Go Dodgers

Unfortunately the Dodgers couldn't hear Lily rooting them on. Otherwise I'm sure they would have won tonight.

What's Your Name?

As we had previously mentioned, Lily had not been saying her name. She has always called herself baby. Until recently. She now says her name but has a little bit of trouble (which makes it soooo cute. May I introduce to you, Yi-Yee (sometimes Ya-Yee). Or better yet, I'll let her do it.

Batter Up

OhCaptain over at The Life and Thoughts of a Midwest Geek took the bait. He asked his readers which of a given list of topics we'd like him to address. Of the given topics, I of course picked #2 - "Posts about why certain baseball movies are good and others are bad". He gave his list. What follows is mine. I'll skip why some are bad. There are too many of those and too many reasons. I'll stick to what I like.

(I couldn't post a pictureless post! I shot this with my new lens a few days ago.)

1. Field of Dreams- This is in my top 3 movies of all time; of any genre. I wrote a whole post about this a while back. Click here to read more. In a nutshell, this scene is why I love the movie:

2. For Love of the Game- This has something for everyone. Romance for the ladies and Vin Scully for the guys. Bet you never heard "romance" and "Vin Scully" mentioned in the same sentence before!
3. 61*- Billy Crystal did a fantastic job directing this movie. It's the story of the 1961 baseball season in which Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle chase the single season homerun record.
4. The Rookie-As a husband, father, and baseball fan, the scene when Dennis Quaid calls home to tell first his wife, then his son that he made it to the big leagues melts my heart.
5. The Untouchables- Does DeNiro's use of a baseball bat qualify it as a baseball movie??? (Yes, this one is a joke.)

Then of course there are the baseball documentaries but I didn't think they would fit in the movie category. In this genre I highly recommend:

1. Baseball by Ken Burns
2. When It Was A Game
3. Dodger Blue: The Championship Years
4. MLB Memorable Moments - 30 of baseball's greatest moments. The best of the best (imho) is Kirk Gibson's bottom of the 9th home run to win the first game of the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers. It set the tone for the Dodgers to win the championship that year. I still get chills hearing Vin Scully announce it.

The Gift - La Mia Famiglia - Part 2

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If you're here for Wordless Wednesday, scroll down below this post.
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A few more words on cousin Gil before I move on. When I had gone to his funeral in 2006 I had not seen him since my father's funeral in 1989. I did however, always have fond memories of Gil. In a word, he had charisma. When he spoke, people listened. People wanted to listen. He was a very accomplished man. He served in the army during WWII under Captain Ronald Reagan and later served in the air force doing a tour in Korea during that war. Following the war he earned two master's degrees and a law degree. In the years I knew him, he was a writer, producer, actor, and artist.

My aunt's words from the album state, "Gil's most inspiring and outstanding clay sculpting was the "Face of Christ". In this presentation, he narrated the Passion of Christ and at the same time sculpting a large mound of wet clay into the normal features of His face to its brutal disfigurement of the crucifixion. Gil toured many U.S. cities and appeared on TV during the Easter season for a number of years."

I found footage online of Gil's performance. It's about 15 minutes but in my biased opinion, well worth watching. I had the privilege of seeing Gil do the Face of Christ at my old church back in the early 80's. It sure brings back memories to watch him again.

Of all the people I saw at his service, the one I wanted to speak with most was laying in the casket. He was a good man.

More on the family and more pictures to come.

Two Months of Lily Grace

If you follow Julianne's blog also, I know this topic is redundant. And you might see some of the same pictures. But how can I sit and let this pass without saying something? Two months since someone I can't even recall placed Lily into the arms of my wife. TWO MONTHS??? The nearly three year wait for her is completely out of mind now. It seems as if Lily has been part of our lives forever. We can't imagine life without her now. She has so transformed our lives, it is almost indescribable. But isn't that what I'm attempting to do here? All of you long time parents know what I'm talking about and are smiling at what I'm now saying; perhaps recalling a glimpse of when you first experienced what I'm trying to talk about. As she grows, and learns something new each day, she continues to mold me. How God is using this child to transform me (and I admit I have a LONG way to go) is beyond comprehension.

In case any of you missed the video on Julianne's blog of the moment we got Lily (7-9-07), here is another chance to see it.

Enjoy the many faces of Lily.

You Are My Sunshine

Since she is no longer terrified of her bath time, and because it's been hotter than blazes, we decided to get an inflatable pool from Target. She had a blast. Today was her third day straight using it. After she got out she saw the pool through the window she did the sign for more. Sooooo cute!. Here she is listening to Mommy singing her favorite song. After watching this, tell me she's not the cutest thing ever! (Actually, please don't tell me that. I won't believe you.)

Lily's Big Day

On Sunday we had Lily's dedication service and her 1st birthday party. It was such a wonderful day. She is adjusting so well and seems to love all the attention. She is doing much better going to other people now. I'm going to make up for having two picture-less posts in a row. I can take no credit for the following pictures. Denise (my former student) was our official photographer for the day and she did an amazing job. She really has a good eye and composed her shots nicely.

Below is the video from Lily's dedication service. (Thanks Kevin!)



Enjoy the pictures.

Walking in her birthday dress (one of them)

Lily and me

Mommy and Lily

Carina and a happy birthday girl

Deborah, Charlie, and Ellen having fun

Rania, Yousef, and Ahmed

Denise, with an extended arm took this one of us. (She hated her hair in this one)

Jim and Laura taking a break from all the excitement

Julianne made Lily the cutest cake.

What would be more fitting for our Lilybug than a Ladybug cake?

Lily's first taste of cake. She LOVED it!

Our beautiful, messy girl

Getting a thorough cleaning after her cake

All clean and ready for another new outfit

Big Girl Walking

Look what our daughter can do! She's walking up a storm. Well, she's holding on to my fingers, but this girl is jamming across the floor. Now that she knows she can do this, she does NOT want to sit on laps much anymore. All this coming from a girl who cannot crawl yet. With her increased leg strength she can get up on a knee now but her arms are stronger and she ends up pushing herself backwards! Too cute.

Sights of China

No, I didn't forget. I purposely skipped the sights from China from my previous post so I could make it a post on it's own. I decided instead of inserting pictures and writing about them, I'd do a slide presentation because I'd just slow you all down with everything I'd have to say about each image. I reduced my almost 700 pictures from China to around 160...still way too many. The following measures thirteen minutes and eighteen seconds. I've already promised Julianne I'll make another version, perhaps one song long instead of the three on this presentation. Also, soon coming will be a slide show all about Lily so don't be disapointed that I kept LOTS of her pictures out of this version. So if you are so inclined, sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and enjoy.