president's cup

Emma and I journeyed down to Mesquite, NV, during the President's Day weekend for a soccer tournament. This was Emma's first out-of-state tournament experience. It was full of fun, triumph, fatigue, sadness, friends, food, and beautiful weather.

We left around noon on Thursday, taking Emma's good friend, Annie, with us. I was listening to Gary Schmidt's Okay for Now while driving. It was interesting to hear the girls' becoming slowly enthralled with the book. Annie stayed in the same hotel room as us for the weekend and we listened to the rest of the book at night. They loved it, "And I'm not lying."

They played their first game at 7:00 Thursday night against Joga. They won 4-0. I rented a 70-200mm lens and had a great time taking pictures all weekend.

We went to St. George on Friday because they had no games that day. First we went to the temple where the girls did baptisms for the dead. I was able to go and do initiatories. Then we went to lunch and did a little shopping, which was really just wandering the stores that were there on that street--Dick's, Old Navy, Target, Ross. They were hoping they could find modest swimming suits but had no luck. We headed back to Mesquite and got there just in time for a glorious sunset so I took the four girls I had in my car to do a little photo session.

My Valentine's Day was not anything romantic. I had about 7-10 girls in the hotel room at any given time, making noise, taking pictures, watching the Olympics, eating snacks and making their own fun.

Saturday morning at 8:00, they played USA and won 1-0. This team was really physical and liked to talk smack but Forza won in a hard-fought game.

We went back to the hotel to ice legs and try and relax before the quarter-final game at 5:00. They played their main rival, Celtic, in a serious battle of skill and endurance. It was scoreless in regulation and in overtime, leaving penalty kicks to finally decide the outcome. After the first five girls shot their penalty kicks, the score was 2-2. We then scored the final and winning penalty kick, making the score 3-2. The girls were elated. It was like winning the championship. Emma was completely physically and emotionally exhausted after this game. We went to dinner at a buffet and she could hardly stand up. After much cajoling, I convinced her to eat something and she did perk up a little with the help of her friends.

We had Sunday off, thankfully, so we went to church in little Bunkerville, NV, and then headed up to St. George. We went to the tabernacle, ate lunch at Red Robin, wandered the temple grounds and visitor's center and then went back to Mesquite. The team met up at a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

The girls played another Forza team in the semi-final game on Monday morning. Their hearts just didn't seem to be in it. I think after the emotional high of winning against Celtic, they had already checked out mentally. They lost 1-2 against a team they really should have beaten. It was frustrating for Emma who was really playing hard and trying to rally the rest of the team. You just can't do it alone though.

After eating a late lunch at Brick Oven in St. George, we drove home, arriving around 7:30 that night. The weekend was really great overall. I enjoyed being with just Emma, reading books, and taking pictures. It was a nice break for me. Emma learned a lot about tournament play, dealing with people, and working through set-backs. She also had a lot fun being her friends and playing the game she loves.

The full gallery of photos are here.

biggest and littlest

I had my photography backdrop out after another photo session so Emma took these pictures of Ben.

Look how he's grown. Still pretty cute though, don't you think?

These two have a really sweet relationship.

february around here

Dave and I went with Keri and Michael to see BYU Folk Dancers at the Conference Center. We met up with Aaron and Becky Love for dinner at Crown Burger beforehand.

Anne lost her first tooth. She's only four!

She also made all of the Valentines for her preschool class by hand. It took her a long time but was just what she wanted to do. She loves to draw!

Speaking of teeth, Sawyer's teeth (or the lack thereof) are looking a bit like a jack-o-lantern. How does he even eat?

Ben's favorite shoes to wear are Anne's. Usually an unmatched pair. He also loves to dress up. Reminds me of Sawyer at that age.

We had an Olympics party for the Opening Ceremonies on the 7th. When I mentioned the Olympics were going to start soon, Nathan exclaimed that we had better have donuts just like last time. This party was sort of lame because I was still feeling sick with baby #7. The kids were still happy though. We spent the next two weeks watching lots and lots of hours of Olympic coverage which I thoroughly enjoyed.

We spent lots of time in rehearsals all month. I'm directing a stake Broadway revue that Dave, Emma, Nathan and Sawyer are performing in. Slade and Nathan are also in rehearsals for the school play, Robin Hood, and I help with the choreography. These rehearsals fill our Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings.

I took Emma down to Mesquite, NV, for the President's Cup soccer tournament. More on that in another post.

Dave received an award from work. He and I got to go eat delicious food at Thanksgiving Point for the recognition dinner. Then, I got to sit back and listen to how totally awesome my husband is at work. He really is just awesome all around.

While not as much as in January, I still spent a lot of time in bed feeling sick. Of course, this means that there are constant messes all around my house. The counter is usually filled with bread, cheese and milk left out from someone's snack making.

random January happenings according to my phone

Emma and her friends came home from school and played Uno one afternoon. This was a happy day with friends. Unfortunately this month, she also had some bad ones. Some not so nice things were said about her by two different boys in our ward whom she had considered friends. It was hurtful. It was totally uncalled for. It made me very grateful for all the really good friends she does have.

I made five batches of playdough. They get used every day by all the kids and the neighbors too. The favorite activity recently has been cutting out heart cookies for Valentine's Day.

Slade's new iPod nano that he got for Christmas went completely kaput on him. We took it to the Apple Store and they traded it for a new one. Yeah, Apple! I took the five kids with me and they were actually all so good! We went to Target afterwards and bought Slade new pants. He is growing like a weed. At his priesthood preview at church, he was several inches taller than the other incoming deacons. I really wish I had a picture of the 50ish Young Men in our ward lined up to shake their hands. It was really cool.

Dave's parents invited us over for dinner one Sunday. It was really nice to spend time with them without all the chaos of the entire family. We had stir fry and then Jello and cookies for dessert. After dinner, we played games. Nathan and Sawyer wanted to learn how to play checkers so Grandma and Grandpa helped them play. Anne and Ben fell asleep in the van on the way home. I thought their stuffed dogs tucked in with them looked rather cute. If you look closely, you can see Emma and Slade holding their hands up above their hands in the back. They were all fighting and making us crazy so Dave told them they had to hold their hands above their hands the rest of the way home. Of course, they turned it into a competition but it sure made the drive quieter.

A student from the BYU Bean Museum came and did an animal show at Anne's preschool. Her teacher was gracious enough to let the boys come and watch as well.

We received sad news mid-month that one of the directors of the BYU folk dance team had passed away from flu complications. Delynne was a really awesome teacher, mentor and friend and it was hard to believe that such an active, vivacious woman had died at only 62. In honor of her, the folk dancers invited alumni to attend a Rec Night. We aren't so young and skinny anymore, but we still danced. I wish more of our friends had been able to be there but we had a great time. We were able to see more of our folk dance friends at her funeral. It was a sad occasion but folk dance reunions are always a joyful thing. I think Delynne would have appreciated all the hugs and laughter between the many, many lives she touched.

We also went to see BYU Vocal Point in concert. This is such a terrible picture but the concert was lots of fun. And of course, I always like being on a date with Dave.

our little winter ballerina

Anne had her winter dance recital this month. She loves going to ballet class but she especially loves recital time. Recitals mean MAKEUP which is very exciting to a four year old. Her class did a snowflake dance this year. As usual, Anne was a lovely dancer and totally hilarious to watch. She always puts her own spin on things.

Anne is the first one on stage and on the far right in the line.

Emma really wanted to give Anne flowers at the end of her recital so she convinced Dave to take her to the store. Anne was so totally thrilled and thanked Emma repeatedly. Good call, Emma.

Another thing I want to remember is how cute Ben was during the performances. He watched the dancers just mesmerized. At the end of each number, he clapped and said, "Again, Mom." It was so cute. Until he got bored. Then he was a typical two year old, climbing all over, looking for snacks, and being a pain.

our first basketball player

We've been a soccer family so far with just a couple of forays into t-ball on the side. Nathan is our first child to be interested in playing basketball. He started this month. Just like in soccer, he seems to have gotten stuck on a team with very little skill so they are losing a lot. He is still having fun though which is all that matters.

happy new year

So far 2014 has been filled with sickness and not a whole lot of fun. After Christmas, Ben got sick with a bad cold which lasted through the new year celebrations. While Dave took the kids to play laser tag and hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's, I stayed home with Ben. For days, I've been a prisoner on my own bed.

On New Year's Day, Emma babysat for us while we went to a movie and dinner with all the Daniel adults. We went to see The Hobbit and had dinner at Chili's afterwards. Sadly, this is the last time we'll be together for a while since Brett and Heather moved to Texas the next day. They have been living about two minutes away from us so I am so very sad.