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...

Wednesday Baseball

Another productive day at Fantasy Camp as we won two more games and are now 4-0, the only undefeated team. I pitched three innings in game one and two innings in game two, so the arm is a little sore but not as bad as I was expecting. Five inning only giving up 1 run, so I don't have to buy the gas.
A game vs the Royals alumni tomorrow morning, and then the afternoon off, followed by two more games on Friday. I hope to pitch a little more then but am not guaranteeing a scoreless inning this time around.

Donna got here tonight, she said is looking forward to watching tomorrow, which is WAY different from when I played in college. Maybe the 70 degree weather and the fact that there are only two days worth of games has her more excited than sitting in the 40 degree Olathe weather, with three doubleheaders per week. What a fair weather fan.

Tuesday in the Sun

Completed another perfect day in the 70 degree sun in Phoenix. Lots of fun today as we won two games vs teams of other campers. Body is a little sore but doing well. Played 3rd base the majority of the time, made some plays, turned couple double plays, dove and knocked one down and threw a guy out, and booted a couple, so nothings really changed from the old days.

Sat and talked with George Brett and Bret Saberhagen for 20 minutes or so and talked Boise State football with a bunch of people, the Broncos secret in definitely out. Its a small world as I also met a couple people who have mutual friends in KC area.

Get the chance to pitch Wednesday, which I am not sure is good. 19 years between starts so could be a little rusty. I told the coaches:`"one shutout inning or the gas is on me"
The last time I heard that it worked for Kyle Bragg.

Picking Donna up Wednesday night so she can sit in the sun for a few days and watch me try and play.

Baseball Day 1

Day 1 is over and I am still healthy. Easy day with some instruction, games start Tuesday. Two games a day so should be fun.
I have noticed a few things already:
1-Saying "its a high sky" is something I am not sure really needs to be said.
2-Hitting a baseball once every 20 years does not improve your skills but it also doesn't decrease your skills. I can hit as well now as I did 20 years ago, which is not good.
3-Its much easier to field a ground ball on a major league field than it is at Robbie Jones Field in Olathe.
4-Is hitting .800 at fantasy camp really something to brag about?
5-Like I have been telling Coach Fields for 20 years, he played me out of position for 4 years.

More pictures may be on the way tomorrow.

Baseball & Sun

Getting ready to celebrate my 40th birthday present from Donna here in Phoenix. Should be a good time at Kansas City Royals Fantasy Baseball Camp. Hopefully I can walk at the end of the day because its just Monday, and it goes all week. Planning on lots of fun and soreness.
Thanks Donna. Love you and the boys.

Jack's Birthday

My "boys" on Lance's birthday and Jack at his 5th birthday party.

We recently celebrated Jack's fifth birthday. He had a great time with all the presents spanned over the last few days (as his birthday was 1/6, grandma Merker's presents came 1/7, grandma Duddles presents came on 1/8 and then his party was 1/9). I hope he doesn't think birthday's always include 4 days of presents!

He had a great time I think though. I was lucky enough to be not working this week so we took him to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch on his birthday and then had all of his cousins over yesterday for dinner, cake and on to Bounce Meridian (a location with indoor bounce houses and slides).

Lance had a nice birthday as well (his 41st!!) at least I think he did (you would have to ask him to be sure). He is looking forward to his 40th birthday present (which was delayed a year because of the arrival of Trey). He is going to Phoenix, AZ to participate in the Royals Fantasy camp. There, he will get to live out his dreams of becoming a major-league baseball player for the Royals, and actually get to meet and play with some of the old retired Royals players, including George Brett. I am excited as well as I will accompany him for the last weekend of it in warm sunny Arizona!

Not much else to post, so far am doing good on one of my resolutions, which is to post a blog every month! Let us know if you are still out there and following us by becoming a "follower" of my blog. Have a great January all!

It has been a blessed and eventful year for the Beeson family. We have moved twice and finally ended up back home in Meridian, ID where Lance and I grew up. It is sooooo nice to be back too! We love it! I am so happy at my new job at Saint Luke's Health system in Boise, ID. It is very much like my old job at the other Saint Luke's in Kansas City that i loved (and still wish sometimes i had never left!). Everyone here is so nice and helpful, I feel like a valued member of a great team instead of some one's scut monkey intern (like I was treated at Kadlec hospital in Richland, WA)and it has been such a welcome change!!

Lance got back into coaching at Kuna High School with a friend from MNU if you can believe it! They didn't have a very good season (1-8) but he had a good time back in charge of the offense as the OC (offense coordinator) despite their frustrations. he thinks they might have another long year next year but anticipates a good group of kids coming along in a couple of years.

The boys have been busy since the move as well. RJ is in second grade with a male teacher (who he loves, he even wrote a paper about how he wanted to change his name to Armando, his teacher's name! So cute!). Jack is in preschool and had a Christmas program the other day singing Christmas songs, it was so cute! I will try and place that video on facebook. he is going 3 days a week and getting ready for Kindergarten next year. Trey's adoption was finalized right before the move, but we still have to go to L.A. to the Thai Embassy to check off one last piece of paper (and spend another $2000!) then its a circumscison (another $5000) and we should be done with all the adoption costs and be back on a level playing field I hope (where we just have college tuition to look forward to!). He is learning to go poopy in the potty which keeps him and daddy quite busy! He has also learned to speak English much quicker than the other two boys (probably because he has to yell at his big brothers!)

The Lord has truly blessed us all so much, we couldn't be more thankful for our three little beautiful boys, our wonderful families, my good job and all our friends. Thank you all for being a part of our lives and we wish you a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, blessed new year!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Halloween Pictures

Fall 2010

Oh my goodness! Has it really been 5 months since I published anything on my blog? Shame on me, and I vowed to keep this up to date after my last post. I apologize (that is if there is anyone out there still checking!).

We have had a busy 5months. In those 5 months we have moved twice, once into a rental in Kennewick, WA after we sold our house in 1 day, and then again here to our permanent home in Meridian,ID. It is actually truly "back home" for Lance and I since we grew up here. Although his family has since moved on, all of my family is still here and we live smack down in the middle of them! I am probably within 8 miles if not closer from all three sisters and my parents. It is great for me, I get to see my sisters and parents all the time, the boys get to play with their cousins all the time and I am truly enjoying life for the first time since we left Kansas City I think. I have a running partner in my sister now, and although she was really tied up during her soccer season, we have still been able to get long runs in on my off weeks and usually get at least one trail run in during my on weeks. There are so many great trails here in the Boise area it has been fun to start branching out my running into the hills (although much harder work!). I am sure with the winter coming up it will definitely curb our evening runs in the hills but I hope not our bi-weekly long runs which I still enjoy despite the fact that I haven't run a race since July (and that was only a half-marathon).
The kids are really enjoying it here I think too. RJ has settled into school very well, he likes his first male teacher, Mr. Barrera. He is also getting geared up for upwards basketball that starts this winter. He has made several new friends in the neighborhood which will make this spring and summer much better I am sure. Jack is getting settled in pre-school and although he struggling with writing his name or learning his letters, he is having a good time, and that's what pre-school is about right?
Trey is settled in here as well. He had one bad asthma attack that landed him in the hospital, luckily 2 days after our insurance kicked in!

I am thoroughly enjoying my job here in Boise as well. I am back at a hospital much like the one I left in Kansas City and I can see myself staying here for the rest of my career at last! Not planning any more moves, although as I tell RJ I can't promise that as I never know what the Lord has in store for us or where He will take us. All I know is that He has truly blessed us and given me more than I deserve that is for sure! I am the luckiest mommy ever to be able to bring up these 3 little boys, and I try to remember that (especially when they are whining and crying in my ear when I am trying to blog such as now for something as silly as Trey taking Jack's chair to eat his dinner!!!). Stay tuned, I once again vow to keep more up to date, although we will see how much better I do. !!

Happy Mother's Day

Not sure if there is anyone left out there still reading my blog but if so, happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. I had to work so got up early for a run and while I was in the shower getting ready, RJ pulls back the curtain and shouts, "Happy Mother's day Mom! I want to give you a kiss!" I told him it could wait until I was out of the shower at least, but the gesture was nice! They then flowered me with homemade presents, including a beautiful hand made pot of paper flowers with RJ's pictures on them and a homemade flower pot painted and decorated with old buttons from Jack, along with some nice handmade cards. Lance then made us all breakfast, but when I went to go finish getting dressed, RJ ate not only all of his eggs and toast but mine too! I can't believe how much that kid eats and he is only 7! Wait until he is 15! I will have to get a second job just to pay for his food! He just passed the 80 pound mark so can now officially go without a car seat. Which he is very excited about.


We have had a nice spring. I have been working a lot between 3 different hospitals. I have been trying out a larger hospital in Spokane which I enjoy, although I think I enjoy the hotel they put me up in more. It is called the Davenport and it is a gorgeous old hotel that has been refurbished. One of the nicest hotels I have stayed in ever! I highly recommend staying there if you are ever in Spokane, WA. I have also started working at St. Lukes in Boise. I really like that hospital. I have only worked there one week but it was a very nice hospital and everyone was very nice to work with. We are contemplating moving down there for good actually. Lance's friend Rusty Frisch (whom he met at MNU when he was brought in to be the defensive Coordinator) has now been named the head coach at Kuna High School, the same school where my baby sister is the head woman's soccer coach and I know Lance would really like to get back into coaching, if for no other reason but to get him out of the house for some grown up time (if you can call high schoolers grown ups!)

Well, these pictures were my other mother's day present. We finally had a nice day this past spring so that we could all get a family picture taken finally with our latest addition, Trey. I was hoping to get them done before Easter so I could send out picture cards to all but once again, I had very good intentions and not enough time.

Hope you all are well!