XC - 2011

Braxton ran cross country this fall. As he has mostly done road or track running, this was a whole new experience for him. Actually, it was a whole new experience for all of us. I've spent more time on golf courses in the last two months than in my entire life. Braxton came out as a freshman and ended up being the #5 guy on the team. I didn't realize the importance of that until I understood that team scores are tallied for the first five runners from your school who cross the finish line. That being said, it was both a curse and blessing to be el numero cinco.

After eight meets, it was time for district competition in Salmon. Randy and I drove up to watch Braxton run. It was a long drive, but the weather was perfect and the drive was gorgeous. Braxton had been feeling some pressure that week to beat Salmon's #5 across the finish line. He needed to come in ahead of that #5 guy in order for the whole team to qualify for state competition.

Coach Hill giving Braxton a pep talk before the race.



Team cheer at the starting line before the boys' race. Girls had just finished.


 Can I just mention here that I used to make fun of certain Idaho mascots when I was in high school? The Senators, the Russets, the Diggers. Then I ended up teaching those Senators and now my son is a Digger. Karma.


Braxton in his blue running tights. He thought it was cold.

 Our district is made up of four schools: Sugar, South Fremont, Teton, and Salmon. There was no way the team was going to beat Teton. I think Teton's entire male high school population runs XC. In the picture above, that's only part of their team. Teton won the 3A boys state title in 2010 and did it again in 2011.

Once the race stared, I was running across the course cheering for Braxton (and all the Digger kids) and completely forgot to take any photos of him running. In fact, I cheered so loud and so much that I lost my voice.

So instead of Braxton running in Salmon, you get a picture of Braxton running in Pocatello. Now back to districts....

Braxton ran his heart out. He started out the season running a 5K at 21:34. At districts, he set a new personal best of 18:51. It was his best race ever.

But it wasn't quite enough. He crossed that finish line just behind Salmon's #5 guy. Braxton knew his team wasn't going to state. He crossed the finish line and just kept walking. I caught up to him and he was as emotional as 9th grade boys get and my heart ached for him. He ran his very best that day. As his coach said, Braxton ran well; Salmon just happened to run great. Our team came in six points behind Salmon, which means it wasn't just Braxton. His one point wouldn't have made a difference.

Why am I posting "the agony of defeat" on my blog? Well, first because it's my blog and I can do what I want. Second, because I don't want Braxton to forget how hard he worked to achieve what he did. He may not have accomplished what he set out to accomplish, but he still did something great. And third, sometimes it's those moments of defeat that make us want to try harder, to do better. Braxton needs to remember that. And besides, if nothing else, now he loves to run.

Sugar High XC team after districts.



Jump on, coach! Notice the twins in the second row: Carlos and Luis. Last year, in 8th grade, a coach from another school got mad at our jr. high track coach for putting a kid in eight events. He didn't realize it was actually two different kids.



I posted this picture because is shows the wonderful camaraderie  on the XC team. The team would eat a carbo-load dinner together the before a race and they would "hang out" after races. Even though most of the parents came to the races, the kids would all mostly ride the bus home together. They cheered each other on and more than once, runners would finish the race and then run back down the course to find the last runner and bring him/her in. They are an amazing group of kids.

The girls team won districts and went on to take second at state. (The girl in the back, third from left, is Ta'Lee. McKay loves her. He even winked at her when he was on the stand for the primary program. ) Two boys qualified individually for state. One of them beat all of our district (including the Teton pack) across the finish at sate.

The way cool boys team. Braxton is in the black hat.

We are really proud of Braxton and his hard work this fall. I can't believe we have to wait ten whole months for another XC meet! What will I do between now and then? Oh, I know. Cheer Braxton on in wrestling and track. Cheer Tanner on in baseball. Attend a few dance recitals. And teach McKay how to read.

One Weekday Morning

We are blessed to live where we typically have beautiful sunrises. I still maintain that the sunsets cannot compare to Nevada, but there really is something special about the sun coming up over the Tetons.

One morning I opened the blinds so we could watch for the school bus, and the sunrise was so beautiful that I made the kids come look.

 

Then I changed the settings on my camera and we got a different look for the same sunrise.

I zoomed in on the Tetons.

The Tetons are right in the middle of this photo.

What a beautiful start to the day.

Look Closely!

One day during Harvest Break, Kilee walked by the window and casually said, "There's a bluebird on the lawn."

I freaked out and grabbed the camera. Bluebirds are mountain birds and you don't commonly see them in subdivisions. In fact, I've only seen a bluebird once in my life. I was shocked that I could see six of them in our backyard. The pictures aren't great (I am not a photographer), but you can still see the little tiny bluebirds.

Football 2011

One of Tanner's baseball coaches begged and begged and begged Tanner to play football. Tanner turned him down for a long time. In fact, by the time he convinced Tanner to come to a practice, they had been practicing for two weeks. Randy and I kept telling Tanner he didn't have to play and he'd come home from a practice and say, "It was okay. I'll go back tomorrow."




Tanner is #25 wearing red socks.




Tanner is just to the right of #40.



Tanner after a game.

Tanner lining up against Sand Creek Middle School.



Tanner made a great tackle but then came out holding his wrist. His coach taped him up and the whole time I kept saying to Randy, "He better be able to still play the piano."

Before we knew it, he made it through the season. In the car on the way home after that last game, Tanner finally said, "That was fun. I think I'll play again next year."

Kilee and McKay Play Soccer

Sounds like the title of a book, don't you think? It could be one of those upside down and backwards books with a story starting from each end.

Here's McKay's story.

This is McKay. McKay is supposed to be playing soccer, but he is snatching handfuls of grass instead.

McKay is supposed to be playing soccer, but in his mind, he's got

"hay" for his horses.

This is McKay on the soccer field. Remember the hay?

This is McKay. He is stalking his prey. The players on the other team have no idea they are being watched by a mountain lion.

This is McKay who once was a mountain lion. Now he's horse galloping to the goal.

This is McKay the horse. He's playing soccer.

This is how McKay plays soccer. This is not how you are supposed to play soccer.

Now flip the book upside over and backwards and we'll read Kilee's story.

This is McKay's big sister, Kilee. She's the girl with the blond pony tail. Kilee plays soccer.

Kilee knows how to throw the soccer ball over her head towards her teammates. She knows that one of her teammates will pick up the ball and kick it towards the goal.

This is Kilee running to stop the ball. She's a defender and is defending her goal. She will kick the ball back down the field. Kilee will help her team by playing soccer and not pretending to be an animal.

The End.

A Much Smaller Rite of Passage

We're all about growing up around here.

One recent Saturday, instead of fixing the training wheels (again), Randy just took them off McKay's little bike and decided to teach him how to ride a bike.

Randy set out running behind McKay, but McKay had other ideas and about two seconds later, he was riding his bike. We hollered and cheered and he rode up the road and turned around and came back and rode around and around the driveway.

He's mastered riding up and down the road, and now, McKay thinks he's going to ride his bike to school. Even impractical goals are good.

A Rite of Passage

Braxton is standing over my shoulder and just said, "Mom, not cool. I don't want everything published for the world to read."

So I won't tell you that we spent quite a bit of time reading about the do's and don'ts of shaving. I won't tell you that we spent a lot of time laughing in the mirror while he held a razor in his hand. I won't tell you that we didn't tell his dad because his dad is pitching fits about his son having facial hair.

In short, I won't tell you about the rite of passage that my oldest son just took; you'll have to just figure it out. He's well on his way to becoming a man. I almost cried.

(Almost? says Braxton. Almost? I swear there was a river coming out of your eyes.)

Summer 2011

Our summer was crazy. There's no other word for it. Starting the middle of June, we traveled somewhere every week for eight straight weeks. Finally in the middle of August, I said, "Enough! We're staying home!" because school was starting.

In a nut shell: here's summer.

Tanner turned 12 the very end of May and we had a great big party at The Craze Fun Zone with a bunch of 12-year-old boys. They ate a lot of pizza and played a lot of games and I didn't take a single picture. I'm still trying to figure out why I don't have any photos. Bad Mom Moment #462. 

Shortly thereafter, Tanner was ordained a Deacon. Grandma and Grandpa Stocking were able to come up for the ordination.

As did Nana and Papa Millington.  We are so grateful to live close enough to family to have them here for such special occasions.

This is the day of his ordination. Don't look at me. What I want you to look at is the top of our heads. And I have high heels on. Tanner is so tall. He likes to tease me ("Mom, I can totally see right over your head!"), but I like to put him to work (i.e. dust the top shelves).

Braxton went to CSI Music Fest again. This year the choir got a real treat. The BYUI Mens and Womens choirs (the ones in black) came up and sang with the music fest participants. Braxton was the lone percussionist in the band and that was a lot of fun for him.

Kilee turned nine in June and wanted a berry pie for her "cake." We had a wonderful little party with family and friends and she got some great fingernail polish.

My younger brother, Dallas, and his little family came to visit in July. We loved having them here. My kids are still making Royce's frowny face.

Right after Dallas left, my sister Monique came with her kids. We had so much fun with Porter and Elahn and they were so good while they were here.

The end of July we traveled to the old Millington homestead for the family reunion. This is Nana and Papa with all the grandkids. Aren't my nieces and nephews (and my kids, too) totally cute? I have an awesome family.

The reunion is a great time to see all my siblings, which really only happens every two years.

McKay reached a very important milestone in August: he learned to wipe his own bum. That's a very important part of being able to go to kindergarten, you know. Seriously, though, turning five is another important requirement for kindergarten.  He received his first backpack for his birthday. He was (is) so proud of that backpack. Isn't that the cutest face?

Also this summer, Randy had a birthday, I had a birthday, and we celebrated 16 years of marriage. I spent the summer training for a half marathon and ran the Mesa Falls half marathon the end of August. I have no pictures of any of those events. Sorry. The excuse for the marathon is that I was actually running it and didn't worry too much about pictures.

The good news, now, is that I am caught up. The bad news is that I am caught up. What do I post now?

Baseball - 2011

Tanner had a great regular season baseball team. Several boys from our neighborhood were on the team as were a lot of his friends from school. Tanner played first base and he pitched.

 

At the end of the regular season, there was a little tournament. Tanner's team won the first three games, then lost on a Friday night to a tough St. Anthony team. Since it was a double elimination tournament, Tanner's team had another chance to to win. We came back Saturday morning knowing we could beat the first team we played, which we did. His little baseball team was now playing in the championship against the same team that beat Tanner's team on Friday night. In order to win, though, they would have to beat the St. Anthony team twice. Would you believe they did it??? Three games and nearly 7 hours of baseball later, Tanner's team had won the upper valley baseball championship.

Here's the team, lined up after the big win waiting for the awards ceremony.

Tanner is high-fiving his coach. Which one is taller?

Tanner's incredible little baseball team. Five of these players (including Tanner) went on to play on the All-Star team, coached by Tanner's regular season team of coaches (including his dad). It was a great baseball season for Tanner.