{T} random snapshot

These are few things that represent T at this point in his life...

He has learned to do graffiti art and really likes the creativity of it.  

Luckily he only knows how to do it with pencil and paper and we have no intentions of taking it to the next level with spray paint anytime soon.

He is our family puzzle master.  He particularly likes to do Eric Dowdle puzzles.  He spends a lot more time puzzling during the winter months when he can't be outdoors so we set up a puzzling table for him in the corner of the living room and he did a lot of puzzles these past few months

He still loves anything Panda and me finding random pictures of pandas on my camera is not an uncommon occurrence.

He is our family snuggler and is always ready to give a good long hug.

His support of K's decision to attend USU is directly related to his ability to have a USU sock monkey

This picture probably is more representative of T right now than anything else.  His personality is one that seems content to sit on the outside and watch.  He doesn't demand to be the center of attention nor does he need to be in the crowd.  In fact, he sometimes just needs the quiet and the solitude.  There is something very calming and peaceful about T and he brings that calming influence to those around him and into our home. 

We sure love our T!

{K} Prom take two.....Westview HS

Since this momma missed K's senior prom a couple of weeks ago, I think it was pretty great of her to land an invite to another prom so that I could be present (j/k)  

But in reality she did get invited to Westview's prom by Christian Larimer and they did ask me to come take photos so I really did feel like it was a re-do opportunity for me and I loved being a part of it.

Love my K and I'm a pretty big fan of this young man who has been such a good friend to her and treats her with respect and kindness in every situation.

Colorado Springs Sights

I went to Colorado Springs to watch C play basketball but was lucky enough to get in some of the other sites of the area.  

I shared a car and hotel room with one of the other moms and she had a friend whose daughter is attending the Air Force Academy so we got a personalized tour of the academy.  Absolutely amazing!!!

The other beautiful scenery in Colorado Springs was Garden of the Gods.  We went one day without the boys and then returned the next day with the boys, who were underwhelmed and did not appreciate it as much as we felt that they should.  There had been snow the first day so we felt like we got two different experiences...one with snow and one without.  Beautiful either way.

(this is actually documentation of the snow at the Olympic Training Center....I haven't lost my skill of driving in snow.  Thank goodness for my Utah roots)

{C} Colorado Springs Antics

Along with a lot of basketball there were a lot of laughs in Colorado Springs.

And as I look through photos, there was also a lot of napping.....between early flights and hard play they boys seemed to always be sleeping.

Couple of fun memories...

1 - Colleen and I making a grocery store run for the boys and having to throw the food over the fence because they were staying in the Olympic training dorms that were locked and we could not get into them after hours.  We had good laughs feeling like we were breaking the rules by smuggling sugar into the housing.

2 - the boys losing C's phone under the door of another dorm and having to call security to retrieve it...."like you know how it is".  When the boys called to replay that one they had Colleen and I crying we were laughing so hard at the thought of this security guard having to deal with our knuckle head boys (who we love fiercely).

Thanks for letting your mamas join you for a fun weekend!

{C} Colorado Springs 3x3 Basketball

Just when you thought I couldn't post anymore basketball posts about C......ha!!!

Last summer C competed in a 3x3 tournament that was a qualifier event to go compete at the Nike sponsored USA U18 3x3 Nationals, held in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center.

It just so happens that C's team won all their games in that tournament until the final game, which they lost to a team they had beaten during open play.  A few months later we were notified that the team that had beat them had a couple of players that were too old to compete U18, so C's team was asked to represent Hoopla at Nationals.

I was excited to join C in Colorado Springs for a weekend of basketball.

It was a hard weekend for them....more losses than they would have liked to have had but overall they came in 8th out of the 12 teams in attendance.

Going into the tournament, C had been home from school for an entire week - sick and in bed with a fever so he was definitely not at his peak.  They were also the only team there with only 3 players.  They were allowed 4 players but their fourth player didn't go to CO and they chose not to replace him.  I think in hind site they would make a different choice.  It turns out that 10 minutes feels a lot longer at 6,000 feet above sea level and having a fourth player to rotate in would have been a nice option and could have helped them compete more competitively.

Overall I think the boys recognized that just being there was pretty amazing and they were all doing what they love.....basketball :)

(this is the team that C's team beat first round of bracket play....that huge player had 4 inches and about 60 pounds on C and that was who C was guarding!!!!)