Mini Cheer 2014

The girls had the best time participating in a mini cheer clinic for the local High School (their Dad's alma matter).  It was supposed to be for ages 4 and up, but 2 year old Zuri found that insulting and just made herself part of the group.  I literally tried to pull her away at the beginning when I was getting Rori dropped off and she threw such a fit that the teacher said to just leave her at let her try it.  I ended up talking to the program director after that first practice when Zuri participated the entire time (1 1/2 hours) and she happily let her slide in.  In truth Zuri did way better than lots of the other kids in the 5 and under age group because she wasn't afraid to participate (some were in tears or struggling to focus) because she took it all very seriously.  :)  Zuri is definitely a girly girl at this point in her life and let's just say that she was 100% in her element.  Rori also had lots of fun and really loved going every time.  They had 3 practices and then got to perform at a High School basketball game.  I wondered if either of the girls would be nervous come performance time when people were actually looking at them, but they did great and had a fabulous time.  It was super fun that they got to do it with their cousins Ella and Kennedy and friend Amanda.  They are already looking forward to next year.

 

 *Stretching at practice.

 *Sweet Cousin Kennedy carried Zuri down the bleachers and sent her on to her group.

 

 

*This was at practice but it gives you the idea of the routine.  Lance put the actual performance up on Facebook but I can't figure out how to get his phone version on here. 

    

Kai's E3 Basketball

 

Kai has been having fun playing E3 Basketball this Winter.  He enjoys playing and seems to have some really good natural instincts.  The group he is playing with has several teams of all age groups.  Kai's is the youngest group and most of the older groups are more involved Super League teams.  It has been a nice fit for Kai as his group plays their games in a rec league, but gets the benefit of better coaching and being part of the greater E3 program.  Because of this they actually have his team of 2nd graders playing in a 3rd grade league.  In addition they also play 2 games every Saturday morning instead of the other teams which just play 1 game.  This has been great for Kai as he is ready for a bit more, but we also want to keep in perspective that he is just 8 years old and not have it be all life consuming at this point.  We are finding that sometimes the balance of that at this age can already be a bit tricky.  He's been doing great in the games and is enjoying some friendships with many of the other similar sports minded boys as well.  He's the tallest kid on the team, but is often the one bringing the ball down the court and setting things up which makes us laugh because normally in basketball that isn't the job of the tallest player, but we also think it is awesome that he is developing those skills while he has the chance.  It sure is fun to watch him.

 

*This isn't how you watch basketball games?

Snow Fun

The kids seem to think this playing in the snow stuff is pretty fun. 

 

 

Rori was set on building an igloo with Lance for some time. So they seized the first available Saturday after a good snow and got to work.  The igloo ended up being more of a snowball defense wall in the end, but it was pretty awesome and huge so they were all super excited about it.  They are lucky that Lance is a good Dad and is up for doing fun stuff like this with them. 

 

Ski Lessons

After a few more days stop in Vegas again we finally made the full circle back to SLC.  We drove in on New Year's Eve night and were happy to watch the ball drop east coast time and then go to bed.  The next morning we got up and headed for the mountains.  Kai and Rori's Christmas present from Grandpa Utah was ski lessons.  Kai had taken a couple of lessons a few years ago, but we never made it to UT last winter so this was Rori's first time. 

Kai picked it up again like no time had passed and loved it.  I don't have any pictures of him actually skiing because after a quick introduction he got put in a group that they took up to the big runs and we never saw him again until it was over.

We wondered what Rori would think of skiing.  The lessons are 2 1/2 non stop hours which is pretty long for a 5 year old.  We also realized that she would be wearing a helmet which would probably make hearing the instructors a bit more of a challenge.  She did great though and got right in to it.  Her class had about 6 kids and 2 teachers so that was great.  It is amazing to see these little ones going down the little hills all by themselves after not long at all.  She ended up loving it and getting really comfortable by the end.

Lance was having a great time as he was able to take off with his Dad and enjoy a few hours of skiing without having to instruct the kids.  Zuri and I kept an eye on Rori and played in the snow.  I personally can't wait until Zuri is old enough for her own lessons.  I've never been skiing before myself and it makes me a bit nervous to try to learn something new at this point that I would probably get hurt doing, but maybe I'll have to try a lesson someday too.

A few days later the kids, Lance, Grandpa Utah, Tyler, and their cousins Kennedy, Jack, and Ella headed back up again for 1 more lesson before break ended.  This was great way to build on the first lesson and really improve. After the lesson they all skied even more with their Dad's and Grandpa on the big runs.  Kai and Kennedy are working on turns and technique now and really are pretty confident little skiers now.  One of Lance's favorite memories from the day is taking Rori on one of the big lifts and hearing her singing "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" next to him all the way down the mountain.  Pretty awesome!       

 

 

Christmas 2013

We were really glad to finally make it to San Diego on Christmas Eve.  It had been a long journey to get there, but it is always such a fun place to be.  The stress of the snowy drive to Vegas from SLC had finally caught up to me and allowed the cold I had been fighting off for some time to finally attack me.  Despite me being a step slow due to that we had a wonderful time and fit in so many great activities.  Our kids were super excited for Christmas and were so much fun to be around.  There were lots of wonderful gifts for all.   

 

Christmas afternoon we drove up to Mt.Soledad to enjoy the view and look at Great Grandpa's plaque which was a nice way to feel close to him on the first Christmas after his death.  It was in the 70's and coming from the snow I wasn't properly prepared packing wise for the warm temps.  I was wishing that I had packed shorts and flip flops for all.

   

 

The Poinsettia Bowl was after Christmas which actually worked out well for us.  We got to go to the Make-A-Wish pre-game tailgate and then walk out on the field with them before the game again this year.  This is so much fun and something we have all loved getting to be a part of.  See Mom and Dad's names on the back of the shirts?  So cool!

 

We got in one more use of our annual Sea World pass.  

It was warm enough that Kai even talked Grandma and Lance in to getting in the ocean with him.  Grandma has been doing a bunch of paddle boarding lately so we were excited to get to see her in action.  She even let Kai try it out a bit.  We're excited for when the weather gets warm as it looks super fun.

 

It was a nice Christmas.  We were missing Lance's Mom and Great Grandpa Illinios quite a lot, but it was good to focus on the kids and their excitement about everything for the rest of us.  Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, and Whitney for having us and helping us create so many great memories!