Elder Bradley Smith at the MTC

Since we were out of town for BYU nationals when Bradley had his farewell (we were able to listen via Zoom) we didn't get to go to his farewell and say goodbye.  Luckly I was able to see him a few days later at the MTC while I was volunteering there.  He is doing great!  He's excited to be headed to Africa to share the gospel there.  He's loving the MTC experience and trying to soak it all in.  It was great to see him and snap a quick photo with him.  God speed Elder Smith!

 

Decorating the tree

It was a quiet night of decorating the tree and I only got pictures of Austin putting his ornaments on.  I love our tree and going through all the ornaments we've bought over the years for the kids or places we've gone.  It's not a designer tree, but it's perfect to me!

 

Alabama coast vacation

The days of the tournament and then for 5 days after we were able to enjoy the beautiful Alabama coast and beach!  We had never been to the Alabama coast and it was great.  The white sand beaches and mild November temperatures were great.  It was the off season for the locals, so it we often had the beach and water to ourselves.  Ethan and Madison were able to come out for the last day of the tournament and the next couple days and we had a great time in a rental condo right on the beach.  We were able to swim, sunbathe, walk, shop, and eat all in Foley Alabama.  We also had fun mini-golfing, dolphin sail watching, and biking around the natural preserve.  All in all it was a fantastic little fall getaway!  

 

2021 BYU Soccer nationals in Alabama

After qualifying for nationals in Washington, BYU soccer was off to Alabama to defend their national title!  We were lucky enough to schedule a trip for the week to cheer on our favorite player!  It was a brutal championship tournament with 2 games each day to advance to the final on the 3rd day!  BYU tied their first game, but were able to dominate their other group stage games to advance out of their very tough bracket to the quarter finals.  Then they played a very physical match to advance to the semi's and finally on to the final.  It was a rollercoaster of emotions and a lot of really good soccer and BYU are CHAMPIONS again in 2021!!  Way to go Cougars and Evan!

All the players grew out the mustaches and dubbed the tournament - "Stachionals"

Evan's biggest fans!

Evan's cheer sections!!  So fun to have so much family there!

The champion!

 

BYU soccer regionals in Washington

BYU men's soccer travelled to Pullman Washington for regionals this year.  Lucky for me, Grandma Libby lives there and I was able to go and stay with her for the weekend!  It was super cold but we bundled up and were able to watch BYU sweep the tournament with Evan scoring a goal in the 2nd game!!  It was fun to have Grandma come watch and to spend time between games visiting the farmers market, going on frigid walks, and sharing meals togehter.  It was a wonderful weekend of soccer and family!  Now BYU is on to Nationals next month!  Go Cougars and Go Evan!

 

Jett's senior state cross country meet

 We were so excited to go and cheer for Jett in the state cross country race again this year.  This was his senior year and he was awesome!!  It was so fun to be there with him for his last state race and cheer him and his team on!  He came in 5th overall!! Way to go Jett!

Evan's 2nd BYU soccer season (2021)

This was technically Evan's 2nd BYU mens soccer season, but due to Covid there wasn't much of a 2020 season, so this was so fun this year!  It was awesome to go to the games and to have crowds and fans and the excitement of games.  We traveled to all of his games, from Boise to Logan to Provo and it was an absolute blast.  They were undefeated this season with a goal difference of 41-2.  Evan got a lot of playing time and really improved his play.  He's learning to adapt to the bigger, faster college players and making his own mark on the team.  We love watching him play and to see the love he has for the sport it awesome!  Way to go Evan.  What a great season!