Best Game Ever!

Last night was Snake's Senior night for soccer. For senior night, they always play under the lights at the football field. My poor little camera, even on the night setting, was way over matched by how dark it was, but I was able to get a couple of photos that were decent. This was probably the best soccer game I have ever been to. The only thing that could have made it better was if Josh was able to play.

So they played Aberdeen last night...interesting matchup for me, as Aberdeen was my school. It was not at all difficult to root against my old school.

Aberdeen came out strong in the first half & scored three goals in like 15 minutes. Snake was playing kind of sluggish and not playing well as a team. The first half was a little frustrating to watch...especially since did I mention that this is at night? In October? In Idaho? It was freezing! Thank goodness for sweaters. And blankets. And gloves. And scarves. And hats. Anyway...

Snake came out in the second half as a changed team! They were strong, they worked together well, they talked, they passed, and they controlled the game for the entire second half. They came back to score 4 unanswered goals in the second half and win the game! Andy, a freshman super star, had an amazing game & scored two of the goals and an assist for the game winning goal. It was so fun to see them work so well. The win last night moved them to first place in the district. Districts start on Saturday.

Not only was the game amazing, but I think that Snake River soccer has THE best fans! They are supportive and they are loud. And yes, I willingly and proudly admit that I was one of those fans last night, jumping up and down in the bleachers, screaming til I had no voice, clapping til my hands hurt, and stomping my feet on the metal to make that really really loud noise. Embarassing, maybe. Obnoxious, perhaps. However, I prefer the term enthusiastic!!

Introducing the team prior to the game. Josh is all the way over on the left, in the hat

Honoring the seniors at half time--we have some great Seniors leaving the team--including our awsome goalie, McKay!

After the game, the parents always line up on the edge of the field. The kids run across the field to us and go down the line getting high 5's. Last night, they ran half way across the field & huddled, doing their pre-game routine, which I think is way cool. Plus, Josh is in the center, leading it. I'm proud of him for contributing what he can to his team even while he's injured. He leads their pre-game routine, helps them get warmed up, and is always on the sidelines, assisting with in-game coaching. I know it's hard for him to not be able to play, but I'm proud of how he's handling it!

Seriously! Could he be any cuter?

Josh brought home his school photos today. Seriously, could a teenage boy be any cuter than this kid is? I can't believe he's a sophomore already!

Back to School!

So Josh is officially a high school sophomore! Snake River went back to school today. Josh was so excited & so ready for school to start. And if I do say so myself, he looks fantastic! Could this kid be any cuter than he is?

Track in Firth

I guess it really has been a long time since high school, because I had completely forgotten the down side of track. That would be that track is run in the spring. In Idaho. This last week, Idaho decided to make a return to winter. We had snow, we had hail, we had 20 degree weather. And of course, we had that during the track meet on Wednesday! It was so cold! I had three quilts/blankets, a sweatshirt, gloves, and a scarf, and was still shivering!!! I had forgotten that those track meets can be frigid! Josh wasn't feeling particularly well this last week, so he only ran the 4X200 and the 4X400--they finished 4th and 5th...not too bad at all, being as this was a 12 school meet. Here are some frigid photos....Keegan on the far end coming in 2nd on the hurdles

I do remember doing alot of huddling under blankets like this!

Josh coming to get his quilt from us

Those poor kids looked so cold out there! And the wind was blowing at about 30 miles an hour....not sure why we never thought to bring tents!
Emmett in the 4X200
Kaitlin in the 4x200

Spring Track

Now that the basketball season has ended, we have moved on to spring track. Yesterday was the first meet. They're still trying to figure out what events they are best at, etc. Josh ran the 400, the 200, the 4 X 200, and the 4 X 400. He did pretty well for himself. He placed 5th in his heats in the 400 and the 200, I think. His 4 X 200 & his 4 X 400 teams both placed third. He placed 9th out of 25 kids in the 400 & like 18th in the 200. They all did really well, especially for their first meet. His 4 X 200 team is all freshmen.

Josh stretching out during practice

Josh getting ready to shoot out of the blocks!

Josh's good friends Emmett and Cooper at practice.

Cooper, Josh and Emmett doing a cool down run after practice.

At the meet:

Keegan winning the hurdles

Tylo trucking it out in the 3200

Josh chilling in the stands

Christian on his way to a terrific 2nd place finish in the 3200

One of my favorite people ever, Cooper, running the 4 X 200

Josh running his leg of the 4 X 200

Another of my favorite people ever, Kaitlin, helping lead the SR girls to a 4 X 200 victory

Sr's hurdles phenom, Eden, on her way to an easy victory

The team relaxing

Josh's 4 X 400 race:

Nick, the first leg
Josh is the second leg
Cooper runs the third leg
Cooper in a hard fought battle, bringing up the anchor leg.

First Day of School

So I'm two weeks late, but it's OK--I forgive me!


Josh started back to school a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe he's in 8th grade!! He'll be 14 next month, which I also cannot believe! Here he is in his properly cool back to school clothes, including his "tight new Pumas"--those would be his shoes!

School Shopping!

I can't believe it's almost back to school time! Josh is quite pleased to let me know that he goes back to school on the 22nd, which is in just 2 weeks! Summer has gone by way too fast. So Josh has been so excited to go school shopping. He's been begging to go to Idaho Falls to work with me so that he can go school shopping. I finally decided that this was the perfect week to do it. My boss is out of town for two weeks & it's really quiet around work. My company has a big National Seminar at this time every year & all our Senior Management attends, which means that my office is almost totally empty. So, today, Josh went to work with Liza. Talk about an adventure! Josh is the funnest kid & he likes to have a good time, joke around & always be doing things. So, I guess it should go without saying that I didn't get a whole lot accomplished today at work. But I had a fun time! Josh had me laughing all day long. He's a kid who knows no strangers. He had a great time visiting with everyone who came by my area, testing out all of my office gadgets(paper shredder, electric pencil sharpener, paper cutter, laminator, 3-hole punch, etc). But, we got all the school shopping done! We hit Wal-Mart, ShopKo, Sports Authority, Big 5, Ross, and the mall. Josh now feels that he is properly set to go back to school with new jeans, shorts, t-shirts, and as he says, rockin' new Puma shoes. James isn't going back to school, but managed to convince me that he needed a new pair of jeans & a new pair of shorts. Shopping with Josh is definately entertaining! Shopping with both James & Josh is a once in a lifetime experience! We then capped off the evening with a wonderful dinner with the whole family at Olive Garden, which I absolutely love & haven't been to since the new one opened in town.

So, after a long day, James & Josh ended it by modelling their new clothes & goofing off. It was a good day & I'm pretty sure that I'm tired enough that I'll be sleeping very, very well tonight!