Venice Rockets

Samuel loves basketball.  He says he wants to be an NBA player.
His team, the Venice Rockets, won't win any championships, but they have definitely improved a ton over the course of the current 2 month tournament they are playing.  They are passing the ball, hustling on defense, going for rebounds, and have a renewed enthusiasm I haven't seen since Samuel joined the team in the spring.

His first free throw

His first field goal

We bought him some real basketball shoes after his first field goal, and he's turned into Dennis Rodman, getting over 10 rebounds in his last game.

Sick

Samuel got sick enough I actually brought him in to the be seen by one of my partners. He looked great, but felt horrible.  When I finally listened to his lungs, he was wheezing up a storm.

He really enjoyed getting his xrays done.

We had a great view of the hospital demolition project during lunch.  Even though he was sick, he said he really liked coming to work with me these past two days as Annette was out of town.

Hoop Dreams

Samuel has just started on a basketball team with his best friend--the Rockets.  He's had to relearn how to shoot the ball, and not to travel with the ball when he's about to shoot.  We also installed a new hoop in the backyard, but are just having a slight problem with the boys destroying all the plants with their ball.