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!

Happy 38th Birthday, Rob!

Top 38 things I love about Rob

38. He takes the bottles to the bottle depot

37. He passes along his old iThings to us

36. He makes sure our vehicles are maintained

35. He drives the boat so everyone else can ride behind

34. He is setting a good example for our children by serving well in his calling

33. He participates in weekly family home evening

32. He has fixed many problems with our house

31. He has good sense

30. He goes in to visit with Mark every morning

29. He has progressed in his career by consistently putting his heart into his work

28. He is honest

27. He is good with numbers and finances

26. He pushes our kids to be their best

25. He supports Alyssa’s athletics

24. He does the driving when we go on trips

23. He is efficient

22. He takes our family boating in the summer

21. He never gets tired of a peanut butter and syrup sandwich

20. He makes really good chocolate cake

19. He renovated our house—three times!

18. He has a twinkle in his eye

17. He wakes up early

16. He is decisive

15. He feeds Mark at church

14. He’s not above changing a poopy diaper when necessary

13. He’s the best lazer tag player in our family

12. He tries to be a good home teacher

11. He works tirelessly in the concession at the school

10. He supports all the extra-curricular activities at MHS

9. He built our family a garden plot, even though he doesn’t like gardening

8. He cuts the grass and makes sure it is perfect

7. He persevered through getting his master’s degree

6. He leads our family in daily scriptures and prayer

5. He organizes and cleans out the garage

4. He likes spending time with his wife and kids

3. He frequently cooks breakfasts on weekends and holidays

2. He earns a good living for our family

1. He loves his family

It pays to be brave!

On the 4th of January, we went to Granny's house for dinner. Monte and Sherylee were there for a few days and leaving the next morning so this was a chance to be with them. Preston had recently lost his first tooth and the second one was quite loose. A suggestion was made that Preston let Monte pull his tooth by wrapping floss in a loop around the tooth and pulling. Preston was a little hesitant at first, so people started offering to pay him. I believe he got $2 from each of Ken, Granny, Grandpa and Sherylee pledged to him.

We caught all of Monte's attempts on camera. Pretty fun.

See anything different about this face?