4th Annual Sam Ellis Classic

Brody & I headed to Kansas the 2nd weekend of June.  Every year my family hosts a baseball tournament in memory of my younger brother Sam.  He passed away 5 years ago in an ATV accident.  He played baseball when he was in high school thru the American Legion program. He was a very talented player & his team won the state tournament the last year he played.  My parents started a scholarship fund in his name to be able to help kids be able to financially afford to play baseball during the summer.  The tournament is what raises the majority of the scholarship funds for the year.  It is 3 days packed full of Baseball, but it's always a fun time to see family & also see alot of his friends.  It's cool to see everyone come together to not only remember him, but also for a good cause.  As Brody gets older I think it will be a good way for him to get to know his uncle, even though he's not here with us anymore.  Hopefully it'll spark some desire for him to want to play baseball, after all, it's in his genes:)

G'ma & Bro

Link a doodle

Yummy Cheeseburger!!

Nap time at the ball park

Aunt Mo sharing her drink

Uncle Timmy

Corky & Corky Jr.

The Fam with Sam's friend Kyle

Kids playing at the ball field with cousin Cassie

My 1st Birthday: Last Post!!

So are you tired of all the Birthday pics yet?? I promise these are the last ones! On his actual Birthday we had a few of our neighbors over to celebrate with cake & ice cream. Brody redeemed himself with the smash cake!

Neighbor Kids at play!!

Happy Birthday to me!

What do I do with it?

I've never had anything this big!

Small Smash

Celebrating!

Forgot to take a picture of the Elmo cake before we cut into it..so here is the half eaten version:)

I can smash this in my hair??

Cousin Mary & Bro Bro!

I was tired and worn out at the end of the party!

My 1st Birthday Party: Full of Presents!

Can you guess how many presents Brody got for his Birthday?  Even I lost count! He has enjoyed every single one of them that have been opened and some of them have been put up in the closet to enjoy for later. One of his favorites is his ball pit from his Grandma Debbie & Grandpa Chris.  We switch the toys out every few days so he gets to enjoy them more. We have begun to do the process of organizing and getting rid of some that aren't being played with anymore.  Yes our house is being taken over by toys, yes they make a mess & get disorganized all the time, & yes I realize this is our new reality now and I enjoy every minute of it:)

My First Birthday Part Deux



Here are more pictures from B's Gymboree Party.  As you can see all the kids had fun playing.  There were about 13 kids there and Brody's Grandma Debbie and cousin Carter came to visit from Myrtle Beach just for the occasion. 

Dakota and Bro

Aunt Kayla, Carter & Granny Deb

My Buddy Jackson

Play Time

Riding the Boat

My friend Emma riding the boat

Teeter Totter

Friend Noah bouncing on the trampoline

The whole crew

Gymboree Bubbles

On the Parachute

Making Music

Peek a Boo under the Parachute

Climbing aboard the Gymbo train