Crafting for a cause

Every year here in our area they hold a huge fundraiser for the local children's hospital. It's a HUGE deal! In fact the people who organize it start in February to get things organized and make decisions on committees etc! It's awesome! I have always wanted to be a part of this event! I have gone to it for a long time, but always wanted to do more. Last year I volunteered to work at the show and had an awesome time! So much so that I spoke to a lady in my neighborhood who has been a committee chair for years and told her to think of me next year if she needed help. Well I got a call from her about a month ago and she needed help!
One of the things they have there is an area for kids where they can buy inexpensive gifts. This little light bulb guy is full of candy and they needed me to make 17 of these guys! So thankfully, with the help of my Mom's sewing skills while she was here, we got these guys done pretty fast. :)
Then she needed me to make 10 crafts to sell at the boutique there. So, off I went to a local store where they sell wood crafts already cut but need to be finished. I got 2 of these...
Yup it's a cute reindeer! I loved these!
And I got 6 of these- can you tell what it's going to be?
It's a snowman! And I am kicking myself that I forgot to take pictures of the two Santa's I did! It was so fun to do and I am thrilled I got to play a small part in such a great cause. I still have one thing left to do and that's work the show coming up in November and I am looking forward to it! I hope I'll get that call again next year!

Alta Red vs Copper Hills

This past Saturday it was Will's teams last regular season game. They played Copper Hills and it may be a small thing but we were excited that they were getting to wear their BLACK jerseys! This was our ONLY home game all season and the black is for the home team.
We dominated this game! It was awesome! And so fun to watch! We got away with a win of 30 to 6!
Carter, Dakota and Gamma were there to help cheer him on too! :)
I love seeing Chan out there with Will. I think Chan is a great coach! He is a great example for these boys and I am soooo glad he decided to coach this year.
Brianne's cheer team were zombie cheerleaders for this game since Halloween was just around the corner. They all dressed this way and even did a thriller dance for half time!
Don't they look cute!
I was so proud of Brianne! She learned this dance quickly and did a great job too!
At the end of the game we got all the kids together to snap a photo! Such a cute bunch of kids! This has been such a fun season! Now we're off to playoffs! WOO HOO!

Alta High Playoffs

I am so proud of Carter and how this years football season has gone for him. He had a fantastic time playing for the Sophomore team and was a great leader to the offensive line. It was an even greater thing to be asked to play up with the Varsity team for the playoffs and he was THRILLED!
The first playoff game was this past Friday afternoon and we were so excited to go and watch. We knew more than likely that we would be watching him stand on the sidelines, but to be honest I was just as proud watching him stand THERE than if had he been playing!
It was a rough game! They played Syracuse High School from up north and they were tough!
The first half was hard and at the half Syracuse was ahead. When our guys came back out after the half they were fired up and you could see it. But unfortunately it didn't get them any more points and they lost :(
It was a good experience for Carter to see all the seniors that he looks up to crying and talking to them about next year. The juniors and sophomores who were there that day pledged to never let it happen again. They bonded in a unique way that day and it strengthened Carter even more to do better and even though I'm sad they lost I'm grateful that Carter was able to be a part of it.

So his season is over and what does he want to do now? Work out of course!!! Let the off season begin!

Fall!!

Fall is my favorite time of year!! I just love the beautiful colors, the smells, the activities and the cooler weather! This fall has been gorgeous and hasn't cooled off to quickly so we have been enjoying it!
We pulled out the fall decor while my parents were here and got it all set up. We even went out with Grandma Panko and bought some pumpkins and corn stalks! FUN!
It's just fun to see the porch all decked out in fall colors! It makes me happy to see it every time I pull into my driveway!
I also spent some time recently planting some bulbs that Brianne picked out. Chan thought it might be fun to plant something in honor of Teddy and Brianne picked some really pretty flower bulbs that will bloom in the spring! I can't wait to see them!
We're glad to have fall here and can't wait to celebrate with some yummy Honeycrisp apples- Chan's ABSOLUTE favorite!! Right now that's all he talks about! They are yummy! He even made a pie with them a week or so ago! It was awesome! We've also had some great pumpkin flavored shakes and desserts- A real treat! Bring on the fall!

Our new family members!

After Teddy passed away I had a hard time believing I would want to run out and get another dog. But every day I would come home from work or another activity and it would be so quiet. I could hardly stand the quiet! It was also hard for the kids to not have someone to greet them when they got home and they even started to ask when we would get another dog.
So after a couple weeks I started to look online to see if I could find one that sounded like a good fit. It was about 2 weeks into my search that I discovered the sweetest entry by a woman who wrote about these guys like they were her KIDS! It was a situation where she literally HAD to give them up. They are brothers from different litters and had to go together. The above pictures show why that is! They LOVE to play together! They play tug of war with toys and wrestle with one another and are just adorable! They are still kind of young though- Vladimir is the oldest and he turned one in May and Duke is the younger guy and will turn one in January. So we have some work to do still with potty training etc, but they are awesome!!
In this shot Duke is on the left and Vladimir is on the right. This is before I took them to get groomed so I need to get another picture of them cuz they look much better! They have been so fun and are fitting into our family just perfectly! Even my parents, who are not real dog people, loved these guys! We are thrilled to have them in our family!

Cheering for my brothers

Cheering for Brianne this year has been so wonderful! She has done this before but this time the girls she's doing it with are just awesome! They are really fun girls who are turning into great friends for her!
They practice at the same time as Will's team on Fridays and work really hard. They even are included in the Friday pep rallies with the boys and get to play games and eat food right along with them. They feel like the are truly part of the team- it's awesome!
They have also had a few "late nights" where they played games, ate pizza and made signs for the games. Every time she comes home from one of these she is just beaming!
This is one of my favorite shots of her cheering! You can see in her face how much she enjoys what she's doing! And she knows how important being a cheerleader for the boys is! Everyone needs a good cheerleader!! :)
I am so proud of her for all she's doing and what a great cheerleader she has been for both her brother's! Way to go Brianne! We love you!!

Alta Red vs Bingham white

If I had to pick one game that was a must win.... this was it. We went into this game knowing we had to win in order to make the playoffs. Bingham is ALWAYS our biggest competition and so we knew we were going to have to bring it!
Believe it or not the very first play of the game was a kick off to us and Will's team mate Colton ran it in for a touchdown! You can't get a better start than that!! After that TD it became a defensive game for them and for us. No more scores till 4th quarter!
The next to score was Bingham so we were tied with only a few minutes left in the 4th quarter. we HAD to move the ball!!! And thankfully our guys dug deep and we were able to move the ball! And thanks to Tyler who had an AMAZING run, broken tackle, and literal jump over another kid into the end zone- we got another touchdown! And he did it with one shoe missing! We didn't get our extra point though, so now we had to hold them!
The remainder of the 4th quarter felt like forever!! Kathy and I were sitting by each other talking and just kept commenting on how it was going slow! And Bingham was creeping closer to their end zone. With just a couple minutes left a friend of mine from college, Christi Gibson, found me and distracted me a bit! I was actually glad because I was getting very anxious! It was so fun to see her and introduce her to my kids! Chan was pleased to see her too!
Thankfully after a nice visit with Christi and a few more seconds the clock ran out without them getting another touchdown! We win!!! Yay!!! It was a nail biter! The final score was 20 to 7! Way to go guys!

Alta High Soph Team Game #10

This game was exciting for a couple of reasons... first, because it was the last game of their season. Second, they were playing Cottonwood's JV team. And third because my parents were there to see him play!! YAY!!!
I was worried that since Cottonwood didn't have a Sophomore team and we were playing their JV that it was going to be a tough game and that we would have our work cut out for us. But I was pleasantly surprised! We did have some extra help though! A few of the players who are Sophomores that play JV and Varsity for Alta were able to come and play with their fellow Sophomores! And these guys are TALENTED! I am sure it played a part in our game!
Here's a picture of Carter waving to his "fans"! He had quite the group there, but the special wave was for Myles, his 4 year old cousin! He was there along with his sister Sophie who's 2, their parents Brooke and Mark, Tom and Kathy and my parents! And myself, Chan, Will and Brianne too! Quite the fan club!
After the game we went down on the field to congratulate him on the great win and get a couple pictures. I had to get one with Chan and Carter! Chan is so proud of him! There's been a few times when Carter's walking away from us to go to school or practice and he'll say, "He's such a stud!" It always makes me smile! He's such a great kid and we couldn't be more proud of all he's accomplished!
And I just had to get a shot with my parents! They were very proud of him too! I know they enjoyed watching their grandson and I loved having them there too! :) It was such a treat!

Alta Red vs Brighton

The most exciting part about this week was that my parents were in town! They flew in specifically to watch the boys play football and to see Brianne cheer. We have been talking about it for years and they just couldn't pass up the opportunity to come and see it for themselves.
It was an early morning game so we all geared up and we were off! Carter and my Dad were enjoying themselves and talking football! My Mom headed over a little closer to watch Brianne Cheer. It was fun to see their faces light up as they watched!
I finally lent my hat to my Dad so the sun would stay out of his eyes! And he looked pretty darn cute in it too!
Will and his team were playing pretty well, but unfortunately got a LOT of penalties. Thankfully it didn't effect the final score and they were able to come out on top. But on Monday after the game they payed up on those penalties! The coaches factored it and figured they had 75 yards of penalties, so they did 75 up downs.... ouch!
It was so fun to have my parents there to watch and I KNOW Will was thrilled to show his Grandparents his team and Brianne was beaming too- she loved cheering with them there! It was fun! And we celebrated the win after by going to Cafe Rio! Can't beat that!

Alta High Soph Team Game #9

Well once again we were very lucky in the weather department! We were off to West Jordan to watch this game and when we got there we were surprised to see their team was much smaller! In fact at one point I told Chan I thought they had more cheerleaders than players!
I was also secretly a bit nervous to see Carter play because this was his first game back since hurting his knee. He never felt like he couldn't play and it was a bit sore for a few days after, but after some rest and a visit with the teams trainers he was was given permission to play.
I could tell right away that he was in full swing! There was no favoring his knee and I could also tell right away that this game was going to be a BIG win! This west Jordan team just wasn't matched with us.
The one good thing about games like these is that the boys get to switch it up a bit and they will put in the 2nd and 3rd string kids. I love that! And at this game Carter was able to play center and I love watching him to that!
It was a fun game (for us anyway) to watch! And a HUGE win! GO HAWKS!!