The Shocking Conclusion to Cat's Soccer Season

We recently received the official individual and team pictures from the fall.  We have loved this team!

Cat had a great time with her team once again in the spring.  She played a lot, and played well.  She scored once in the regular season and had lots of assists.  She also spent a lot of time in the goalie box.  During the post-season, though, she really turned on the heat.  She scored 10 goals in the 5 tournament games.

Moving in for the goal.

Cat's fall-down goal.

Cat isn't in this picture, but I had to record that amazing rainbow,
which came out after a freak rain/hail storm, which started up out
out of the blue after a nice, sunny start to the game.

Cat's team lost one game during the regular season, to a team called The Storm.  It came as no surprise that this was the team they competed against in the final tournament game.  Cat scored the first goal of the game.  The Storm then scored two goals in quick succession.  During the second half, our team scored one more goal, and after lots of attempts on goal, time ran out with the score tied.  So we went into overtime, and nobody scored.  So we had a shootout.  Cat was one of the shooters and her shot was blocked.  We ended up scoring two goals in the shootout, but The Storm scored three, winning the game 5-4.

Of course we were all disappointed, but it was a good, well-matched game, and the girls played really hard (for almost two hours).  I'm proud of Cat and this team and couldn't be happier with the experience we've had this year.  They've decided that they want to play against more challenging teams next year, instead of just having the occasional tough game, so they're moving up to the state level of competition.  Go Pride!

Right after the game was over.

2nd Place Trophies

A great group, led by a great coach.

Why Yesterday Was Special

Baby Love

We had two little boys at our house this morning while their mom and dad were doing some work at home.  Both boys are beloved by my children.  The older is close to Luke's age and the younger is just 6 months old.  Can you guess which boy my middle kids were the most excited about?

First Day of Summer Vacation

The kids are officially out of school for the summer and I was eager to get a jump on a good summer routine, so on their first day of no school, I took them to the Provo Library to sign up for the summer reading program.  Turns out, we can't sign up yet, so we just checked out a bunch of books.

We left to meet some friends at a playground and stayed to play for as long as we wanted, which was just so nice after our rush-rush-rush spring.  After lunch and Luke's nap, we went to the Orem Library to sign up for their summer reading.  But we were told, once again, that we were too early.  So we just picked up another round of books.  Oh, and we stopped to check out the random tipi.

It was a day well-spent.

All of this took place yesterday.  And the kids have put an impressive dent in the books we checked out from both libraries.  It's going to be a good summer.

TBT - And Baby Makes 4

I was recently thinking about a cherished memory from several years ago (pre-blog) which seems fitting to share in the month of Mother's Day.  I only wish I'd thought of it a couple of weeks ago.

Jack's blessing day.

It was a simple thing, but left a significant impression on me.  When Jack was brand-new, he slept in our room and Cat asked if she could sleep in there with us too.  Jack was in a bassinet on my side of the bed and Cat was on the floor at the foot of our bed.  I just remember lying down in the middle of the night with my family all around me.  I could distinguish each person's soft sleeping sounds, and a wave of love and warmth washed over me.  I think of it as a tender manifestation of the spirit, helping me to appreciate the importance of having a family and what a blessing they all were in my life.

Mother's Day

It was so fun to have family around for Mother's Day this year!  I started the day bright and early with a trip to Salt Lake for the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast, and loved knowing that my Mom and eldest drove up to be in the audience.  The song, "Mother, I Followed Your Foosteps" was particularly special for me that morning.  How blessed I am to have a wonderful mother, and to be a mom to four wonderful kids!

We hurried to our ward Sacrament Meeting so we could witness Jack being recognized for his baptism the previous week.  We also heard a lovely medley that the Primary kids prepared for Mother's Day.  (Though I assume the Sunbeams' over-the-top antics, which were the most captivating part of the presentation, were not prepared.)  Then it was home to get Mom's bags (and an amazing Raspberry Roll from Shirley's Bakery.......mmmmmmmm.... thank you Ben!) and drive Mom back up to Salt Lake so that she could spend some time with her sister before leaving town the next day.

I hurried back to my ward and sat in Relief Society with my mother-in-law, then Ben let me take a nice long nap, which felt great.  He made us delicious grilled chicken for dinner and my in-laws and brother-in-law and his family all joined us.  We had fun talking and playing games afterward.  The Newlywed Game was a hit, and we heard all about which Star Wars characters are the kids' favorites, haha.

The kids' Mother's Day cards didn't disappoint either.  Eliza's was all sweetness: 

Jack's on the other hand, made me laugh harder than I've laughed in a long time.  This is my favorite page from the book he brought home from school. 

So what you're saying is...?

He also said that I smell like pizza, that I'm happy when he cleans, and that he wants to take me shark fishing.  He gave me two coupons: one for pizza and one for smelling pizza.  Also, MOM stands for Mother Obedient Mother.

He had some sweet sentiments too, though.

I think that my mom looks like a: star.

I love my mom because: she's kind.

When my mom hugs me I feel: warm.

When my mom looks at me I feel: happy.

When I am with my mom I feel: good.

I know my mom loves me when she: plays with me.

My mom is my hero because: she helps me.

"I like your cooking."

The Rest of Jack's Soccer Season

Jack missed a couple of soccer practices/games during the second half of the season because he really wanted to try running track this year.  But even though he missed a few soccer commitments, he continued to show improvement in the sport.  He handled the ball better, he scored more goals, and he had a better attitude.  This was especially evident during a particularly cold and rainy game on Luke's birthday, when he scored multiple times.

Jack's last game of the season was also cold, but he still had fun and played well, perhaps all the more because Grammy was watching (the day after his birthday) AND he was minutes away from receiving his first sports medal.

At this point, we don't know if Jack will be playing soccer again, but I'm glad that by the end of the season he started to understand and play the game better.  And we had a fun time watching him!

It only looks like we planned it.

Eliza Lately

Eliza got creative with her time on a sick day home from school.
After we played two rounds of Uno.

I'm pretty sure this says, "Please!  Please!  Come under the covers!  With me.  Mom!  Love, Liza"
This was on a week when we didn't see very much of each other during the bedtime hours.

Mardi Gras beads turned sandals.

This week Eliza has jumped feet first into chapter books.
She has started several, but this one is her very favorite.

Jack's 8th Birthday

Well, the biggest thing about Jack's birthday was his baptism this year.  Which was just as it should have been.  Other than that, the day included doughnuts for breakfast, bringing treats (Airheads) to school to share with his class and then playing MarioKart 8 in the afternoon.  He opened presents and received fun Cars toys, a basketball, scriptures with a case, his Cub Scout "suit," and a pocketknife  (which had belonged to his grandfather) for Cub Scouts.

After the baptism, we enjoyed birthday cake.  He asked me to make him a Flash cake, but the day didn't happen the way I thought it would and I just ran out of time to decorate it.  I asked him if it would be okay if we just had white cake with sprinkles and he said that we should leave off the sprinkles and have it be a ghost cake.  Then it dawned on me - A Holy Ghost Cake!  So Jack placed a few Hershey's Kisses on the cake to give the ghost a face.  Later, he added a Lightning McQueen car.  I'm not sure how the car works with the theme, but that's alright.  It was a good day.

In this picture, Luke is actually blowing out the candle, though Jack tried.
We had to light it again so that Jack could blow it out himself.

TBT - My First Ski Trip

I came across these pictures and thought they'd be fun to share.  This is from my first skiing trip (out of two in my life).  Thanks to my parents for filling in the details, since my memory is limited to being upset that I couldn't use poles as the older skiers did, and being told to point the tips of my skis together like a cheese wedge (or was it a piece of pizza?).  I forgot to ask my parents how old I was in these pictures, but my guess is that it was the winter when I turned 6, since we moved to Virginia shortly after that.

We were living in Germany and we spent a ski-week at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Southern Bavaria (on the border).  This was the site of the 1936 Winter Olympics (the logo of which can be seen on the bib I'm wearing).  Armed forces personnel were able to ski there rather inexpensively.

When I asked my mom about this, she said, "This is your maiden voyage and you were fearless, as usual.  They teach children to ski with no poles so you really learn to ski with your body.  Very cool.  We rented everything, to include the ski pants and jacket."

Dad

Megan

Me

Jack's Baptism

Jack was excited to have his baptism on his 8th birthday, as Cat's was.  To make it even more special, his cousin was baptized that evening too.  He had three grandparents attending from the east coast, and lots of sweet friends from our ward, including both of his Primary teachers, our home teacher, friends from the ward and school, neighbors, extended family, and others.  My sister-in-law and I tried hard to make it special while keeping it simple, and I think it worked out pretty well.  But Jack's feelings on the subject are more important than mine.  Here are his words, which I considered editing, but I didn't.  (Though some of these things required a bit of prodding, I admit.)

Before I got baptized, I was really, really excited because I couldn't wait to feel what the water felt like and because I wanted to be baptized.  My Dad let me play five minutes of basketball in the gym at the church.  

I remember getting baptized and Cat playing "I Am a Child of God" on the piano and Grammy giving a talk about baptism.  She gave me a Kit Kat bar because the KAT stood for Keep His commandments, Always remember Him, Take His name upon you.

I remember Bro. C talking about Star Wars.  He said, "You know about the good guys in Star Wars and the bad guys?  We want to be like the good guys." We can use the Holy Ghost as our power.

Mema gave a talk about the Holy Ghost.  She said that when she was driving up a hill a voice said, "Slow down" and she kept speeding up 'cause she didn't know who that crazy voice was.  And the voice said, again, "Slow down" and so finally she slowed down and she saw construction up ahead with pipes spilled all over the edge of the road and she said, "If I wouldn't have slowed down, I would have crashed and fallen off."

At the end of my baptism, my aunt and uncle and Mom and Dad sang for me.  They sang, "I Like to Look For Rainbows Whenever There is Rain."  We wanted that song at our baptism because we thought it was a sweet song.

When I was baptized, I felt happy, comfortable, and a little sad.  Because I felt the Holy Ghost.  I felt happy because I was happy to feel warm inside.  I felt comfortable because I felt as if I was wrapped around a blanket.  I felt a little sad because the water felt kind of cold.

When I went to church on Sunday, the Sacrament was really good.  I liked the bread mostly.  The bread represents the body of Jesus and the water represents the blood.

My baptism day was special because I got a ton of birthday presents.

Bye!

We talked a lot about baptism in the months leading up to Jack's birthday: Family Home Evening lessons, discussions in the car and at the dinner table.  We explained to Jack what was involved when someone was baptized, what they were committing to do, and what the blessings were.  We talked about following Christ's example by getting baptized, and becoming a part of His church.  We made sure to help Jack understand that this was a serious decision, and that it had to be his decision.  About a month before Jack's birthday, I had the kids in the car and we were talking.  I said, "If Jack decides to get baptized..." and Jack jumped in with, "I want to get baptized!"  It was the most excited he'd been, and I knew that he had made his decision.  He never hesitated, and I'm thankful that he has now taken this important step toward our Heavenly Father.

Hope of America

The week that my mom was visiting was full.  That Wednesday evening, Cat participated in a huge program for 5th graders in Utah County, and Jack also had his first track meet.  So Mom and I attended the dress rehearsal for the program earlier in the day, then Ben watched the actual performance that evening while Mom and I went to the track meet.  It all worked out fine.

This program is part of Provo's Freedom Festival.  All year, Hope of America participants spend time learning the lyrics and actions to several original patriotic songs.  They gather in the Marriott Center at BYU and perform the songs, some of which have touching corresponding videos.  I was really glad that I could watch the rehearsal and get a feel for the program.  It was a special experience just to be able to watch, and I'm glad that Cat could be a part of it.

At the Rehearsal:

Zooming out from Cat with her good friend... all the way out to her little school's area.

Rehearsing "We Can Be a Light"

At the Performance:

Ben and his date.

UVU's "Green Man Gruop" was one of the pre-show acts.

Show time.