Another One of Sean's Many Talents!

Guest author, Ashley... "I have been in Ohio for the last week on my way up to New York and I have been able to watch Sean play in several soccer games, which has been so much fun!! He is so talented and precise, it's incredible! And if that were not enough, it was a great treat to hear him sing a solo in church this Sunday with the Zanesville Ward young men as his backup. Enjoy! And don't judge us. We know that you aren't supposed to film in the chapel, but we didn't film anything sacred. And we needed this on tape so that we could listen to it whenever we want to."

Canoeing

Tanner, Ashley, Ryan, Lyle, and I went canoeing on Saturday morning. Sean couldn't come because he had to be ready for his game and be at the soccer field so much earlier than we needed to be there. We missed him, but we had fun, even though the water was so shallow we had to get out and push sometimes! Still it was a beautiful day! (And we made it to his game in plenty of time!)

Soccer Season 2010 Is Upon Us!

Introductions.

West Muskingum vs. Zanesville

Sean - #6.

West Muskingum vs. Philo. Sean, Eric, and Brian captains.

West Muskingum vs. Steubenville.

The team, after the game, acknowledging and thanking the crowd.

Meet the Team! From left to right: Coach Barks, 12 seniors, and so forth....

The soccer season has arrived. The team has had an incredible pre-season! We tied for first place in a tournament in Wilmington in July, we beat Berlin Hiland 3-0 (an excellent team that beat us 12-0 three years ago), and we beat Steubenville 2-0. We started the summer with 10 seniors playing. We have had 2 more seniors join us. Soccer is the happening place right now at West Muskingum! The team is looking to go far this year! Hopefully we will have NO INJURIES!

We had two regular season games last week. We beat Philo 12-1 and sadly we scored the 1 point for them with a wildly, spinning ball, that bounced back into the goal! We beat Zanesville 3-0 on Saturday.

Looking forward to many more wins and fabulous play from our Senior, Sean!

WICKED !!

The company was better the first time around, but the musical was every bit as good the second time around. Love it!

LADY ANTEBELLUM comes to Zanesville, OHIO

Oh yes, Lady Antebellum had Zanesville, Ohio, on their tour! We thoroughly enjoyed their concert last night at the Muskingum County Fair! It was a wonderfully hot and humid evening... one in which we were wishing for a little breeze, but then when the wind blew, the smell from the hog and other animal buildings nearby was a little unpleasant! It really didn't matter. The concert was fabulous, and Lyle and I were glad to be there. Sorry the rest of you couldn't be!

It would have been nice if these pictures would have been taken with Lyle's great camera. But glad that I had my 'always-ready-at-any-time-for-any-photo-moment' camera in my purse!

Our house guest from Jersey

The night that Elder Walker found out he was transferred, so we included Nelson in our family picture saying goodbye to Elder Walker, from Lindon.

So, the perks of being a Bishop.....
We are constantly, round-the-clock, happily and unhappily receiving phone calls. Some are great, some are not. We've had phone calls announcing exciting things like weddings, missions, babies, etc., and we have had phone calls from the police department, church attorneys, ex-wives, etc., warning us of awful things. Saturday, July 31, this Bishop Clark had a phone call from a worried mother in New Jersey. Her son, Nelson Ward, and his friend, Dallin, were driving from Rexburg, Idaho, (having attended BYU-I) to New Jersey, via Washington, D.C. and their car broke down in Zanesville, Ohio. She wondered if Lyle would please help out. So Lyle called Nelson and went and picked them up, took them to lunch at Chipotle's, and brought them home for a bit while they tried to decide their course of action. We offered them a bed for however long it took to get their car fixed.
Nelson and Dallin ended up calling a contact of a friend of one of Nelson's brothers who lived in Columbus and they went to Columbus for Saturday evening and Sunday. (Said it was a miserable time.) Monday morning they were back on our doorstep to stay until they didn't need to stay any longer.
Sean took them to play tennis for a little while - to relieve a little stress and anxiety. Then when Kevin Bell invited Sean to go waterskiing, the invitation was extended to those two as well.
Anyway, without going into anymore boring details, Dallin left for Washington, D.C., and his job selling pest control, on Tuesday evening after he finally convinced someone to rent him a car (having paid a heavy price for being only 21 years old!). Nelson stayed until Friday night when his car was finally out of the shop. He texted Sean and let him know he got home safe and sound.
Where else can this happen but in the church? I mean we are total strangers, yet so connected and so comfortable with the situation.
It has been a fun week, all stemming from one of the most interesting phone calls that we've had in the last 5 1/2 years!

West Muskingum Alumni Game 2010

Ryan Linn showed off his foot skills. But the defense stayed tough! Go Cyrus.

Nathan Stout, Matt, Sean, Aaron Berry

Andy Gibson, and Matt as the alumni.

People think they look alike!? Sean and Matt

Sean defending Matt.

And the score is 3 to 3 until the last 30 seconds when Ammon Laulusa scored one for the high school!

Matt is not in this picture. He had to leave before the game ended. He would probably say that is why the alumni lost!

So, July 30, 2010, was the big alumni game. There were 25 alumni players who attended, and overall they were impressive! When I saw who came to play, I was almost a little worried. Brad Hartman was the oldest, from the class of 1998 - yes, that is Nic's graduating year. Too bad you weren't here, Nic, to let everyone know that those guys from 1998 don't have to be overweight and slow! It was fun to have Matt on the field. He still has some good speed and moves! He wished he would have gotten a goal, though! Most of the 2009 and 2008 alumni were there. I know they thought that they would just dominate the game! The alumni came out strong and they scored three goals in the first half, while the high school team scored zero.

However, youth and conditioning and a position change for the high school's best defender, Sean, reigned in the end! The coach has been playing Sean as a 'Wing Back' on the left side (wanting him to defend, but make some runs up the side to the goal as well - it is a ton of running!). He readjusted and put him back in the center for most of the second half. The high school team scored their fourth goal in the second half with 30 seconds remaining on the clock. At that point, all of the alumni team crashed the field trying to get one more goal in their net. It was a fun game, and as far as I know, no one got hurt physically - maybe a few with some bruised egos!

As Lyle and I arrived at the game and recognized all of the alumni parents and players, we had to nod our heads and say, "Yes, we are still here! And happy to be!" We were the only people there who could say that our kids had played with every player there. We knew every alumni player by name, what position they played, and what their strengths were. We had to cheer for them as well as all of the current players. We did cheer a little harder for the 2010 Team. We wanted them to start the season off with a great win!

And win they did! YEA!!