People Ask Me Why?

This is what it is all about!

Homecoming!

Homecoming started with the Homecoming football game.  Can you guess where my son is in this picture?  Yep, if you can't blow your vuvuzela, then you wear your morph suit.  Your custom made morph suit in your school colors!  Austin came home and told me that he had a hard time using the bathroom at the game.  It took 20 minutes.  I thought he was talking about taking off the morph suit, no that was not the problem.  Everyone stopping him to take pictures with him was the problem.  Austin did stop and take pictures with everyone.  He loved it.

I took this picture off of facebook.  Thanks, whoever took it.

The next day the Homecoming date festivities began.  First, there was breakfast at our house.  At first I worried about it.  I mean, how much work was this going to be for me!!!  Honestly, I didn't do a thing.  The boys came in and cooked the whole thing.  I was so impressed with them.  They made an awesome breakfast.  It was so yummy. 

Here is Dallin looking awesome in Aubrey's apron!

Then John wore her apron because he was cooking bacon and  didn't want to get grease on his clothes.

After  breakfast they went to the park and played life size Angry Birds.  Yes, the boys planned this all month.  I was so impressed that they worked so hard to put this together for the girls.  They had a blast.  Then they went home to get ready.

Here is Austin and his date.

Here is the whole group.  More professional pictures will be coming later.

Look at these guys.  I looked at this picture and realized that most of these boys have grown up together.  I have known them since they were little.  Heck, I have known Dallin since he was a baby!  They have really grown up to be  wonderful guys.  It is neat to see them together doing things like this. 

All the parents were taking pictures.  We took them at Desert Shores. (Thanks Elaine!)  A lot of people had the same idea.  There were kids dressed for homecoming everywhere.  It was worth the wait.  The pictures came out wonderful!

While the girls were getting their pictures done,  I took a picture of the boys being goofy themselves!!!

The guys have some great things planned.  Some of them are not going to the dance.  They are sick of the inappropriate dancing that goes on, so they have other things planned for the night.  Unfortunately some have to go to the dance for a bit because they are in student council.  They will meet up with the group later.  I hope they have a great night.  I am sure they will.

Why do I have a picture of turtles?  Well, Ian found these during the picture taking time!  He was so excited.  He grabbed my hand and said, "Hey take a picture of these!"  Oh, the mind of a nine year old!

Flag Football Update

Well, we had a rough first half today.  Nobody seemed to have their head in the game.  It showed, and the other team made many touchdowns.  During the second half, they did a ton better.  Ian still played center and made some great plays on offence and defence.  The other team did not make any touch downs and we did!!  Unfortunately we couldn't catchup and we lost.  The score was 38-20.  What a bummer.

Flag Football Begins Again!!!!

Flag football season has begun.  Ian loves playing flag football.  For the past couple of seasons his team has really struggled, but today was a great day!!!  They won their first game 42-12!!!  Wow, that was awesome.  Ian did really good.  He plays center, but today he got to play a little defence.  Unfortunately, it was a busy day for the whole family so Don was the only one who got to go to the game.  We can't wait to see him play next weekend.

Open House?

Austin had open house at his school this week.  This is the schedule he gave us to follow:

1st Period:  Fight Club                          Teacher:  Dr. Evil

2nd Period:  Meth Lab                          Teacher:  Count Chocula

3rd Period: Bomb Making                    Teacher: Mr. Bourne

4th Period: Ninja Class                         Teacher: Bruce Lee

5th Period:  Head Standing                   Teacher:  Mrs. Awesome

6th Period:  Sleep Time                        Teacher:  Mr. Sandman

7th Period:  Car Chasing                      Teacher:  Mr. Bond (James Bond)

8th Period:  Zombie Survival               Teacher:  Nicolli (From Black Ops)

O.k, so this is Austin's "class schedule"!  Should be interesting!

10 Years Ago

Ten years ago in August 2001 we took a trip back east to visit my family.  It was a great trip.  We loved visiting with everyone and staying with my Aunt and Uncle.  It was amazing.  At the end of our trip Don wanted to go to New York City.  The kids wanted to take the Staten Island Ferry.  As we were on the ferry Don thought that this would be a great place to take our Christmas card picture.  The view of the city was amazing.  I was also pregnant with Ian.  This is just one of the pictures we took.  Who knew that in a month those great buildings would be gone?  Who knew that in a month, our world would change so much?  Who knew we would all morn for everyone who lost their lives on that day in September?  I remember everything I said on that day, and everything I did.  (My private thoughts are in my journal.)  At times I feel like that day is burned into my mind.  Don feels the same way.  It was strange for him because he was still teaching high school and heard what was going on but really had no idea.  He tried to teach and not talk about it.  He felt his students needed a break from it, because that is all they talked about and they had been watching it all day on TV in other classrooms.  I remember him calling me and asking me if it was true.  I told him the buildings were gone.  He couldn't believe it.  When he came home from work, he just sat in front of the TV in shock.  Ten years later, so much has gone on and changed, but we still never forget 9/11.  The Christmas card picture, well, we never used it.  It is in the kid's scrapbooks.

New York City, 2010

Vuvuzelas!

Anyone that knows Austin, knows about some of his crazy ideas.  Well, maybe crazy is not the right word.  Maybe he is just creative.  During the summer, when cross country practise started, he told me that he and Dallin (Yes, his good friend Dallin.) were going to get vuvuzelas for cross country.  Now for many of you who don't know what vuvuzelas are, here is a definition:

The vuvuzela (pronunciation: /vuːvuːˈzɛlə/), also known as lepatata Mambu (its Tswana name), colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper" , is a plastic horn, about 65 centimetres (2 ft) long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B♭3^[1] (the B♭ below middle C).   It has become a symbol of South African football as the stadiums are filled with its loud and raucous sound that reflects the exhilaration of supporters.^[4] The intensity of the sound caught the attention of the global football community during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in anticipation of South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  The vuvuzela has been the subject of controversy when used by spectators at football matches. Its high sound pressure levels at close range can lead to permanent hearing loss for unprotected ears after exposure.

So Austin tells me he wants these horns for Cross Country.  I thought to myself, "Oh this is going to go over well!"  As always, when Austin comes up with these ideas, who am I to crush his dreams?  He talked to the coach, got permission, researched them on-line, and ordered them!  I have to admit, people were very excited for these horns to come in.  Of course when they came in, we had to practise blowing them.  Then the real test came, Austin and his friends took them to a football game.  Hey, it's all about school spirit.  Well, they were having a good time until the Dean of Students came to speak to them.  I guess the school police came with the dean.  Austin laughed about that.  The dean told Austin and his friends that they couldn't blow the horns and took the horns from them.  Austin said they just gave the horns to the dean without any problems.  They didn't need the campus police.  I think because the boys gave up their horns so nicely, they were able to get them back at the end of the game.  I guess vuvuzelas are no longer welcomed at football games.  They are welcomed at cross country meets.  So far so good!  No one has complained about them there!  Austin said if they won't let them have vuvuzelas at football games, he will have to stick with his morph suit.

And So It Begins................Roll Tide!

Oh happy day!!!!  Opening day of college football.  We love college football more than the NFL.  It is just more exciting!  Today was a great day.  So many games!  So many exciting games!  We loved watching Boise State and BYU.  Don was so mad that Utah State lost to Auburn.  Come on, you know how it is.  If you love Alabama, you don't love Auburn!!!!  Of course the one wonderful result of the day was Alabama winning.  They beat Kent State 48-7.  Ohhhh, that makes Don and Little Man very happy.  Now I know I am suppose to cheer for Alabama during football and UCONN for basketball, but hey I can't help but be happy that UCONN won too!!!!  This is how you will find Ian and Don all through football season!  I think it is so cute that Ian had his Alabama shirt on, Don didn't even have to remind to put it on.