Busy B's

We have been overwhelmed with Baseball, Basketball, Birthdays, Boy Scouts, and Balls (Valentine Balls) that I have had very little time to Blog. I hate bulking a ton of events into one post because I lose so much of the details. Yet, I hate really long posts as well. I will do my best to keep this simple and detailed.

Baseball Garrett's tournament baseball team is in FULL SWING (Ha Ha). They played in their first tournament the last Saturday in January. They played three games back-to-back (six and a half hours of baseball). It was FREEZING cold. They won their first game and then lost the next two. They had not had very many practices prior to the first tournament because of all the rain we are getting. It's beginning to feel like we live in Seattle. It was good to see what they need to work on. Here is a video of Garrett's first AT BAT...

Basketball Garrett and Grant have both been playing basketball. Garrett's season just ended (and boy are we glad!). Garrett played in the Snow Canyon JUNGLE- I mean league. It wasn't that great of an experience. There was no structure. Whichever kid brought the ball down the court, shot the ball. It didn't matter if it was from half court, that kid was not going to pass the ball! Garrett was so frustrated and beat up. In his last play of the season he went up for a rebound and had both feet swiped out from under him. He came down on the back of his head. I think he spent more time on the ground than he did on his feet! It was bad. Grant on the other hand is having a great season. He is playing in the City of St. George league. He is one of the littlest guys on the team, but he is by far the most aggressive on defense. He takes on anyone. As soon as someone picks up their dribble, Grant is right there grabbing the ball. He causes about 20 jumpballs each game. It has been fun to watch him actually being assertive. He doesn't shoot too often, but has now scored in each of his last two games. Hopefully that will encourage him to shoot more. He is on the same team as his cousin Gavin- who is by far the biggest kid on the team. They like being on the same team and are having a fun season.

Birthdays I celebrated my birthday on the 3rd. This, for some reason, was a particularly hard birthday for me. I just seem REALLY old. It didn't help that just four days later my son celebrated his 12th birthday. I HAVE A 12 YEAR OLD SON! That is hard to swallow. I had a great birthday anyway, despite my self pity. Thanks for the phone calls, e-mails, texts, posts, gifts, etc. Russ and the kids made me breakfast in bed. Russ brought me lunch at work and then took me to dinner. I swear I just ate all day. To top it off, Russ bought a cake and while I was visiting with his mom and Paul, he lit 3 dozen candles on top of that cake. Let me tell you, I turned around when he started singing to see my kitchen A BLAZE. It was an experience. Garrett's birthday was on Sunday the 7th. We celebrated it as a family on Saturday. On Sunday Russ ordained Garrett a Deacon. It was sad for me not to have Garrett in Primary. He is ready to move on and Russ is grateful to have him in Young Men's. Garrett will have his party this Saturday. He and his friends are going to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians- the Lightning Thief. We read that book series last year and have been very excited for the movie to come out.

Boy Scouts All of the boys in my house have been occupied with scouts. Garrett just completed his first class ranking and has received 9 Merit Badges. He works on his scouting requirements faithfully each week. Russ, as the Scout Master, helps him each week. Every Sunday they take time going over what Garrett needs to work on for the week. It has been a great bonding experience for them. Grant is working hard to earn his Bear ranking. We had his Blue and Gold Banquet. I- oops I mean- He had to make a cake that had to do something with Hawaii... they were having a luau. He put the Hawaiian state flower, the hibiscus, on his cake with a bear paw print. It was very cute. Ball Valentine Ball that is. Each year the 4th grade classes learn 6 dances- the waltz, the fox trot, the swing, a line dance, the bunny hop, and the swing twist (different from the swing). They perform each dance twice with a different partner each time. Grant had to ask 6 girls to be his partner and then he was asked by six girls to be partners. They had to dress up- girls in dresses, boys in slacks, shirts, and ties. The parents were invited to come and watch. Poor LITTLE Grant had 10 out of 12 partners that were an entire head taller than him... here are a few pictures to show the heighth differences.It was hysterical. Nana was laughing so hard she had tears. It was really funny. I am so happy I was able to be there. Grant was most excited to dance with Bryli. She is such a cute girl. She was wearing the cutest dress. But this was not why he was excited to dance with her. Bryli is the one girl that was shorter than him. Here is a video of the two of them doing the Swing.

Here is a video of our cousin, Gavin doing the Fox Trot. I love how he watches his feet to make sure he is not stepping on any toes.

Anyway if you ever want to have a good laugh you should attend one of these. Anyway, that covers all of the B- topics we have been busy with. I forgot to add in Braces. We basically live at the orthodontist with two kids in braces and a third beginning next month!!! Next week I will move to the C's- church callings, cardiac rehab, capstone project proposals, etc. Just kidding.