celebrating.

tuesday night, we got to celebrate my dad and his awesome coaching career. and like he said in his speech, it is definitely bitter-sweet because being put into the utah sports hall of fame means his coaching career is over. we all (as his family) miss him coaching.

it was a special occasion full of special people from my dad's life. he had 90 supports there (at the ballroom at the little america) and that's amazing. we were all overwhelmed by the support. 

and the food wasn't bad either.

it was so fun to sit at a table with my siblings, their spouses, and my parents. it was sad not having james there, but he had class darn it. we had a great time visiting and celebrating together. we were anxious the whole time for my dad's turn to finally come. he did not disappoint. i only wish they would have given him more time. 

it got over a lot later than we thought, but it was fun to stay around for a little bit after and visit with family. it really was awesome for them all to come and support my dad. but that's what family's about right?

my siblings and i talked about growing up on the football field thursday nights (helping paint the field), summers spent helping clean out the locker room, weight training, at basketball games and tournaments, and loving every second of it. we loved being a part of it and because of my dad we got to be. we got to sit in our hotel room at state basketball and listen to my dad give one last final pep talk to his senior players. i cried every time. no joke. even at the tender age of five. we all connected with and loved my dad's players just like he did. we did. we loved it all. 

and i'm so glad we got to do it as a family.

congratulations again dad! we love you!

Conference April '11

Friday night, after stuffing ourselves at Red Robin and lying around the house for awhile, Gary gave all of us priesthood blessings.

It was awesome and touching.

Saturday morning we were all awake and out the door by 5 AM.

We arrived at the airport to say our last goodbyes. Everyone was really tough. Only a few tears were shed. Very impressive. We got home and everyone crashed for a couple hours.

(US at Wise Guys - James is the camera man)

We woke up just in time to watch the first session of general conference, which was fabulous. We showered and got ready for the day (the boys played b-ball), and then watched the second session.

Then the men were off to the priesthood session and the ladies were off to our regular priesthood session spot: Layton Hills Mall. Boy were Chels and I excited to see that one of our fave authors was there in person. Josi Kilpack rocks! Her books are so fun! If you haven't read them, you should.

(this is one of them! I am now 67th in line at the library for her most recent book in this series - I used to be 267th)

We chatted it up with her for awhile, then hit a few other stores and headed home. But not before we ordered Costa Vida. Then the boys could go pick it up on their way home.

We indulged, and then James and I headed to Coalville. We stayed up longer than we should have and then headed to bed.

We woke up to the wonderful aroma of Butterscotch Rolls, a family conference tradition. Mmm!

Everyone snuggled downstairs to watch conference together and then we ate (shocking) Sunday dinner, consisting of: my dad's famous dutch oven potatoes, chicken, asparagus and a fruit cup.

Amazingly enough, after being completely full, no one fell asleep during the last session of conference. It was so enjoyable. We even ate a truck load of candy (no joke) during.

The boys played Play Station and we even played a board game (this does not happen very often). Aunt Julie and her kids stopped by for a sec. It was so fun to see them. Cute cute family!

We ate again...k this sounds ridiculous, this time, it was Chocolate Roll. Another family tradition. It tasted better than I remember. Seriously.

It was a great conference weekend for us, full of great family and great food.

We wrapped up our March Madness run last night, watching the NCAA Championship game. I {heart} the Butler Bulldogs. They stole my heart last year. They didn't come up with a W but I still love them!

(their coach is awesome)

(their team is so talented)



Bracketology!

(James carefully selects his lucky winners)

For FHE on Monday night, I decided we should get down to business on the March Madness. So, we had scones and filled out our brackets. James made educated decisions as he selected who'd lose and who'd come out on top. I, basically chose the higher seed over the lower seed (with a few upsets) and chose teams to win that I've seen do well (or even play) this season. Either way, we had fun and enjoyed comparing brackets when we were done. The only similarity, is that we both have NC in the finals.

We'll see.

Happy March Madness and let it begin!

(I pick to the best of my ability)

(The March Madness Wall)