Sports, Sports, and More Sports

This year Braden decided he didn't want to play soccer and opted for baseball instead.  I think he made a good choice.  He had so much fun and by the end of the season was really quite good.  He had good coaches too which always helps.  Out here in Vernal they take their baseball very seriously so winning was important and those coaches and a lot of the parents really pushed the boys to win.  I was just happy to see Braden having a good time and learning a new sport.  The trouble was he couldn't wear the safety helmet with his glasses on, but once he took his glasses off he couldn't see the ball very well.  After a couple games he adjusted.  

Warming up and practicing before the game.

This boy has fun watching his brothers play.  But, he do have to come in superhero attire regardless of how hot it is.  Notice his red cheeks.  Good thing we brought lots of water.

Handsome kid.  That's his coach in the background.

After the game.  Landon decided to be a little photo bomber and put his head in the middle of my shot.  Dalin was off with friends throwing balls or playing tag any time we went to watch Braden play.  I never saw him much, he just wanted to run around and goof off.

And now comes the moment he's been waiting for.  Four long years of watching others and now he finally gets his chance!  A boy couldn't be more excited.

Little kids in uniforms are just so cute.

Landon knew what to do from the get-go.  All those years of watching really paid off.  He ran his guts out and kicked as hard as he could and scored a couple goals for other teams, and then would run to me and shout as loud as he could "I win, I win!"  So funny.  He did score for his team too, but sometimes  he got so into the game that he didn't always pay attention to which way he was going.

After a tough loss.  I'm laughing right now at this boy's competitive nature.

What do we do while watching Dalin play?  What else, but come dressed in full superhero gear. Always be prepared to save the day.

This year Dalin moved up to the bigger field and started playing with goalies.  They also called off-sides and all those smaller technical rules.  He had an absolutely amazing coach that I will forever feel grateful for.  I told him that every practice.  He was hard on them and he expected them to play their positions.  He didn't let the kids choose where they wanted to play, he put them where he wanted them, usually in their weakest position.  He really wanted to make them better players and teach them to win.  He told us that winning wasn't so important, but having fun was and kids don't have fun unless they win at least some of the time.  They were the best team by far and didn't have the best players.  Defense was not allowed to cross the half line and forwards were not allowed to cross the half line. If they were out of position he would really get after them.  He would always yell, "trust your defense and stay in position".  Every kid on the team scored a goal and every kid played every position.  Dalin scored a few times and knowing he had helped his team win really did make a big difference in his enjoyment of the game.  He loved to play this year.  I hope we get future coaches this dedicated and knowledgeable.  

Stretching before the game.

Lined up to discuss what he wants from them this game.  Coach did this every game.  He always targeted their weaknesses.  He ran a triangle offense with two on the wing and one in the middle.  He expected the half-backs to get the ball to the wing and once the defense would run to the wing they would either cross it to the other side or slide it to the guy parked in the middle.  They scored a lot with this system.  You could often hear the coach screaming, "NOW, NOW, NOW, CROSS IT!"  He was a good coach.

Dalin never wanted to play forward.  He always asked to play defense. I don't think he liked running that much so defense is where he wanted to be. If he asked, the coach would say, "You asked so I listened.  Score me a goal and you can play defense."  He would leave Dalin on offense until he scored a goal.

Braden really enjoyed riding his bike to the games with his dad.  It's quite the ride from our house to the soccer park and back, but he wanted to do it every time.  Then, he would ride around the track while the other two played.

Cute kid.  I really enjoy watching my kids play and enjoy sports.  I have a lot of fun with it.  It does get a little crazy during the season now that I have three kids to shuffle around, but it's so worth it.  

Antelope Flats - Flaming Gorge

This time of year (April-May) the fish are spawning.  That means they collect in large groups near the banks of Flaming Gorge.  This year we had very little snow so we took some hotdogs and had a fire out at Antelope Flats.  Then we fished.  And fished.  And fished.

The expert in action.

The fish are swarming around Dan right now.  There had to be hundreds of them.  The second you threw a line in the water you hooked one.  

Landon had fun watching Dad from the dock.

These boys, with their friend Jeremy also caught some fish.  We kept three to take home and eat.  My kids love to eat fish and get very excited whenever we get to bring some home.  You would think it was candy the way they gobble it up.

Show off!  Hehe.

England Visits

Dan has two sisters who live in England along with their husbands and five nephews.  I've met them once when Dan and I got married.  Other than that it's mostly been an internet relationship.  In April we were so very fortunate to have his sister, Kim come to visit with her family.  Her husband is David and they have a son, Lewis who is fifteen.  It was so fun to spend some time with them and have our kids meet their family that they've never met before.  We talked about cousins in England, but I don't think it was ever real to them until now.  First Dan went up to Logan and spent time with them on his own. He only gets to see his sisters every ten years or so.  

Dan, his mum (Anne), Kim, Lewis, and David.

They all made the journey out to Vernal to stay for a couple of days and see more of Utah. This was David and Lewis's first trip to the United States so they wanted to see what they could in the short time they were here.

On the way to Vernal they stopped at Strawberry Pinnacles and checked out Strawberry Reservoir. It's a very unique landscape to someone who's from England. 

Once they got to Vernal we got to spend some time together and the boys got to meet their Auntie Kim, Uncle David, and Lewis their cousin from afar.  Kim is the sweetest person you'll ever meet and brought gifts for the boys.  She knows boys well and Legos were just the thing.  Then she and Lewis helped them put them all together.

Then we headed out to Dinosaur National Park to do some exploring.  We went to the quarry and checked out the bones.  

My boys had been here before but I think it's amazing every time we go.  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the large scale of the dinosaurs. 

Landon really enjoyed himself because he's doesn't really remember coming here.  He was about 18 months old when we last came.

Ron thinks he could out-pace this guy.

These boys immediately go for the technology and begin fighting over who gets to tap on the screen. Landon always feels like the little guy so...

Auntie Kim took over to touch his own screen.  Then all was well.

I almost mistook him for a Dinosaur.  :)

This guy (Ron)  likes to tease.  He always has some funny little comment to make.  Most people don't know that about him because he's so quiet.  But I know different - he's not as innocent as he looks.  David in the background is wondering what we're laughing at.

As usual we have found a giant hillside to climb.  Little boys must always be conquering.

It's not long before Lewis is tempted to join.

And now David joins the discovery.

The camera just doesn't do this view justice.  

David and Kim.

This one is always collecting rocks.  He has a fairly large rock collection and is always searching for the best ones.

Lewis and Dalin.  Kim also bought each of the kids a hoodie with the English flag on the front.  

After Dinosaur we headed up the road and into the Uintas to do a little day camp.  This is not something you can do England so they thought it was one of the best things we did.  

Landon was showing me his superhero skills and fell down right as I snapped this picture.  Funny kid.

Real men light fires and cook food in foil.

They all said they loved the foil dinners but weren't to keen on the watermelon.  Apparently they don't have watermelon in England because none of them had tried it before.  Lewis thought it had a weird texture.

Is that a deer?

Nope just grandma Anne.

Here's a couple more deer.  The place we camped at is called Dry Fork Canyon. As you can see there's a lovely riverbed here, but it rarely has water in it.

The next day was all adventure.  We headed up to Flaming Gorge to do a little rafting.  But first we stopped to check out the view.

At the top of the reservoir.  Since it was April I was a little concerned we might get cold, especially if we got wet at all.  Then the clouds gathered and we thought it might even rain on us, but once we got going it warmed up and, other than our feet, we stayed dry.

The visitor center didn't open for another week so we just stayed outside and looked around.

Lewis and Dalin down at the river.  We had to wait for Dan and Ron to take another car down to the other end so the rest of us just waited with the rafts.  The river was very clear this time of year.  

Speaking of Ron, he was a trooper and made it all the way down the river with us without complaint.  

The boys were getting excited.  Dalin is holding Flat Kyla up.  Kyla had a school project that she was doing for school so we took her paper self on an adventure with us.  

Still waiting, but having fun playing around on the raft.  The river was amazing and so beautiful.  Unfortunately I didn't take my camera on the raft because I didn't want to get it wet.  Dan was our guide and kept us all from drowning.  He handed out oars and bossed us all around while steering our vessel.  He and Lewis thought they were being funny and kept trying to make us hit giant rocks and stuff.  At one point Dan purposefully went over a big rock and got us high-centered.  We couldn't get off the thing so Dan had to jump out of the boat and lift us off the rock and quickly get back in before we took off without him.  Poor Ron was beside himself.

The next day Anne and Ron took the boys back up to their place in Logan and the rest of us went on one more adventure out to the Bonneville Salt Flats.  It didn't disappoint.  

It was a long drive to do in one day, but it was also nice to spend some time in the car and just talk with Kim, David, and Lewis.  

Back in Logan we spent a couple more days just relaxing and spending time together before they had to head out.  

Here's Dan with his mum and sister.  Dan hasn't seen them in just over ten years.  I only got to meet them when Dan and I got married and Lewis was about 18 months old.  It was really nice to get to know them again.  Dan and I would love to go to England and spend more time with his family, but until then at least we have Facebook.