Ellie is double digits! 1-0!

This girl right here. Our sweet Ellie Marie, sweet as can be....is 10!!! WHAT?! Elle, we love you so much and we are so grateful that God gave you to us. Ellie you surprise us at every turn. You love so hard, you love your brothers so much and feel left out when they are busy doing something else. You are a lover of all animals. You still love all different drinks and you love snacks. You are independent and confident. You love to read, make friendship bracelets, and this summer you started your own business called Elle's Home Helpers. (You even had business cards made and passed them out to all our neighbors!)  You truly believe you can do anything and we pray you keep that spirit! Take these pictures above and below as an example. Rochester Hills participated in this community event called Play Ball. They do this event across the country where your skills score is compared to others at your age bracket. At the batting skill rotation they were ready to throw you a softball when you informed them that you don't play softball, you play baseball. A week later, Dad got a call from city council saying that our son, Elle, had won the 10 year old age bracket! Not only did you win, you won against boys in that division (because of the baseball, they accidentally switched you)! Dad drove you down to pick up your trophy!!! Let nothing get in your way and keep doing big and brave thing, Ellie!! 

Cosbey kids stayed a few days with us!

A bike ride to Spencer Park for a swim is a must!

Practicing soccer with your Dad!!

Crafts with Harlow!

Drew beat all of us at Yahtzee. (First time he beat the whole fam!)

Our shower remodel!

When asked, here were your responses as a 10 yr. old!...

Favorite subjects in school: Math, Writing, and Reading (In that order!)

Favorite book: The Berenstain Bears, Honestly Elliot, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Little Critter

Favorite Color: Any kind of blue!

Favorite Food: Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo and anything with noodles

Favorite Drink: Kombucha, Sprite, Bubbly, and Chocolate Milk

Least Favorite Food: Shish kebob 

Favorite Sport: Soccer and basketball

Best Friend: Zaydee, Laney, and Lilah

Favorite Teacher: Ms. McConnachie (2nd grade teacher) and Ms. Werner (4th grade teacher) 

Favorite Number: 4, 24, and 9

I get excited when: When I see friends and family and get to play

I get nervous when: When I have soccer tournaments and bad dreams

I am fearful of: kidnapping and someone breaking in

I am most proud of myself: Getting all A's in 4th grade, being kind to people, playing sports, and playing cars

My favorite thing to do with family: Watching movies, having family game night, being on the beach together

Favorite Movie: Harry Potter series, Pipi Longstocking and Alex and Me

Favorite TV Show: Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn

Favorite Candy: M&M's and anything that is chocolate

Favorite Snack: Belvitas, Larabars, Z bars, and Ritz crackers with peanut butter and a chocolate chip

Favorite Animal: Dolphin, Elephant, and dogs 

Favorite Pastime: play with my cars, read, draw and watch movies

Favorite Outdoor Activity: Playing sports, playing with brothers and friends, swimming, and biking

Favorite Sports Team: Magic Soccer, Elite baseball, Chicago Cubs (Little League), and Detroit Tigers, and USA Women's National Soccer Team

The whole couch and you squeezed right in between Lukie and the arm rest and neither of you think much about it. It's just how you function. I love it so much! 

Making brownies for your birthday dessert. You would take brownies over a cake any day!

Your bros bought you your favorite Strawberry Refresher with a dash of green tea from Starbucks for your birthday! They love you so much!

This is 10!!!

Getting your birthday gift ready from the family...

Celebrating YOU with our family!

Happy birthday to you!

I love you so much baby girl.

Dad does too... Always.

An Encanto acting camp from Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy!!

Ellie solved the puzzle! A parasailing trip with Papa Cooley over East Bay!

Happy 10th birthday, Elle!!!

(Bubbles, the fish from your brothers, loves you too!)

Elizabethtown, KY: Youth World Series

 

This was for sure a highlight for our family this summer! We had a blast with our Elite family cheering on our boys in Elizabethtown, KY! We arrived on a Thursday and played through Monday afternoon. A LOT of baseball was played AND A LOT of fun in between.

GO 2-4!! Although the boys didn't win the tourney they DID make it to the semi-final game where they took the loss on Monday afternoon. Overall, the boys played great and for Luke, it was probably his BEST tourney of the summer! This kiddo practiced hard, put the work in, and brought it. After months of being the lead off hitter for every game, he was brought to the bottom of the batting order because of his performance during games. However, Luke put in the time and work and was back to the top of the batting order by the Oxford tourney (the previous one). This is our why. Why do we encourage sports? Why do we commit when it is such a commitment? Why? Because our kids love it and because it tucks in so many life lessons that are transferrable to all parts of life. Luke put this one deep in your pocket. Life has it's ebbs and flows. When you're "down", work hard. Keep working. Remember you can do hard things. Remember you're not alone. And let this accomplishment be momentum for the next "down and hard" thing. We are so proud of you, Luke.

Luke about to hit a double!

Ben and the girls loved being able to handle the scoreboard!

Luke loves all his boys but Luke and Johnny are inseparable.  

Warming up!

Michigan Elite 11U, Summer 2022

Now these two adorable stinkers are just the best and are also inseparable! Drew and James (Johnny's younger bro) have he BEST time together. We never really know what they are up to but they are always having a blast. 

We had fun exploring Louisville and of course, the team and families hit up the Louisville Slugger Factory while we were there!

Getting the game plan before entering...

Drew chose to hold Babe Ruth's bat!

Ellie also chose to hold Babe Ruth's bat!

Luke chose Ken Griffey Jr.'s bat!

Super cool experience!

Luke ended up feeling a bit sick from playing in the heat all day, so we ditched dinner with everybody and made a quick stop to Churchill Downs to check it out! SO fancy and cool. What surprised me was how nothing was around it. The whole arena is just kinda plopped in neighborhoods outside of the city. 

We got Luke all tucked in at the hotel (He was asleep for the night at like 6!) and the 4 of us went to the best authentic Mexican restaurant. SO good! 

We had our downtime too... John, Luke and Chase playing all the video games in our room.

And of course, lots of swimming every night after the heat from the day!

This crew up ready to roll with a wake up time at 5:45!

And here we go...Red jerseys for Championship (usually Sunday) but today on Monday! The team wears their reds just like Tiger Woods wears red on championship Sundays.

All of the Elite siblings (cheer squad) singing all of their cheers!

Thank you for a great tourney, Coach!

As we drove out of KY, Ben wanted to try KFC in KY. OMG. He LOVED it and claims that it's better than the KFC in MI. I haven't even had KFC ever, I don't think.

We surprised the kids on the ride home and stopped for the night in Sandusky! The next morning, wake up! We're going to Cedar Point Waterpark!

This adventure was a Christmas gift from Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy! Thank you so much you guys for the BEST time!

Ellie, Ben, and Luke were all so brave and rode the drop slides. It's when you stand in an enclosed tube by yourself. A speaker counts down from 3 and the floor you're standing on, opens , and down the chute you go! Drew and I were watching them go on from the live screens below.