Homecoming 2011

It was BIG day here at our house this past Saturday! Carter has been preparing for a few weeks for it- everything from asking this darling girl in the photo, to ordering a corsage and planning the day!
Chan helped Carter come up with a cute way to ask Jaimee- he found an idea on the Internet and I helped him execute it! We bought a plain white T shirt and put "who will it be" in sharpie marker on the front and his name in sharpie on the back along with a lot of other names in washable marker. She had to wash the shirt to find out who it was!
Then we made a poster that said, "I want to take you for a "spin" on the dance floor at Homecoming but to find out who I am you must first put the shirt through a "spin" cycle!" Carter, his friend Trevor and I drove it over and left it on her door step and a few days later her response was a Little Ceasers Pizza left on our door step with a note that said, "Your hot, I'm ready, let's go to Homecoming!"
So then it was time to PLAN! Carter and his fellow guy friends did pretty much all of it! It was a huge group of 26 kids that all did their stuff together! They started with a day date of laser tag and then took their dates home to get ready!
Then it was off to Olive Garden for dinner, followed by the dance, then an after party at one of the girls house where they got to swim and hang out. He was just so excited for all of it and it truly met all his expectations! All the tips I had given him on how to treat his date were helpful and he was a true gentleman! But I have to say I was never worried because I KNEW he would be!
This is the small group I got to take to Olive Garden! From right it's Jaimee, Carter, Caitelyn and Mason. Aren't they so cute! It was a great night and I look forward to seeing what comes next! And Carter... you looked awesome!!

Alta Red vs Bigham

Well so far this season on Will's Red team they have had their struggles but they were always able to pull it together and figure it out.
But from the start of this game this past Saturday against Bingham it was showing pretty strongly that we were not on our game.
This picture here of Will shows how hard these guys were working to try to get their job done! Will was playing defense and he was literally trying to throw these guys down!
Our team was just making big mistakes and unfortunately the other team was making good use of them.
Will's face in this picture is exactly how this game went. It was a frustrating a difficult loss. They lost 35 to 6..... yeah it was pretty bad. I just hope that they take it, learn from it, and get after their next opponent! They are a great bunch of kids and I KNOW they can do better! C'Mon RED!!

Later that day Chan sent a quote to the head coach that I think was the perfect thing to say and it said:

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

Can't say it any better than that!

A-L-T-A!

It's another cheer post! Our cheer squad had gotten a bit bigger this week! We have 2 new cheerleaders! Yay! And all but one have their "official" cheer uniform! Brianne had been waiting on her skirt (she was wearing an old one she already had) and now they look soooo cute!
I love this shot of Brianne with her #1 hand! So cute! (I know I am saying cute way to much!)
They were doing a great job on this game and even did a few pyramids! This was taken after the hello cheer.
Brianne just LOVES to do high kicks! I still haven't gotten the perfect picture of it, but this one was pretty good!
Not all the girls were in this picture but it was too good not to put it in! This was their final pose after the dance they do at half time. It's so fun to watch them and to see their smiling faces! Yay for cheerleaders! Way to go Brianne!

Alta High Soph Team Game #4- Homecoming week!

Finally a HOME game for the sophomore team! Yay! We were so excited to go and see them play on their home turf! And to make it even more fun it was also Homecoming week! Carter shared with me that they wanted to do something new for their pre-game so before they even came out for warm ups they did the Nebraska prayer on a knee in the locker room. Here's what it says:

Dear Lord, the battles we go through life,
We ask for a chance that's fair
A chance to equal our stride,
A chance to do or dare

If we should win, let it be by the code,
Faith and Honor held high

If we should lose, we'll stand by the road,
And cheer as the winners go by

Day by Day, we get better and better!
Til' we can't be beat...
WON'T BE BEAT!

Carter said it was an awesome thing to be a part of and it got them amped to get out there and win! Once they were done with their warm ups they did their own version of the Michigan circle and one of their captains led them in a chant. It was awesome and the first time they had ever done that.

This game was unlike others in that they came out strong and we got on top of the game quickly!


It was pretty evident from the start that we were a stronger team than Jordan. We were pushing them all over the field and scoring one after another!
It wasn't until late in the 4th quarter that Jordan finally got a touchdown and we're all pretty sure it was because the refs were starting to feel bad for them. Jordan got several pass interference calls that were just ridiculous! But in the end it didn't matter much anyway.
This picture of the head coach echoed my feelings exactly! It was a landslide win which is what we have ALL been wanting so badly! The final was Alta 36 to Jordan's 7!!! YES!!!!
I am so proud of Carter! He played well and is just LOVING this season! Go Hawks!

Cheering!

I was so thrilled that Brianne decided to cheer again this year! Not only is she a TOTAL blessing to the squad because of how LOUD she is, she is just quite simply a cheerleader at heart!
They have been working hard to gel as a team and have had a few "late overs" making signs and learning a dance number. They are just cute girls and I love watching them!
They are still "perfecting" the dance number but it was choreographed by two of the girls and they did a pretty good job! I think it's cute that Brianne sings the song as she dances!
Her final pose! How cute is she!! I'm such a proud Mama! :)

Alta Red vs Riverton

This past Saturday it was Wills turn to play Riverton! It was kind of funny that boys played them that week- it doesn't usually happen! And this Riverton team was their super B team which means we knew they were going to be tough!
Carter and Chan are funny during the games- they do a lot of talking and giggling and Carter will point out things for Chan to tell the boys! It's pretty cute!
Within the first 5 minutes of the game there was some action.... but not from the boys! The referees were making some ridiculous mistakes and calling things that were NOT under our conference bylaws. Our head coach (pictured above) KNEW they were wrong and was arguing pretty fierce! He was even yelling across to the other coach to try and get him on his side! It was crazy! But thanks to Chan and his iphone he pulled up a copy of the bylaws off the conference web site and showed it to the refs and from then on all was good.... at least that part!
This was a tough game! Our offense was struggling but our defense was playing good!
I love this picture because you can see Will's eyes right on the kid with the ball! He just loves to play defense! But during this game he played center on the offense quite a bit and did awesome! Chan's grandparents Jerry and MaryAnne came and Jerry was very impressed with Will's snaps!
Here he is getting ready to snap! Thankfully after the half they came out and played hard and got ahead!
In this picture that #1 with the ball got two touchdowns for us that game! We ended up holding them to 12 and we had 25! Weird score but we'll take it! It's another win for Alta Red! Woo hoo!

Alta High Soph Team Game #3

Last week Carter's game was at Riverton and our cheering section was a little bigger! Brianne and Will came along and we also were thrilled to see Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert at the game! We love having a louder cheering section!
This was another tough game! I was hoping for a game where we got out and got a good lead and were able to hold till the end, but my wish was not granted! :(
I guess the only GOOD thing about games like these is your certainly NOT bored! And this game was REALLY not boring for Carter either... he was ALL OVER the place! With all the injuries their O line has had he is playing all kinds of positions! He played everything from right tackle to left guard and did awesome wherever they put him!
One of the parents caught me after and said Carter's new nick name was "utility man" since they could move him wherever and he could play it! Pretty funny!
About half way through they found their offense and had some great plays, hence the big smile and fist pump here!
In case your wondering his knee is NOT injured. He had an injury on that knee in 7th grade and is therefore more prone to injury there, so we decided to purchase a brace as a preventative measure. Next year we'll get one for the other knee! If you watch high school/college ball at all you'll see these on ALL the players on the line.
This one was my favorite picture! I love his eyes and how they are totally locked on the guy trying to get through. Carter's job on this play was to make a hole for the running back, which he did, and right after I took this the kid ran through and gained about 10 yards! YAY!
In the end it came down to about 46 seconds and the Riverton team scored and all they had to do to tie the game was make their extra point and guess what... they MISSED! We won by 1 point! It was crazy! But we'll take it!! Way to go guys!

Girl Time

Back in that earlier post about Brianne doing the play I forgot to mention something else! After her first part of Fridays performance, she and I scooted out a bit early to go and see Hairspray The Musical! I had bought tickets to it in the spring because I knew how much she LOVED the movie and I thought it would be some fun girl time! It was awesome! It was just a local performance with people from the area at an amphitheater just down the street. We thought it was very well done! We have some talent here! We also enjoyed getting a bite to eat at Smashburger too! I think this is going to be something we do together a lot! We both love theater and Brianne hasn't seen many "in person" so it's fun to go and watch her face light up as the people perform! On occasion she'll even sing along! I have taken her to see Fiddler on the Roof, The Wedding Singer and My Fair Lady also in the past year or so. This next summer we are going to see Wicked which I am SOOOOO EXCITED about! I haven't seen that one either, so that will be a BIG day! I am so glad that I have found something that she and I can share and the best part is IT'S FUN!

Alta Red vs Jordan

I was so excited for Will that Chan decided to help coach Will's team. It's really cool actually because Chan is coaching with the same head coach that Carter had at this age! He's an amazing coach and I can already tell that Will is learning a lot! I had to get a picture of Dad tightening up the screws in his helmet! Too funny!
Before their games they huddle together and do a chant! I love it! And I LOVE their game uniform! It's so tough looking!
Will made a big play during this game! He hit the quarterback and caused a fumble that another lineman was able to recover! It was awesome! and I was even more excited to capture his excitement! This is my FAVORITE picture! This Jordan team came to play! Their quarterback was good and kept managing to escape our tackles!
The boys were struggling to get their offense together like we know they can do, so they got a pretty swift talking to during halftime and they came out to play. It was still a rough game, but they were intent on making it a win. Will did awesome on his snaps too- not one bad one!
After a tough game they managed to pull it out and it was because our defense was able to stop them from making their extra points! Had it not been for that it would have been a tie, but thankfully they didn't give up and it was a win 14 to 12! Way to go boys! Keep up the hard work and never give up!

Cheering and Pep Rally

When Carter was playing football at this age Chan and I did a special Pep Rally for his team and when Will landed on his team this year he reminded us and wanted us to do it again and we couldn't say no! So this past Friday night Chan brought over the company box truck loaded with three pallets of heavy metal shelving and an electric pallet jack. In this picture he is showing the boys what's in it and explaining to them that with the load the truck weighs roughly 15, 500 pounds. It's a challenge to them to pull it!
So then we have the head coach take over and ask if any boy thinks he can do it all by himself and there's always someone who thinks they can! Here's a shot of him trying.
Then coach says well surely with a couple more of you on the rope you can pull it right? So he adds a couple more boys on the rope to try.
And still nothing. Then he tells them it's only as a team with all 18 of you that you can do great things. Not as an individual or even a few but as a TEAM! With a sport like football everyone has to do their part to win, or in this case, pull the truck.
So on the rope they went and guess what... they pulled it! All that weight and as a team they were able to do it! It was awesome! All the parents were cheering and the boys were yelling... it was awesome!
It's a great lesson for them to learn! And they had a bit of help with motivation too...
Their cheerleaders!! Will's team has a small team of cheerleaders that will be coming to all the games and Brianne is a part of it! They were cheering for them the whole time to pull the truck! It was cute! Then they did their hello cheer for the boys and introduced themselves. The boys are excited to have them!
Before the first game these girls stayed up late practicing, learning a dance and making banners, because they are determined to go a great job!
I couldn't believe how LOUD they were! There was only 5 of them but they sounded so good!
They attracted enough attention from the opposing team that they gathered up at their end zone and tried to copy all the cheers that our girls did! You know that saying imitation is the most sincere form of flattery? Well they should definitely feel flattered!
Here's Brianne doing one of her famous high kicks! Not the best picture but it was the only one I caught! I was so proud of them and how quickly they pulled together! They only had that ONE practice really! Way to go girls! And you rocked it Brianne! :)