Go Utes!

Today Hayley and I went up to the U of U for their intra-squad meet.  It was at the Dumke Gymnastics Center, which is their practice facility.  It was so cool to be up close and personal enough to see their toes grab the beam and hear what they say to each other, and what the coaches have to say to them.

We got there a little late and missed vault, but you can see Hayley and I on the top row of the bleachers when they are filming Uneven Bars.

Next was Beam, which we went upstairs for.  No pictures since we were literally like ten feet from the girls as they flipped and twirled on the four inch wide beam.  Didn't want to make them nervous.  And I wasn't sure if it was against the rules. :)

I did sneak some pictures during Floor Exercise.  Below is Corrie Lothrop, who looked great!

 

When the meet was done, Hayley was itching to get her trading cards signed.  I wasn't sure where she was supposed to go, so I had her go ask the coach, Megan Marsden.  She could not have been any sweeter.  She handed us a Sharpie, called the entire team over to sign Hayley's cards, and then she thanked us for coming!  So sweet, and such a great coach.

Hayley was a little star struck, and so was I.  She especially liked Hailee Hansen, because of the whole same name thing.  She was very sweet and talked to Hayley for a bit, asking her name, and how old she was.  It was so sweet.  Hayley had a group picture with a few of the girls, and I was going to wrap it up...

  

Until one of my total faves, Georgia Dabritz came over!  She signed Hayley's cards, and I told her that she was looking great on her routines, which she was very humble about.  She also told me that the plan is for her to all-around this year (Yay!) and that they hope to have another open-to-the-public intra-squad meet.  She really was just so nice.

  

I was already so excited about gymnastics season coming up, but now that I feel like I know some of the gymnasts on a more personal level, it will be just that much more fun!

Go Utes!

P.S. I know I'm not in any of the pictures.  It just seemed a little weird since I would have to ask another one of the girls to take any of the pictures.  "Um, excuse me.  I know that you are totally busy doing amazing things, but would you mind stopping to take a picture of a strange lady (me) with one of your teammates?" Yeah, see?  Weird.

Halloween

When I took Hayley shopping for a Halloween costume, she surprised me by picking out a mummy costume.  Jackson had a cute little doggie costume that we got last year after Halloween on sale, but had no interest in wearing it.  The few times I forced him to try it on, he just cried and squirmed around on the floor until he slid out of it.  Then he'd tell me, "No thanks, don't like that costume anymore."  So when we found a mummy costume for him too from my mom's costume box, and he actually kept it on, that sealed the deal that this mommy would have two little mummies for Halloween.

The kids first got to wear their costumes to the Witches Breakfast at the Fitness Center. 

They both looked really cute.

 

Hayley also wore her costume in the Halloween parade at school.

She really got into character.  She  walked like this for almost the entire parade route.

  

Jeremy took the night of Halloween off of work, and we headed to my mom's for pizza, and then out to do some trick-or-treating.

 

 I love it when the weather is nice on Halloween.

 

We trick-or-treated on two streets near my mom's house.  That was plenty for my kids.

There was also a house that had a Halloween train the kids could go for a ride in.  That was a definite hit for the little mummies.

 Hayley's a die hard and wanted to do a few more houses after we got home. 

 

It was a fun Halloween, even if it was a bit stressful being during the middle of the week this year.

Too Cute To Not Post

Just some random pictures that were too cute to not share. :)

Hayley and Jackson on a trip to the zoo to see the new Polar Bear.  It's so cool.  If you haven't been since the new Rocky Shores Exhibit opened, it's totally worth it.

Jackson and Grandma Heidi:

 

Hayley and Aunt Whitney:

 

Hayley's Reflections Project:

 The theme this year was "The Magic of a Moment."  Here's what she wrote about it: "Going on Tower of Terror for the first time was magic because the pretend lightning struck and we fell!"

More Cabin Fun

A few pictures from this Fall at the cabin:

Jeremy helped Hayley shoot a gun for the first time.  She didn't like it.  I was relieved.

More progress on the massive treehouse:

Some cabin snacks:

 

And cabin smiles:

 

And some surprise snow!

Just enough to get the snowmobiles out for the Friday evening and Saturday morning we were there.  It had all melted off by Saturday evening.

It's going to be an awfully fun winter at the cabin, especially with Hayley and me being off track for all of December. :)

Preschool Boy

These pictures are from September when I was off track.  Jackson had been going to preschool for a few weeks already at that point.

 

He looked so cute with his little Jackson-sized backpack.

 

He is still loving going to preschool.  Jeremy drops him off, and he hasn't had any tears at all.  Just lines up with his class and heads on in.

My mom picks him up most days, and he is ready to go, with a smile on his face.

Then he usually sings the songs from preschool for the rest of the day.  His favorites are Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and the ABC song.

His teachers have also commented on how polite he is.  He does say lots of "please" and "thank you" and "no thanks."  Although lots of times it's when we tell him, "Jackson, it's time to go to bed" and he says back, "Sorry.  No thanks."  Yeah, you try telling the cute, polite boy no.  He's pretty much got life figured out.