Bradon's football season and birthday.

This was Bradon's second year as a CAVEMAN and the only thing
that comes to mind is this little cheer that goes something like this...
First is the worst, second's the same, last is the best of all the game!
But in reality, second was really worst than the first!

My heart goes out to Bradon.
He finally gets drafted to a really good team and then gets traded.
Not that he was against the trade, it just equaled
another tough year of loss after loss.

They ended their season with ZERO wins!

And it's not like they don't have some really great players on their team either. And we love the head coach. But Bradon has reached an age where games aren't won with just part of the package. You have to have the whole package to win! And unfortunately this team just didn't have it!

This is a picture of their first touchdown of the year!
I don't remember how many games into the season it was
but it was against our rival, the other American Fork 6th grade A team.
{The team Bradon was originally on this year.}

Cute #7 on the sidelines watching his defense play.

Man, if halftime banners counted for something, we would have won some games! This banner was awesome! The caveman was drawn by Coach Best. It's like the Incredible Caveman!

He made this big HUGE club too!
All the kids loved it and wanted the privilege of holding it.

Now those are two Football Fanatic Fathers!
{A little preoccupied with their cell phones at the moment but fanatics nonetheless!}

Our friend Tom and his son Max made it a point to come to as many of Ethan's games as they could which was really nice! Tom coaches one of the 8th grade A teams. Ethan and Bradon played on fields side by side on this day which made it really nice for us.

Talan enjoys messing around with Max.
And I'm pretty sure that Max loves every minute of it!
{Wink Wink!}

Bradon's team lost the game, BUT SCORED!

Since it was Bradon's 12th birthday
we brought Krispy Kream doughnuts to celebrate!

The team sang Happy Birthday, we passed out doughnuts,
and then headed to Logan for a Utah State Aggies football game!

Eric got us tickets to the game and so we made a family vacation out of it. We stayed at the Marriott, we went swimming, and went to the game!

Eric is #66.
He starts on the offensive line.
He plays right tackle.

The family and friend's of the players section is right behind the band. When we got to our seats someone was already sitting there. They told us, "In this section you just sit anywhere!" So we found some empty seats and sat down. Little did we know, the tubas stand up to play! So anytime the band played this became our view... TOTALLY AWESOME!
I have to admit though, sitting behind the band is totally entertaining. They have all these little dances they do to different songs. They have apple eating contests. And this year one of the tuba players was having a heart attack or something! Never a dull moment sitting behind the band!

I love this picture of Eric protecting his QB!
What a great shot and I'm pretty sure that it was one of the kids who took it!

The Aggies ended up loosing 34-35 in double overtime to Colorado State.

After the game we took the kids back to the hotel and then took Bradon out to dinner with Eric for his birthday. I seriously think it was the highlight of his birthday!

It's not everyday that one of your cousins plays division 1 football and you not only get to go to the game, but you get to go out to eat with him too!

Thanks Eric for the special birthday treat!
Your the best!

The next morning we woke up and hurried back home
for church so that Bradon could receive the Priesthood!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADON!
WE LOVE YOU!

American Fork 8B Rivalry Game!

Ethan's # is Double Zero!

This year football has been CRAZY once again!
We literally run like crazy leaping from one game to another trying to see as much as we can of all 3 boys games. David has coached Ethan's 8th grade B team this year so he has gotten to see 100% of Ethan's games!
Ethan has improved SO MUCH!
Last year was his first year playing football and unfortunately for him, his line coach didn't have the first clue about coaching a line. And even without any REAL instruction he did pretty good! But this year his line coach {Coach Lemon} was excellent! And Ethan has done nothing but excel!

Coach Lemon's wife told me that Coach Lemon talks about Ethan all the time. She said that he's so happy with him! Not only is he a good kid but he's turning into a pretty good linemen too! He even bought him linemen gloves for playing so well!

Every year we get to play against the other American Fork team. The kids really get up for this game! Even though we are really all on the same team in the long run it's like the RIVALRY game of the year! Last year we beat them in the final minutes of the game. And this year the boys wanted nothing less than a win!

Ethan had his first fumble recovery!
It was awesome!
He jumped up off the ground and held the ball up in the air!
He was so excited, well actually we all were!

At one of the timeouts Talan followed David out to the field. The funny thing is that David didn't even notice that Talan was behind him in the huddle. One of the refs came over to David and jokingly said, "Coach, you have one too many coaches on the field." David was like, "What?" He pointed out David's little shadow and David was totally surprised to see him there!

Come on little buddy, timeout's over!

Tee Hee Hee!

We played a great game!
We didn't just win by a hair, we slaughtered them {relatively speaking}! In fact they almost had a goose egg up until the very last play of the game when they scored. Dang it, they scored!

In the forth quarter when we were way ahead Ethan came out of the game. This year since Ethan has been playing offense and defense we don't see him on the sidelines very often. Which doesn't allow for a lot of rest time but I think it's been good for him!

Way to go on a great game
DOUBLE ZERO!

" My fighting book!"

Last week I was trying to get Talan ready and out the door with me to the kid's football games. As we were FINALLY leaving out the door Talan frantically started freaking out about his "Fighting Book." I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him what his fighting book was. He didn't know how to explain it to me. Finally I sent him back into the house to find his fighting book so that we could go. He ran back into the house and picked up this book!

THE FIGHTING BOOK!

Well of course!
Of course this would be the fighting book!
I don't know why I didn't figure this one out on my own!
The Book of Mormon is filled with fighting!
We really should all refer to it as the fighting book.
It only makes sense!

My 3 year old helper!

This week we are getting new carpet in the master bedroom and family room. I decided that this would be the perfect time to paint the master bedroom since we have to move all of the furniture out of the room anyways! And Lucky for me, Talan decided that he would help!

Wait a second... did I actually use the word help?

As you can see from this picture, Talan made his way around the room painting. A little here and a little there! Oh he was busy! For the most part he did pretty good. He only got a little bit on the baseboards and he only painted the armoire once! Luckily for me my friend Shari stopped by and pointed it out to me in time for me to wash it off!

Don't let this innocent looking face fool you!
Though it is VERY CUTE, Talan is going through a very mischievous stage in life right now. He's testing his limits on every level! He thinks throwing a fit/tantrum is an art form and he's doing all he can to perfect it!
One of his most favorite thing to say when he's not getting his way is, "I hate you!" And when you give him something he wants, he turns on the charm and says, "I love you!" He's working really hard and being MEAN! The other night when I was tucking him into bed he told me, "I hate myself!" When I asked him why he hated himself he responded, "Because I'm so mean! I want to be a nice boy!" Today as he was throwing the ultimate tantrum about diet coke, all of a sudden in the middle of his tantrum he stopped and said, "I'm going to be nice now!" These are all glorious signs that he knows the difference between wrong and right and he's learning to choose the right!

Thanks for all the great help today Talan.
You're the best!

Fork em' Devils!

ASU is in town to play UofU and David and I are going to the game! This will be the first ASU game we've been to since we gave up our season tickets when we moved here 5 1/2 years ago.
We've been waiting a long time for ASU to come to town! And this day has finally arrived!

I made this beautiful sign in honor of this glorious day! I placed it in the front yard of one of my dearest friends who just so happens to be a HARD CORE UTAH FAN!
The Ingram's are awesome football loving people and we are pretty sure they will LOVE their new yard decoration!

We love you Ingrams! Thanks so much for selling us the tickets to the game. We couldn't be more thrilled for the opportunity to go!
YOU ROCK!

FEAR THE FORK!

Oh so sweet!

We went to a BYU game leaving Ethan and Bradon home to babysit. When we came home the house was perfectly quiet and everyone was sleeping. We could hardly believe it! I walked around the house to check on everyone and found these two sleeping together. I thought it was so cute that I had to take a picture! There's just almost nothing sweeter than the sight of sleeping babes!
Way to go Ethan and Bradon!
I don't know what you did to get them to go to sleep but it worked and it was an AWESOME little surprise!

BYU home opener...

Against in-state arch nemesis...
UTAH!

Every year we feel it's important to rival with Utah fans {The Gledhill Family} during rivalry week. Because we care? NO. Because it's fun? YES!

This year though was different. It just wasn't the same! We aren't even in the same conference with them anymore! BYU is Independent and UTAH is in the Pac 12. I mean really, what kind of rivalry is that? And rather than playing them the last home game of the year, we played them the first home game. So weird... on so many levels!

Anyways non the less we still felt it was important to do something. Of course we didn't have all season to think about it or any time for a REAL 2011 rivalry to heat up, so we did what any tradition keeper does for the sake of keeping a tradition alive... we made them a poster! {That is what tradition keepers do? Right?}

Keep in mind that we have been watching a lot of Gnomeo and Juliet around our house lately and have been quoting a line or two. And this one particular part of the movie just seemed to say it all!

However it wasn't until after we made the poster that we realized that not everybody watches Gnomeo and Juliet around the clock like we do. And that perhaps our clever poster won't even make any sense to ANYONE! Or even worse... It might not even be appreciated!

Well lucky for us the Gledhill's do a pretty good job of acting like they think we are awesome weather we make any sense or not... So there you have it,
RISE UP BYU!!!

David and I took Ethan and Bradon to the game. Minutes before we left Carsten, Reagan and Talan with a sitter, Carsten got invited to go to the game with our good friends the Ingram's. The Ingram's are big UTAH fans and had to really swallow some of their pride to allow a BYU wearing jersey sit in their car and grace their presence, not to mention sit in the visiting UTAH section of the stadium. And for that we are grateful! Thanks Ingram's for your generosity and for protecting our son amongst all those wild UTAH fans! You guys are the best!

We got to the game early enough to enjoy the party atmosphere outside the stadium before the game and were in our seats for all the pregame stuff too. The National Anthem was AMAZING! There just isn't anything like an American flag that covers an entire football field!

Fireworks exploded...

The players entered the field with nothing but the warmest of welcomes...

And the game began...

Anything and everything that could go wrong for BYU did! But despite the awful display of football, going into half time it looked as though BYU wasn't necessarily out of it.

At half time both BYU and UTAH's band's preformed separately and then together. And I have to say that BYU's band won that competition HANDS DOWN! Now I don't know if it's really a competition, but if it is, or if it was... BYU won!

I didn't get a picture of it because I was probably too enthralled with the performance, but they formed a football player that moved and then kicked a field goal! As the band members ran across the field as if to be a leg/foot, they kicked a huge football that was being carried by cheer leaders {or possibly flag girls} that traveled across the field and through the field goal made out of more band members! I've seriously never seen such an exciting half time presentation in all my football game going half time band watching days! Way to go BYU band! You ROCK!

Bradon being Bradon!

And then the rest of the game was an embarrassment! Turnover after turnover! So many turnovers that Arby's offered free turnovers for everyone with a game ticket stub the next day! Seriously the game became comical it was so bad! Maybe that's why the half time band show sticks out in my mind as being so wonderful! And don't get me wrong, they were wonderful!

After the game we spotted Jimmer with his girly friend down on the field! The basketball star with the cheerleader, it's like a match made in heaven!

On the way out to our car we came across some unruly UTAH fans making fun of our Rise Up BYU flag on our car. Poor David couldn't help himself and had to put the poor lads in their place. Surprising us all he screams out, "Bottom feeders!"

Let the rivalry live on!

Fall Pumpkins!

This year I planted pumpkins!

It has been so fun to watch them take off and grow!
Our one little pumpkin plant has produced 5 pumpkins! One for each of the kids! It's cute because the kids have been going out and claiming their pumpkins. Carsten insists, "I get the smallest one!"
I think the pumpkins are all just about ready to harvest. Well, all but one of them. This green one has been so slow! I moved it out away from the house so it could see more of the sun and it's finally starting to get it's orange color. I can't wait to display them on my front door steps! I'm one proud pumpkin farmer!

Aunts

Aunt Sally, Me, and Aunt Nancy

Aunt Nancy and Aunt Sally came to town for a few days to visit.
We all met up at Wendy's for lunch before they headed back to Washington.

Lil' RED Running Hoods!

I ran in my first relay race!

The Red Rock Relay was September 9th and 10th.
I was on a team made up of 12 female runners. We were divided up into 2 vans and each of us ran 3 legs of the race. The race started at Brian Head Ski Resort just outside of Cedar City, UT. and ended at Zions National Park. The race was 174 miles long lasting 2 days. It was an amazing adventure!

My friend Wendy Barron invited me to run on her team. Wendy and I were in the same ward in Phoenix years ago. We have both since moved to Utah and taken up running. Wendy was the only person I knew on our team. But luckily for me, I don't have any problems making friends!

Our team name was
Lil' RED Running Hoods!

One of the girls on our team that was in van #2
made the cutest cookies for all of us.

My friend Wendy was Runner #1. {She's the one in the middle.} The start of the race was at the top of Brian Head. She took a 20 min. ski lift ride to get to the top. Once at the top the race began!

I was Runner #3
So I ran legs 3, 15, and 27.

My first leg was 8.4 miles long and according to the guide map it was considered to be hard, but it was all downhill. Here is what the guide map said exactly...

LEG #3
“CEDAR DISCO BREAK”

Description: The Cedar Breaks National Monument and scenic over looks surround this leg. Runners will run a slight decline on their way past some of the most beautiful Red Rock vistas known to man. Team vans and runners should be sure to take some time to breathe the mountain air and enjoy this part of the RRR journey!
Safety: Fairly low traffic with a good shoulder to run on. Continue to be aware of oxygen levels. You are still running at 10k feet!

So this is all the warning I received to train for this little MONSTER! And let me start by saying that the first 1 1/2 miles was straight UPHILL! And the rest of the 7 miles had some decline but it was definitely NOT all downhill! And when they speak of oxygen levels... They weren't kidding! 10 thousand feet is a killer to breath in!

Notice the INCLINE!
Oh and don't forget to notice some of
the most beautiful Red Rock Vistas known to man!

I'll be perfectly honest... I was sucking wind so bad {weather I was running up or downhill} that I wasn't noticing anything beautiful!

Once again... INCLINE!!!
So nice to have picture proof of my misery!

But I have to say that it was still kind of fun at the same time. My support van would drive up a mile or two and then get out to cheer me on. And a girl from my ward was on a team racing close with us and so they would cheer me on too! I had like double the support! Well right up until my friends MOM passed me! They call that a KILL. Some vans keep track of how many people they "KILL". Our van didn't keep track. But I kept track of my own. It was super easy! I had 2 kills TOTAL! And I wont mention how many times I was KILLED!

Here's our van!

In this picture I'm passing off to Krista after completing Leg #15.
Leg #15 started right at dusk and it was a 4.6 mile run and considered to be a medium level of difficulty.

LEG #15
“DESERT SOLITUDE”

Description: A hundred years ago, prospectors wandered these lands looking for GOLD... you’ll wander them looking for an energy bar & an adrenaline high. The first half is up (summit at 2.3 miles) and the second half is down. The exchange is located at the bottom of the hill at a 4 way intersection.
Safety: Extremely low traffic, possible cattle guards or uneven surfaces.

If this leg was really 1/2 uphill and 1/2 downhill, the uphill part felt A LOT LONGER than the downhill part! Just saying!

After we passed off to Van #2 we headed up to our next van exchange. There were literally hundreds of people in sleeping bags lying in the grass around an LDS church house trying to get a little rest.

#1... I'm not a good sleeping bag sleeper.
#2... I'm not good at falling asleep amongst hundreds of other people. Some of which were not sleeping however they were yelling in a whisper "Running with scissors?" "Running with scissors?" Not to mention the team at my feet that decided to make themselves a hot breakfast with like a little camping stove or something!
Which brings me to point #3... I think I maybe got about 30 minutes of sleep! And something I learned about not sleeping at my age... It causes nausea! Weird huh? And to answer your question... No I didn't throw up!

So... my last leg was just 2.56 miles long and quite EASY!!!
I began my run just as the sun began to rise.

LEG #27
“CANYON OVERLOOK”

Description: After your hand off, you will jump on the running trail adjacent to hwy 18. This has some crazy rollers and crazy views of the canyon. Just look to the right and behold nature’s majesty! The total elevation drop on this baby is around 1k feet so be ready to blaze these 2.5 miles.
Safety: Extremely low traffic, on path. Be aware of potential poor visibility due to early morning hours.

I did it!
I completed all 3 legs of my runs equaling 15 1/2 miles.

Van #1 from left to right
Tania, Krista, Tammie, Laura,Wendy and Stephanie.

And the entire team at the finish line... minus 2!
We finished the race in 33 hours and 27 minutes.

GO LIL" RED RUNNING HOODS!