Bowling

Over the long weekend, Sean requested that we have an outing and he suggested bowling because that is the only sport that Marilyn can play (we laughed and laughed over that!).  So yesterday we convinced Tashena to join us and headed over to Orchard Lanes.  We got the two-hour unlimited pass and ended up playing four games!

Bowling is a lot of fun (I'm more noted for my power than my accuracy), especially with Sean and Tashena.  Sean is an absolute riot!  Tashena won the first game, Marilyn inexplicably won the second game, Tashena won the third game, and I won the fourth (I was just getting my mojo).  It was more fun than should be allowed on a Monday morning!

All That Jazz

Last night I took Sean and Tashena to a Utah Jazz game.  We started the tradition of seeing a Jazz game over the winter break last year and, ironically, the Jazz played the same team, the Philadelphia 76ers, as last year!  The Jazz have been playing really well lately (we are currently fifth in the Western Conference) so I have been looking forward to this game, my first this season!  Sean and Tashena are always so much fun to be around and it ended up being a great game.  The Jazz started well, leading by as many as nine in the first quarter but then they let the Sixers slowly catch up to them and went into the half down by one point.  The lead went back and forth during the third quarter but the Jazz had their way with Philadelphia in the fourth, outscoring them 30-9.  Utah won the game 83-100 and it was pretty exciting, especially when the Jazz hit five three-pointers in the last quarter!  There was a large and rowdy crowd in attendance and the three of us had so much fun!

Note:  I finished my Harry Potter marathon right before the game.  I always cry when Harry asks his parents to stay with him as he faces Voldemort in the last film.

Gingerbread Houses 2016

Last night we had our traditional gingerbread house party with Sean and Tashena.  We do this every year, although Sean mentioned that when he is a teenager next year he might not want to do it any more.  Tashena responded by saying that she is sixteen and still likes to do it!  We always buy the kits and then we hot glue them together so we can get to the decorating faster.  It is such a fun tradition!

We always have to get the shot of Sean eating the frosting because we have one from every year!  He eats more frosting than he puts on his house.  In fact, he ate so much this year that he had to use my leftover frosting to finish!

Working on their houses!

Various stages of construction!

Tashena with her house.

Sean with his house.  The random purple candy on the window kills me!

Our gingerbread village!

Twelve

Sean turned twelve years old on Saturday and our family celebrated his birthday yesterday.  The birthday boy or girl gets to pick the menu for their birthday dinner and since Tashena picked Cafe Rio, Sean decided to go to Chick-A-Rama.  Then we came back to his house for presents and cake.

Sean's parents got him an Xbox One (which he has already been playing with) and a Pokemon game for his 3DS.

Marilyn and Grandma and Grandpa got him some clothes and a Fire Stick with a game controller for his TV.  He was pretty happy about that!

I got him the Halo game for his Xbox One and an Amazon gift card so he can download apps on his Fire Stick.  (I think I want a Fire Stick for Christmas).

After presents we had the traditional ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.

I sure do love this kid and I hope he has a lot of fun with all of his new games!

Halloween 2016

Halloween was a little bit quiet this year.  I went over to my parents' house for chili (which we have had on Halloween ever since I was a little girl) and passed out candy to the trick-or-treaters, including the cutest creeper (from the minecraft game) ever.  We didn't carve pumpkins this year because Marilyn and I didn't get our act together in time to buy them and we decided not to go to a movie (which we have done on Halloween for the past three years) because we were both too tired!  It was still a nice evening with my family and Sean got over not carving pumpkins when he was able to go out trick-or-treating with his friends "unsupervised."  He had the time of his life!

A Great Season

The Bountiful Braves made it to the playoffs but they had to face a really tough team from Grantsville.  The Cowboys scored four times in the first half and the Braves were feeling really dejected but they regrouped after halftime to score and ruin the shutout that Granstville was hoping for!  Even though they lost this game, I am so proud of Sean and the rest of the team.  It has been so much fun to watch them every week.  It will be weird to sleep in on Saturday mornings again!

Sean with one of the coaches.  He told us how much he loved Sean and how much he has improved over the season.

Sean with the head coach.

I'm so proud of this kid!

Note:  Sean told us that he will miss football but he's looking forward to staying up later on Friday nights!

Last Game of the Season!

The Bountiful Braves celebrated the last game of the season with a big win over the Olympus Titans!  They got a touchdown on their first possession which was very exciting!  I have really enjoyed watching Sean play football this year and I am a little bit sad that the season is over (we do have a playoff game next week).  Sean has become such a great football player and his confidence has increased dramatically.  He has also made some good friends on the team.  It has been a great season and I am so proud of Sean and the rest of the Bountiful Braves!

Sean got blood on his uniform in this game!  His Mom was so proud!

Three Cheers for Number 98!

Just like every other Saturday, my family was there to cheer on our favorite football player!  I hate to admit this, but I have actually started to enjoy getting up early on Saturday morning.  The air is brisk and invigorating, the games are a lot of fun to watch, and I really like going out to breakfast afterwards.  I will be sad when his season ends in a few weeks!  The Braves played the Stansbury Stallions and Sean had a great game.  He would get so pumped up whenever he would get a tackle and, once, we even heard him growl!  It was awesome!

Note:  I didn't get very many pictures of this game because I was trying, unsuccessfully, to get tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert!