SCHOOL'S OUT!

I, along with most parents on the planet, have very mixed feelings about school being out. I love the unstructured freedom that comes with summer, but not all the boredom and trying to keep kids busy that tags along as well. Summer never seems long enough though, so I must love it more than I dread it.

3x3 Tournament

Sqwad FC- C Man's 3x3 tournament team and coach. (C Man in the Qatar jersey).

Princess P plays a purple cello at Arts Night.

MHS JV SOCCER 2016

I really love soccer and it has been so much fun watching C Man playing this year in his first High School season. He's been playing forward striker most of the time and had a good season. He's pretty devoted to the game and practices on his own A LOT, so it's been great to see his hard work paying off. Here are some of my favorite pictures from his Freshman season.

One of my friends caught one of his goals on film! I'm too much of a spaz to film during exciting times.

Corner kick.

Cuddling up with the girls during the Varsity game.

Good buddies! T, N, C Man and C.

Corner kick.

Throw in.

The MHS JV team for 2016.

Pre-game prayer. (C Man's happy about it).

MHS SOCCER SEASON

Boys High School soccer has begun. I'm sure no one is surprised that C Man is playing. He does love his soccer, but this year it was actually a hard choice for him. He was thinking of doing track as well (and would have done very well, too), but in the end soccer won. Team sports in high school and all the politics involved with coaches are new for our family. I've never had a child that wanted to participate in anything besides tennis or golf- and very casual participation at that. C Man is different. He loves all sports strongly, so I know this is only the beginning...

A cold, dark first game. C Man is #27.

The JV team plays after Varsity, so we ran out of light, fast. And it was SO COLD! We had been having a warm streak of weather the two previous weeks, so we were really taken by surprise by how cold it was! I really felt bad for C Man too because he sat on the freezing bench most of his game. He was very frustrated and I don't blame him. I went over to tell him I had to go and the coach finally put him in (last 10 min), so I stayed for a minute and watched.

Soccer in the dark!

I had to go to a meeting, though, so I walked home and as I got almost to our house I could hear the crowd cheer and I thought to myself "I'll bet C Man just scored!" I was right, I had just missed his goal (the winning goal, by the way) by three minutes. I was SO SAD! Next time I'll miss my meeting!

WORK & 3V3 SOCCER

C Man's obsession continues. The latest is his team taking 2nd out of 9 teams at the 3 v 3 tournament yesterday. He  was kind of sad they didn't win, but I am so impressed with him and his friends. They even played in the cold rain. 

The Team! C Man in the middle.

 Also in the news, Big C has Elder D right back at work. He hasn't been this dirty for two years. He says he has forgotten some things, but overall, he's glad to be back to work.

Form oil makes everything a mess!

SOCCER IN FERRON

C-man loves his soccer. He's so passionate about it. He practices everyday, even if it's just by himself in the backyard. If he wasn't so into it, I probably wouldn't drive him all over Central Utah to play. I do have to confess, I love watching him play! Soccer is one of the few team sports I enjoy.

It was stormy during their tournament games, that's why C-man has his arms in his shirt. He thinks he's pretty funny.

We had to drive to Ferron (over an hour and a half away) two Saturdays in a row. It was long and the weather was cold, windy, and rainy. That didn't stop the boys from playing well though.

C-Man (#14) bundled up in his warm clothes.

He started to warm up after he was playing a while, so he progressively sheds clothes. 

Look at that hair! 

Here's his team and coach. They were a great bunch of kids.

SPRING SOCCER

Warm weather has arrived just in time for C-Man to start playing spring soccer. It actually hasn't really been that cold this year. Our water levels are very low and it is definitely going to be a dry summer. But I digress... 

Princess P and I enjoying the sunshine and the soccer game too.

 C-Man is playing forward this year instead of goalie and enjoying it very much. He scores at least once a game.

C and his headband chase the ball.

C-Man in green.

I got fried!

MY SOCCER STARS

Princess P played soccer this year and did a great job! They cut the ballet program where she used to dance, so she decided (with Little C's help) to play soccer.

Princess P in the pink.

She really enjoyed it and really got so she was aggressive by the end of the season. She even scored once!

Go Princess P!

Little C.

Little C played forward and keeper this year. He even got a 'hat trick' one game (three goals in the same game). He sure loves it!!

Here he is in his new FCBarcelona jersey. 

SOCCER SEASON STARTS

Soccer season has begun. Here are some crappy cell phone photos of the kids' first games. They are both enjoying the season so far...

Little C as keeper.

I am Little C's team's assistant coach.

Princess P playing defender.

Princess P is glad that she is on a girls only team.

REAL SALT LAKE FANS

After rock climbing in Maple Canyon, we headed up to SLC to watch Real Salt Lake play. It is one of my favorite things to do. I swear, if we lived closer I would have season tickets. It is just so fun to go and cheer on our team!

My family is excited too!

Rio Tinto stadium.

Sister S has been working in Logan since she got home. She was 'home' from her mission for about 15 minutes and then she moved right along with her life. Sad, but true. *small tear trickles down my cheek*-sniff. Ok, sob story over... She met us in SLC since she was already at the Outdoor Retailers Show for work. It was very fun to have her come!

Sister S shows us her groovy swag from the OR show. (glasses)

Awesome A couldn't come. He had to work.

 Little C is the biggest soccer fan in our home and he was in heaven! The poster on the back of the program had two of his favorite players on the back (Plata and Rimando). Just add Kyle Beckerman and he'd be set!

Little C and his poster.

MAY & THE BEGINNING OF THE END

The end of the school year is fast approaching and it can't come fast enough for me. I am not going to lie, I really enjoy the three weeks while the kids are still in school and I am done, but I really love when they are out for the summer and we are home together.

Princess P and Miss D (neighbor buddy)

Princess P and her friend were running through the sprinklers the other day and I think the next day it was freezing and rainy. Spring weather is so unpredictable, we have to enjoy it while we can.

MHS tennis team in the newspaper.

Here is Awesome A in the Boy's Tennis team photo. The season is over and he's moved on... it was fun while it lasted though!

Grandma G and Princess P

We've also been climbing a time or two. The spring weather is fickle, so we have to take those days and do something fun when we can.

TENNIS TIME

Yes, it's the time of year for high school boys to be playing tennis and A is one of those boys. I went to watch a few of his matches this week and here are some of the photos I took.

Cheese!

Of course, I wasn't the only spectator there to watch him. Both times I went there were girls that were there just to watch him. He's such a chick magnet.

Girls!

He won one and lost one. Pretty much like we all do... We had fabulous weather! 

I love spring!

Tennis with the temple in the background.

SOCCER BIRTHDAY

 Yesterday was my birthday. We won't get into too much detail and say which one because it is really making me feel old. Why is it that some years I am not even phased by my birthday and then others (i.e., this year) I am suddenly 'OLD'? I did get to spend all day with my family, so that is definitely a positive.

Big C and Awesome A watch the first game.

 Little C had soccer games down in Salina, so we went down there as a family and watched. The first game our team won (it was a sad shut out- we killed them- like 8-0, or something) and the weather was pretty warm.

Princess P was drawing.

They put Little C in as goalie after he had scored a goal. He was thrilled to wear his new goalie jersey and new goalie gloves. He did great, but didn't see much action.

Little C in all his brightness.

 The second game got COLD! The wind kicked up and the clouds got dark. The sky only spit on us a little, but it didn't matter. It was bitter!

Princess P huddled with A for warmth.

We sure didn't play as well the second game. The combination of them being tired and the cold wasn't good for anyone. We still won (1-0), but it was one of those games where everyone is just glad it's over. 

Little C (#11) during the frigid game.

After the games we went to Subway and then listened to General Conference on the way home. A pretty low-key birthday, but I wasn't in the mood for a huge celebration anyway... 

LDS MUTUAL

With my new phone, I have been taking more photos. They are horrible in quality, but it is fun to have the option to record little moments that would normally get skipped over. For example, the Wednesday night activities with the Young Men and Young Women in our ward.

Little C trying to figure out how to be a pirate.

 A few weeks ago we did improv for our combined activity. It is definitely NOT my thing, but some the kids (that normally don't get the limelight) really loved it and just shined. It was a great change of pace.

Wallyball!

Tonight we went and played wallyball at the Snow Activity Center. (Volleyball in a racquetball court) with all the Young Women. It was really fun and there was lots of cheering, laughing and fun.

Bump! Set! Spike!

We really found out quickly, who was a volleyball player, who was competitive, and who is really afraid of the ball. It really was a blast!