Fun Pics from 2012

(Note: As you look at these pictures, see if you can figure out who the "ham" is in our family.) :)

This summer, SkyWest had a party for employees. They had lots of fun games, activities, and food. One of the activities was dressing up in SkyWest flight attire and taking pictures. Kinda fun.

In October, the girls and I went to a BYU Women's Soccer game. We had a lot of fun, but we did take a break from the game to get these cute pictures:

I went to see Green Smoothie Girl with Denise in September. I was brave enough to ask for a picture with her, but I wasn't smart enough to have a camera with me. Denise came through with her camera phone. Not the best picture, but still a picture. :)

The $28 Goal

(Disclaimer: I somehow managed to go through the whole fall soccer season without getting a picture of Morgan. Sorry Morgan!!!)

October 4, 2012 is going down in history as one of my all-time favorite days. That's the day I had to pay Morgan $28 for making a goal in soccer! I'll give you the whole story below, but first...enjoy these cute pictures of Brynne and Melissa during soccer:

Okay, here's the story:

Morgan really enjoys soccer, but admittedly a great deal of her time on the field is spent swatting at flies and/or yelling things to try and throw off the other team. The times Morgan decided to play hard, she did well; but her norm is to hang back and wait for the ball to come to her.

Her last day of soccer was actually a double header with a one-hour break in between. When she was getting ready to go out and play, Lee said, "Hey Morgan. You know these are your last games so go crazy!!" I said, "Yeah! We'll even get you something if you score a goal!" I was thinking about an ice cream cone or $1, but Morgan replied with, "Will you give me 28 bucks?" Lee and I agreed, realizing that Morgan had never even shot any goals during the season.

The first game came and went. Morgan played well, but no goals. The second and final game of the season is a different story, though. The coach put Morgan in as goalie for the second half with the instructions that if she paid attention and did well, he'd give her some time at the end of the game to be center forward. She did well, so Morgan got to be center forward for the last five minutes of the game. With only a few minutes left to play, Morgan kicked the ball up and over the goalie's head to score a goal! (Morgan figured it was what the other team had coming because they had scored on her with a similar kick while she had been playing goalie a bit earlier.)

Trying to explain everyone's reactions is impossible, but basically Morgan started yelling, "I'm going to get 28 bucks!! I'm going to get 28 bucks!!" Lee and I both reacted with disbelief, looking to each other to find out if it had really happened. We were in absolute shock, like time stood still to wait for us all the process this. The coaches were also amazed and excited. As a cool bonus, the team Morgan was playing against was coached by the coach she had had for the previous three soccer seasons, so he was also there to witness and enjoy the moment. Most of the parents on our team got the excitement and realized it wasn't just another goal for our team. The parents on the other team, however, were probably busy thinking what awful parents we are - who offers their kid $28 for kicking a goal?!

We warned Morgan that going forward the reward for goals will be a lot smaller. I fell like that was a really small price to pay, though, for the confidence the whole thing gave Morgan! She was all over the ball after that and even had one other shot that didn't make it into the goal. I have high hopes for this new-found confidence when Spring soccer gets here! Although I'm sure there will still also be a fair amount of yelling at the other team 'cause let's face it...wouldn't you be thrown off by someone yelling "Kick it like your mother!"?

What Has Morgan Been Up To?

When I talk about what Morgan has been up to, I'm not talking about her height. Although, I should mention that she is now over 5' tall (crazy!!) and will likely pass me up much sooner than I expected!!

Morgan participated in a drama after-school club that performed Alice In Wonderland. Morgan was one of the cards. When they performed, Morgan was the only one who projected all her lines enough for everyone to hear! She also did a great job getting into character and adding emotion to her lines. It turns out we may have a budding actress here!

Morgan also participated in spring soccer. She continues to be the comic relief for her team, but she has also been getting much better with her soccer skills. By the end of this season she was running hard for the ball and was getting in the action a lot more. Once again her team got 1st place!

Fifth grade is the year you learn all your states and then do a report/diorama on a state of your choosing. I'm not sure why Morgan chose Kentucky originally, but the assignment took on a whole lot more excitement when she realized the biggest thing in Kentucky is the Kentucky Derby! Morgan lives for anything horse! The picture below shows her diorama (sorry it's a bit fuzzy). In case you can't tell, the box on the right is a horse racing track. Two of the horses have stick figures riding them, but no worries, Bob the Exterminator (Donny Ninja Turtle) is in the lead!

Morgan also had her 5th Grade Hersey Track Meet. In previous years she ran the 50 and 100 meter dashes. This year she ran the 100 and 200 meter dashes. She definitely prefers the shorter distances, but she did a great job with both races. She made it to the semi-finals in the 100 meter! She really is a fast runner (especially considering she starts every race with her fingers in her ears to block out the sound of the gun!), and Lee keeps offering to help her get even faster (he was a distance runner in high school), but so far she isn't interested in additional running.

Morgan is now the lucky one who gets to share her room with Melissa. It actually works really well for everyone! It's not uncommon for me to go wake Morgan up in the morning, only to discover she's in her bed with a very happy Melissa! Morgan is a wonderful big sister and LOVES any chance she has to show Melissa off to others! (I just realized I need some recent pictures of the two of them together...) She has also been known to change a diaper or two! :)

Fall Soccer

Last week was the last week of fall soccer for Morgan and Brynne. Brynne played last year, but this was the first time Morgan played since she was four years old and we lived in Salmon, ID. On the last day of games, I suddenly realized I hadn't taken any pictures this season. Below are photos documenting the last games.

 I was told by numerous people that Brynne is their favorite person to watch play soccer. She is not real aggressive and prefers to stay outside the circle and wait for the ball to come to her. I don't know if it's the anticipation or what, but she jumps up and down as moves around waiting for the chance at the ball. Then any time she kicks the ball, she gets so excited! She gets the cutest smile on her face and you'd think it was Christmas. She doesn't follow the ball to kick it again 'cause she is still relishing in excitement from the previous kick. It really is fun to watch her play!

Two other ward members were on Brynne's soccer team. I will admit I enjoyed getting to visit during the games. One of the other girls was our bishop's daughter. She has a little brother, Logan, that is almost exactly three weeks older than Melissa. I decided to lay Melissa down by Logan for a little "play" time. They were so cute together!

I guess playing with Logan wore Melissa out, though, because she fell asleep on the walk from Brynne's game to Morgan's game (they played on fields that were at opposite ends of the Sport's Park). I took a picture to document the finger sucking. Melissa has fallen asleep with fingers 2&3, 3&4, 3&4&5, and then just today actually fell asleep with her thumb once (followed again by 3&4). I keep giving her the "bink" to try keep from having a thumb sucker, (I've had one of each and go back and forth with wanting Melissa to keep her bink or find her thumb) but 75% of the time she spits it out and finds a finger or two or three... :)

I was quite worried when I found out they have "team selection" at Morgan's age and they start being more serious about the games and the rules and winning. At the team selection, Morgan was participating in a circle where one person would kick the ball to another person, who would then stop the ball with their foot, pick the ball up, and use both hands to do a "throw in" to another player. Someone kicked it to Morgan and it launched into the air. No worries, she caught it. Then she proceeded to throw it one handed to another player. She made great progress through the short season, though.

A lot of Morgan's progress was due to Lee spending quite a bit of time with both of the girls, and sometimes Morgan specifically, on learning the game and practicing ball handling. I'll never forget the second to last game of the season. Morgan was all over that field and was getting right in fighting for the ball. She was so much fun to watch! She ran over for a quick drink at one point, and she said to Lee, "They won't let us slide tackle!" I asked him what in the world he is teaching our kids! I won't complain too much, though, I really think a great deal of the fun Morgan had with the season is due to the time Lee spent with her. She's already looking forward to Spring soccer!

While I was busy packing up the camping chair, the diaper bag, and everything else I carried from one game to the other every week (actually, Brynne usually pushed Melissa while I moved the car from one end of the park to the other!), Brynne decided to work on her soccer skills a little too. I'm not exactly sure how this will help in a game, but it sure is a great skill! (She stood on the ball for over a minute like it was no big deal. I finally told her she had to get off so we could get home.) :)

 There you have it. A fun last day to a fun soccer season. Morgan's team tied for first in their league, so we're headed to an awards assembly next Monday. Although I'm grateful to be done rushing through dinner and hurrying so we won't be late to the games, I really did enjoy watching the girls and am glad they had fun! :)