Rise and Shout, the Cougars are Out!

 

Several weeks ago, I got an alumni email saying that the BYU Cougars football team would be out East and encouraging us East Coast alumni to go!  I considered it, but ultimately decided against it once I saw that the game was in Greenville, NC at Eastern Carolina University (ECU) which was five hours away.  Besides, weekends are so busy for us with the kids and all their activities!  BUT..... we have some friends who live in North Carolina and they told us they were going and kept sending us texts trying to get us to go.  So, this past week,  I started looking at it again..... there were still some tickets available and they weren't outrageously priced ($57/ticket) and technically, while Tanner and Riley had commitments, Dave, Ella and I could sneak away for 24 hours.  So, just three days before the game, I bought the tickets, booked a hotel and then we hopped in the car on Saturday and headed to North Carolina!

I figured we'd be amidst a sea of purple and gold, but boy did the BLUE represent!! 💙

Ella's first college football game.

My friend Sheralynn next to me with her friend Jennifer.

Our good friends Travis and Sheralynn behind us and our kids.

At the end of the game after most had cleared out.  It was a PACKED stadium to start the game, but we stayed until the bitter end and cheered on our Cougars to a 34-13 Victory against the Pirates.  They are now 3-0 and with that win, they are now ranked!  Of the two major national polls, they are ranked #24 in one and #25 in the other. Go Cougars! Dave noted that even though I live in Maryland, I have actually been to two of those three games so far 🤣

After the game, we headed down to the field and met some of the players through the gate - here is Ella with #11 Parker Kingston, Wide Receiver.  It was Kingston who last year returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown in an upset win against Kansas State.

And #2 (Ella's basketball number!) Chase Roberts, also a Wide Receiver, and also the winner of ESPN's SportsCenter "top play of the day" two years ago for his one-handed touchdown in a win over Arkansas.  Last year, he finished with 52 catches and four touchdowns.  Go Chase!

And then...... they let us on the field!

And we watched the post-game interviews with Bear, the quareterback.

And with Coach Kalani Sitake.

Fun football weekend with our friends, our Cougars and our baby girl!

Stop, Drop and Roll!

 

Under that uniform, mask and helmet...... is Firefighter Tanner!

A couple months ago, totally out of the blue, Tanner expressed an interest in becoming a volunteer firefighter.  I was not thrilled with the idea only because he already has so much on his plate!  He's in school, writing college admission essays, applying to colleges, working toward his Eagle, has church commitments, is on a soccer team, heavily involved in TKD/Martial arts and has a part time job.  So, I told Tanner to just hold off on this for a while and then jump in when the timing made more sense and would fit into his schedule more.  But alas, he would not be deterred and has jumped in with both feet.  He now attends training sessions three days a week (for a total of 13 hours/wk) plus outside homework and such.  It's A LOT!  Truthfully, I'm still not thrilled with it because it is now replacing other things he's already committed to and I'm struggling with that. But, he is totally sure this is what he wants to do right now and wants to get his certification, which he should get some time in December after this training program finishes.  It will be interesting to see if this is maybe where his career path takes him.  We shall see!  Either way, he does look pretty grown up and fierce in his Firefighter gear! 🚒

Yay for Middle School Sports!

 

For the first time ever, our Middle School is offering sports and Ella was THRILLED to make the basketball team, especially with her good buddy Rachel.

They had their very first game on Thursday.

Go Ella!

The bench's reaction when Ella swished a 3-pointer!

Severna Park Middle School's very first basketball team!

And they're off to a great start! 🏀

Riley update

 

Riley's having so much fun with her JV soccer team!  They're about half way through their season and are currently undefeated.  Way to go, Falcons!

Tanner and the Highlighters

Tanner hasn't played soccer since elementary school.  And then randomly this year, he decided he wanted to play again!  So, we enrolled him on the Green Hornets rec team with a bunch of his buddies and he's having a great time!  Since most of the teams he plays are quite a bit more competitive than his, we were thrilled when they ended up winning their first game 4-3 with a come-from-behind win!  

They don't have a team name, but after getting these uniforms, we decided we would call them the Highlighters!

Way to go, Highlighters!  Great start to the season!

However, this is what Tanner looks like now..... and it has nothing to do with soccer!  I got a call from his school today telling me that Tanner was in the weight room and had the brilliant idea to do a back flip off a block.  But when he went to jump back, the block moved, so he couldn't complete the flip and ended up face planting 😱. This kid..... he definitely keeps us on our toes 😏

 

College Life

 

Last week was a bit of an emotional one for Lacey. Just one week after classes started, on Sept. 10th, Charlie Kirk was gunned down and assassinated at Utah Valley University, just five miles away.  So, it was very surreal for Lacey and all of the other college kids on campus to experience this, especially as law enforcement descended on the area in the aftermath in search of the killer.  Such a sad, tragic, senseless thing to happen.

And then the very next day was 9/11

Lacey has always been fascinated with 9/11.  We've taken her to all three 9/11 crash sites, she's toured the 9/11 museum, been to the memorial, etc.  She watches documentaries on it every year.  BYU held a special memorial to the 9/11 victims by wearing the pictures and names of the victims.

And then climbed the number of stairs of the World Trade Center.

After an emotional and heavy couple of days, she went out last weekend for some fun!  We were watching the BYU Womens soccer game (vs UVU interestingly enough - just two days after the assassination on their campus) at home and texted Lacey that there was a home BYU women's soccer game going on and she responded "I know, I'm here!"  So then, we started looking for her on TV and found her!

A win for the cougars which put them at #10 in the Nation now!

On Sunday, she went to my cousin Seth and his wife Cari's house for dinner.  They open up their home every Sunday evening and feed all the extended family college students - it's so nice of them!!

And, as a result, Lacey is getting to know and become friends with her second cousins!  Here she is with Becca, my cousin Chris's daughter.

Having fun at a Volleyball game - Lacey is getting her money's worth out of her Rock pass!

Also.... she got a job this week!  She is currently in the Pre-Nursing program and wants to apply to the Nursing program next year.  They said you are required to have 6 months of nursing/healthcare experience in order to apply and that you really need to have at least 12 months to be competitive.  Sooooo...... Lacey has been totally stressing out trying to find something.  She finally scored an interview at a home for people with disabilities and special needs and got the job!  So, she's been spending the rest of the week doing all the onboarding stuff - back ground check, drug test, tax forms, etc. and should be starting some time next week.  Hoping it goes well for her and that she's able to handle it in addition to her schooling and still have time for fun!

Riley's First JV Game

 

After a couple weeks of 6-day-a-week practices and several scrimmages, Friday night was SPHS's women's soccer team's first official game!

We were excited to see that they still had Lacey's picture up on the tennis courts next to the soccer fields.

There's my Goalie Girl!

Friday Night Lights

Riley's friend and her mom came to cheer her on and took some cool pics.

They won!

Final score vs Severn: 2-0

Great game!

All smiles walking off the pitch.

Riley's biggest fan.

Way to go, Falcons!