Coaching the Brick Masons

Pathetic name huh!  I guess the city ran out of team names by the time they got to naming the 11th and 12th grade teams because all of them have stupid names.  Tyrel got a few of his friends together to make a team this year.

 They wanted Travis to coach and Travis was so super excited to wear his suit like Jerry Sloan and coach the team.  We figured it would be ok since he was 18, but the city said no that they thought he would cause fights with the other coaches (Really??  They apparently don't know Travis, he is one of the most mellow even tempered people around).

So anyway, they talked Sean into it, which is good anyway since Travis has had to work almost every game.  They haven't done so well, but they have had fun and Travis did get to be the assistant coach and help with one game.  Sean wouldn't let them dribble the ball at their last game and they came really close to winning by just doing passes and no dribbling.  

 We'll see if they can pull off a win next time.  He didn't have them do it until half time, they were down by 20 and got to within 2, but then lost by 7 at the end.

Nothin' But Net

Well, it has begun...........No more Saturday morning yummy breakfasts because basketball season has begun.  Tyrel and Trevin are both playing this year.  We got up bright and early Saturday morning for Trevin's game at 8 am, then back home to do chores and back down to town for Tyrel's game at 1:00.  Sean is coaching Tyrel's team this year.  They both lost.............by quite a ways.  But they both seemed to have fun.

Tyrel was super excited to get to play church basketball for the first time ever this year.  Our stake has had girls basketball for years, but this is the first year they have done it for the boys.  Unfortunately, they only scheduled two games.  But, since he is also playing city league ball this year, he got some new shoes that were part of his Christmas present even though he got them early.  Trevin had a Christmas concert the same night as the 2nd game, but I made it for the 2nd half to take some pictures.  Unfortunately again, Tyrel twisted his ankle about 10 minutes after I got there.  Not sure if it was not being used to the new shoes or not.  Hopefully it will heal in time for city league ball to start.

Christmas Concert and Church Ball

Trevin's Christmas choir concert was tonight.  It was awesome!  Choir concerts always get me in the Christmas mood every year.  He says it is his favorite class this year and his teacher seems like so much fun.  He says if she goes to the new Jr. High next year, he will probably continue on with choir, so I hope she goes to the new Jr. High!  The most fun number was "Grandma's Killer Fruitcake", but they sang so many good songs with the girl's choir singing one of my favorites "Breath of Heaven".  Loved it!

pictures to follow

After the concert, I rushed to Tyrel's church basketball game and was able to catch the last half.  They were playing the Mountain View ward and stomping them.  Tyrel ended up rolling the same ankle he sprained playing volleyball a couple months ago in co-ed team sports, but I did get to see him play for a bit before that.  Their team played pretty well together and seemed to be having fun.

pictures to follow

He shoots, He scores!

We are almost through with basketball season this year and I haven't blogged about it once. Trevin and Tyrel both played this year and I was really sad that Travis decided not to play because he did a really great job last year now that he has finally had his coordination catch up to his body. Maybe we can talk him into it next year when he goes to the new high school. Trevin is so funny to watch because he gets so excited whenever he makes a basket. Someday, he will get coordinated hopefully, he is kind of like Travis was, his body is growing too fast to keep up in the coordination department. In fact, we had to buy him new shoes yesterday and he is now in a size 7 mens shoe. That is equivalent to a 9 in women's shoes which is my size and he is still only 9 years old. Tyrel's feet are as big as Sean's and Travis' wears the biggest size you can buy in a regular store. I hope his are done growing!

Tyrel has had a great year. They have lost a few games, but their team does pretty well. In their game yesterday he was the 2nd highest scorer, only 1 basket behind the high scorer. It was a fun game. It has been fun to see him improve this year. At the beginning of the year he had a tendency to slow up and shoot from too far out but now he is going all the way into the basket and he is making a lot more of his shots. His favorite place to play is up top in the guard position. They start the tournament next Saturday morning, so we shall see how they do.

Just Chillin'

What is up with this weather? I thought Spring had finally arrived and we woke up to 3 inches of snow again this morning and it looks like we might get more this afternoon. Sean says he is doing his part to make the biggest carbon footprint he can so that global warming can take over and Spring can arrive. So why don't you all go buy bigger gas guzzling vehicles and leave all of the lights in your house on so it will quit snowing already this year.
I did this scrapbook layout of Tyrel's snow cave that I had to share. The first picture was taken inside the cave, the 2nd photo is Tyrel and Trevin peaking out of the entrance hole. They had Brother Smith, who plows the church parking lot, put all of the snow all winter long at the end of the parking lot. THey ended up with this huge mountain. All of the scouts spent their Scout nights and every day after school for 2 weeks digging out their snow caves in the church parking lot to sleep in for their February campout. They ended up with 3 people in Tyrel's cave. I was amazed at how big it was. Tyrel could almost stand up straight in it and there was plenty of room for 3 people in it. It was really warm inside also. He said they had to kick out of their sleeping bags because it got too hot inside during the night. They had a lot of fun with it. It even had little snow steps leading up to the entrance.

Basketball is finished. Travis and Tyrel's team made it in to the final 4 in the 3 city playoff tournament. It was really fun to watch them this year. Now we are just waiting for soccer. Tyrel and Trevin are both playing and Tyrel also gets the job of being a ref for the younger teams this Spring. He is pretty excited for the extra cash.

Work is CRAZY!!!!

I've started a new entry several times only to be interrupted, so I'm ignoring everything until I get this done. SO I sit here with cold feet because I don't have socks on this morning and my hair is still dripping wet, but I'm determined to do this.

I have gone from processing 4-5 loans a month to around 45 loans a month. I am working from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. some nights. My poor kids haven't had too many decent meals and my house is a wreck. I hired Tyrel to work a couple of hours after school. He loves the money and it helps me out. I also hired a neighbor girl to work a couple of hours 3 days a week. Hopefully when she gets trained, it will give me a little extra time although the loan officers seem to want to double their volume. At least I'm working from home, so I can at least say HI to the kids occasionally.

We have been getting lots of snow here lately. The boys built snow caves for their Young Men activity last night and thought it was great fun! Sledding at the driving range at the golf course here is the #3 spot for sledding in the State of Utah, so that is always fun too!

Basketball season has started, so the 1 free day I have each week (Saturday) is filled with games. I love watching my boys though. Travis has really done well this year. I think his coordination has finally caught up with his growth and he is doing great in all sports he tries this year. He just started a weight training class at school and thinks he is going to love it. Trevin is quite the little defender. This is his first year for Basketball and he always has his long arms out and waving to block the other teams shots.

That is all for now. Life is great and busy!