A Boy, a Bat and a Ball

 There is something about little boys and balls! 

All of our grandsons have had a fixation with balls from the time they were very small.

Add a glove to the mix, and then a bat, and you have the beginning of a passion.

 This spring it was Jaxon's turn to play T-ball,

the precursor to baseball, 

where the ball is placed on the Tee for them to hit it.

 He has had lots of practice in their backyard so he had no problem with hitting the ball

or with running the bases.

 As the boys grow older, 

so does their intensity as you can see from Aidan's face as he runs between bases.

It's amazing to see how their skills improve as they learn to play positions

and actually make outs.

 For Aidan, this was the year that the players also began to pitch.

It isn't easy to get that ball over the home plate but practice makes perfect.

We love watching the boys play, and in Aidan's case this year, 

win the championship for his age.

 From there he got to try out for the Representative Team for the Abbotsford Angels for his age.

 We all cheered when he found out that he was one of the 12 players to make the team.

 Now he even had his name on the back of his jersey,

 and the level of play was increased.

 A highlight was the tournament where he was named Player of the Game for one game
AND was on the winning team for the Race around the Bases...
their team of 4 ran the bases in an astonishing time
(so he told me afterwards).

 It's been an incredibly fun summer of watching him learn,

improve,

play,

hit,

field and pitch.

 Oh he wasn't always on the winning team,

but he learned what it meant to keep on trying

to keep on swinging even when he wasn't hitting

to keep on pitching even when they weren't all strikes.

 He's learned to celebrate the hits,

the strikes,

the scoreless innings pitched,

but he's also learned to walk with his head held high when he's struck out

and to be an encourager when he was discouraged.

Aidan, we are so proud of the young man you are becoming

someone who doesn't give up even when you want to,

who keeps trying and improving even when it is really hard work,
someone who encourages others when you are discouraged,

and who through it all has a great big smile on his face.