Queen For a Day

As part of the assignment in her medival unit, Mariah made a "castle" as the final step for her to become "Queen for a Day". There were different levels you could work on. The more work you did at school and at home, the higher up the social ladder you climbed. A few of the levels were serf, lord, princess, and queen/king. So when it comes to the Medival Festival that will be held later this week, Mariah will be able to participate in all activities because of her "status" as queen.

So yesterday, Mariah and I went to the store after school to buy items to make her "castle". We decided on rice crispy treats. Since I was on my lunch hour and needed to get back to work, I left Mariah to her own devices to complete this project. When I got home, she had just finished her "masterpiece." She designed, created, and decorated her castle all before I got home! Great work Mariah!

It Keeps Going and Going and Going and Going....

Bryce's car, aka "The Chick Magnet", reached a huge milestone tonight! Just as he was pulling into the driveway coming home from a school basketball game, he noticed the speedometer. Let's just hope that the "Chick Magnet" has another 150 to give us. I've already been priming Jake and telling him that this wonderful vehicle will be his mode of transportation once he gets his driver's license. He doesn't quite know what to think about that!

For those of you who don't know, the Chick Magnet is a 1998 Toyota Sienna Van!! Quite the cool ride!!

Lookin' Good!

Go Titans!

Family Update

As I was thinking about what to write, I decided to just write what we wrote in our Christmas letter.

Bryce is currently a senior at Syracuse High School. In just a few short months, he will be a member of the first graduating class! It is hard to believe that soon he will be attending college to be a sports therapist and then leave for a mission. Bryce played football again this year and what an awesome season the Titans had! After a rough first season with a record of 0 - 10, the Titans turned it around with an overall record of 10 - 3. The Titans made it to the Semi-finals and were able to play at Rice Eccles Stadium. Go Titans! In December, Bryce was awarded his "letter" for football and he is counting down the days until he gets to wear his jacket. When not in school, playing football, or hangin' with friends, Bryce works at the local movie theater.

Jacob is in the 9th grade at Syracuse Junior High and turned 15 at the end of December. Besides growing taller than his Mom, Jacob played city football this year. He played on the Syracuse Midget Black Team as an offensive lineman and a member of the kick return team. Jacob's team, although they were the smallest in height, they made it through the first round of play-offs. Between his football schedule and Bryce's football schedule, we were living, breathing, sleeping, watching, and talking football constantly! But we had a blast supporting Bryce and Jacob in all their games! Bryce is now trying to convince Jacob to play for the high school team next year.

Mariah is currently in the 6th grade at Syracuse Elementary. She turned 12 at the end of December. She loves school and and everything about it. Mariah is still taking gymnastics and is close to getting her double back hand spring! If you are looking for a babysitter, Mariah has just started taking on a few babysitting jobs.

I am still working full-time at Ed Kenley Ford and found a new hobby this year. For my birthday, I bought me a new digital camera and took some photography classes. Between working full time, the kids schedules and just life in general, we are in constant motion! But we are healthy and happy and are loving every minute of it!

Reflections.....

From the title, one would think that I should be imparting some profound words of wisdom, but nope that is so not the case!

Ok, so it has been one week since the high school football season ended and guess what we found out: That there is life after football! In looking back it is hard to understand how we did all that we did along with two football games a week (three games - if you want to include Jacob's games). Instead of taking that extra time to relax or enjoy one another's company or just do something fun as a family, we just seem to try and cram anything and everything in that extra space of time. Silly us!

Life is just pluggin' along. The kids are busy doing their thing, while I am busy doing mine and trying to maintain some sort of stability between it all. At this time of the year, we are so grateful for everyone in our lives that help us in any sort of way. We love our family, neighbors and friends. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

PROUD TO BE A TITAN!

Oh no! What will I blog about now that football season is over!! Thanks Bryce and the Syracuse Titans for keeping our Thursday afternoons and Friday nights full of fun, laughter, and football!

I am very proud of Bryce for his dedication to this team for the past two years. What an example he has set for us. It just goes to show that anything is possible it you just stick with it and work towards a goal.

With that said, the Syracuse Titans football team and their AWESOME season came to an end last Thursday at Rice Eccles Stadium. The Titans played in the Semi-finals against the Alta Hawks. After a hard fought game, the final score was 42 - 14. Hold your heads up high Titans! You have accomplished what few teams have done and you did it in only your second year.

Thanks for the memories and we can't wait till next year to do it all again with Jacob!

Semi-Finals, Baby!

Wow, I don't think words can describe the game on Friday. It was the quarterfinal match up between the Syracuse Titans and the Pleasant Grove Vikings. It was a beautiful fall afternoon to watch this game. From our seats you could see the mountains with the snow covering just the tops of them.

Back to the subject at hand: the game. I thought that Syracuse and Pleasant Grove were pretty evenly matched. The Titans were leading going in to the 4th quarter. After three quick touchdowns, Pleasant Grove was ahead 25 - 21. Syracuse on their final drive with 1.2 seconds on the clock scored the winning touchdown! The final score was 27 - 25! You could see the excitement of victory on our players faces but also the agony of defeat for those on Pleasant Grove. It was an awesome game. Everyone on both teams should be very proud.

Just a quick shout out to everyone that has come to each junior varsity and varsity game with me to cheer Bryce and his friends on. Thank you, we love and appreciate all that you do for us! But we are especially excited that we have at least one more game to listen to Grandma Foxley yell when it is quiet in the stadium, "Smoosh 'em in the ground!", or "Break their Legs!" Or our all time favorite, "Roll him on a stretcher and get 'em off the field!" Thanks for the laughs, Mom!

What a season the Titans have had. After their first season together and having a record of 0 - 10, to be playing in the semi-finals at Rice Eccles Stadium next week is an awesome feat. It just shows that if you set goals and work hard to accomplish what you set out to do, anything is possible.

So next Thursday, we will be forgetting about work and school and taking a field trip to Rice Eccles Stadium to cheer on our favorite team, the Syracuse Titans!