June 2021

We had a lot of car trouble this month. Our 2010 Edge with 220,000 miles quit. We had this vehicle since before Tristan was born. This happened on a weekend when both boys had baseball games in different places and I had to work, and we were down to 1 vehicle. Got a new fuel pump put on but that didn't fix it. It quit again after driving only 2 miles. Then we were told it needed a new head gasket at several thousand dollars to repair and we decided it wasn't worth it. Mom's Escape that we borrowed in the meantime while waiting on repairs then looking for a different vehicle also quit in our garage, and required a new battery. Don hates doing mechanic work but he managed to figure it out. Felt like we were carrying some kind of vehicle curse. We did find a used Toyota Highlander Hybrid at the end of the month; hope it's reliable for us.

Tristan helped me make one of our favorite treats- Puppy Chow. He loves the "puffed sugar" as he calls it and wears it on his face and clothes every time we make it.

Wiped out! He still falls asleep in the car every chance he gets!

Jordon started pitching lessons with Jason at 643kc. Wish we would have started these sooner.

Boys went wild about fishing at our pond. They've been catching lots of catfish.

Tristan had his friend Braden over from his baseball team. They spent a lot of time fishing and chasing snakes around the pond. Braden plays soccer too like Tristan but they are on different teams in different leagues.

The boys went fishing and while they were throwing pellets out, they weren't paying attention and the dog went after the fishing pole they had baited with bread. He "got hooked" and required a trip to the vet and anesthesia to get it out. This happened when we were down to 1 vehicle and I was at work, so we were thankful a friend was able to give Don, the boys and the dog a ride to the vet.

Tristan playing with the boxing headband and ball Dad picked up.

Jordon got to attend a summer camp with friends for 5 days with Young Life, a Christian group that his soccer coach and some of the soccer kids are involved with. He had a great time swimming, tubing, playing soccer, basketball and other games, and learning about Jesus. He came back with this letter he wrote there. Sounded like he had a great time. Coach took their phones away on the drive down south and they didn't get them back till the ride back home.

Jordon with a couple big kids at 643kc that ended up playing college ball at Northwest. 

 

May 2021

 More baseball and soccer! Soccer wrapped up mid-May. Not sure if boys will do both sports again next spring. It's a lot and there were quite a few conflicts. Tristan played on 2 soccer teams in addition to baseball. Baseball coaches expect them to play baseball in the spring. Luckily the soccer coaches were understanding and allowed them to play when they could be there. We love to watch the boys play but it does get exhausting at times. Games can take up the entire weekend. Especially for competitive baseball- there really is no sport that they've played that compares to the time, cost and commitment required to do it. It really got challenging at times when both boys had soccer and baseball games in different parts of the KC Metro, and sometimes I had to work those weekends as well. We did the best we could to get them to everything possible.

5/27 was the last day of school for 4th and 7th grade. We hope next school year is more normal. The boys went this entire school year on a hybrid schedule of virtual in mornings, in person school in afternoons. It was challenging in many ways.

Tristan's Railsplitters team played against the other PH team, the Pirates. Some boys from both teams also played on another team, the Roosters this season. Tristan was a part of both teams but missed some games due to baseball.

5/15/21- first Covid-19 vaccine for Jordon at Children's Mercy East! He was a little nervous but did great. It gave us hope to see so many kids age 12-15 taking advantage of this opportunity! Now we look forward to when Tristan can get vaccinated.

Jordon and cousin Karli. She is Tristan's age but taller than Jordon. Both had games at Mid-America complexes. Karli plays on 2 softball teams with ROI and this keeps her playing most weekends. She's doing a great job pitching.

Tristan spotted this snake right outside our back door. Raleigh was afraid of him. I like seeing snakes because I'm hoping they are controlling the mice population.

Pleasant Hill Spurs 15U (they played up, most are 13). Some of these boys have played together since kindergarten. Most of them have played together at least several years now with Coach Hawkins.

Tristan playing with the Roosters team- Mike Williams coached both the Roosters and the Railsplitters.

Jordon with 7th grade band- last concert performance in Spring. Unfortunately, he's no longer interested in playing in band and he's not going to continue after this year. We think some of this is due to the Covid pandemic and boys having to do virtual school for part of last year and this year.

Cousins Jordon and Logan got a chance to play against one another in the Alex Gordon classic. NBA won, as expected, since they play at Major level and Jordon's team was recently bumped up from AA to AAA. But Jordon had a great game. He loves hitting lead-off and had 2 good hits. Logan had a good hit as well. It was fun to watch them.

Jordon got the chance to talk with Alex Gordon from the KC Royals at his tournament and was able to get a baseball autographed as well. He was on cloud 9.

April 2021

April was super busy with soccer and baseball. Jordon and I took a trip to Arkansas and Tristan got to meet one of his favorite football players.

Tristan practicing pitching with Dad and Jordon catching.

Cookie cake for Easter celebration- exciting to get together with the Kirchhoff family after no family get-togethers for a year due to Covid

Tim and Korbin hunting Easter eggs

Annual Easter egg hunt at Grandma's

Jon and Mason

Karli and Kyndal

Nathan's boys decided they were too old for egg hunts this year.

Found the prize big egg!

Kinleigh, Zoey and Grandma

Annual kids' photo with their baskets (and Grandma)

Kirchhoff family get-together is not complete without wrestling matches- this one is between Jon and Tristan.

Nathan and Logan wrestling

Jordon ran into his soccer friends Jakoby and Fritz at one of Tristan's soccer games.

This kid was smiling ear to ear after he pitched this game with 5 strikeouts and then got the walk-off winning hit for his team. When his head hit the pillow he said with a big smile "I'm gonna remember this day forever!"

Mom and Jordon off to Springdale, Arkansas for a baseball tournament. Unfortunately, it got rained out but we still enjoyed our time together. Jordon found a baseball card shop in Springdale that he would have liked to move into.

Lunch at Red's Pizzeria in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

downtown Eureka Springs

Onyx Cave, Eureka Springs

the fireplace

Our first time doing ax throwing- we have room for improvement!

Taking reps with team at D-BAT in Springdale

Cooper Memorial Chapel, Bella Vista, AR

Cooper Chapel trail

George Washington Carver National Monument, Diamond,

Tristan and his 10U Inside Edge team got to have photos taken with Tyrann Mathieu from the KC Chiefs! He was at 3&2 watching his kid play baseball also.

He was so excited! Tristan got a baseball signed and Dad provided several other balls for teammates to get signatures. Tristan said he told Tyrann that he was his favorite defensive player ever. 😍

Team won runner-up in a tournament

Worn out after a long weekend of games