Man. I love my life! Tonight was one of the best night's I can ever remember. It was great because it was ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. We (me, Karen, Annie and James) put up our Christmas tree tonight. Once we got it in the house and on the stand my job was done. I sat back and watched my awesome wife and terrific kids decorate it. I had the best time watching them laugh and enjoy putting on decorations, some of which are old enough now to have traditional memories. Our dog Rocky laid on the back of one of our leather couches and just took it all in with me. Oh yeah, we had "A Christmas Story" playing in the background so there were plenty of laughs.

Anyway, as I watch the fam putting up the tree I just caught a glimpse of what Christmas is all about - family. I KNOW, it's about more than family but dog-gone-it that is a big part of it. Just the simple joy of being together and laughing and loving each other. We plan to do more of that all month long...

Now I know why my dad sat on the couch and watched me and Carmen and my mom decorate the tree. The part he enjoyed was watching us.

We just finished up our 7/8 tournament at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. Our boys didn't win a game but they played with heart - lots of heart. If they were giving out trophies for kids who give it their all then our boys would get the "big" trophy.

I have learned over the last couple of weeks (with my Shockers – who refuse to quit) that you're not a loser until you quit. That's something I've heard all my life but because I've usually played on winning teams I never had to believe it until now (now that I'm a part of a team that is not winning games). I'm having to believe in principles, not just the "usual" results of wins and losses.

David Rial, the tournament commissioner, said it best when he gave us our 5th place trophies today. He said of all the teams he's seen this week (29 of them), our team, and parents, and coaches have shown the most class. He said (and I believe him) that he was proud to have us in the tournament. In my opinion it doesn't matter what the dang score board says - WE ARE WINNERS!

WAY TO GO SHOCKERS (Brad, Jake, Cory, James, Cameron, Kyle, Dillon, Jackson, Rohan, Matt, Corbin, Caleb, Lucas, Coach JJ, Coach Keith, Coach Rick, Coach Wayne, Maureen - our All Star scorekeeper, our PARENTS, and Annie - our bat girl)! You have one proud coach! Chins up boys! We'll give em' a fit at the Harrisburg tournament...!

I am feeling good this morning…
• Last night my All-Star team got beat by the same darn team for the third time in 10 days. I’m getting tired of that but I love my little team. We’re having a really good time together and we’re going to win some ballgames this week. I feel good about our team.

MAN! We lost a close one tonight. The Midland Tigers beat us by two runs. It came down to the last at bat. We had two innings where we let them score a pile of runs while we had an inning or two where we didn't score.

Anyway, I am so proud of our boys. You guys played like Champions tonight! Way to go boys...!
-Coach Britt

Tonight we're in Springfield, MO - the home of Bass Pro Shops. Still having lots of good times. One hitch; my sisters Expedition is having break problems and has to spend tonight at the Ford dealership. It’ll be ready tomorrow about noon. Not too big of a deal except that it will cost them about $250 they hadn’t planned to spend.

Today we went to this place in Branson called Dogwood Canyon. It is owned by Bass Pro Shops and is over 11,000 acres. It is an unbelievable place. Think of a nature preserve on steroids. The wildlife is amazing and just in your face really. They have a tram ride that takes you through the property (not all of it) that lasts about an hour and a half. We saw caves that Oklahoma Indians used for burial grounds, waterfalls, buffalo, trophy Elk, snakes, Texas Longhorns and some other cool animals. They found the remains of an Indian that was over 400 years old. If you ever go to Branson this is a must. THE KIDS LOVED IT! Check it out at http://www.dogwoodcanyon.com/. Oh yeah, James bought a coon skin cap like Daniel Boone.

Tomorrow we’re going to hit the HUGE Bass Pro Shop here in MO. BTW, this is the home of Bass Pro Shops. It is four floors. That's like "man heaven." Then we’re off to Memphis where we’ll hang out with Elvis for a day or so. I wish my aunts Merle and Reba were here with us for the Graceland Tour. They would really dig the Elvis stuff…! In 1977 it was my aunt Reba who told my cousins and me that Elvis had died. We were playing baseball at my uncle Larry’s across the street from my Grandpa Simpson’s house down in Union County, NC. Reba came out of the back door of Grandpa’s and said, “Elvis is dead!” I was only 9 years old but I could hardly believe it. For my mom and her sisters it was like a member of the family had died.

Anyway, while I’m blogging the family is downstairs at the pool. I’m going to sign off now and go down and join them. Good night…

I'm really excited tonight - tired - but excited. I'm headed to Branson, MO tomorrow after church on a family vacation. In addition to me, Karen and the kids, my parents and my sister's family are going too. I'll be doing an vacation journal to let you know what we're up to while we're gone. We'll be back in a about a week...

He has been growing our church from the outside in and the inside out. From the "outside in" God has been sending us a lot of new people. From the "inside out" we have lots of new babies being born into our church. And I love it! I am a sucker for babies! Here's the newest member of Rocky River Community Church - meet Gabrielle.

Congrats Mike and Johanna and also to Mike and Melanie!

I took the family to see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight at Concord Mills. It was okay... I thought it was too long and the somewhere along the way the plot got lost. The kids didn't really enjoy it. Maybe we shouldn't take the kids to PG-13 movies but they really enjoyed the first one. They got scared in the second one. But just didn't really understand this one. It's a shame really because these movies have a lot of potential. Our culture is "pirate crazy" right now - maybe because of the movies - I don't know...

My kids wrapped up their regular season play today for the HYA. Annie's team got beat in the last inning - a real close game. James' team won 9-5. He starts his tournament Monday night. My All Star team practice begins tomorrow afternoon and I'm really looking forward to it (I'm coaching 7 & 8 year old coach-pitch. So James will be on my team). It should be a fun summer of ball.

Today is my uncle Larry's 70th birthday. Larry is my mom's oldest brother (he's the oldest of 9 children). Happy birthday Larry!!! I love you and Mellie very much.