Future NBA Star?

Grayson LOVES basketball! He recently told us his goal is to play in the NBA. Now, I'm all for setting lofty goals and doing whatever can be done to attain them... however, genetics do play a role and seeing as he is the smallest (but fastest) boy on his team, he'll probably need to grow at least 6 feet this next year to even be considered!

Grayson plays point guard on his team and does a great job at feeding the ball to teammates that are open (and taller). Here's one of his favorite outside shots that he's worked on since it might be his "ticket" to playing in the NBA if he doesn't grow...

His team won their last game and only lost 2 games throughout 2 seasons.

He's about 90% from the outside. (It would be fun to have an NBA star in the family...)

P.S. 4th grade boys dribble much better than the Laurels.

Sterling Scholar

Last night we attended the Sterling Scholar Awards at Cottonwood High School where Hillary was one of 15 finalists in the Family & Consumer Science category. It was a huge deal and I was AMAZED at the calibre of students involved. I felt like I was at the Nobel Peace Prize event when winners were decided by whether they received a 35 or perfect score of 36 on their ACT, whether they were ranked 1st or 2nd in their graduating class or whether they participated in or organized numerous service, leadership and scholarly applications within their category. We have amazing kids doing incredible things in Utah!

Hillary didn't win but we were so proud she was a finalist and had the experience and opportunity to associate with others just as wonderful as she is. Woods Cross High School had an admirable showing -- 9 finalists within the 13 categories. Unfortunately Woods Cross came up short this year and didn't win any of the categories but they had the most representatives of all 54 schools involved.

Hillary's good friend Kayley was a finalist in the Speech & Debate category and they enjoyed the journey together.

Ashlyn & Kolby @ The Little Gym

I got to watch my niece's daughter Ashlyn play at The Little Gym today. She has SO much energy and enjoys the hour of gymnastics, tap and ballet. Little brother Kolby enjoyed watching his sis and so did I!

YW Basketball!?@#!!

Last night at our YW's second-round regional basketball game, my mom asked me why they didn't have me be the YW Basketball coach and I cocked my head, pursed my lips and looked at her for a minute... and then I replied... Mom, you know I would've been kicked out of the game before half, would've lost sportsmanship points for the team, and the refs would never be willing to ref our team again during the season. That statement is true as I sit in true physical pain as I watch YW basketball... my pulse is racing, I have sweat marks under my arms, my gut aches, and I twist, turn and slide down into my chair. When the other team fouls I say "yessss" under my breath and I constantly tell the refs what they should/shouldn't be calling. No, I don't think I could ever be a YW Basketball coach... Laurel Advisor is just fine.

The beginning of the game... 5 girls + 1 sub, 2 of those are mine (#1-Hillary; #10-Hailey). They all played their guts out and were VERY good sports. I was especially impressed with Hillary and Kayley who had come straight from a 90-minute lacrosse game against Jordan which they played the whole game and won 12-9. They were tired!

Brooke (#11) and Faith (#5) were very aggressive and Faith made several baskets for our team. Brooke was SO agressive that she fouled out at the beginning of the 4th quarter and we were then "sub-less."

My little Hailey (#10) is truly a dancer. HOWEVER... she's a fighter like her mom and sister and she made the other team extremely annoyed by her persistence to keep them from getting the ball (notice how many subs the other team has?!)

Hillary must've stolen the ball a gazillion times from the other team (about every time they got it). In normal conditions, with that many turnovers you win the game. However, Hillary is a soccer player and can't shoot so they didn't win. I think they honestly could've had it if she had been allowed to kick the ball into the basket...

Final score: 35-24 and a shirt with sweat rings...

Might not seem like a big deal to you... BUT

...it's HUGE for me! I took an amazing all-day photography workshop from Carin Davis on Saturday and I finally learned how to use an "adult camera." No point-and-shoot for me baby! Believe it or not, I "went manual" and adjusted f-stops (aperture), ISO and shutter speeds for every shot. I'm still in shock that I even know what those things mean. I didn't even use Photoshop after I downloaded (that's the next class I need to take btw). So here are a few of my raw attempts at what I learned in class yesterday...

BRING THEM FORWARD...

SHOOTING FROM BELOW...

GETTING CLOSE...

BOKEH...

Overall, a fantastic day of learning and enjoying being with other beginning photographers. Thank you Carin!!!

How Time Flies...

Fun in the tub... 1999 (Garrett - 5-1/2; Hailey - 4; Hillary - 7-1/2; Grayson - 6 mo.)
This morning I sat in front of the computer for a couple of hours trying to get Hillary signed up for housing at BYU for Fall/Winter semesters. I have to do the same thing Monday morning for Summer semester which begins June 22 and when Hillary will move out and be on her own.

It made me reflect on how quickly time goes by... I have also been working on her scrapbooks with the goal of getting those completely up-to-date before she leaves home in a couple of months. This picture is one I wanted to add to one of her scrapbooks because these kids all look so darn happy.

The last reminder of how fast she grew up was when I called John this afternoon as he was at T-Mobile getting Hillary her early graduation present and instead of John answering his phone, Chan from Flips Gym answered his phone and said she had run into them and he knew I would want to talk to her so he handed her his phone. Well... she went on for five minutes saying she couldn't believe I had a child leaving for college and she remembers when Hillary started at Flips when she was tiny, etc., etc.

Time flies... whether we want it to or not!

The boys (Cooper too) last week...

Garrett delivers the Clipper in our neighborhood every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. When the weather is nice, he'll take Cooper on the leash with him. When the papers are delivered, the bag is empty, the dog is tired... well... Garrett really loves that dog!

Grayson's school had a read-a-thon and whoever reached their individual goal got to participate in "Wacky Hair Day." Grayson not only went all out on his hairdo, but also brought home a trophy for the "Top 4th Grade Fundraiser" (thank you grandparents for pledging!)