This past weekend was such a wonderful time for us. We drove up to Raleigh to visit my oldest brother Scott and his family. Scott and Rebecca have three children, Julia, Jason and Penelope. So needless to say, Brandon and Allyson had such a great time playing with their cousins.
On Saturday, Julia had a swim meet and she did such a great job, especially when she was competing against other children who were older than she was. Both Aimee and I were very proud of her and we hope that she continues to work hard and excel at swimming. I also noticed that Julia has been getting fantastic grades in school landing her either on the A honor roll or A/B honor roll each quarter. Woo hoo! That is so wonderful!
Jason (J-Dog) is a stud muffin! He and Brandon had such a enjoyable weekend being boys. They played video games and jumped on the trampoline even when it was cold outside. Boys will be boys! I am so glad they are so close in age and as I have a cousin who I grew up real close with, I can see this relationship doing just the same. They are two wonder-hand-ful boys! Can't you tell?
Penelope is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! I had to share this story with you all for the soul purpose of sharing back with Penelope when she gets older. We were driving home from the swim meet and I had some Spree hard candies that I love so much and was enjoying every bit of their sweet taste.
Sweet P, as we call her, had asked for some Sprees and I had shared a few here and there until she asked for ALL of them. I told her that I could not give her ALL of them, but that I would share a few.
Next thing I know, she laid a pen next to me on the center console. I said to her, "Is this a gift for me?" I looked through the rear view mirror to see a simple nod of the head and a smile on her face. Now, before I go any further with this story, you must know the pen read "Lifepoint" on it. Lifepoint is a church that we attend in Wilmington.
So...I said, "Thank you sweetheart, that was very kind of you." Before I could get my response out, she blurted, "Now can I have the Sprees?" Aimee and I busted out with laughter. I decided to ask Penelope where she got this gift for me and she stated that she found it in this seat.
Still laughing our butts off, I said to Penelope, "So, you found this pen in your seat, in my car, and gave it to me as a gift?" Penelope then said, "No, I found it in my house." Confused now, I said, "But you just told me you found it in the seat in my car"
"I lied" she said. LOL
Here is Miss Little "Sweet P"
The things kids do and say for candy these days are hilarious! And by the way, mean Uncle Adam has a hard time sharing ALL of his candy because he is spoiled. lol
Another reason we planned the trip to Raleigh as to cheer on our four fighters from
Evolution Mixed Martial Arts.
For those who didn't know, I trained in Jiu Jitsu and MMA in Charlotte for a year before Kayleigh was born, took a year off, and then started training again. I competed in a grappling tournament a couple weeks before Kayleigh was born and you can see that my last post on that blog was that tournament.
CLICK HERE to see that post and video.
Anyhow, after Kayleigh had went to Heaven, I made an effort to get back in to training and continue my quest to fight in the cage. When I chose Wilmington, I made sure there was a great camp to train at and I couldn't ask for a better team to be a part of. Team Evolution was brought to Wrightsville Beach from Hilo Hawaii by Jeremy Owens. Jeremy and a few other guys who trained in Hawaii under Renato "Charuto" Verissimo who is the Jiu Jitsu coach and teammate to the greatest 155lb fighter, BJ Penn (UFC Lightweight Champion of the World). I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting Charuto and trained with him at Evolution last week.
Now that I have been training hard for the past several months, I have been able to impress some of the current fighters enough to land an opportunity to fight in February at the Schwartz Center here in Wilmington, NC. It will be my first amateur fight, but my ultimate goal is to win 5 amateur fights to gain my pro status. You can view the website at
Carolina Fight Promotions . So, I have to stay healthy and train hard over the next four months to pull out a victory.
Getting back on track...we went to Raleigh to cheer our fighters on. George, Grant, Simon and Jon were all fighting. George and Simon both pulled out a win and Grant lost by decision to the hometown kid. Everyone felt it should have gone Grant's way, but you just can't leave it up to the judges or stuff like that will happen. Jon, which is our 5-1 pro fighter, was injured in a last second submission attempt after the bell had rung by the other opponent. It was unfortunate that he was hurt and couldn't continue, but I heard that his knee will be fine and he will be fighting again soon.
We had a great time going to see the fights at the RBC Center in Raleigh where the Carolina Hurricanes play. It was a big venue, but excited me even more to know that I could be fighting there in the near future. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible. I know that I have a good team to train with who have been very successful.
Other than the swim meet and the fights, we all hung out and enjoyed our time together. One thing I am so thankful for is our family. We are truly lucky to have the love and support that we have. Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful family.
God Bless,
