Young Peoples Reunion

On Saturday, August 4th, Mom and I journeyed down to Mossyrock Park (south of Olympia) for a Young Peoples Reunion. For those of you who don’t know,Young Peoples was what our high school youth group at church was called for many years. We had all grown up together in the church, although we didn’t attend the same schools. We were all in Young Peoples during the 1990s, but I won’t say when each of us were. :-) Since family is important to each of us, our parents, spouses, and kids were also invited to our reunion.

Seven of us kids were there (Dave, Aaron, Sarah, Kim, Lisa, Michael, and me). I was the only one without spouse and kids there. My Mom was there along with Jack and Sue (Aaron, Sarah, and Rebecca), John and Mary (Kim, Lisa, and Michael), John’s parents (Lawrence and Gwen), and Bob and Jane (Rob and Julie, who couldn’t attend). Those from Young Peoples who we missed were: Ron and Jo (our Youth Leaders and the parents of Dave, Sam, and Andre), Elliot (my brother), Raymond, Alieda, Renee, Rob and Julie, Marc and Kara, Anna, Sam and Andre, Ian and Matt, Anneke, Rebecca, and Heidi and Chris. I’m sure I missed some, so if you’re reading this and you were in our group and aren’t mentioned here, I’m sorry.

We had a great time reconnecting with each other, eating, swimming, canoeing, boating, relaxing, and playing volleyball. Mom and I didn’t camp, but the rest were out there all weekend. Many thanks to Sue for setting this event up. Hopefully we’ll be able to do another one in the near future and get more to come. For those who were there and are reading this, if you have pictures that you want me to post here for others to see, please e-mail them to me.

Here are some of my favorite pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

We started the afternoon by gathering together for prayer and then ate. From left to right are Jane, me, Mary, and Bob:



Here’s Mike (Sarah’s husband) cooking on the grill and I’m in the background:



Michael and Keri getting ready to eat their juicy burgers:



Enjoying lunch and a great conversation are from right to left: Jack, Dave and Nikole (Dave and Juanita’s daughter).



Keeping cool in the shade are Jeremy, Sarah, Sue, and Aaron (holding Dylan):



Here’s Caden (Aaron and Jen’s middle child) taking a ride around camp:



Here’s a cute one of Caleb (Lisa and Brian’s son). I personally love his hat. Already showing his Mariner spirit:



Although they moved here after all of us were out of high school, John’s parents (Kim, Lisa, and Michael’s grandparents), Lawrence and Gwen, joined us for a few hours:



Nikole is hanging out in the shade with her mom, Juanita:



Relaxing in the shade are from left to right: my Mom (Karyl), Sarah, Jane, and Kim; with Nikole and Juanita in the background.



Caden loved playing with the water:



After eating and hanging out at the camp, we went down to the lake and relaxed some more. Here’s Bob and Jane floating in the lake:



Taking a dip are Aaron and his oldest son, Jorren:



Tired and cold, Jorren and his cousin, Annika (Sarah and Mike’s daughter), hang out on an air mattress:



Not wanting to play in the water, Caden and Nikole relaxed on the beach:



Wanting to show off their power to Michael and Kim, Jakob (Dave and Juanita’s son) and Gabriel (Kim and Jeremy’s son) row the last few feet to the shore:



Lisa and Brian are trying to coax their son Caleb into the water. He did go in for a minute or two, but then wanted out:



Aaron and Jen take their oldest two, Jorren and Caden, out for a ride:



After hanging out at the beach, we went back to camp, changed, and started a volleyball game. Here’s some pictures from our very competitive game:

Dave, Kim, me, Keri, and Aaron



Me, Jeremy (back to camera), Jen, and Sarah



Keri, Brian (#34), Michael, and Jen



Not long after these pictures were taken, Mom and I headed home.

Where has this season gone!?

There’s only one month left in the regular season and I think my team needs a pick-me-up. I won't dwell on how they are doing right now, but will go into the past to celebrate how they were doing.

On June 23, I went to a Mariner’s game with Brian and Melissa, and Melissa’s mom Hildred, and her sister, Michelle. We didn’t sit in my normal seats, but were way out in the upperdeck (towards centerfield). We had a great time, although we got our workout climbing all the way to our seats. Here’s a view of the Seattle skyline from our seats (using telephoto lens).



Since many of you have not been to a game with me nor have used my season tickets, here is a view of where our seats are (one with and one without telephoto lens). Our seats are directly under the “C” in “Welcome.” Notice where homeplate is.





This weekend was Ken Griffey Jr.’s homecoming to Seattle. It was great to see him again. Rumor has it that he might return to the Mariners before he retires. Only he knows if it will happen. Here’s a picture of him in the outfield below our seats and one of him up to bat.





When we left to go to the game, we were all worried that the roof would be closed and that we’d end up with rain. Instead, the Lord gave us a beautiful sunset to enjoy. Here’s two of my favorite pictures of that sunset.





For those who were supposed to go with us (you know who you are!!), you missed an awesome game, although I'm sorry that there were no stolen bases (I guess the M's didn't get my memo). We were with great friends, had good food, and an awesome view, plus my guys won!!!! We saw Raul Ibanez hit a grand slam, Richie Sexson hit two solo homeruns, and Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer.

Final score (this is a traditional picture that I always take during the top or bottom of the 9th inning):



On July 28, I drove up to an early afternoon Mariner’s game. I met my college friend, Leslie, there. We reconnected at my cousin, Brittney’s basketball games at Seattle Pacific University. We have gone to a game together for the last few summers, just to catch up on each other’s lives. We sat in my normal season ticket seats, so here is a photo of homeplate from our seats (one with and one without telephoto).





We knew that it was our college’s Alumni Day (George Fox University), but I had forgotten that it was also State Employees Appreciation Day too. We didn't see anyone from our college, but it was our understanding that those who were attending the BBQ before the game were older or we didn't even know them while at Fox.

Leslie and I had a lot of fun talking and cheering for our Mariners. The only bad thing that happened during the game, was that someone ran onto the field to meet Ichiro. We’re assuming the guy was drunk and/or was dared to run out there. He did make it all the way to Ichiro, but then was captured by security. I did get some pictures, but won’t post them here. He’s already had his 15 seconds of fame and doesn’t need any more. We did get to see Kenji Johjima hit a two-run homer and Yuniesky Betancourt hit a solo homer, plus we won!!

Final Score:



My next games will be September 14 and then September 28 and 29, unless they go into the playoffs. Hopefully they get into the playoffs and then maybe I can actually go to a game on my birthday. The last five years, I have gone to the last Friday and Saturday games as a gift to myself for my birthday. Because of that, I have seen Ichiro break the hits record, Edgar and Dan retire, and the M’s knock other teams out of the playoff race (even though we weren’t going). Don't know of any players planning on retiring this year, but maybe the M's will be in the playoff hunt, so these games would really matter. No matter what, the games are just a lot of fun to go to.