Birthday Joy

Yesterday was amazing!! Trina and I began celebrating Sunday night with a dinner to Perry's. We killed it.. ate so much we were too full for ice cream and popcorn. Then yesterday we chilled out. We met Zach and Emily at House of Pies, then jetted over to their apartment to meet Lady, the newest addition!

Trina then cooked a great dinner Shrimp and Grits. AWESOME!!! We ended the day with our daily bike ride through the neighborhood. Had tons of texts and FB posts. So nice of people to reach out. Here's to 52 and more!!!

The Kid, Teenager, Man

He left today for the Navy Seals program and training. I can still see him riding his bike at 6, doing tricks like letting go of the handlebars and pedals. I can still see his concentration as he caught a pass from me, in the driveway. The first time I realized he can catch now. I can still see him hiking the ball on the flag football team to the quarterback. He was the only one on the team who could hike it shotgun and get it to the quarterback. I can still see his excitement when he got his BB gun for Christmas. I can still see him making a double-play in T-Ball. No one made double plays! I can still see him getting the All-Star Game Game Ball for playing great, at 3B. He never played third before. I can still see him serving the kids at Field of Dreams. I can still see him take care of the elderly at church. I can still see him work hard for 3.5 years at Discount Tire. I am proud.

Abby and the Scriptures

Abby made me proud this week! On her way to the 8th grade basketball game, she was taking notes from her Bible app, on the school bus!!

Dream Dinner 8 - Teachers

For my latest "dream dinner" idea, I have chosen teachers who have taught my kids'.

- Mrs. Hicks: Abby's 5th Grade homeroom at Deer Park Elementary. She is also a marathon runner!

- Mrs. Kenley: Jon Mark and Emma's 1st Grade at Stamping Ground Elementary. She has the biggest smile you will ever see.

- Mr. Wegman: Jon Mark's 7th Grade Football and Basketball Coach at DPJH. Great man and coach!

- Mr. Shoen: Emma's 8th Grade Science Teacher at DPJH. Extremely funny, who loves Mt. Dew!

- Mrs. Johnson: Jon Mark and Emma's 2nd Grade Teacher at Stamping Ground and Anne Mason Elementary. One of the nicest people I have ever known.

- Mrs. Monroe: Jon Mark and Emma's K teacher at Stamping Ground Elementary. Kinder teachers are the best, especially Mrs. Monroe.

- Mrs. Frederick: Abby's 1st Grade teacher at DPE. A beautiful lady and great teacher.

- Mrs. Stack: Emma's 3rd Grade Homeroom Teacher at DPE. A very caring teacher and one of my favs!

- Mr. Painter.. Emma's 9th Grade Teen Leadership teacher!! Cool dude!!!!

First Day of School

Wow! Is it really here? Emma is a Freshman and today, on our way to North Campus, we were reminiscing about her first day of Kindergarten...9 years ago!! She refused to let me take her, insisting on riding the bus! hahaha! Hilarious and yet so sad for a Dad, who loves taking his kids to school.

All three kids loved their teachers yesterday and it was a good start to another year of learning, growing, stretching, and experiencing the joy/pains of growing up.

On another note...Jon Mark was cut from the baseball and basketball teams this summer. The basketball is understood, but the baseball is a mystery. Very frustrating. He said this weekend he felt like a failure. I reminded him of God's setups, appear as setbacks...thanks to Pastor Chris, this has been my motto for several years. :)

Deer Park High School Baseball!

Today, Jon Mark found out that he made the Deer Park Deer Baseball Team! Wow!

Here are the freshmen picked out of 86 kids who tried out: Vince Vega, Cade Williams, Clay Thompson, Matt Cauley, Jordan Gardea, Derek Boneke, Joey Rangel, Zach Kent, Stephan Gehringer, Josh Pettitte, Tyler Butterfras, Ashton Cleveland, Tyler Allen, Josh Rutherford, Tyler Jarvis, Jay Turnipseed, Eric Luna, Landon Bedrich, Brittan Brown, Bailey Darden, Jacob Hickman, Brian Pattison, John Lopez, Zach Bajula, and Jon Mark Feeback.

Some left off, but played on the Mickey Mantle Team were: C.J. Babb, Noah Cano, Mitchell Wilkinson, Brandon Hock, Cameron Gregory, Michael Heim, Kyle Liescheski, Nolan Sampson, Chad Leatherwood, and Tyler Martin. Daniel Grider, who should have made it, did not.

That's a lot of players, plus many more who tried out and perhaps just had a tough workout. People like: Ryan Husemann, Taylor Sisemore, Eric Fitzwater, and Jacob Daugherty - good kids, decent talent...but just weren't chosen.
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I find it totally amazing and pitiful that among all those Little League and All-Star teams Jon Mark played with, only Tyler Allen and Landon Bedrich made the high school team with him.

Then only 12 of them were in Pony League, the other 13 decided not to play Pony, I heard because of the shotty politics. hahaha

Granted, Jon Mark is younger than his peers in the 9th grade, so there may be a few more join him next season, such as Cade Wilson, Joshua Martinez, and others.

It tells me that players come from all over and from various leagues, cities, and select teams.

The Baptism of George Straub

George Straub, a fun and goofy, blonde-headed 5th grader at San Jacinto Church, was baptized along with his entire family this past Sunday! It was absolutely and totally awesome to see him up there. We brought all 50 of the kids from our KidZone Ministry room to the worship center to watch it! It was great and brought some moistness to my eyes.

After School Pics

Girls Basketball

Abby played on the Deer Park Elementary Ninjas last season as a 3rd grader. This season, she will be one of the bigger girls (not that it stopped her last year)! She was a rebound machine! In one game, she made the go-ahead bucket with 25 sec. left. Then as the opposing team came down the court, they had two shots and two free throws to tie the game and missed all 4! Abby grabbed the last rebound and turned to pass to a teammate and the clock sounded...she had saved them from shooting once more! Even though it was a 3rd & 4th grade team, you can tell from the pic below (Abby is last one on right) that she was one of the tallest players! hahaha

Overwhelmed with Gratitude...

It's crazy how many FB birthday greetings I receieved! As they began coming in the night before, I was replying to each of them. But as yesterday progressed, that reality would only be good intentions. I was able to respond to a few, but the vast majority of them were not replied.

So, I saved all them in a folder on my yahoo email and hope to contact the FB friends who sent me a greeting for my celebration.



BTW, the kids and I had a pizza party thrown by the Truitts' and then went out for ice cream after some great Wii games! It was a good day and I am grateful for the people God has placed in my life and I in theirs.

Salvation Moments...

Jon Mark accepted the love of Christ by praying in our car on the way home from the Nicholasville Wal-Mart to Wilmore in 1998. He was baptized by me on Sunday, December 15, 2001 in Georgetown, Kentucky at the Central Church of God.

Emma accepted God's love in her bedroom, after asking how she can be a Christian during bath time in 2001. She was baptized with her brother on Sunday, December 15, 2001 in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Abby prayed for Jesus to forgive her in bed on August 25, 2006 and was baptized by me in Pasadena, Texas at Parkgate Community Church on Sunday, September 2, 2007.

What a joy to be a part of their lives in Christ!

September Memories

Football, birthdays, 9-11, and Ike...these are some of the recollections I have about September.

Home Run For A Kid!

WoW! Detroit Tigers 3B, Brandon Inge, visits hospitals to see kids with cancer. Several of them ask him to hit a HR for him...he's done it twice and he hit one last night!

No Curveballs Before Shaving

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3505347

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/57054

High School

WoW! That time has come that I thought was soooooo far into the future! My firstborn is a Freshman. Years ago, I wondered what he would look like, act like, and be like. I wondered how tall he would be and if he would be a good person.

He is in fact 5'7" and weighs 120 pounds. He's trying out for the Freshman Basketball Team and the Sophomore Baseball Team. He's a good kid and I love him and am very proud to be his Dad.

What An Inning!

Jon Mark came in to pitch in the bottom of the 4th inning after playing brilliantly at 3B. He faced the Longhorn's (best team in the league) 2, 3, and 4 batters - and K's all three!


An outstanding performance by a 13 year old against three 14 year olds!

American Skin (41 Shots) - Live

This is one of Jon Mark's fav Bruce songs, along with Born In The USA and This Land Is Your Land.

More Videos

Home Run!

Jon Mark, last Saturday, hit a Home Run in Select Ball practice on the Pony Field! It traveled about 305 feet! He was really excited and hopes that more follow.

The ones he hit in Little League were back-to-back jacks off of Craig Cochran in All-Star practice in June, which went about 210 feet.

Kentucky Bound!

The kids and I are leaving today after school. It's a 20 hour haul and we will be gone for a total of four days! We haven't been there in 2.5 years. The weather will be very cold (27 & 14) on Monday...thank God for Texas!

A Baptism - 7 Years Ago Today

Jon Mark and Emma were baptized by me on this day in 2001 in Georgetown, Kentucky! It was an awesome day...