Junior Country Relays 2011

Ryan's Second Game

Make sure you watch the end of the video...

Ryan's First Game

Hunter Game 2

Hunter's Game/Ryan's game was Rained Out!

Big Games Tonight

The baseball season in Salem officially begins tonight. Both Hunter and Ryan have games at 5:30pm. There may be some running back and forth between games or Stacey and I will have to divide and conquer. Hunter is playing for the Phillies and Ryan is playing for the Nationals. Both are excited for the games to begin and their parents are so proud of them. Look at these handsome ball players in their uniforms!

Sami Baseball Part 2

You have seen her pitch, now see her hit...

Griffins in Salem

Dad, Mom, and Brandon came out to Salem last week to visit us. They were able to witness Ryan's Pinewood Derby and experience the unending rain we have had here. Dad watched quite a few games of baseball with me on TV, including the Cardinals and Rockies opening day game losses in extra innings and a couple of Royals games with Billy Butler. Mom played quite a bit of Rockband and is developing into quite the drummer. We may see her in a band sometime soon. Of course, we fit some Ticket to Ride (or as mom likes to call it The Train Game) in there as well. Mom made me make triple chocolate chip mint cookies on Saturday and then smoked some tri-tip roasts on Saturday night. We were sad when they all left, but we had a good time and glad they could come visit!

The Chronicles of Griffin Lore

I have thought of many ways of how I could tell this story and I think I am going to go this route:

It was a dark  and dreary Thursday night as the beautiful mother of four and part time cab driver and maid, Stacey, picked up her son Ryan from basketball practice.  Stacey and Ryan began having a conversation about basketball, school, and life in which Ryan was talking freely and openly.  Having been run ragged in basketball practice, Ryan was extremely partched and reached down to grab a bottled water that we frequently kept in the car for such occasions.  Stacey continued to ask Ryan questions, but he suddenly became quiet and said "Let's talk about it when we get home."  Stacey asked "why" and he persisted "Let's just talk about it when we get home!"  So, Stacey and Ryan drove him in silence...but in the back of her mind Stacey could not figure out what had suddenly changed in Ryan's attitude...

FLASHBACK:  Driving from Oregon to Idaho and back again is a very long, uneventful trip.  Though we thoroughly enjoy our visits to Idaho to visit family, the 12 hours it takes to get there is not as exciting.  We deal with fighting, hungry kids, and the ever persistent question "When are we going to be there??"  Because of the lengthy trip, I prefer to take few breaks especially if the kids are sleeping, so when Hunter said he had to go to the bathroom again for the fourth time and there was no where to stop for 30 miles, we allowed Hunter to pee in a bottle (which anyone who has gone on long trips with us knows that his bladder is about the size of small pea).  We finally made it home to Oregon and I took everything out of the car and into the house, and cleaned up all the garbage...everything except that water bottle filled with Hunter's pee...

FLASH FORWARD: Saturday morning as we are going to Ryan's basketball game, Ryan reaches to the side of his chair and pulls out a water bottle which obviously contains yellow water!  Ryan yells out "Hunter!  Is this your pee?"  We are all laughing because we forgot to throw the pee bottle away - thank goodness there was a cap on the bottle.  Then Ryan says "I think I drank your pee!"  All of the sudden Stacey remembers the conversation she had with Ryan just days before when he quit talking to her.  Ryan said that he grabbed the water bottle took a little drink from it and it tasted so awful, so he kept it in his mouth until Stacey and him arrived at home and then he was able to spit it out.  He had no idea he had drank pee until the realization hit him at that moment!!  So gross - and poor Ryan.  But we all laughed and laughed and laughed some more and Ryan laughed with us.  He was a good sport.  But this story will ever go down in the Griffin Annals as the DAY THAT RYAN DRANK HUNTER'S PEE...

Another picture

Sami in the Morning

Frequently, when I wake up in the morning Sami will come in the bathroom and talk to me as I am getting ready. It is our Daddy-Daughter time. Most of the time she just rambles on and on about things and I have no idea what she is talking about. Other times, she is so completely tired that she just lays on the floor and watches me get ready. Last week she came into the bathroom at 5 am dressed in a hat, oven mittens, shoes, pajamas, and a backpack. I have attached the photo...she was not happy about me taking a picture. Apparently she was still cranky!  (You may have seen something similar in an earlier post of mine as she loves to wear hats, pajamas, and her backpack -- many times she is carrying a basketball as well)