Bounty Hunters Go Bonanzas

This season has been so fun to watch Cooper play soccer!  The last couple of years with the YYSA soccer it always gets tricky to have enough teams to play against as so many kids start playing club soccer.  Cooper has really enjoyed playing on the Bounty Hunters this year as he has many good friends on the team.  They have played against some tall kids this season and have really been challenged.

Coop has played goalie for several of the games.  

He's not afraid to give his all!

And it seems as though we have another Ditto that sticks out their tongue when they are concentrating!

I love these next two pictures...

Getting ready

Pow!

One thing that we've all noticed this season is how much more aggressive Cooper has become.  Check out that face of determination!

Cooper made TWO goals on this past game.  It was awesome to see his do his little jig after making the goals and his teammates cheering him on.

I've been grateful to be able to park right next to his field so I can stay warm for a chunk of his game in the car.  Then I run out and cheer hard for him until I get to cold. 

This past Saturday we promised anyone that came to cheer Cooper on with an ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins following his game.  Birch and I has realized that over the past years the kids are supporting each other less and less at each of their events.  I think this is because they have so much personally going on and because they are old enough to stay at home alone.  I won't lie...this is partially nice but I do miss the days where the whole family went from event to event cheering each other on.  So a little bribing seemed to do the trick!

Varsity all the way!!

Tyler really worked hard the past few months to make it on the varsity tennis team.  He played tennis outside on some super cold and windy days because his momma didn't want to pay for an indoor tennis membership.  All of his hard work paid off when he made it number three on the varsity singles. 

It's been fun watching him his matches several times a week.  Apparently I make him nervous which is really quite funny to me because I don't even understand the scoring or rules.  I just want him to know that I am his number one cheerleader!!!

Life is more than a Circus

Ever since I took Chloe and Alysee to watch the movie "The Greatest Showman" I've thought it would be fun to take the kids to a circus.  It has been YEARS since I have gone - in fact I think I took Alex and Tyler once when they were around three year's old and one year's old. 

I had very low expectations for the traveling circus that came through Yakima.  Using a promotional code I was able to get a family pass (two adults and three kids) for $30.  Tyler had tennis and Birch was at work so I took the younger four kids.  Chloe was so excited to go and desperately wanted to see lions jumping through fire, elephants, etc... 

Let me tell you...I was pleasantly surprised.  It was a delightful show!  We arrived about an hour early as Chloe wanted front row seats.  We did get excellent seats and loved having Aunti Emily and her kids join us on our row. 

Chloe was dying to ride the elephant - we compromised with a picture in front of the elephant instead.

For the first part of the show I was loving taking pictures with my zoom lens.  After the first few acts I was told that professional cameras were not allowed.  Super lame but I'm thankful I got a few great shots at the beginning of the show.

Chloe's dream came true!

 And then my camera got taken away...so the rest are with my cell phone.

This part was one of the craziest and most exhilarating acts - FOUR street motorbikes zooming around and around in this metal hamster cage ball.  I think I would rather die than try anything like this.

We had such a great time and my only sadness was not having the whole family together for the show.  I definitely plan on bringing the whole family in the future!!!

Coop represents the Dittos on the horn

Our band numbers in our family are slowly dwindling.  Nathan decided to drop out of band at the beginning of this past semester.  So Coop is our sole french horn player.  He has mixed feelings about being in band but I'm glad he has had several years to learn how to read music and gain the other benefits of music.

Coop's middle school band really sounded great!

Lifting the head that hangs

We had another opportunity to serve dinner to the homeless at Camp Hope.  This time several families all joined together to provide a taco salad dinner, brownies, and a water bottle.  I think we served around eighty people.  I love seeing my kids side-by-side with their friends lifting the hearts (and tummies) of those that need an extra hand.

After all the food was served we all have the chance to eat and mingle with the residents.  Birch sat next to a man from Ecuador that only speaks Spanish.  The two of them enjoyed sharing a meal together which eventually turned into a missionary opportunity for Birch.  After they spoke about the gospel Birch asked the man if he would like a Book of Mormon.  He said that he would and so now Birch is getting him a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon.

I was able to help another resident take dinner up to her family's room as she was trying to balance four plates in her hands.  I'm thankful for this opportunity that my family has had to bring fresh good food to many individuals of all ages.  It feels good to be the Lord's hands.

Coop and his friends were in charge of handing out the waterbottles.

Each month it is my goal to have the kids be the ones that get to serve the food.  So many times I feel like adults get many opportunities to serve so I love that the kids actually get a hands-on  chance to be apart of this neat experience.

Church Ball...begins with a prayer and ends with a brawl

This year our stake decided to step up their church ball game and make a more organized season like in previous years.  The most significant change was the decision to hire referees rather than have volunteers or no refs.

Birch didn't get to play every week due to other church obligations but he did enjoy playing several games.  The kids and I had fun being cheerleaders for our favorite ball player!  Our ward ended up being top in the league but at playoffs dropped down to fourth place.

I'm not very good at indoor sports photography but I still had to capture something for memories.  It was fun to see our Daddy on fire!!

Nate Turns 14!!!!

Turning fourteen is really a pretty big deal -- all the fun church youth activities seem to happen after that ripe ol' age.

Nate kicked off birthday week with having a bunch of his friends over to hang out.  They all made personal pan pizzas and played a lot of ping pong and pool.

Chloe made these cute cupcakes for Nate's party.  They are little snails on top.

Nate has got a great laugh!

For Nate's real birthday he requested raviolis with a meat sauce, green house salad, and homemade french bread. (Birch and I took Nate out to Subway for lunch)

Nate was DELIGHTED to receive a new rubix cube from his siblings.

Check out how fast Nate is with his rubix cube (a little over 1 min and 20 sec) - https://youtu.be/whH8GNagCPg

And not so happy about this gift...Nate really wanted a phone or an ipod for this birthday.  Somehow the chocolate iphone that Birch and I got in Mexico just wasn't as awesome.  Go figure??

Nate was most excited about the big box of shoes I ordered from Nike.com.  The hard part was narrowing it down to one pair.  He actually ended up using his birthday money from Ami and Poppi to keep an additional pair.

Pretty sweet loot!

Nate chose Moose Tracks ice cream for his birthday treat.

Wishing...

I share the next two pictures with Nate's permission.  Two days before Nate turned fourteen year's old he got to go to Youth Conference in Wenatchee.  Birch and I were lucky to be chaperones and were able to sneak a few pictures of Nate's first dances!!!  I was super impressed that he stretched himself out of his comfort zone and asked several girls.  His favorite dance partner ended up being a seventeen year old!!!

Love this kid!