A Time for Everything

There was a sense throughout vacation that this would be our last "family vacation", not in a morbid sense (we'll go on vacation again) but in the real sense that the clock keeps ticking forward no matter how hard we try to stop it, that after this vacation things would be different.  For you see,  the day after our vacation marked Lance's graduation from high school.

Chris and I have done all we can to train him intellectually, culturally, morally, emotionally and spiritually to be a better person in every way than us.  I feel that should be the goal of every parent, to impart on society people who are better than those who came before them and I believe with Lance we have done just that.  Though we will always be here to counsel him, from now on its his life.  We pray with all our hearts it will be a life that exceeds his wildest dreams full of great joy and successes.

Selfishly, I'm really glad he didn't want any kind of party or celebration, he just wants to head out on his new journey, because I would have been a bawling mess and I really don't look good when I do that.  When Pastor prayed over him and the other graduates this Sunday I barely kept it together.  Jared did make him a really neat diploma with a majestic water mark and seal, which I used on his impressive transcript. Those are the official marks of him completing high school but the story is so much more.  So I will keep this post short, to follow behind 19 years of posts outlining his wonderful childhood and journey into manhood.

His new journey as a young man involves; baseball, getting an automotive degree from Wake Tech and working for Hendrick motors.  Only God knows where each of these paths will lead or how long he'll be on them but I have faith that he will keep God close and I know God will never forsake him along any of the many paths his life will lead him.  We could not be more proud of the man he has become, there just aren't words to express our love and pride in our wonderful young man.

Let the adventure begin!

HH Spring 2022

So good to be back to our second home, we really needed the break and family time.

As always, walking was the main source of entertainment for Chris and I.  We like walking the beach looking for animals and shells; sometimes with the kids, sometimes alone.

For Titus and Lance fishing is the main focus.  Lance is a bit more focused on that task than Titus.  Titus has a tendency to go off on his skim board for a bit but that's perfectly fine too, having fun however you want to is the always the order of the day.

Fishing was a little scarce this week.  Titus caught a stingray the first night, then never again....well that was until Lance got him the cast net.

Lance caught his largest Bonnethead shark, Saltwater catfish, and Whiting yet, all in the first 24hours, then nothing the rest of vacation.  His only solace was that no other fisherman were catching anything on the beach either.  Thankfully, fishing is very peaceful and calming even if you're not catching anything.

The temperature was a bit cool this time, so the kids didn't play too much in the water.  That was no big deal though, they just played a lot more lawn/beach bowling and fort building. 

We of course enjoyed our usual food fare and were welcomed back by our local merchants we visit everytime.

Last but not least, we went Putt-Putting one day, back at our favorite place.

It was the relaxing time we all needed, already looking forward to our next trip.

Spring Highlights 2022

Spring puts people in the mood for beauty, I decided a family art project was in order.  I'd like to say everyone enjoyed the exercise, but one person got really annoyed with having to use color not mentioning any names.....Lance

"The Wall That Heals" is a traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial.  It was in our area the first week of April and we had the honor of attending a docent led tour with our friends.  It was truly informative and emotional experience.  Our docent was amazing, he presented the timeline of the war and the history of the memorial an incredibly engaging way.  We stood among many Vietnam Veterans as we experienced the memorial, it was interesting to hear their add-on chatter as our docent told the story and one even told the story of how 40+ names ended up on the wall rather quickly one day as the troop transports next to his helicopter tragically fell.  Needless to say the my kids minds went back to Uncle Ryan as we saw survivors trace the names of their fallen comrades.  It was sobering, but so important that history not be forgotten.  My house at least will remember and share true history with their own.

We went from serious on Friday to fanciful on Saturday as the boys attended their first Cars and Coffee Car Event.  It was "Ferrari Day".  Lance loves Ferraris and he was so excited that one of the guys actually let him sit inside his car.  My boys and girl all love ICE Vroom, though since it was a bit chilly Amber and I did choose to stay home for some girl time.

This Winter I finally went ahead and bought a grain mill and bread maker.   I was determined I could make bread that we could eat; that didn't taste like junk.  I was right about quickly being able to make something edible but it took till now to truly perfect the process.  We are all so thankful to be eating real bread again.

Lance is very happy to announce "I'm a Daddy!"..... a shrimp daddy that is.  He hopes to breed enough to eventually sell them, for now he's just enjoying them.

For the past eight years we have tried to get grass to grow in our backyard, we've done seed, sod and even just tried getting clover to grow but eventually it all just washes away.  The kids are all too big now to really use the yard as a play area so we decided we'd try and slowly just turn it into a shade garden.  Then Titus came up with another idea, he decided we should put a dry river bed in with a pond, along the path of the drainage.  He and Amber got right to work and you can see in our Annual Easter Egg Hunt photos the early progress.

Friends came to watch Titus' baseball game today, which was really nice since Lance and Daddy couldn't be there because of Lance's game.  Titus of course did a great job in the field and at bat.

Little Miss continues to improve as an equestrian.  She started learning her two-point and "jumping" cross ties.

Thanks to a friend not needing some things Amber's room got a mini-remodel too.

The crazy carts had been garaged for a while but they are back out in force again.  The kids build these elaborate tracks around the court and spend the afternoons racing single and in teams.

Kids have been helping out the grandparents when they can lately.  We brought over a variety of our Canna the other day to fill in a spot between them and a neighbor.  While we were there, Frank asked Titus if he could help him with a building project.  About a week later he and Frank had a great time building a chicken coop together.  Frank said he was so impressed with Titus that he has a bunch of other projects for them to do together.  It's a win-win them working together; Titus gets to learn many tricks-of-the-trade and Frank gets things done on his to-do list. Amber is over frequently to visit the new chicks and help Mary around the kitchen.  Jared helps with the yard and Lance recently helped fix an oil leak on his truck (The shop put the wrong oil filter in).

When not working on other peoples cars, Lance has been working on Homer.  Earlier in the year he replaced all the break pads and recently he did an engine clean, replaced the spark plugs (what a huge difference) and smoothed out some old dents. I really think he's going to enjoy learning more about cars over the summer and a Wake Tech next year.

The STORM is over...

 

After being together for four years with most and six years with some, tonight the seniors of the NLC Storm Baseball team turned in their jerseys for the very last time.

Lots of tears tonight, from parents, friends, players and coaches.  I'd never seen Coach Posey tear-up like he did giving Lance the Leadership and Offensive player of the year awards tonight.  It's been such a fun run, everyone had a hard time leaving tonight after the awards, people lingered for a long time.

For Lance, their last game tonight could not have ended more perfectly, not only did they win but first Luke hit a homerun and then Lance too hit a homerun at his last at bat of his high school career.  His friend Matt waited on 3rd, refusing to score on passed ball, knowing Lance would hit him home and wanting to be that last RBI.  The stands went absolutely wild as did the players.  Its hard to see in the video below but the ball hit high in the trees in left field, and Lances' biggest fan couldn't have been more excited if he'd hit it himself.  (Click here to watch Video)

The season certainly had its ups and downs but they really brought it together at the end.  Earlier in the season they participated in an invitational tournament at Grace Sanford.  Lance's team placed third, Lance hit the walk-off run and was a given the the MVP award  That was all awesome but the best part was the players from the other teams (like Grace whom they didn't end up playing, they just watched) coming up to congratulate Lance after the game.

Then last week at the North Carolina Homeschool World Series, the team made their highest placing ever in STORM history coming in 2nd.  It was a tough tournament personally for Lance he had to overcome some serious physical and emotional challenges, but Lance did.  He's always the professional and God really showed him that it was all worth it.  With each team he played that weekend, when he got on first, the player from the other team randomly felt the need to tell him how much their whole team respected Lance.  Then the coaches from the other teams showed further respect by coming over to shake his hand or give a hug and wish him well in the future.  Even two of the umpires inquired about his future and one even offered help.  All those random acts of kindness had an incredible healing power.  Titus had a blast being one of the bat boys all weekend with his friend Matthew.

It has been quite a journey with these wonderful families and so thankful for all their love and support over the years, it will be a gap in our life without them. 

A Little Bit Older

 

How did another manage to pass?  Denial isn't just a river in Africa.  March is a super busy time of the year in Ottoland with both Lance and Titus playing baseball, Amber riding, Jared Archery, that a big celebration was hard to arrange and frankly Lance just wanted to chill with family.  However, we did still manage a few surprises.  First, Jared arranged for his friend Sakell to make a surprise visit.  Then when we were out running errands I spontaneously stopped at the Baseball Store and told him we had decided a new 1st Baseman mitt was our gift to him.  He was so thankful.  The guy in the shop even threw a couple balls for him so he could choose between two different mitts.  He said the new mitt is a huge difference, as the throws were getting harder his old mitt just didn't have the padding it needed anymore.

I still find it ironic how much Lance has come to love dancing.  He and Jared meet up a couple times a month with friends to dance the old English country dances.  When they're babies you have no idea what they'll be like and when their young adults you just pray they get to be all they want to be.

Archery Indoor Nationals 2022

(Written by Jared)

USA Archery Indoor Nationals was back in Virginia this year. Last year (due to you-know-what) the Indoor Championships were shot at the State tournaments. Dad and I drove up early Friday morning, and arrived at the hotel around 2 hours before we had to report to the shooting range.

The first shoot was for the JOAD Championships, which consisted of 2 rounds (60 arrows). I ended up shooting a 536 out of a possible 600 and ranking 76th in the nation!

Saturday and Sunday were both apart of the 53rd USA Archery Indoor National Championships, consisting of 4 rounds (120 arrows) across the 2 days. I was beginning to grow tired, and scored a 1049 out of a possible 1200 and ranking 96th in the nation. Although, that score did mean I ranked 4th in USA Sectionals! My highest ranking in this class (U18 aka Cadet, which consists of 14-17 year old archers).

Apart from the Archery, Dad and I had some fun times when we were at the hotel. It is a tradition that we bring my favorite game, Memoir '44, with us when we travel to the shoot. I won all 3 games we played (Dad's excuse was the dice were rigged). What was new this year was Dad brought his computer so we could watch 2 war movies we'd wanted to see for a while. The first one was Midway, the true story of the Battle of Midway. This was by far the best movie I had ever watched! Dad and I can't wait to watch it on a bigger screen. The second movie we watched was Pentagon Wars, based on the true story of the development of the M3 Bradly Fighting Vehicle. The movie was written as a sick comedy, since all the stupidity of the members of the Pentagon actually happened. It was another movie worth watching!

Even the drive up and back are enjoyable...mostly because I get to play MY music (*cough* Sabaton *cough*). The entire trip was a great time! I am very thankful to Coach John and Coach Lesley for all their help in preparing me for this competition, and I can't wait to go back!

NFAA State and Sectionals were at the range again this year, so Amber and Titus came to this tournament. Unfortionately, NFAA decided to schedule this 3 day tournament only 1 week after USA Nationals! Due to the fact I was still exhausted from Nationals, I didn't perform very well, posting some less-then-admirable scores.

BUT! Titus and Amber did amazing in their first ever tournament! Titus ended up winning State Champion and Amber got 2nd in their respective classes! I'm glad they had great success at their first competition.

Ready, Aim, FIRE!

We have made it a regular habit to hang out weekly with the M-Clan ever since Amber started her riding lessons around the corner. 

Amber rides while Vanessa and I talk and boys stay at their house to play with their boys.  It's a very therapeutic time for everyone.  This week there was the extra bonus of it being Alexander's birthday and he decided he wanted an airsoft party.  It had been so long since the boys had a good old fashion full day of fighting, everyone was so excited.  Amber and I stuck around a bit to help with the making of cupcakes inside of oranges to be cooked in the bonfire (so incredibly unique), then we left the boys to come home much, much later.

Needless to say they had a blast....and maybe a little too much ginger beer (LOL)!

Happy Birthday to....

 

Today we celebrated the birthday of our surrogate/"adopted" daughter Holly.  Holly is technically our next-door neighbor but over the last few years she has become very integrated into our family.  She vacations with our family and has even lived here from time to time.  She balances off our family dynamics well, getting along with everyone.  We pray this year is her best ever!

USA Archery State Championships

     It was the time of year where my Mom and I go up to Winston-Salem for me to compete in The NC State USA Archery Championship.

    This year we got to go up in our new 2022 Honda Odyssey, which took away all the stress of getting there. Compared to last year in our old 2002 GMC Yukon XL, where we had to draft behind a semi-truck to get there safely...

    Once we got there, a friend of mine from First Flight Archery (my archery range) parked next to us, and we were able to walk in together. At the door though, we were met with the Water Bottle Nazis! They told us I had to dump out my full water bottle (they didn't know it had BodyArmor energy drinks inside) and refill it with either the gross water fountains or their WAAAYYY overpriced bottled water. My mom "went along" and "brought them back to the car," but I knew they would "just so happen" to find their way in. I mean, it's not the first time my Mom has dealt with this type of persons😉.

    That said, the Water Bottle Nazis were much appreciated over Mask Nazis, which even though the location said you had to wear one, nobody there cared if you did or not. So we were able to take them off for the whole day!

    After bow inspections, I found my bale and we got situated. Then we waited for the previous line to end. Once it ended, I hung my target. A nice surprise was the two other people on my bale were from First Flight, so I knew scoring would go seamlessly (except for when the computer cleared all our scores for the first 30 arrows so we had to type them in again...but no big deal).

    The shoot itself went by as usual, I had a lot of fun talking with other shooters! A funny point was the stand holding our round bale was very crooked. It was so crooked that while it didn't harm our shooting, I was worried it would tip over and knock down the other 18 bales next to it😬. Thankfully a judge had power tools on hand and was able to fix it.

    At the end of the day, my score for Round 1 was 263, and Round 2 was 241, for a total of 504.  Not the best day score wise (though I still put up a respectable score with 3 misses in Round 2), it was the highest I ever placed in States, 6th overall! I also was 2nd in States in my team, just under 20 points behind the highest score from First Flight. And other than the misses and a few bad shots, I was staying all in the yellow...It's just when I missed, I missed BAD😜! But I did improve in some small areas, which will help in future competitions.

    After the tournament, we ate at the BEST Italian restaurant ever! I had my first Calzone, and it was HUGE!!! Mom and I were able to talk about a lot of topics over dinner and on the drive home, which is always enjoyable.

    No medal for the family this time...but getting closer every single time. And we had fun, which is the the whole point of doing anything...right?😉

-Jared Otto

Bowling Over a New Year

We wanted to do something really special for Titus' birthday this year.  After some deliberation we decided to celebrate Titus' 13th birthday with a huge bowling bash and it was the perfect choice.  He had his lane with his homies....

and then we filled 5 other lanes full of friends and family.  

 

We adults even got into the fun, and we all managed not to hurt ourselves.  We were by far the most joyful group at the alley and we were definitely having the best time. There's nothing like an Otto bowling party!  

 

We had friends over for lasagna and finished off the night with the traditional spicecake celebration.  Here's to this year being his best year yet! LOVE YA!