Hello all from the land of the never ending rain. I am going insane with all of this precipitation and grey skies. I heard on the radio that this is a record setting low-temperature-no sunshine- too-much-rain summer. I think I already knew that because in all my years in Alaska I have NEVER seen it like this. So those of you who live places where the sun is shining and the mercury rises above 65 degrees, DO NOT tell me about it because I may have a break down. I am a sun girl--I thrive in the rays and heat. I eat less, smoke less, move around more and smile a heck of a lot more when the sun is out regularly.

The weather is so bad I am seriously thinking about moving outside.

Anyway, I could whine about that for a long time. I'm on the computer to try to forget about the weather so here goes...

Jesse had his first football practice EVER on Friday night. He came home all amped up and woke up good and sore on Saturday. Then off to another practice on Saturday. He made it through that one too even even though his body ached. Actually, he looked like he was having the time of his life when we picked him up. He loves football, I can tell. I don't know anything about the sport but I think he's got a knack for it. He's got a great arm for a kid his age. And I'm not just saying that cause he's my son. ;)

Attached are some pics of him in his uniform. I may try to edit them in a while and replace them if I can get them to look any better but for right now this is what I've got. I can't wait to see his first game!

I'd like to put Kira in cheerleading (Jesse's in Pop Warner football, they have cheerleading too) but Jesse's sport pretty much broke me financially so I decided that Kira can wait another year before she cheers. Plus I was told that the cheerleading is even more expensive (why, I do not know) and I can't swing them both this year. But hopefully by next year I can because I love cheerleading, and both my older daughters cheered. They were sooooo good and it was very exciting to watch them at tournaments. That was so fun for us and the girls loved it too. So I think it would be a good experience for Kira. My son RJ also played Pop Warner football and I'll never forget how adorable he was out on the field. It was exhilirating to watch and the whole fam used to come out sometimes just to see him play. My Dad loved it and was a proud grandpa, watching Mandy, Tina and RJ do their thing on the field. I'm excited about Jesse and Kira doing this and I know it will be excellent for Jesse. Sports are good for the soul and teach a young person so many valuable lessons. I'm grateful to God that I'm able to put him in.

So I'm going to work on some photos now. Hope you like the ones I've been putting up. I also wanted to let everyone know that I now have a Facebook page. Look me up under Ruthie Shinn or my hotmail which is ruthieshinn@hotmail.com.

love ya all!

Ruthie (Momma)