TCU 31 BYU 3

This year we traveled to Fort Worth to see our beloved BYU cougars football team. We knew that it has not been a good year for them...but we are LOYAL fans. We also bought our tickets before the season began so we didn't know how bad the team was going to be. We headed out Saturday morning for the lovely 4 1/2 hour drive to Fort Worth. We had a hotel reserved for Ethan and McKinley to stay at while we were at the game and for the family to crash at after the game was over. Strangely Ethan and McKinley were ubber excited to go and "hang out" in the hotel room all afternoon and evening. I guess a change of scenery was good enough for them.

After settling them in for the afternoon David, Austin, and I made our way to the stadium for the game. Somehow we lucked out with a really close, free, parking spot and then headed in to the sea of purple! TCU is having a great season. They were ranked #5 in the nation then and I think they've gone up as high as #3 now. We were prepared for a slaughter!

Now things weren't so bad...until the last two minutes of the first half. Yes, there was no offense for BYU, but we did show tough defense and held them to only 7 points...until the last two minutes of the first half. They snuck in 14 points!

The second half improved a little with BYU getting their first offensive drive...and 3 points! And that was it. We sat in the hot, hot sun surrounded by other devout BYU fans and tried to cheer for any accomplishment. We counted first downs (8), we counted sacks (2), we counted TCU scores (31)...but you know what...we did have fun! It was a memory. And that's what counts.

(we love Evan too...he begged to stay home for a soccer game...and so he did. He scored 3 points and the team won 4-1.)

ATP

For AP science Austin had to make a model of a molecule. He chose ATP. He had to paint the styrofoam balls and assemble the chemical just right. He spent hours on this project and it turned out great. In case your wondering, this is what ATP does:

"Adenosine Triphosphate is a multifunctional nucleotide used in cells as a coenzyme. It is often called "the molecular unit of currency" or intracellular energy transfer. ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism"

And it's a complicated molecule...just see the diagram above!!

Time Out For Women

This past Thursday-Saturday I flew up to Dallas to meet up with my friend and attend a women's conference there. It was such a great trip!

It was a lot of fun to hang out with Tiffanie. We spent a couple nights in Dallas and attended the conference on Friday night and Saturday. It was a good get away and it was a very renewing weekend.

It was good to get back home to the family, but these little get aways help me be a better person for them! Thanks for the fun time!

First game in red!

Evan had his first soccer game as a Dallas Texan. It was basically the same team as the last few seasons, but we now play in red.
I think the team looked really good in red....and they played excellently. All the coaching and practicing is starting to pay off. The kids are learning to trust each other and pass the ball around. Each player had touches on the ball and several had scores. The final score was 5-4 with a win!

Evan is really a leader on the team. He's good at directing people and "talking" on the field so everyone knows what's going on. He's also a good teacher to some of the new players with helping them improve.

Evan plays most of the game as a forward. He is super fast and doesn't tire easily so he's a good striker. His partner on the field is Lily. Together they can split the defenders and pass the ball and score!! They are quite a pair.

We're off to a good start and we're looking forward to a great season...

Here He Is!

So from that tiny baby (actually he was my biggest at 7 lbs. 11 oz.) to this handsome teen...
So Austin had a good birthday. It stretched on from Sunday night (with Dave here) to Friday night (with cheesecake after dinner out with friends!) and was fun. He's now sporting a new PSP, a Ripstick, some Lego's and a new board game! He's also got a little spending money to go shopping with and some candy! All in all - a good birthday for a great kid!

My first born son!

Fourteen years ago I became a mother. I was 22 years old. I didn't know how awesome it would be. I didn't know how much I would love. I didn't know how much I would cry. I didn't know how hard it would be. I didn't know how rewarding it would be. It's the best thing I've ever done!

Austin is 14 today. He's an incredible kid. He's smart and humble. He's talented and driven. He's confident and teachable. He's stubborn and proud. He's a great teenager (which comes with those not so good moments!) He's my first born son and I love him. Thanks for teaching me how to be a mom. My little guinie pig is turning out great! Happy birthday awesome Austin!

Full time job!

My calendar starts off each month blank. Then it starts to fill up. Then is starts overflowing! My hat goes off to working mothers. I don't know how they do it. I am busy each day with different duties, activities, fun, and chores.

Most recently I had to change dentists (new insurance with the new job). So I had to make appointments for the 5 of us. Well, the dentist has to have a "new patient exam" before they will do anything else. They won't clean, the won't do fillings, nothing until you have the new patient exam. And they wont schedule more than 2 family memebers at a time in case we cancel. I understand the logic of that, but it makes it almost impossible to get my family to the dentist. I have to go 3 different appointments to get us all in. And with the new patient exam that doubles to 6 appointments. Not to mention that the dentist is 25 miles away! So the kids end up missing 1/2 days of school as well! Heaven help us if we have cavities...that's another story (they only do one quadrant of the mouth at a time! So while cleanings/exams are 6 months apart I feel like it takes us that long to get everyone in and fixed up and then it's time to do it again! This month - Austin get's 9 teeth pulled to get ready for braces and Evan has 4 baby root canals on his horrible teeth. Next month...McKinley, Ethan and Mom get "new patient exams" and cleanings. Only 11 visits total! AAAHH!

Don't get me wrong, I love it, but sometimes it's nice to see a blank day. Do you see one?