for me because I was so close to my dad. I miss him terribly and could not bring myself to go to our church service because I could not get out of bed. I did go & teach my Sunday school class and came back home & laid in bed for a little while longer. We eventually went over to my mom's house for a bar-b-que with both of my sisters. Kevin had a nice day as well. He loves his Young Indiana Jones third set that the boys got him. He now owns all of the Indiana Jones movies ever made! Here is my prayer request. My mom fell Thursday and would not go to the hospital. Well I received a phone call from her neighbor at midnight last night (actually this morning) and the fire truck & ambulance were at her house.. Late night phone calls make me panic because that is how I found out my dad had passed away. Anyhow, my mom ended up going to the ER and is now in the hospital with a broken hip. The problem is that we leave for our much anticipated family vacation to Disney World on Friday and the vacation is completely paid for and is non-refundable. Please pray that my mom's surgery (if needed, which will probably be Tuesday or Wednesday) goes well. I'll try to keep the blog update with her progress.

Lets Go Bowling!

Saturday afternoon we met some friends at the local bowling alley for a game of bowling! The boys had a great time and both got some spares! The picture of Connor smiling was actually an action picture that I just happened to get! And, Myles is showing some nice form too! No wonder he just bowled 256 on the Wii tonight!!!!

Way to go Connor!

Way to go Myles!

Fun day with baby Grayson!

Grayson got to spend the day with us today. I think that he had lots of fun. We did a photo shoot (where I took lots and lots of pictures) on mine & Kevin's new bedding, played with Myles & Connor, played the Wii, started wearing shoes, and went to the bowling alley! Can't wait until we get to babysit next time! He is the sweetest and best baby ever. We hardly knew that he was here!

Grayson trying to smile!


Grayson & his size 1 Keds. They are so cute on him. They were Myles' when he was a baby and then Connor wore them! We're letting him borrow them now!


Sweet pics of the boys with one of their favorite cousins!


Here is Grayson playing the Wii. Myles was playing baseball so he would pitch for Grayson & then hand him the remote back! Grayson had lots of fun and Myles said that Grayson won 28-27!!!!!


Aunt Jo Jo, I think that I'm falling over!


Connor took this picture!

First pitch at the Baybears

Last Saturday night at the Grasshoppers' team party, Myles got to throw out the first pitch at the Baybears' game! We didn't tell him until that day, and he was SO excited! The Baybears are very special to our family because they remind us so much of my dad. To say that my dad was a fan of the Baybears is a huge understatement. He was one of their biggest fans! He never missed a home game unless he was in the hospital. Myles was only 2 weeks old when he went to his first game! I will always remember opening night. I came home from college and we went together. It was AMAZING. Anyhow, after we scheduled the team party, I emailed the general manager, Mr. Bill Shanahan, who was super nice to my dad and is always nice to us, to see if it would be possible for Myles to throw out a first. Less than 15 minutes later the lady in charge of scheduling first pitches emailed me & had him scheduled! He was so cute out there.

All smiles before the big first pitch!


Walking out to the mound!


Getting ready!


Here it goes!


High 5s afterwards!

Team party at the Baybears'!!!!

The Grasshoppers had the end of the year team party at the Mobile Baybears. We had pizza, drinks & cupcakes before the game at one of the Gazebos. After that, the boys went on the field for the Field of Dreams. The boys also had a wristband, which allowed them to go down the water slide during the game. They had a blast!

Grasshoppers waiting to get their trophies!


Connor getting his trophy from his dad!


Myles getting his trophy!


All of the Grasshoppers with trophies!


Field of Dreams


The boys with Sean


Kevin with one of his players, Connor, who is the sweetest thing. This is one of my favorite pics of the night!

Championship Game

Here are some of the pictures from the Championship game. Almost a week later and Kevin and I are still excited and so are the boys! Last Friday night we could hardly sleep because of the excitement! We had our team party Saturday night so hopefully tomorrow night I can add those pictures to the website, but for now here are some of the pictures from the game!

Connor & Myles hitting! I didn't get very many action pictures because I was keeping score & helping with the dugout! Talk about multi-tasking!


Here is Connor getting his medal & trophy from Kevin after the game. The League gave the boys "Champions" trophies!!!


Here is Myles getting his medal & trophy!


Here are some excited Stoots' boys!!! I love my baseball players! And I love the coach, too!!!


Myles' best friend, Ted, came out to cheer the boys on! And, boy did he see a good game!


Kevin with one of the signs that I made for the dugout!


2008 Grasshoppers! (minus one of our coaches, Cody)


I could resist putting this picture in. It's Ted's dad, who is probably going to die when he sees that he's on the famous blog holding a purse!!!!

What my big brother taught me!

Wow, what a little ball player Connor has turned out to be! While most of it is probably natural talent, we like to think some of it is from him watching his big brother play! Here are some pictures that I took of Connor during one of his hits!

Keeping my eye on the ball!


Nice form Connor!


Letting go of the bat (and looking to see where the ball went!)


Still checking out the ball (even though my daddy tells me not to look at it!!!)


Running fast, fast, fast!


And, I'm safe!!