The Chewbaccas

Spencer joined this futsal (indoor soccer) team about half way thru their season. He had a blast because 2 of his best soccer buddies (Zack and Harper) are on this team with him. They played really well and made it to the final championship game. It was against a girls team that is a year older than them. This game was a hard fought battle. The score went back and forth the whole game. Spencer had 3 goals and in the end the game was tied 6-6. They played an overtime and then another and the score was still 6-6. Finally, it came down to a shootout. Spencer was able to rocket his shot right into the goal!!! It was awesome! Unfortunately, the rest of his team struggled to get theirs past the goalie. So, they lost the game...but it was a great game and a fun season. Now we are moving back into outdoor soccer for the spring!

JAMZ- Las Vegas

Last year when we traveled to California for Karlee's cheer competition, it was a disaster...drama and lack of success were killers...it was fun to be together, but we were hoping for a better experience this year. WE GOT IT! Audree joined us this year as we traveled to Las Vegas for the JAMZ Nationals. The teams did such a fabulous job and both girls were able to perform beautifully. The weather was incredible (80 degrees in February!), the place was rockin' and we just had ourselves a couple of days FULL of cheerleading. If we weren't performing we were putting hair in curlers, taking hair out of curlers, putting on make-up, changing into uniforms, eating snacks, walking to the next awards ceremony, or watching the performances. We managed to sneak in 2 very short trips to the pool, a dinner at Metro Pizza and a sacrament meeting. Whew, it was exhausting and exhilarating! The girls competed against teams from Hawaii, Alaska, Arizona, California, Las Vegas, Kansas City and more. Both teams ended up taking 6th place (Audree's team out of 15 teams and Karlee's team out of 13 teams). We were so excited about how well they did for their gym's first time going there. What a fabulous weekend, but we sure missed the other half of our family were so excited to be together again!

Star Wars Day!

Karlee and Rylee get excited about some of the "dress-up days" and school and there are some they just skip. But, Star Wars Day, was one that everyone could get excited about! Spencer must really love his big sister, because he let her borrow his Yoda hat (seriously, it was the only day this winter that HE didn't wear it!). Karlee rocked the Princess Leia look! Fun Day!

Valentine's Weekend

Valentine's was a little different this year. It was over a weekend that Rylee had a soccer tournament in St. George. Karlee and Audree also had a cheer competition in Salt Lake City. Jake and I had to divide and conquer on this one. Jake headed down to St. George with Rylee and Spencer while I stayed home with Karlee and Audree. We did our things on Friday & Saturday and then I headed down to St. George with the girls as soon as the competition was over...it was a fun ride since both girls had taken 1st place at their competition and Rylee had scored in both of her games so far! We met up in St. George and hung out for the night and then went to church on Sunday (we will never forget the sweet old man in his light blue suit who lead the music in Sacrament meeting! He was very animated and was practically dancing...so funny!). After church we went hung out at the St. George Temple and enjoyed the sunshine then headed to my Grandma Brown's house for an incredible home-cooked Valentine's meal. She really out did herself and we were so grateful for her hospitality. The next morning we headed out for Rylee's final game. It didn't go as well as we would have hoped, but it was fun to be in the warm sunshine all together. Before we headed out for the weekend we did class valentine's for the kids...they were very personality-appropriate for all of them! Audree's were pencils, Spencer's were Yoda-inspired and Karlee & Rylee did lip balm valentine's for their friends. Spencer had to miss his class party to go to St. George (which really upset him), but I went to the party to help with the games and made sure to pass out his Valentine's and collect his treats from his classmates. It really was a fun weekend!

Weekend Futsal

Soccer is definitely a year-round sport for this crew. We found a great little indoor league this winter and Rylee and Spencer have loved it! Rylee didn't have a team to begin with, but we found a 14-year-old boys team that needed a player and they took her in (she has had a blast playing with the boys and it has been a great learning experience). Spencer played the first round with some of his Storm team, but got recruited to play with another team (an older team) for the second round...it has been a lot of fun for him too! Rylee's team is coached by a man we loving refer to as "Sexy Mexi" (he is from Argentina and speaks very little English...except to say "Switch, Really") plus she has a little crush on some of her teammates. She has had 2 hat trick games with this team and even brought her friend, Eric, from school to join them for the second round.

Basketball

Even while playing indoor soccer during the winter...Spencer needs more action on a court...so, he is playing basketball. He really loves to play and is pretty darn good at it. We have been playing nightly family games of PIG in his room on his little door hanging hoop...it gets intense many nights (how do I ever get these kids to bed???). Those games seemed to have improved his shot...he loves to take the "3-pointers". Anyways, his little team did a great job this year and we all had fun cheering him on!

Science Fair

This year I only had to help with 1 science fair project...which is good since I am in charge of the whole school-wide science fair! We decided to do a project that hits close to home...blow drying hair (something we already do several hours a week). This was a great project and we had a lot of fun doing it together...although, some nights we just wanted to be done with it!! Audree was bummed that it didn't get chosen to move on to the next round at the district science fair (I wasn't that bummed!)...really, she was just bummed because her arch-enemy in class was chosen...she is so competitive!!

Saying Goodbye to Elder and Sister Clark

Grandma and Grandpa announced back on the 4th of July that they would be serving a mission in the coming year. We were all excited, but knew it would be hard to say good-bye. After thinking they would be headed to Turkey, they got their mission call to Vancouver, Canada on a medical mission. This was the perfect call for them! They left in February to do the MTC and training, but didn't get to Canada until the first of March. It's great to keep in touch with them and we know they will have amazing adventures out there. This photo is the adult dinner we had in their honor before they left...at Brick Oven in Provo, one of their favorite spots! Everyone was able to be there which made it a special night!

Cheer Competition Season!

It's so weird to be a part of a different gym this year...but it has been the best decision we could have made! Prayers and fasts were answered on this one...Karlee is LOVING being a flyer on her Level 3 Senior Team, "Tempest" and Audree is have a blast being a flyer on her Level 2 Junior team, "Whiteout". They have made wonderful friends and love their coaches. Plus, their teams are doing fabulous at competitions!! Of course, Karlee had to do the jump off again this year...she took 2nd place to one of her own teammates this time! She was so excited that they did it together!! One of the competitions even gave us the opportunity to see some of our favorite Real Salt Lake players (Audree went and got a photo all by herself with one of the players...I was shocked and impressed with her fearlessness!). These weekends are always some of my favorite of the year!