MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012!!

Wow! Has a year really passed? Where does the time go? (Did I just sound like my mother there or what?). Well, I guess I am getting older. This has been another busy year for all of us. I will break it down by family member (and name them in case it has been a long while since you checked in with us!).

 1. This is Lily. She is the latest addition to our family (although not physically a part of it quite yet). She is a beautiful little 4 year old girl that we hope to have join our family this spring time. We are anxiously awaiting the call that will allow us to travel to Thailand to go get her. She will be another beautiful addition to our family and we cant wait until she can finally join us.

2. RJ: He has been keeping himself very busy this year. He played spring and summer golf and did quite well. Won a lot of the tournaments he played in and seems to really enjoy it. Shortly after entering the 4th grade he joined optomist football. His first year in full pads. I think he got a little bored with his position as an offensive lineman but we thought he did a good job and is excited about playing next year. Right now, he is itching to go golfing which will probaby have to wait for warmer weather, although if he had his way he would be out there right now!

 

 





 

3. Jackson: He entered first grade this year and it is keeping him quite busy. His teacher gives him 2 to 3 pages of homework a night plus he has to read 3 books 4 nights a week! Between that and gymnastics he pretty much goes to school, homework then bed, with a few things squeezed in between. He enjoys it though and is in the same class as his cousin, Cora. He is by far our most social child and has lots of friends and is almost always happy (except when hungry and tired like most kids!).

4. Trey: he is turning 5 next week!! Hard to believe since he is so tiny still. He started pre-school this year and seems to be really excelling. His teacher at times teaches him alongside the kindergardners that share his class. He seems to be really enjoying it. The only other thing he likes as well is playing video games, just like his big brother RJ. Wow! They start so young!

5. Lance: he has had an exciting year as well. He has kept himself busy shuttling the boys around to all their various activites and schools as well as opening up a spin studio. For those of you who don't know, it is a studio where you pay by the class to take spin classes. He bought the Real Ryder bikes which move side to side like a real bike. So far it seems promising, however the plan is to give it two years to see if he can make any money at it. He is teaching a lot of classes and has actually lost 20#!! He is in as good of shape as he was when he was in high school! So even if the boys can't go to college because we lost all their money in this studio, he looks good at least!

6. Donna: I have kept busy working at St. Luke's Hospital as a hospitalist. It continues to get busier and busier and I suspect with Obama Care coming it will only get worse. I am enjoying living near my family (here I am with all 3 of my sisters). It is so nice to be back home and get to see them and my parents all the time! My running has slowed down to only a couple of half marathons this year but I truly enjoy running with my sister once to twice a week, its good "girl" time!. Lance and I just completed the Las Vegas Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon. It is a lot of fun to run with him and get to spend the weekend away in Vegas!!

We celebrated my mother and father's 50th year wedding anniversary this year. It is so amazing to have such a great example for our own marriages to look up to. They are both so amazing and it was fun to take time and look back at all the pictures they have accumalated over the years. Here is a picture of myself and my older sister, Debbbie, when we were kids! I am the one on the left in case you couldn't tell!

Here is a picture of them at the 50th party and then almost 50 years ago!! Such a handsome couple then and now!

Hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season. Once again I am reminded about how blessed I truly am and how undeserving I am of God's love and blessings. I thank the Lord everyday for all of you!! Merry Christmas!

 

 

Merry Christmas!

Well another year has almost past, and what an exciting year it has been!

1.  Lance finally made it to his 40th birthday present (only a year late!) Royals fantasy Baseball Camp. He had a great time, I got to join him for the last few days and it brought me back to those college days when I would sit on the grass on a blanket and try to study while they played out at Robbie Jones Field. Lance had a great time, as you can read from his blogs he posted while going through it. Other than that, he coached Kuna High School Football again as the offensive coordinator, but once again didn't have that great of a season. They were 1-8 again but did show some marked improvement even though the record didn't reflect that, just wait until next year! He has also kept really busy with the boys as well, coaching RJ's Upwards basketball team as well as his baseball team.

2. I (Donna) have kept busy at work. It continues to extremely busy all year long.  I am always amazed at the amount of sick people there are in the hospital every single day and I thank the Good Lord for his blessings of health he has instilled on me and my family. I was named the site Director at the St. Luke's Meridian Campus which has turned out to be interesting all ready. I ran my first marathon since leaving the Kansas City area with my sister, Dena. We didn't break any speed records but we had a good time training and running the actual race. as we finished and I felt that runner's high, I was reminded of why I have run marathons, to finish! It felt great. I then talked Lance into running the 1/2 marathon with me in Las Vegas on 12/4. The race itself left a little to be desired but it was so fun getting to run down the Las Vegas strip at night with all the hotels and shops lit up.

3. RJ entered 3rd grade this year. he continues to do well in school. He played Upwards Basketball last winter, then baseball in the spring and just finished YMCA Basketball last week. He is getting so tall, that I think he has a real future in basketball if he decides to stick with it, but am not sure, as it seems the only thing he really enjoys doing is playing video games! He also likes to golf, and won the 8 year old championship at two different golf clubs last summer.  He has been begging for some shelves in his room to display the seven golf trophies he won. 

4. Jackson started kindergarten this year and he loves it! He is by far our most social child. Every time I am in the classroom helping out all the girls are always coming up to him and giving him hugs. in fact, I just picked the kids up from school the other day and after getting Jackson then heading to RJ's class, all the kids from RJ's class also said, "Bye Jackson!" He started gymnastics but dropped out and now wants to go back so we will see if he sticks with it this time. He is extremely flexible and will be very good at it if he tries.

5. Trey's big accomplishment this year was getting potty trained! I think however, I was more excited about it than him. He is about to turn 4. He is still following and doing everything his brother's do. Believe it or not, he also loves to play his Nintendo DS (his potty training reward) and loves to play with his cousins Brody and Cora.

Well, we all had a good year! We are so blessed! I am constantly amazed that the Good Lord saw us fit to parent these three lovely children and thank Him everyday for placing them in our home. Merry Christmas to you all! Don't be strangers! Send us an email: donna.beeson100@gmail.com or Drebbin1000@yahoo.com.

I can almost walk normal again.

6-0

Fantasy Camp ended with another two victories today, the last one being the championship game of the camp. Nobody can recall a team going 6-0 for the week, all the old timers who have been coming for years say it never happens. It took two walk off wins today to get to 6-0 which made it even more fun. I pitched the first three innings in the championship game (three innings is the limit per player) without giving up a run. Overall the week was everything I expected, lots of fun playing baseball, hanging around guys I watched play for years, and meeting others who are Royals fans like me. Very nice 40th birthday present from my wife. Thanks Donna

Donna also had a blast, and even enjoyed meeting some of the others on my team. She wasn't sure what to think coming down here but she had a lot of fun and wishes she had come for the entire week. She took lots of pictures and enjoyed herself doing that, and wants RJ to come watch me play next time. Next time?

Slow day of baseball

Somewhat of a rest day today, as we played three innings vs the Royals Alumni in the main spring training stadium. I got one at bat vs Dennis Leonard and grounded out to third base. It was fun playing on the same field as Willie Wilson, John Wathan, Kevin Seitzer and others (George Brett had to leave this morning and go back to KC), even if only for three innings. Get the afternoon off to go get a massage and hopefully be ready to pitch a few innings again on Friday.
Donna had fun and actually now thinks the whole Fantasy Camp thing is pretty cool, before she wasn't so sure. Problem now is that a few of my teammates and I are talking about coming back next year. Yikes...