Alyssa played a duet with Cassidy Cook at the Cardston Music Festival in March. It is Rondino by Kuhlau. They did really well and scored 87%. They  played it again for the seniors at the Diamond Willow Lodge and will play it again at another little concert and in the Lethbridge Festival.

3J Zone Champions

 Alyssa's basketball team played in the 3J South Zone tournament on March 2nd and 3rd in Fort Macleod. They went into the tournament seeded #1. Their quarter and semi-final games were very easy, and they won handily. In the final they played the home team, Fort Macleod. People from Fort Macleod school reffed the game. We ended up winning 53-40, but it was quite close until the 4th quarter. It was the kind of game where fans were yelling and screaming the whole game because the reffing was bizarre, and there was no flow to the game. Overt fouls were overlooked and tiny details were called. Alyssa didn't play much in the final, because she got into foul trouble and actually fouled out, even though she barely played. Several of their other players were also in foul trouble. In the end, Kassi Bogdan, #10, had her best game of the year and our team won.
It was a great feeling for the girls to bring home the banner, even though the tournament was a little odd. In volleyball, by contrast, their team was very strong. They won 7 tournaments in a row. So, they decided to play 4J Zones, which is for the biggest schools in Southern Alberta. In the end, they lost in the semi-final by 1 pt in the third set. They were, of course, severely affected by the death of their teammate and setter, Danae Gough. They were very disappointed to come away from zones empty handed when they had such a strong team. Meanwhile on the same day as their loss in volleyball, the Gr. 9 boys played 3J zones and won a banner.
In basketball, we knew we couldn't win 4J zones, because Cardston had consistently beat us this season. There were also 2 or 3 others teams we might have lost to, depending on how we played. Instead, our girls and our boys played 3J zones and both won their respective banners.
I'm really proud of Alyssa for the progress she has made in basketball over time. In grade 7, I don't know if she scored a basket all year, and she definitely wasn't one of the better players. But, she has played three years, has done spring ball and basketball camps. She also goes to the church whenever she can to practice skills with her friend and teammate, Teesha Olson. Now, she has established herself as a starting post. She normally scores over 10 points most games, and draws lots of fouls. She has a decent shooting percentage and she is getting better as a rebounder, too. There are still many areas she needs to work on, including growing, but considering how little athletic ability I had to pass on to her, I think she has done remarkably well so far!

Dress Like Your Grandparent Day

It's spirit week at MHS. Today, they had "dress like your grandparent" day. Last night we went to Cardston to watch a basketball game and went over to Rob's parents. Granny took Austin over to Grandma Berry's house and found Austin some Grandpa Berry clothes, complete with a hankie for the back pocket, and a front pocket full of scotch mints. Alyssa got some clothes from Grandma Berry too, but was too "cool" to wear them to school. As it turned out, not many kids dressed up. Austin said he was the only one in his grade. But, I think he got lots of attention and positive feedback, so he was happy.

Alyssa gets hot!

Alyssa's team played in the grade 9 tournament at Crescent Heights High School in Medicine Hat this weekend. Since Medicine Hat is over 2 hours away, this became the first overnight basketball tournament for the kids. The grade 9 boys were also in the tournament. We went along with the kids and stayed overnight as well. Everyone stayed at the Travelodge which has a nice aquatic center with a water slide and spray park. Non-basketball highlights of the trip include Austin throwing up on the carpet of the hotel room just after 11 p.m. Rob had, until that point, stayed away from the job of chaperoning the gr. 9's (as "that's the coaches' job"), but when the choice was between laying in bed while I cleaned up puke a few feet away or dealing with the Gr. 9s who were making noise in the hallways above us, wouldn't you know it, he got out of bed and got the Gr. 9s to go to their rooms.

It was a challenging trip, dealing with three boys who don't love watching basketball--one of whom was sick. But, we managed. Thankfully, one girl on Alyssa's team has grandparents in Medicine Hat and they invited everyone over for a couple of hours in the afternoon on Saturday. We took advantage of the opportunity to get Mark out of his chair for a while. Mark was actually really good the whole trip. Thank you Mark!

Alyssa's team won their first two games, and faced Cardston in the final. They lost 45-30 to Cardston. Alyssa got in foul trouble and had to sit a lot of the 2nd and 4th quarters. The above video is from a run at the end of the third when Alyssa got hot and made several shots in a row, to reduce the hole the team was in. Rob edited out the play at the other end of the court, but these are consecutive offensive plays. We put it to some classic basketball music, just for fun. Alyssa is #6.

Austin's adventures with the Young Men

Last Sunday Austin's deacons quorum had a lesson about how sin can bind you. Apparently Austin was the object lesson. I was only given this picture after agreeing to sign a waiver not to sue.

 This is Austin as he was leaving to go to Scout Winter camp on January 3rd. We told him he had to manage getting his own luggage to the van. He found a way. Notice he wears a hoodie and a t-shirt. We have had an extremely mild winter. Unlike other years, any snow we have had disappears fairly quickly and much of the winter our yard has looked like the picture below. When Austin came back from camp, though, he was wearing snow pants, a coat, boots, mitts, etc. Apparently it is colder in the mountains!Highlights of the trip included "Mountain man's breakfast" on the last day. This consisted of eggs with all the leftover food added to it--goldfish crackers, etc. He survived sledding down a hill with a barbed wire fence at the bottom, and learned lots of inappropriate jokes about bodily functions. The miracle of the gospel is that after a long shower and a few loads of laundry, we could detect no physical harm from the camp.

Preston on Video

This first video is from the Magrath Elementary School Assembly in January. All the grade 1 kids were performing "I've got Canada in my Pocket" for the school and visiting parents. Preston is on the back row in the burgundy long sleeve shirt.

This next video is from the Magrath Elementary School family dance which was held last night. Each grade performed a different dance for the families. Preston is on the back row in the off white shirt and navy pants with the stripe on the side. 

A few weeks ago, our family went bowling. This is a video of Preston bowling.

Junior High Ski trip

Rob got to go with the Junior High kids on their annual ski trip to Castle Mountain. This is the only year that Alyssa and Austin both got to go. Rob took some video. They all had a fun day. And no injuries! 

Look at Austin go!

Moving past the bunny hill! Alyssa on Huckleberry!