A Real Tear Jerker!!!

So we were supposed to leave for Idaho Friday, for Benson's youngest brother's mission farewell, but since Dallin's team won their 1st championship game, they were supposed to play at 10:00 on Saturday morning, and - if they won - again, at 2:00 for the final championship game. The boys won their 1st game, so we ran home, packed up the car, and returned for the final game. We were playing against a team we had already won before, so we had hope. The game was going very well, at one point we were even leading by 8 points. Dallin played great defense and swished two sweet shots (my favorite, is watching his confidence grow and watching his Dad's proud smile). But by the end, we were only up by 2 points. I turned to one of the mom's and said, "The worst that can happen, is they make a basket and we tie and go into over time." Well, with 30 seconds left on the clock, somehow a player on the other team sunk a 3 pointer (the 1st one I'd seen all season). With about 15 seconds left, we tried our best, but missed the basket, and the ball game and championship was over. The boys were so cute, about half of the team was crying, they were so disappointed. But, they played great, and we're super excited for the next season!

A Day of Basketball

Today was a day filled with basketball games! I am not a big sport's fan, but boy was it fun - nothing beats watching your kids work hard at something! Talie and Dallin played basketball this winter and this Saturday was the tournament. Benson is Dallin's coach and their team has improved a ton throughout the season! They went from losing most of their games at the beginning of the season to winning four in a row at the end. It is fun to watch Dallin as his confidence and love for the game grows. I like to call him, guard dog. His job on defense is to stand just beyond the center line and guard the point guard coming down with the ball. He has gotten so good at this, that it makes the poor point guard so nervous he just doesn't know what to do, so we usually get a steal and end up with the ball. Today, they played and won their first championship game, and so next Saturday they get to play another championship game, and if they win that one, they get to play the final game and place 1st or 2nd in the tournament - Go JAZZ! It is fun to watch the team work together - they are a great bunch of boys! I also love to watch Benson with the boys! You sure can see how proud he is of them and how much he enjoys working with them. Good-Luck next week boys!

Talie also played basketball this year. She somehow was put with a 4th grade team last year, and this year was bumped up to her normal grade level and Wow! is there a difference between 4th and 6th grade girls on the basketball court! At first she looked a little confused as far as what was going on, and anytime she bumped into anyone, she would say sorry, and give up the ball =), but she worked hard and improved, even scoring 4 out of the final 21 points for her team in the first tournament game. The girl's won their first game and the final championship game later that evening. Talie's team is also full of great girls. For their last game, they played against a team of girls that play dirty (like having fouls called for kicking). So it was kind of fun to watch her fight for the ball and stand up to these girls, she even played most of the last game, and boy was she tired after two hard games in a row! Although her team was ahead by 10 points at one point, unfortunately they didn't win, but they played hard and took 2nd place in the championship - go Comets! It was great watching Talie work hard at something and improve so much - her coach even recognized her as the most improved player.

Tear Jerker

The other night, Talie and Ashlynn decided to watch a movie that they had never seen before. I don't think they realized that it was a sad movie, until the very end when they were caught by surprise by the death of one of the main characters, and soon their cries turned into sobs. They hadn't ever cried so much in their lives (at least over a movie), so they took a picture of themselves in the middle of their big cry. Funny Girls!

A Child's Prayer

I think one of my favorite things about being a Mom is listening to my little ones pray. Today, Kennedi was saying the lunch prayer, and she was sitting at a little table with pictures on it. She began by thanking Heavenly Father for the house, and then I couldn't understand the next thing she thanked Him for, so I took a peek at her, and she was looking at a picture of an owl on the table, so I realized she said, "owl", she continued looking at her surroundings, and thanking Heavenly Father for everything she laid her eyes on, "thank you for spoons, the moon, food, spoons, yogurt . . ." I was very touched by this show of gratitude, and asked myself, "How often do I just look at the simple, everyday things around me and thank my Heavenly Father for them?"

The other day Peyton was saying his prayers, and he said, "Bless Mom and Dad, because I love them so much.." Prayers are my favorite!

The Big D

Dallin is officially 10!! I have to admit it is crazy that he is getting that old! I think it really hits me when I look at old pictures of him and can't believe how much he has changed. Dallin is definitely our morning kid! He can't sleep in, no matter how late he goes to bed. I finally had to make a rule that he was not allowed to set his alarm clock for any time earlier than 6:45 - just to get ready for school. When he was learning how to ride a bike in NC, he and I would wake up at about 6 am. and he would ride beside me as I ran. I would push him up the hills and he would leave me in the dust as he sped down the hills, but we had a lot of fun. And now, he'll wake me up on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take turns running on the treadmill.
Dallin is very affectionate and loving. Currently, Kennedi chooses to sleep with him instead of in her own bed. The other night, I went to check on them. They they were both asleep and Dallin had his arm around her.
A little known fact about Dallin: He has a green thumb. He grew these herbs (basil & thyme) from seeds. He carefully watered them every day, and even called his Dad to water them when he was at Grandma & Grandpa's house.
Dallin loves having a brother, but has been planning a second brother since we found out that Kennedi was a girl. He is very smart and loves math. He works hard at school and at home - trying our patience ; ) We are glad he's part of our family!




Although they don't always get along, and he loves to tease them, he really does like his sisters.