PTA Buds!

I just had to do a quick post about my friends! I call them my PTA buds because mainly I know these amazing women because of my involvement in PTA! Only 1 of them is a close neighbor of mine and the rest are in neighborhoods nearby. One day we were Facebook messaging each other, which we do often, and my one friends Jennie was in need of a serious escape to chat with us girls. She was having some issues and needed to talk it out. I was amazed at how we all managed to clear the decks and make time for a friend in need. By that very evening we were all in a booth at the Corner Bakery eating chocolate and having a "Bitch Session" (pardon the French!) We are all VERY busy Mom's with a million things going on, but when it comes down to it we are totally there for each other! After we chatted, ate, and realized that the store was closed and we were still sitting in our booth, we moved it out to the parking lot where we chatted some more! That's where I snapped this photo. Pictured from left is Kelly, Jennie, me (then top row from left) Jennifer, Dawn Marie and Angie. We all come from different walks of life, different lifestyles, but we are the BEST of friends! This week as we were messaging the same type thing happened only it was a different girl and lo and behold we all managed to stop and meet at the same place for her as well. It really makes me pause to think of how lucky I am to have such great friends. I know without a doubt that if it were me that needed THEM, they would be there with bells on! I am so grateful I know each of them and SO glad that I have many years of fun and look forward to getting to know them even better than I do now! Thank heavens for great friends!

Alta vs Timp View

 The Timp View game..... wow.... it was a nail biter. I was at Brianne's play with Chan's Mom and we asked the guys (Chan, Will and Tom) to keep us updated via text. We heard from them sporadically but it seemed that Alta wasn't playing their game.

 KSL- one of our local TV channels was covering the game and there was a lot of "hoop la" surrounding the game. They were having a rough go of it, in fact Carter never made it in the game. The starters stayed in the whole time and were playing their guts out. They had a great momentum going and....

I made it home to watch the rest of the game via live feed online and was pleased to see them gaining the momentum only to see it change quickly when they switched quarterbacks. Yeah, no idea why they did that! Anyway, Timp came back and was one field goal away from winning and guess what?...... he MISSED! and we WON! It was nuts! As grateful as I was for the win, I knew Carter would be frustrated and he was. But in typical Carter fashion he was over it quick and focused on next weeks practice and the big Bingham games ahead. He did say that watching film was a bit easier for him on Saturday morning because there was no criticism for him! Hahaha! Gotta love that! Hopefully they learned their lesson and they will play a better game this week!

Brianne's Play!

 Brianne did a summer theater camp again this year. It's the same girl who did it last year and she only does it for the neighborhood kids, which I think is so fun! Last year it was a musical and this year it was a play!

 The name of the play was "Willabella's Witches Last Spell". It was a bit of a comedy and used a lot of common stories that the kids were familiar with. Brianne was Hansel and pictured here are her friends Madison and Makayla who played a prince who was turned into a frog and Rapunzel.

 My pictures are a bit out of order and this was Brianne after her final performance as we celebrated at our favorite pizza joint! She just looked so dang cute I had to snap a photo!

Chan, Carter and Will came to Saturdays performance but had to miss Fridays because they were at Carter's first game in Provo. So I was the lucky one that got to see it twice! But Gamma Kathy also came to watch with me on Friday.

 She did such a great job and never messed up any of her lines! She worried about it all summer too! But I knew once she got to practicing that she'd be able to do it!

 This was one of my favorite parts- Hansel stole the witches broom and was riding around and got "stuck on the roof"! I loved seeing her head pop up over the curtain! It got a great laugh!

 Here is Hansel and her twin Gretel! Aren't they cute together! I can totally see Brianne getting into theater! It suits her well and she really enjoys it, especially when she can do it with FRIENDS!

 Here's a shot of the whole cast while performing- they are a pretty young cast- most are just around 10 to 12 years old. The witch (in the striped dress) is the girl who does the camp. She and her sister did fantastic! She said she may even attempt Shakespeare with these kids next year! She's brave!

Given it's just a neighborhood camp for fun I am always impressed at how well all these kids do! And it's fun to see my neighbors back yard deck turned into a stage for a couple of nights! It's a fun thing that I hope these kids will get to do for more years to come! Way to go Brianne!

Black and Silver Game

 Another tradition at Alta is the Black and Silver game. It's the high school teams that play each other and it's a fund raiser for the team. It's always fun to watch, but at times can be confusing because it's hard to keep track of which team is which since we are all the same color! At Alta the offensive players wear white and the defensive players wear black no matter what team your on! So you had to pay attention! It's a bit easier for us because we have a kid playing and we know a lot of the other players as well :)

 Carter played great and got quite a bit of varsity time! We were very proud of him! He's really competing well!

 And you could tell he was having fun which is the best part! What good is all this practice and hard work if you can't have a little fun too! He's got some great friends on the team and has a blast on and off the field with them. He has told me that there is a unique brotherhood on this team and he's excited to see what they can do.

 Last year when Carter played high school the height difference from him to the other players was noticeable, but this year he's hanging right in with them! He's still hoping he'll grow a bit too!

 One of the funniest parts about going to this game was afterwards. As we were walking out with him there were several girls who were doing this, "Hiiiiiiiii Caaarrrtttteerr", (can you hear the whiny voice in your head?) It was hilarious! And some of them were telling him to text them so they could hang out right in front of US! We got such a kick out of that! It was a riot! Plus it was fun to tease HIM about it!

 The Junior players were asked to bring a basket to raffle for their silent auction fundraiser and so I decided to make something instead of try to hound a business for some free stuff! So I went to my local wood crafting store and got the stuff to make these :) I LOVE them! I think they turned out pretty dang cute! In fact, I like them enough that I may make them again so I can keep them this time!

All in all it was a great time! Brianne, Will, Kathy, Tom and Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert were all able to attend as well. We had a lot of fun visiting and watching the game. It only gets us more excited for the real games to begin!

Wicked!

I almost forgot to write about WICKED!! Brianne and I got tickets to this musical a year ago and have been patiently waiting to go and see it at the Capitol Theater. As soon as I heard it was coming we got online and bought them! I have heard nothing but fabulous things about this musical and was dying to see it myself! Brianne and I LOVE musical theater and this show did NOT disappoint! WOW!! there was nothing about it I DIDN'T like! Everything from the costumes, lighting and music were just incredible! We loved it!! The only thing we didn't love, that the air conditioning wasn't working right in the theater so it was HOT!!! I have to admit I was watching the performers at times wondering how they had not fainted! But I'm so glad that the show went on because we just loved it! We had a super fun time, got shakes on the way to the city, made it to the bathroom and back in time during intermission (which was a nail biter) and enjoyed talking about it the whole way home. I hope we can do it again sometime because I really want to see it again! But even if it's a different show, I'd take the company any day of the week! Love you Brianne!

Canyon time and Hell Week

 It's been a tradition at Alta for years and it was time again... the annual "Hell Week". It gets it's name because it is 2 a day practices during the summer..... enough said right?!! They did however switch it up a bit and now the players have time to come home in between the two, so it looks as if we have a new tradition in our house! This is a picture of what I saw every day.... a Midday nap! I Can't say I blame him! we also got to go to an evening practice one of the nights and were able to watch Carter play for the first time at the varsity level. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous to watch! That has never happened to me before, but now he's playing with the "big boys" and it's really cool! I'm so excited to see him play! :)

 After his first day of Hell week we went up to the canyon to have breakfast with Chan's family. They had planned a get together at a camp site, and most had spent the night, but because of Carter's schedule and Will's first practice, we missed it. But we did go up early to have breakfast with everyone and visit.

 It was a beautiful camp site up Big Cottonwood canyon and the weather was perfect. Even a bit chilly! That's the nice part about heading up in elevation in the summer! :)

 The cousins all liked seeing each other and visiting- and the breakfast was super yummy!

 The cousins even headed over to play a bit of sand volleyball! Brianne took the pictures while all the guys played.

Here's a shot of the cousins- aren't they funny!! Glad we were able to go and glad that Carter survived another year! :)

Will's tryout week

 Will's first day of football trouts was while I was in Arizona. I have a difficult time missing things, but this was for a good reason, and Chan was happy to help out.

 The week after I got back I took him every day. Carter came a few times as well and even helped out an old coach by watching some of the lineman. I always do my best to give him advice but I have to admit that the tryout weeks always make me anxious!

 Will had an especially hard tryout week this year because he was with a different group. Usually my kids are automatically with the lineman, but this year he was really close to the X weight so he was put with linebackers and running backs! This was a challenge for him given he's never had to run or catch a ball!

 There were lots of areas where I was cringing because he was dropping balls left and right! But he did do well on agility's etc.

 One of the nights Brianne and Halle came and watched and hung out.

 You sure can't beat the view from their practice field this year! It's beautiful!

 On one of the nights the Alta High football coaches came and talked to the kids. It was neat and the boys really enjoyed it. With the new high school in Draper being built I'm sure part of it was them getting the boys to play for Alta! :)

 Will worked his bootie off and was really trying not to get his hopes up but he told me a couple of times that he really wanted to be on Coach Hill's team again. And I have to admit.... so did I!

 Thankfully after a really long week they announced the teams on Saturday morning. Will was thrilled to discover that he did make Coach Hill's black team! Yay! The pictures at the top were of the day he found out. I wish I had gotten a photo of him when they called his name! He was like.. "YES"!

He's on a fantastic team! I cannot wait to see what they do this year! Way to go Will we are SO proud!

Also, it's important to note that a few weeks later he decided to try to go under 140 lbs so that he could carry the ball if he wanted. So, he went on a diet and lost 6 pounds and made weight! So he is the first Crismon to NOT have an X on his helmet! Woo hoo! Can't wait to see him try something new!

Arizona Trip

 The last week of July I flew to Arizona to meet my Mom there and to go to my Uncle Bill's funeral. He was diagnosed with cancer in March and after battling rounds of chemo he passed away. My Dad was unable to attend so I told my Mom I would meet her there to help her through it. We decided we would make the most of it. So I met her in the airport and we went to stay at my Aunt Susan's home. She had a remarkable back yard (pictured above). It seriously looks like a golf course!

 We were able to go to the grave site for my Grandparents. I haven't been able to go there since my Grandpa passed away so I was glad to be able to go and see it. (sorry it's upside down!)

 The only good thing about these events is that your able to see family that you haven't been able to in a long while. I do get to see my Aunt Kay often because she lives nearby, but my Mom and Aunt Susan are far so it was fun to spend time with them.

 My Mom and I shared a room, so we were able to chat late at night, and we even managed to get some shopping in together. It was fun to see and spend time with her.

 We also went by my old neighborhood since my cousin lives nearby. I snapped this shot of the Ward building that was right across the street from our house.

 Here's my house- it looks really different! They painted it that nasty green- it used to be off white. And when we lived there it was gravel where they have grass. But that tile leading to the door is the same that my parents laid when we were living there! Also, the palm trees are the ones my parents planted! They were MUCH smaller then!

 This is the elementary school I went to! Still looks pretty darn good!

 I snapped this picture of a picture at the funeral. This is how I remember my Uncle Bill and Aunt Juanita. They are awesome people and have amazing kids. I loved being able to visit with those cousins because I haven't seen them in person for years. They are all amazing people and have wonderful families.

 This is a picture of my cousin David with his two boys Tristan (playing the bagpipe) and Carter. Tristan did an amazing job! I was impressed!

 At the grave site all of my Uncles Grand kids sang- it was really sweet.

I can't remember the last time I've seen my Uncle Jerry but he looked awesome! It was the most amazing service I have ever attended. I left there feeling motivated to do better in my own life. My uncle Bill was such a great example and I'm glad I was able to go and celebrate his life with my Mom. Hopefully, the next time I'm down there will just be to visit my fun family!