Alta vs Mtn View

 Sept 23, 2016

Alta played Mountain View down in Orem. We ended up going down with a truck full of girls! Brianne and her friends all wanted to come along to cheer them on. It was terrible weather too- lots of cold rain! Brianne and her friends had a blast anyway! But because of the terrible weather I got zero pictures! Bummer!

But the good news is that Will got in some great play time in a huge win for Alta! The final score was 49 to 7!!! Woo Hoo!! Our team is on a great roll! We've just got to keep that momentum going!! And hopefully no more rain! Haha!

High Council Meeting with Carter

On September 18th 2016 we had the privilege to go to the Stake high council meeting with Carter. He was asked to come and report on his mission along with two other returned missionaries from our Stake. What a wonderful experience. Each one of them was able to give insight to their mission and what it meant to them. It was so wonderful to hear from each of them. Jessi Halling and her family from our Ward was there along with Elder Monson and his family from our Stake. (I cannot remember his first name- but he went to Alta with Carter) Will was unable to attend as he had priesthood responsibilities after church for our Ward. I was bummed he had to miss it but we filled him in! :) So grateful we are able to participate in all these experiences as a family.

Alta vs Orem!

(Sept 16, 2016)

Another Friday night and another football game! YAY! Will also played the JV game on Thursday and it was a rough game. We played strong but the Orem team came back tough in the last half and ended up winning 28 to 27. It was a tough loss, but I know that our boys always learn a lot from that. So we are hoping that tonights game goes MUCH better!

 This year Will was playing a lot. Mainly because he would always start on the JV team and then also get reps on varsity. I don't think he thought he would be playing JV as a senior but he never complained about it. He just loves to play!

 Will also always tried to be a good leader, he would always arrive early and be the last to leave.

 He would put everything he had out there on the field. He knows that there were other guys that had more talent but he was always trying to win the top spot and constantly trying to get better.

 He had some very good games and others that weren't as good. But every time he was dressed he was giving it his ALL!!

 Overall he ended up playing a lot of special teams. But he loved it!

 We also lucked out on the weather this season! It was fabulous!

The Orem game ended up being somewhat of an easy win! The final score was 47 to 28. Will was able to get in on defense in the 4th quarter! It was a fun game to watch! Our Alta boys are incredible this season! It's amazing to watch how well these guys are playing together. Cannot wait for the next game!

Visitors, football & fun!

(Sept 8, 2016)

My Mom and dad really wanted to come out for a quick visit to see Carter and visit the family. We were happy they decided to come after the homecoming so we could spend more time with them and also this way they could see Will play football too!

It was a BIG Game too Alta was playing Timp View at home :)

 The weather was perfect and the energy was INTENSE!! I was so happy they were here to enjoy the game with us!

 Brianne and her buddies in the student section! She ended up going back and forth because this game was so stressful!!

 Check out our student section! In fact the entire stadium was almost full! It was awesome!! This game was T-I-G-H-T! When I was looking back in my journal about this game the work I used was EPIC! It was an intense game and I had ZERO voice left afterward!

 The good news is that WE WON! So it was fun to take after the game photos because it was a really great win! Exactly the type game you want to see when your visiting from our of town right?! Haha!

 Here's the score! Grabbed this off of Will's snapchat with his buddies! An awesome win by our Hawks! The next day my Dad and Chan went with Tom & Mark to the University of Utah vs BYU game! Talk about perfect timing! My Dad hadn't been to a BYU game in YEARS! In fact he had to borrow a shirt from Carter to wear! And the only reason Carter had it is because Mack gave it to him! Haha! Mack is down at BYU now and is playing for the Y.

 This game was another barn burner! In fact, funny enough, was soooo similar to the Alta game the night before! But the University of Utah won! As usual! Hahaha! But it didn't matter they had a super fun time anyway!

 While the guys were enjoying the game us gals went out shopping. We went to the Wood Connection- a place that sells wood craft projects. It's very fun and it's something my Mom cannot get at home. We also went to see AtHome- my favorite home store!

 On Sunday it was September 11th so we thought the perfect activity would be to go and see the healing field in Sandy. They place a flag for every person that dies in the attacks on 9-11. It's really awesome to see. Each flag also has a tag that tells that persons name and story. It is a beautiful tribute and I knew they'd like to see it.

 We also watched a documentary that day with the kids and my parents. It was very good and I like to make sure my kids understand what happened that day and it was good to get my parents perspective too.

 I was glad that we went- it was a good day!

 The next couple of days my parents spent downtown each day going to some classes they had signed up for to help them with selling Doterra. They enjoyed the classes and said that they learned a lot from them.

 The last night before they left we all went out to eat at our favorite place Bonsai. My Dad treated which was very kind! we enjoyed a yummy meal and visited a bit before hitting the sack.

 The last day on that morning we went south to see the Provo City temple and to hit a couple of Doterra stores near there before they left for the airport. It was my first time seeing that temple too- it's just stunning!

I am so glad that my parents were able to come and to spend some time with us! Even my doggies love it when they visit! They got some treats too- a new bowl set! Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and spending time with us! We love you!

PS- On a side note Brianne also got a job while they were here! She got a job as a sweeper at her elementary school right by our home. She was a bit overwhelmed at first but now loves it! She goes every day after school for a few hours. It's a great job for a young kid! :)

City of Rocks

(Sept 3-5, 2016)

Chan's family invited us to go camping with them to the City of Rocks Idaho. At first all of us were going to go, but Will ended up having to stay behind for football, sort of a bummer but that's how it goes sometimes! Anyway, it wasn't too far from home. Only a few hours drive and we were there!

 Here we are! We stopped at this gas station not long before getting to our camp! This was our text to the rest of the family that we were almost there!

 This part of Idaho was very interesting. Desert landscape really and, because of the time of year, very brown! I am sure that if it were earlier in the year it would look very different- more green!

 This is the camp site. It was an interesting spot. Not a lot of trees other than these spruces. However out in the distance it was a pretty view. The weather was a tad on the chilly side and it was sprinkling a bit too.

 Gamma bought this funny game where you wear these funny mouth things and then try to pronounce tough words and phrases. It was hilarious!

 On day two we went on a bit of a hike. It was supposed to be an "easy" one but after going about half way Chan and I decided to go back the way we came and wait for the rest of the group. Because of the weather and the fact that Chan had just recovered from back surgery I didn't want him to exhert himself too much. The last thing I wanted was for him to fall!

 Turns out it was a good thing! The last part of the hike was TOUGH and the group was glad that he had decided to turn back.

 My hikers! Some of the little arches like this one were so neat! The rocks were very similar to those in southern utah only the coloring is lighter.

 It still wanted to rain on us! Thankfully it was just a drizzle, I guess that is better than being really hot! :)

 I took a couple shots of us as we were walking back to the truck. This area was just so interesting!

 I really loved how pretty it was out on the horizon, but the rock formations were also very cool and interesting!

 Like this one here- and these were BIG!

 We love going on adventures in the truck! :)

 This was our last afternoon there- one last small hike before heading back to camp. Right after taking this picture Carter accidentally swatted my hand into a barbed wire fence and guess which finger got stuck in it.... YUP, the one I had already injured! It hurt SO bad! Thankfully, I cleaned it up and it was fine!

 Chan and I slept in this tent while we were there and it was nice! It got pretty chilly but we stayed plenty warm in there! I took this picture the morning we left- it was pretty windy! I was in the tent packing up and getting dressed and when I put my pants on I felt this leaf type feeling in my pants. I assumed it was a branch and went to pull it off and when I did I saw a HUGE bug! I freaked and shook it off and then tried to kill it with my shoe but it didn't work. So I ended up flicking it outside the tent door! UGH!!!!

The bug I saw looked similar to the one with the red background in this picture! EEEWWW! Thankfully I haven't had many of those type of things happen or I would say a very quick goodbye to camping!! :)

After we got all packed up we headed home very grateful for more time spent with family!

Alta vs Dixie

(Sept 2, 2016)

It was the long awaited game! Ever since last year when we traveled to St George to play Dixie and got our butts handed to us we've wanted a chance to play them again! And this time it was on OUR turf!

 They started out a bit rough, even had us worried a little bit! But thankfully they got into a groove during the 2nd quarter and when they came back from halftime it was ON!

 It was a great game! Dixie has another really good team and play very well so it was a really good team for us to play at the first of the season to get into a good rhythm.

 You can see the concern Brianne had, but I just kept telling her to hang in there and by the end she was one happy camper! Of course being in the student section is like heaven on earth to her! :)

Will played more special teams in this game and less on defense. We've got a lot of talent on this team and the bench is deep. But no matter what I love watching that #50 out there!! In the end it was a very successful win for our Hawks! The final score was 35 to 14! Way to go Hawks!

Homecoming proposal!

(August 31, 2016)

It's that time of year when we need to get creative to ask a girl to Homecoming!Since it came up rather quickly I just went to the dollar store one day after work and got creative!

 I made the poster for him and got the highlighters ready, along with some fun candies, and gave it to Will to deliver!

He asked Jazmyn Johanessen who he has known for many years and is a great friend! She posted this photo on her snapchat and was super excited! Now we wait for the answer......

 She reached out to be about a week later asking if her and a friend could come over while he was gone. So I made sure his room was clean and they went down and decorated for his answer!

He LOVED it! And it kind of went right along with our question! So fun! I love that they do this here! Now we get to look forward to the dance! :)

Brianne Runs for SBO!!

 (August 29-Sept 1, 2016)

As long as I can remember Brianne has wanted to be a Student Body Officer. She would make comments at the football games about them and how she was going to run once she got to Alta. She LOVES their energy and how they lead the students at events etc.

 So as soon as they announced the opportunities to run for Freshman SBO's she got a packet and brought it home and we got started! They have VERY specific rules that you have to follow! One of which is a bio (pictured above) that they place in the commons area for students to read.

 They can also make signs that they and two friends can carry to help them get elected. Brianne was running for public relations which was a very popular area. There were MANY others running!

 Because Alta has many schools that feed into it there was A LOT of students that didn't know her. So it forced her to talk to people and try to introduce herself and hopefully get their vote.

 I took her over to the school to take photos as well to get information up on her social media pages (as soon as it was allowed) so that her friends could share them too! It was fun to take these!

 We figured there was no better A TEAM than the football players! So I asked coach Te'o if she could take a picture with the team and he happily agreed! Brianne was in the middle of the entire varsity team!! I LOVE this photo because NO ONE loves Alta football more than her!

She made it through to the final round but unfortunately lost. She was devastated :( The only thing that made her feel better was to know that because she DIDN'T win she could now compete in Alta Idol. Thank heavens for that! Haha! I am hopeful she will try to run again! And I am SO proud of her for putting herself out there! That is a very tough thing to do! Way to go Brianne!