Stadium of Fire

Jazz N Place at SOF '09. The directors asked JNP to be front and center on this side. They were pretty excited. It's an intense 3 days in the sun, not to mention all the time in the studio to learn the dances. But it's worth it to the girls. They really enjoy the suffering I guess. :)

Brianna in her fire costume. This year they had to do two dances, with a full costume change between. And amazingly, they pulled it off.

This is the first costume and prop for SOF. Much cuter than last years. Imagine a field full of girls with these props, all choreographed to match every move. Very cool.

The JNP gang. Chels brings them fun sunglasses to wear. Of course, they don't last long, and we had to take a fast picture. The director yelled at me for taking it, but I couldn't resist. Sorry. :)

Ribbon prop for the fire dance. Some were yellow, some red, and when they whipped them around during the fire show, it looked really cool. In fact, the fire dancers were so close behind Brianna she could feel the heat from the fire. I'm sure she was tempted to keep looking over her shoulder, but being the professional she is, she didn't.

Some highlights of Brianna's 09 so far

This is Brianna performing at the convention/competition called JUMP. This is my favorite dance her team has ever done, and isn't she amazing?! This dance won first place at the competitions they took it to.

Yes, another of my princess. Dance seems to come so naturally to her, and it's something she absolutely loves. I never have to nag her to go to class. She misses it when she's not at the studio, and dances all over the house.

This is the show her studio did this year. PeterPan. Brianna is one of the Indians on the left side of stage. This dance won several awards at different events.

This is Brianna's team, Jr. Prodigy. She is in the front in pink. This dance was really cute, and they had a lot of fun with it.

This was the dance I was so surprised to see. She didn't tell me that she started the dance by herself. I got a little teary watching her.

Another team dance. A lyrical danced to "Halo". It was a beautiful dance also. They all looked like little angels.

And finally a shot of her solo dance. This was the first year she had chosen to do a solo, and her choreographer picked a lyrical because her lines are so amazing. She won a diamond, a gold and several 1st places with this dance.

Dance is something that Brianna was definitely born to do. Since she was old enough to walk she would dance around on her toes. I told her my dream is to see her on pointe someday. I think that day is not too far away.

Love you Princess!

Lax season 2009, injuries and all

This was Conner's second year playing lacrosse, and his first playing for the high school. He was defender on the JV team. They started off to kind of a rocky start. A lot of the players were just freshmen, and they are still learning stick skills and other moves.

At a lot of the games, JV played after Varsity. This particular game went into triple overtime, and then our team won. Needless to say, this was a loooong wait, and a late game. But being the troopers they are, they played well, and won.

Hmm, can't remember which game this is. Conner is number 19. There are 3 defenders, the goalie and whatever middies that make it down field. The defenders use 6 foot sticks, and their job is to pressure the other team to drop the ball, pick it up and clear it down field. Most of them have stopped a ball the hard way, and they had beauty bruises to show off. You try getting hit with a solid rubber ball going 80-100 miles an hour.

The team began and ended each game with this cheer. I think they yelled family. I thought it was really cool.

Yup. That's my boy. I think he needs to wrapped in bubble wrap and locked in a room. He took an awesome hit at practice and dislocated his shoulder. Notice the funky bump in the picture below. I was shopping when I got a call. Ididn't recognize the caller, but answered anyway. It was the coach saying he just called 911, and I might want to come to the park. Ya think? So, I followed the ambulance, the fire truck and two police cars up the hill, (must have been a slow night :)) and arrived to see Conner flat out with coach holding his arm still. They didn't dare move him until EMT's checked him out. He was hit, flipped in the air and landed on left side. They checked him out, and said they could take him to ER. I asked, (begged) to let me take him, and they let me. And we have the most horrible, bumpy roads here, so I had to go really slow. Poor kid. This top pic is after they drugged him up an put his shoulder back where its supposed to be. Wish I had a video camera, cuz he was funny!

Conner, should you have an extra bump in your shoulder? He was out for two weeks. The last game of the season was exactely two weeks later. The doctor said he shouldn't play, but I let him, just for 10 minutes or so. Of course he chooses to go in on man down defense, when there are only 2 defenders, because one is in penalty. His team mates really took care of him though, and he didn't any bad hits. By this last game, they were really working well as a team. You could tell those who had been doing extra practices, and were hitting the wall.

Tiny, Kocherhans, Alli and her friend. Most of the players had nicknames. It was hard to know who was who without thier numbers.

Coach See getting "honored". He is an awesome coach, and the boys really liked him.

J, Tiny and Conner, and a few friends.

Oh, this was that same last game. Conner is #19 in the back, waiting for the ball to come to him. I threatened his life if he got hit. Actually I threatened the whole team. The dr thought he shouldn't play, but hey, it's the last game of the season. He had to, at least for a minute, or 10. :)

Conner is at the back putting pressure on the other team. They poke and hit with those 6 foot sticks trying to knock the ball out of the pocket. Sometimes they don't hit just the other player's stick though. Oops.

And that was a really fun (except for er visit) season. It's great to see the teamwork and friendship these boys have. Can't wait for next spring! Now Conner, go hit the wall!

Spring beauty

Brianna and I had a few extra hours one day(and that doesn't happen very often, unless she's sick) and decided to go visit the gardens. I let Brianna take a lot of the pics, and she did pretty darn good. We try to get up there a few times a year to see the flowers changing each season.

This is the view from the top of the path by the visitor center.

Part of the amazing waterfall. I think this is my favorite spot there.

The secret garden.

I take a pic of this angel everytime I go. We call it the Carson angel :)

Part of the Italian garden. The fountains were not running yet, but still pretty. And we had a learning moment when Brianna asked why the flowers on the one side hadn't bloomed yet.

She thought this fountain was too sweet, and had to copy it.

Pretty pretty girl.

Time flies.....and they grow so fast.

So this is little Miss Brianna, when she was about 3 or so. With her 'mad' face on. We had gone to the Dinosaur park in Ogden, but it was the 'haunted' time of year, and she was freaked out! She wanted to go home, NOW! But the real purpose of digging these pics out was to see how fast they grow... makes me a little sad. And dang it, this is the earliest that I have digital pictures. The rest are all on film. Need to scan me a few.

Brianna, a 6 year old Conner, and a blond me. Yip, I'm a blond. Like that should be a surprise to anyone... don't I have enough blond moments to convince you? But I actually think I should be a redhead, like I am now.

Conner playing in the park. He was never a small boy, but he was once a bit smaller than he is now.
Now we jump ahead about 3 years. Brianna is in kindergarten in this pic. She's so stinking cute!

Conner and Brianna at Temple square, during Christmas of course. Still 2003.

Jump ahead a year or so, now summer 2005. Brianna is dancing in the Strawberry Days parade, and she danced the whole route. Although she did get a little red, she made it.

Conner is totally going to shoot me when he sees this pic. But I think it's cute. And he actually had the winning run that won the championship game. So there.

I know. No way is this the same girl. But yes, it is. Her first professional photo session. Should have know by how cute she is at 8, that she will be a true knock out one day.

Lets see. This is Halloween about 2006. Everywhere we went for a year or so, people would ask Conner if he was Harry Potter. So I thought, hey, how about an Hermoine as well! They did make great Hogwarts students.

Conner right after the test to get his green belt in Karate. He was quite proud of himself. He misses Karate sometimes, but has so many other interests he wants to pursue, we have to pick and choose.

This is Conner right before his Karate presentation down at UVU. His dojo combined with several other great dojo's, all in different disciplines to do a show on martial arts. He was on a special show team called Team Xtreme.

A fun family trip to Jackson Hole in 2007. Conner is just sooo cool.

Brianna and Conner riding the tram to the top of the mountain. We had a family pic taken at the top. It was very cool.
Brianna and my dad. Notice how she is sharing her cool hat with her grandpa, and he is enjoying every minute of it! You've never looked better Papa!

And now we are in 2008. My kids are getting so darn grown up. I guess I realize it, but looking back over the years at these pictures, it makes it seem really fast.

I love this picture. Probably because although Conner and Brianna are really pretty close, they do tend to fight. A bit. Sometimes, like on a daily basis it seems. So I like to have actual photo proof that they can get along, and have fun at the same time!