Soccer Season Wrap-Up

Cat is just so fun to watch when she's playing. On top of being a

phenomenal goal-scorer, she is incredibly physical (as you can tell in the pictures),
she's a great ball-handler, and she's incredibly fast.

One of my favorite moves is when she's coming at defenders and she gives the ball a

little kick, outruns the defenders, then gets the ball again - basically, passing it to herself.

I also love how she out-maneuvers opponents. And though it's awesome that she

never backs down from a confrontation, it does make me nervous sometimes.

SEASON STATS:
Season goals: 50 (#1 in Utah, #17 in the country)
Hat tricks this season: 8

Season average goals per game: 3.1 (#1 in Utah, #8 in the country)

CAREER STATS:

Career goals: 142 (#2 Utah all-time scoring record)
Career hat tricks: 21
Career average goals per game: 2.4

Off the field, I love that soccer has helped Cat develop relationships, practice

mentoring, and become a thoughtful leader. She's pushed herself nearly to

the breaking point, physically and emotionally, and she's felt more excitement

and camaraderie than in any other setting I can think of.

I'll be forever grateful to Cat's coach, the assistant coaches, her fellow players,

and all of her incredible soccer family!

Senior Night:

Jack had fun running the school flag back and forth in front
of the spectators whenever a goal was scored. He did this for
a few of the home games.

Selfie with my all-time favorite soccer player after watching her last game
as a high schooler. It was an emotional game for me, and even more so for her.

Somehow Cat and three younger friends on the soccer team (including the goalie)

began a tradition of performing the Just Dance dance of Shakira's "Waka Waka"

before every game. Everyone had so much fun with it and I loved seeing the videos

of their dancing posted in the team photo album. Then, they did it at the school talent

showcase, so I was able to see the whole thing for myself, and it was awesome!

Pre-Game Ritual

Showing off their moves for the whole school.

The post-season banquet was lovely. Cat and the other captains were really excited

about the gifts they had for Coach: a scrapbook of funny pictures (mostly of Coach)

they took throughout the season, and a custom miniature bust of him. Both gifts

very much appreciated.

Coach was very kind, and characteristically humorous, during his spiel about Cat.

The two of them have a great relationship, and I appreciate

the quality wisdom and advice he's shared with her (I think accumulating a large

bank of wisdom and advice must be one of the biggest benefits of working with

teenagers for your entire career). He's coached her for 4 years, and taught her multiple

classes, and I'm confident they will stay connected after she graduates.

I've been expecting that I'll have a surge of emotions when Cat graduates from high

school at the end of the year. What's caught me by surprise is all of the emotional "last"

milestones of Senior Year - the last time I'll watch her play soccer on her home field,

the last time I'll watch her in a school performance, the last time I'll attend a soccer

banquet, and on and on and on. I really need to keep a pack of tissues in my purse.

I sure love this girl.

Eliza's Nail Salon

In August, Cat and Eliza split the cost of a gel nail polish kit with an LED lamp. While Cat has used it multiple times (or Eliza has done her nails for her), Eliza loves to do her own nails, any day, and just about any time of day (including when we're supposed to be leaving to go somewhere, or when bedtime was 10 minutes ago). She's really good at it - so good that she's done nails for some friends and even has a recurring client. Check out the cute designs Eliza came up with for Halloween for our friend Raeya:

Fall Break

Fall Break was in mid-October and it was really great. We stayed local and had some down time and some fun time, and watched Cat's team play 2 soccer games during the state tournament. (More on that when I post about soccer.) Here are some highlights:

Lehi Bakery Doughnuts!

Hiking Stewart Falls with Jack, Eliza, and Luke!

The fall colors were already fading but they still looked amazing.

After our hike we got Costa Vida for lunch and had a picnic at
Bonneville Park with Cat and Robert.

At some point, Luke and a bunch of random kids started chasing Robert.

Jack is officially toller than I!

A short Sunday afternoon stroll down the Provo River Parkway.

Our friends from MBA school came over for a catch-up + farewell

dinner, since they're moving to San Diego next month. It was so fun!

Luke had an extra day off on Monday, so he and I had some time together.

We hung out in the house in the morning.

Then we ran some errands, including finding him a suit
that fits. In this picture, he's literally having a conversation
with himself to decide whether this suit was right or not.

And he's been wanting to eat at Kneaders for a
looooong time, so we finally made it happen.