Day 3,999

The Typical Tuesday

Morning snuggles. 

Questionable Bearett-made lunchtime meals. 

Late afternoon fall-back-to-sleep-becuase-we-disobeyed-during-regular-naptime-hours naps. 

Early evening puppy food shopping turned “you don’t like animals as much as us because you won’t buy us mouses or bunnies” (or cats or goats or hamsters or more puppies or birds or sheep or even worms). Also, “when I’m older—like 31—I’m gonna get a mice,” both above quotes compliments of…you guessed it…Ella Mae Kate. 



And finally, evening trampoline giggles with Daddy!!!

Day 3,996

The Neidert Wedding

Our trip to Atlanta was incredible. 

We were thankful to be able to celebrate the wedding of our dear friend Nick and His beautiful bride McKay, whom we finally were able to meet!  It was a wedding that exuded Christ and highlighted the covenant of marriage so intentionally and thoroughly. We are in awe of all the ways the Lord has grown Nick in the past year and look forward to what lies ahead for him and McKay. His teachable heart, desire for God’s word, continued obedience, and joy before the Lord is testimony to a faith that has been transformed by the Savior and is such an encouragement to all who have labored alongside him. 

Marlins from the start. 

Friends till the end. 

Seeing the boys back together and being with the ladies again brought such a flurry of emotions to my heart. What a treasure the Lord has given us through baseball—I miss it in ways I didn’t know I would and this is right up there at the top. 

Meeting McKay!

Ella Mae was riveted by her beauty and loved talking with her about Jesus, where she got her dress, and about her new ring. You can always count on Ella Mae for a genuine smile and light hearted laugh. 

She marched right up to their table and moments later, her sisters followed. It was adorable. 

:)

Just about as adorable as Baby Kendall!!

This is as close as we got to a family photo and though I’m kicking myself for not getting the whole Conley crew, this abbreviated version of it is most acceptable. They’re SO adorable!











It was a beautiful night. The Lord is so kind to have brought such faithful men (and their ladies!) into our lives through baseball. Though we’ve experienced countless sweet relationships and have praised God for His mercy and grace in the salvation of Adam’s teammates and wives over the many seasons, in all our years together in baseball, few things have been more encouraging or impactful to our faith than the authentic yearning for godliness in the lives of these men. They love God’s word, they pursue it, they’re changed by it, and they continue to live out their convictions with boldness and courage. We look forward with anticipation in all the ways God will bring glory to His name through each of your testimonies. 

Happy wedding day, Mr. and Mrs. Neidert. 

It only gets better.

Day 3,983

The Puppy Perspective 

Hi, my name is Heater and I like to stretch out on my parents’ laps and cover my nose with my paws while they scratch my belly and ears. It feels so good, I just can’t even believe how lucky I am. And they’re even tall enough to fit my whole long body down their legs! It’s just the best. It really is. 

I like these two little people the most. Ella Mae, she’s always giving me treats and rubs and all the attention I don’t even need. She talks to me like a person and she even calls me “Baby.” I would tell her that my name is actually Heater, but, turns out, I can’t quite articulate those words too well. Bearett, well he’s always pushing me around and even lets me wrestle with him. I like to nip at his arms and my favorite is when he’s wearing those long sleeve shirts when we wrestle—I’m not supposed to, but I like to bite and rip those shirts all up. Mom found out I was doing that though and she got mad at me and at Bearett. 

Oh, guess what?! Daddy is almost done with my fence! He made it all for me! Well, I guess maybe he made it for the kids too—there’s a giant pool next door and no fence separating the two yards—apparently that’s not allowed or something. So dad made a fence. He’s been pretty great like that. Just making all this stuff. Anyways, now I can’t escape. Not that I ever run away or anything or that I even want to escape—they give me the best food and treats, you know—but I do like to roam around the front yard when I get the chance. Chew on sticks, eat the kids’ chalk, pee in new places. Stuff like that. I only leave the yard when I see another one of me walking down the road. Dad doesn’t like me in the road though. So, lucky for him, I have a fence now. 

Oh, that night, they left me. They came back with huge smiles and full bellies, but I could smell them smelling like another dog. I smelled something else weird on them too. Dad said they thought it was funny that their friends have a 150 pound pet pig. I never saw one of those before. They said next time I could come. I can’t wait to meet that giant pig. I wonder what a pig is.   

I was so glad when they came home. They were gone for a while because they were having all this fun with their friends. I wonder how they can even have fun without me? I mean, look at all this fun they have right at home! I got all these toys out all by myself—one at a time!—to show them how fun it is at home. They were smiling and laughing watching me have all this fun. Maybe they’ll just stay home with me even more than they do since all the fun is already right here!



Only bad thing about that night other than them being gone from me is that Molly discovered my secret favorite sleeping spot. I was hoping nobody would ever find that out and so now I’m just a little jealous. I can work on sharing though. They always give me treats when I share and they’re always telling me “no!” when I’m selfish. I don’t like them saying that to me. I’ll share with you, Molly. But I do think I remember Mom telling you to get in bed at night; maybe you should obey the first time. I’m always hearing Mom say that. 

Goodnight. 

Day 3,938

The Cottage Progresses

The kids have had the most fun this week—while Mom and Dad work to get the house ready for the big move, they’ve been getting lots of play dates!

And one particular napping buddy, whom they love so much!

I made the gutsy decision to brighten up the ceiling—a choice I’m quite excited about, though it’s going to be a lot of extra work. 

After naps, the babes made “snowmen.”

“Mom, since it’s so cold outside (it’s 68 degrees in the evenings right now), will our snowmen turn into snow?!” 

—Ella Mae

And, the living room floors are finished!

Day 3,622

The Smiles and the Stings

Bye Daddy. Ugh. Already missing him at this point and it had only been one minute. 

Thankfully though, we had lots of reasons to smile on Tuesday. 

Packages from friends,

homemade bricks of ice to suck on while skateboarding,

puppysitting,



and gymnastics!! 

Full days and full hearts make him being gone just a teeny bit easier. But truth be known, we’re getting tired of saying goodbye. And so are the babes. 

Before Adam left, Ella Mae was crying and said, “Those men are so mean. The men take you to work away from here and it’s so mean.”

I’ve had a lot of pains and disappointments and aches over baseball, but I’m not sure it’s ever hurt like that before. This career—though filled with countless opportunities— definitely comes at a cost in so many ways too, and we’re surely feeling several of them in unison right about now. 

We’re doing well, but working through the reality of unmet expectations and the sting that accompanies them. Most of it is just a revealing of sin in our hearts that’s taken the course of this season to be uncovered, and for that, we are thankful even though it hurts!

Day 3,592

The Fun Forest Doesn’t Have Mermaids

We checked out of the Norfolk hotel at noon on Sunday, went out for some breakfast (yes, at noon), dropped Daddy off at the field at 1, and then had to wait until the game ended at 8 to drive back home to Durham. So what did we do with all those hours?

Well, we decided first to find as many mermaid sculptures as possible. 

At each new mermaid, a different kid jumped out of the car to snap a picture. 

We ended up finding four. 

The perfect amount for each babe to get their solo photo, though Ella Mae had everything to say about covering up her immodest mermaid. “Her boobs are out! She needs to cover them up!” You tell her, sister. 

Driving around looking for mermaids got old maybe after the third one, so we found the “Fun Forest” located in Chesapeake and spent the next two hours there next.  

It was everything a kid could dream a forest park would be. 

The expansive park reminded me of Lake Coeur ‘d Alene in Idaho that we’d frequent often as kids. It was our very favorite. 

Something we never did though was create a fort inside a fort out of collected forest branches scattered across the park. But then again, I’ve never met a kid quite like Bearett before either. I will be shocked if this boy doesn’t change the world with sticks, rocks, trees, and the gospel somehow. 

Then it was lunch with a squirrel. 

And finally nap time at 5 in the car, before heading to the game at 6:30. Daddy pitched a third of an inning, they won, and we got into the suburban and drove back to Durham, where we “moved” into our fourth “home” in six weeks. 

Day 3,527

The Factory of Shells and Trinkets Galore

We visited the largest shell factory on earth yesterday. I think rather, the world’s largest trinket gift shop is more accurate. Also, the “greatest tiny finger temptation” would suffice. 

They had a few extremely interesting displays, this Catholic church made out of shells being one of them (All Saints Church in Germany where Martin Luther posted his 95 theses). It highly confused my four-year-old though. “Jesus died on the cross in there, Mommy?” We haven’t yet arrived at teaching the distinction between Christianity and Catholicism to our ever-curious Lady Kate, who has quite the discerning eye. 

Mostly though, our trip looked more like me running after four small children who couldn’t help but touch everything in sight, with screams “can I have this” echoing off the walls. They certainly had fun, though I would not suggest visiting the tourist attraction so vastly outnumbered. 

Day 3,387

The Winter Skills Showcase 2020

Bubba and Katesy time!

(Bearett: front row, hood on, all the way to the right. Ella Mae: the light pink snowball in the back row—the only one totally out of line, of course.)

Yesterday was the Winter Skills Showcase for all the Rec kids at our gym! They got to participate in a “meet,” to show off all the things they’ve been learning over the Fall season. 

It’s almost your turn, Molls! And fancy seeing you in the stands, Amelia! Good job encouraging, girls!

...at least for a little while.

It seemed that the “I’ve had enough of this” bug made its way through BOTH my littlest girls. Ella Mae decided 1/4 of the way into her “meet” that the crowd was too scary and she was done. 

Ok then. 

Moving on. 

Bubba on the other hand, loved the crowd and showed us all his new Ninja skills, including running across a wobbly beam, front flips, climbing across bars, and doing the American Ninja Warrior back and forth jumps!

He did the vault too! Jumped all the way up there *correctly* and with no hands!! Pretty impressive, Bub!

And hey, would ya look at that...with just a little help from her Big Sister, Ella Mae found her spunk and dove headfirst back into her wild self. She’s pictured in the very middle, attempting to beat Amelia in a forward-roll-across-the-floor-contest. Pretty good, Sis!

And once she let loose, she was running and jumping and cartwheeling and finishing EVERYTHING!

Ta da!

Nice work, Bearett and Ella Mae!! 

Ah, Mama’s heart is SO happy!



Four buff, balanced, and flexible “champions” for Jesus, comin right up!

(Now Ella Mae calls medals “champions,” just like Bearett did when he got his first baseball trophy. Ha!)