Jack has moved up the batting order during his career as a Texas Ranger. Now batting #3 and Dad is convinced it is because of games like last night. He came up to bat three times and got a single, double and home-run. Look at the determination on his face, we are so proud of our youngest! Please take the time to click on the image/link below and watch Jack’s home run at-bat.
Click this to watch Jack’s At-Bat
Captain Dennis Schulz
Until we have a chance to write a more detailed report, I have to give a quick “Shout Out” about our incredible time in San Diego. Singing Duty Calls (Toni) and the National Anthem (Brian) for the Change of Command and Retirement Ceremony for Commander of Air Tactical Control Group One, Captain Dennis Schulz is on the top of our list of favorite events of all time.
What an honor to participate in the pomp and circumstance of this ceremony and all its tradition.
Please enjoy the photos:
Captain Schulz – A Decorated Hero
The Schulz Family holding their awards from President Bush & Navy
Toni standing on the deck of the U.S.S. Midway on rehearsal day.
It's Summertime – Where are they now?
Hey there, we came to Poplar Bluff (where we once owned a house) and have set up camp on the outskirts of town in the Camelot RV Campground. We’ve come back for the summer so that both our boys can play baseball with the same friends as last year.
Jack is playing 35mph Pitching Machine baseball in the Christian League for the “Texas Rangers.”
Ben is playing 44mph Pitching Machine baseball in the Poplar Bluff Civic League for team “Semo.net.” I am assistant-coach.
We’ll be in Poplar Bluff through mid-July when their seasons end and then head out for a 9-month run: starting with five weeks in Wisconsin, out to Washington & Oregon, a month to travel through California, up for a few days in Vegas, to the Grand Canyon and Sante Fe and back to Texas in time for Christmas, Florida in January and who knows from there.
Toni's a RockinMoms.com Artist!
Hey There,
RockinMoms.com‘s just added Toni’s song, Living Outside My Storybook to this month’s podcast. Please go check it out and take a listen to the “May 11th Podcast.” If you have a chance to email them and thank them for adding Toni, we’d really appreciate it.
Brian
Ben’s First Studio Recording
Three years ago, I started writing songs for Ben and Jack to sing that dealt with the things they love to do…sports, friends, family, etc. Shortly after writing the first song, My Favorite Sport, I took Ben into a demo studio at age 5 and recorded the song. But I always wanted a better sound, so when my friends at Sunset Blvd Studios in Nashville had a session available back in October, I jumped on it.
You can hear the rough mix of My Favorite Sport. PLEASE REMEMBER: This is not a finished song, it doesn’t have background vocals, and Ben’s vocal will be re-recorded once we get the BGVs done, in addition we are going to try to get Chris Berman’s approval to use his voice in the song. Not only in the second verse, but the entire solo section is to be vocal clips of Chris’ calling sports plays.
Here is your chance to hear the song and follow us through the recording process and hear the recording as it develops.
Session Players:
Drums – Steve Brewster
Bass – Mark Hill
Guitar – Dave Cleveland
Keys – Jason Webb
Engineer – Steve Dady
| My Favorite Sport by Brian Becker and Steve Seawright Head to the lockers the season is done But next week is soccer and sports makes life fun Most of my shirts have a number or name I like playing it live or on a video game Swing for the fences I locked him up with my fake to the right |
Goodbye to Rosemary
Back in February of 1994, Toni and I bought two beautiful English Springer Spaniels from the Montgomery’s in Poplar Bluff. We named them Rosemary and Sage. Sage past away in the heat of the summer of 1996 but Rosemary lived on and on.
My parents have kept her while we’ve been on the road, and Rose was glad to see the family when we returned from nine months of road life. However, her hips had gotten worse as well as her hearing, eyesight and smell. After talking it over with the vet, it was determined that Rose was in too much pain to enjoy life. With great sorrow, on Wednesday at the age of 13 years (or 91 in dog years) Rose past away.
Rosemary: A Kind and Gentle Dog. 1994-2007
Breakdown #2: Pit Stop in San Antonio
On our way to a Newsboys concert in San Antonio from Georgetown, we found ourself with a distinct difficulty to see.
Toni, a smashed window and a bedliner.
The Beckers and Lodens were on our way to an awesome concert on Apr 12th in San Antonio. All 10 of us were enjoying the ride just south of Austin when Jackson came up and sat in the front seat with me. Within a few miles, I saw an object about 5′ x 2′ x 2 inches flying between two semi’s in front of me. Jackson said, “What is that?” I said, “It looks like metal from that semi.” The object was hovering in the lane to my left.
With 10 in the RV, I couldn’t “lock them up” without risking serious injury, so I yelled to hang on and started slowing down. A 3rd semi, on my left, came past me and his air pressure made the object rise up and I thought, “It must be cardboard.” But the semi’s air pressure also caused the object to move over into my lane. I had no room to move left or right and the object was dead in front of my window. Once again it looked like metal and the sound it made as it hit the window sounded convincing…as well as the shattered window.We went back to look at the object and found that it was the hard-plastic tailgate section of a pickup truck’s bedliner. No damage to the chassis, just the left/driver’s window. Luckily we were only 1 mile from a Monoco RV Dealer…what a blessing! We rented a 15 passenger van and made it to the concert in time for the first song!
What a great concert!!!
Peter, lead singer, and the Newsboys put on a great concert!
It took them 5 days to get a new windshield in and install it, plus they installed a new air conditioner in our main cabin as well (under warranty). So, all in all, our 2nd breakdown was just as easy to bare as the first one.
Not Striper…Catfish!
We left Georgetown on Monday morning and picked Aunt Dianne up at the Austin airport. The boys were standing in the doorway of the RV as we pulled up to the “Arriving Passengers” area, they threw open the door and yelled in unison, “All Aboard for the Lake Conroe Express!” Aunt Dianne greeted them with a hug and a “Hey, that’s where I’m going!”
Aunt Dianne came and joined us on the road!
We stopped for lunch along the access road of Hwy 71 near Bastrop, Tx, and in the middle of our meal there was a knock on the door. I went to answer it and there stood a 72-year-old angel. Here name was Eva Marie and since we were parked out front of her home, she wanted to make sure we didn’t need anything. I visited with her and was touched by her in so many ways. She came to the U.S. from Germany after WWII with her husband, she was a survivor of torture by the Russian Army: she shot a Russian soldier who had finished raping her and was then raping her Grandmother. The soldiers took her, and buried her alive with other dead bodies. I didn’t hear how long she was buried, but the images of words describing how she was dug out have lingered. Eva has been on my mind since, she is now a widower, and lonely. I’ve written a note, and hope that the postmaster at Bastrop is successful at delivering a cryptic address. God blessed me with another soul to remember.
As we drove along Hwy 290, Hwy 6, and Hwy 105…the flowers were brilliant. Fields of blue like I had never seen in my life, and just past that were fields of every color as the Blue Bonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Bindweed, Indian Blanket, Scarlet Flax, Yellow Flax, Greenthread, and Mealy Sage were intertwined for a beautiful painting. It was incredibly, awesomely, gorgeous. We had to stop and take photos (along with hundreds of other travelers).
While at Lake Conroe, we stayed at the newest KOA in America. It was a beautiful campsite and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We spent two days on the lake with two different guides. The first day, the guide took us catfishing because the hybrid/striper/white bass fishing had been slow. We caught 17 catfish between 1.5 and 3 pounds. It was fun as each of us hauled in a couple. The second day on the water we fished for bass for a couple of hours and that didn’t prove worthwhile so we went back to catfish…but two hours later we still had no fish in the boat. We had a great time even though we were skunked.
Here is Jackson, proud of his big cat.
| Fishing Scores |
Horses, Bulls & Cowboys Were the Opening Act for Aly & AJ
Last week, Toni noticed that the “Rodeo Austin” (a three week event – 7th largest Rodeo in U.S.) was in town and that on Tuesday night, Aly & AJ were doing a concert. We bought tickets that same day and last night was the big night.
The rodeo was wonderful, complete with Buckin’ Broncos, Calf Ropin’, Steer Wrestlin’ and Bull Ridin’. But 25 minutes after the last cowboy made his ride, the middle of the arena was converted into a circular revolving stage. The two girls were driven out in a convertable with the top down and took the stage.
From the very first note to the last, our family enjoyed the duo’s energy and instrument playing. These girls are barely 18 and it’s so refreshing to see them out there. Their voices aren’t as strong as their CD suggests, but they write their own songs and their guitar and keyboard skills are more than enough to overlook that and enjoy.
A great night in AUSTIN!
Alexandria Loden – Austin, Tx – Aly & AJ concert
