Soccer 2016

Spencer finished up his 4th soccer season last Saturday.  It was a good season for him even though it has been a very rainy fall and a lot of his practices and one game were cancelled because the fields were just too wet to use.  Starting in 3rd grade, recreational soccer begins with two practices where all of the coaches watch and evaluate the players.  Then the coaches get together and divide up the kids to try to make the teams as even as possible.  That means that we couldn't request any friends this year, but Spencer knew a few kids on the team and liked his coach, Coach Evans.  Their team name was The Avengers.

I didn't take many pictures this season for several reasons: 1) Alan was usually working on Saturdays so I got to chase Mason by myself during most of the games.  There wasn't much time for taking pictues! ;)  2) Most of the games were rainy.  And 3), my camera lens just doesn't do a good job with sports shots at a distance.  These are all I have from over 3 months of soccer!

Jamboree day means lots of waiting around for Mason and I while Spencer takes pictures with his team.  Luckily, it wasn't scorching hot like last year and a nice lady gave Mason a small donut because it was the day before his birthday!

His own chair and a banana kept Mason seated for the first 3 minutes of each game!

This was his first season with an official jersey instead of just a tee shirt.  $$!

Oregonians don't use umbrellas all that much.  We usually just put on our hoods or a hat and deal with it.  This game was a super soaker though and we were all very wet despite our umbrellas by the end.

Warm-up drills:

Coach Eric held an end-of-season party at Safari Sams in-lieu of a final practice.  The boys got to run around on the jungle gym for an hour and then have pizza.  Spencer got the "team player" award.  Being a friend to everyone, a good listener, and a hard worker are some of his talents.

Spencer is NOT an aggressive player at all.  He is a natural defender and consequently, doesn't score many goals.  Just like last season, he scored his only goal in the final game.  I wish I had it on video because it was an awesome shot from almost mid-field!  He was proud of himself and we went out for ice cream to celebrate that evening.

 
The Avengers only won two of their nine games, but Spencer didn't seem to mind much.  I love that he doesn't care so much about winning as he does about having a good time and doing his best.  That's exactly what rec soccer should be about and I'm so grateful Spencer has had good coaches who have instilled that attitude in their players.

Fun Run 2016

The Edy Ridge Fun Run is one of Spencer's favorite school events of the year.  And, this year was even better than normal because Alan convinced the school to hire Uberthons to time the races!  Each kid had a bib number with a chip so there was no more having to stop every lap to have a tally mark written on a bracelet (or on their shirt if it the bracelet was too wet to write on!).  It was SO much better and I think the kids thought it was cool to have race numbers and an official start line.  It was a little drizzly that morning so I left my good camera at home.  These fuzzy iphone pictures are all I have.

Spencer's goal was to get 12 laps in 25 minutes and he did it!  He worked hard and ran the entire time!

The official timing tent.  

Go Spencer!

Mason LOVED the wolf mascot that was dancing around the finish line.  He was absolutely thrilled when he got to give it a high five and a hug! 

Tired and proud finisher!  Thanks to all of the grandparents and aunts and uncles who pledged money to support Spencer!  I believe the school made almost $50,000 off this race!  That number is almost unbelievable to me, but it's true.  The money will go towards field trips, classroom ipads, playground equipment, etc. 

Random September

Here are some of the random things that filled our September:

Getting as much playtime with Spencer as possible before he started back at school:

Alan was awesome and spent part of Labor Day installing a "roof" over our back patio.  It's so nice that it stays semi-dry in the rain now!

Mason and I started going to story time at the library once school started again.  Mason LOVES this elephant puppet the library has.  He always wants to give it a hug when we go.  He doesn't love story time yet.  We're working on it.  :)

We tried to soak up as much sunshine as possible!

This is Mason's "lawnmower."

We went on a few bike rides around town.  This one was to Stella Olsen Park to see the ducks.

Clogging started back up when school did too.  We usually go every Tuesday morning.  M. is Mason's good buddy there.  They found some lost-and-found scriptures on a table after class one day and were reading their scriptures together!

Practicing his fish face!

Trying on my shower cap:

You can't be a toddler without drawing on the wall!  Mason created this pretty picture the day before he turned two.  At least it was pencil!

My first attempt at a grain-free cake was closer to the thickness of a cookie than a cake. :(

Darwin and Debbie let us take a bunch of apples off their hands.  We picked for FHE one evening.

Spencer was an awesome canning helper this year!  He helped almost every time I did a batch of anything.  He was good at filling bottles.  Sometimes we took turns reading to each other while we canned.  He's finally getting into some books that I actually enjoy as well and we've had a good time sharing them with each other.

 Mason's birthday was great, but we also get to celebrate his "gotcha day" in September.  We brought him home from the hospital on September 13th.  Actually, we brought him to Alicia's house in Lehi and she had Papa Murphy's pizza and her awesome homemade salsa waiting for us.  That food tasted SO good after a very long and emotional day, so we eat it again every September 13th.