Catching Up

Long time no blog. We have been busy - but today it is snowing outside and we have no football game so I guess I will try to catch this thing up.

We went on vacation to Southern California the end of September. Disneyland was all decked out in Halloween decorations. We had a great time. Soarin' over California is still the best ride of all time, but the Toy Story Midway Mania ride was really fun, too. Lines were pretty long, but not as long as last time when we went over a spring break.

The beach was nice. We drove down to Newport twice and dipped our toes in the sand. The kids love the ocean. Too bad we don't get to see it more often.

We also visited Universal Studios and Sea World while we were there. Not sure why we posed with Dora - but this is one that we are all in.

Taylor has been playing on a fall 7 on 7 Lacrosse league and practicing with the Bingham team. One of the funnest games was when they played against the boys team. They (the girls) were ahead at halftime, but the boys ended up barely beating them.

They played their 7 on 7 league games on Wedneday nights under the lights. That made for some cold games. Taylor will be playng on the Bingham JV team in the spring.

Matt's football team has had games every Saturday since the end of August. They went 7-2 in the regular season. They barely lost to Alta (8-6) the first game, and lost 28-6 to East in the last game. East was undefeated and we were only one of two teams that even scored on them.

Then we had to play East in the first playoff game. This time we came out ready and scored on them first. We had them beat 7-0 until the middle of the 4th quarter when they tied the score. We had a chance to win on the last play of the game from the 11 yard line, but couldn't get it in. We finally lost 26-20 after 3 overtimes in a gut wrenching game.

It was a fun first year of football.

We had a combined Halloween / Birthday birthday party at our house. Above are this years Haloween costume entries. I think the chick in the 80's workout outfit wins the prize...but Tigger is a close second.

Even Grammy and Wolfgang got into the act with their cool costume hats.

Finally, I had a Birthday. Although no one blogged my birthday (until now), Becca did make me a poster. I have made a "Happy Birthday" poster for all the kids on their birthdays since Taylor was little. This year Becca and Nicky made one for me and I loved it. "42 years old woo-hoo!"

I also got a Utah Snuggy or Snugli or whatever you call those blanket things with arms. For the Utah fan who has everything!!

First Tooth Lost

After turning five only about a month ago, Nicky lost his first tooth today. I guess it makes sense that he would start losing them early since he started getting teeth when he was only 10 weeks old. It also helps if you bite on a blanket and your sister yanks on the blanket.

Notice he also got a new spikey haircut. Spikey when the gel is in, but I call him "fuzzy' when it's not spiked up.

The official season begins

Matt's football season officially began last Saturday. A couple days before the game they got their game uniforms and had their picture taken before they got them all dirty:


The first "real" game was against Alta. It was a much tougher test than the practice game against Copper Hills. Alta won 8-6. Matt's team had the ball near the goal line for a touchdown that would have won the game, but fumbled the snap between the center and the QB and Alta recovered. I'm sure they will learn from their mistakes.

Matt did catch a pass that scored the one touchdown for his team. It was caught on video and Matt put together this little production of the play (if playing pro sports doesn't pan out for him, he could go on to TV and film production):

Kickoff Football Season

Matt is a football fanatic and has been for several years now. He will watch whatever football game is on...College, NFL, Arena League, Canadian....you get the picture. So this year he decided to actually play football. He has been working his butt off practicing and conditioning with his team for the last 5 weeks. He plays for the Bingham Midget (that's what they call the 12-year old league - midgets) Bronze Team.

Yesterday they had their first game - a practice game against Copper Hills. Above they are warming up before the game. Matt (#87) plays tight end and wide receiver on offense. On defense he plays corner back, linebacker, and defensive end. He also kicks off and returns kickoffs.

Here he is practicing catching kicks. On the first play of the game, Matt recieved the kickoff and ran it all the way to midfield where he got tackled hard right in front of Jen. She got a little emotional about that, but luckily Matt jumped right up.

Here Matt helps the center work on his long snaps. His team doesn't have a ton of really big guys, but they are athletic and fast so when we saw the Copper Hills team they were about to play yeterday, we were a bit worried because they had some really big kids on the team.

But once the game started it was a ton of fun. Matt's team was awesome on defense and didn't allow the other team to move the ball much. They did not allow them to score at all.

Here Matt is chasing down the Copper Hills QB. That kid was running for his life the whole day. Matt's team won the game 36-0. The offense was awesome moving the ball down the field pretty much at will. Matt caught two passes and ran them both in for touchdowns. I think he is having a really good time with this.

At the Bingham complex there are 6 fields and 6 games going on all the time. Needless to say it is crazy there with all the people. Parking is a nightmare. This little team form Kearns was warming up right next to Matt's team and I couldn't resist snapping a picture. I guess I really am a Cougar at heart.

The Squashmore and the Sevey

Big events this week at the Anderson household. Taylor started 10th grade at Bingham High School. Matt started 7th grade at Elk Ridge Middle School. This is the only year all 4 kids will be at different schools with Becca in 2nd grade at Elk Meadows Elementary and Nicky as a Redshirt preschooler at Sunshine Square. Lots of schedules to juggle.

Here is Tay on her first day. She catches the bus at 6:45 am. She is on the block schedule where she goes to 4 classes a day for an hour and a half and then the other four classes the next day.

Matt is out the door at 7:30 and has all 7 of his classes every day. So far I think his favorite subject is lunch. No more recess, but he does have a gym class every day.

Becca is in 3rd grade and has Mr. Lovell as her teacher. He is one of the students' favorite teachers in the school. He is a joke teller and Becca comes home with a new joke or two almost every day.

I didn't get a picture of Nicky's first day of school. But here is a bonus shot of him on his Birthday in his new Utah football jersey. He has Miss Kim again this year and has been doing really well. He is the oldest in the class and is setting a good example for the younger kids.

Nicky is 5!!

Five years has gone by really fast - our baby boy is growing up. Below are some pictures from the last quick 5 years. For more click here.

Nicky with his sisters and brother the day he was born

Nicky just a couple weeks old with Matt

Nicky and Becca playing in the family room

Having a laugh with Tay

Easter eggs with mom

Say Cheese!!

At the Utah football game

Wearing Matt's football stuff (Go Bingham!!)

Shepherd in the Christmas play

At the zoo

Big boy bike

On Traxx with dad

Happy Birthday, Nicholas! We love you

Daredevil Daughters

Last night we were picking up Matt from football practice at South Jordan Park and they were having something called the "National Night Out" there. They had a helicopter and police dog demonstrations, and well, some snakes and spiders were there for some reason, too.

Becca held a Burmese Python

Taylor held a Tarantula spider.

Pretty brave girls!! I didn't have my camera with me (which is fairly unusual), so I snapped these with my cell phone camera. Not too bad for a little cell phone...

Daniel and Jessi Get Hitched

Congratulations to Daniel and Jessi!! They were Married this last Saturday August 1st in the Jordan River Temple. The Fitts were in town from Oregon as well as a Jessi's family. Below are just a few of the 850+ photos I took of the event.