Memorial Day

Today we visited Grandpa Jack's gravesite (Trent's dad).

He is buried next to Grandma and Grandpa Howell-- they have the most incredible headstone!
Etched in the branches of the tree are the names of each of their 9 children (plus spouses) and grandchildren.

The Salt Lake City Cemetery is a very large.  Many of the early leaders of the church are buried there-- including Trent's great, great, great grandfather Orson Pratt (I think that is the right number of greats.....).

Not too far from here, Trent and Brooke found someone's grave marker with a death date of 1869.   It was partially buried by some overgrown grass.  But here is the headstone that gave us a case of the giggles:

Notice that poor William was only 59 years old!  I wonder if Coca-Cola had anything to do with that????

The Last Game

Caleb's soccer team has been together for two years now.  They are affectionately known as the "Blue Goo" (isn't that a great team name?).  But this past weekend was their last game.  Next year they will be moving on to new teams and new teammates.  Breaking up is hard to do.  It has been so fun to watch these boys grow together-- both in height and skills.

You could say that spring soccer is overrated in Utah-- practically every game was FREEZING!  Thank goodness for a beautiful final game to leave us with a good taste in our mouths. 

Here are some of Caleb's best action shots (from the final game--the only one with good enough weather to take pictures!):

 

 (Actually, the goalie doesn't ever get much action but Caleb enjoys a little time by the net)

 Take note: in order to have a really good shot you have to have your tongue hanging out!

 It's been a great two years!

The Championship Game

Brooke's soccer team made it all the way to the finals in their division.

The girls all came early to warm up and get last minute instructions from coach.
They checked in with the referees,
And played hard

Nana and grandpa even came to watch.
The team played extremely well. But their opponents were formidable, and in the end it wasn't quite enough.


They took second place amidst cheers from the parents. We're so proud of them. Hooray for a great soccer season!
What a cute group of girls!

OUCH!!

Sometimes things go the way you've planned, sometimes they don't.

Here are some of the times they didn't....

Last month, Caleb was playing with the backyard tire swing. It all started out as fun and games. First he would run around in circles pushing the tire, coaxing it higher and higher. Then he would step away from the wildly swinging (100 pounds+ ) toy, pick up a strategically placed ball and hurl it straight at the swing (sounds like a typical boy game, right?) This usually produced stunning results, and it was fun and exciting to see which way the ball was thrown (now in the form of a ballistic missile).

After several rounds of this game, Caleb decided to up the ante. He pushed the swing higher than he ever had before (he must have run around that thing 20 times). Watching him from the window, I knew this was going to be a doozy. Unfortunately, before he could step out of the tire's path to pick up the first ball, he was smacked in the side of the nose by a swinging blue monstrosity and dropped like a log!



OUCH! Thankfully nothing was broken (at least we don't think so...), but he sure had pretty colors on his nose for the next week or so.



In other news, last week Trent headed out to play a pick-up game of indoor soccer with some buddies.
This particular game started out just like any other, but ended rather badly.

About 10 minutes into the game, Trent sprinted after the ball, planning to pass it with the outside of his right foot. Unfortunately his timing was off and instead of a successful pass, his foot ended up on top of the ball and threw him completely off balance. He landed hard and flat on the right side of his body. Thankfully, his teammates were around to help him off the field as he couldn't walk without support at that point. After lots of ice and a 45 min. rest, he made the painful drive home. We made a make-shift bed for him on the floor from a foam camping pad (our bed was too "lumpy" to get comfortable). This is where he spent the rest of the day and most of the night.

He also did a pretty good job scraping up his elbow...

By the end of the day we had found a pair of crutches to borrow (preferable to crawling, you know), which he used for the next few days.

As of today, he's progressed to only a slight limp. Now if he could just get that numbness and swelling to go away....

Baptism Day

May 7, 2011

It's official. Caleb is now the newest member of the church in our family. We are so proud of him for making this important decision.

It was an absolutely beautiful spring day and Caleb was all smiles! We are so grateful for the love and support of all the family members who came to be with him. We wish circumstances would have allowed everyone to be here.

He was baptized on the same day as his friends Austin W. and Ryan P.
Trevor played the piano, Nana led the music, and Brooke sang a beautiful song with all the other boys' sisters. Wonderful talks were given and we sat together as an entire extended family. Somehow I can't help thinking that it doesn't get much better that this!

I am so grateful for Trent and his ability to perform the ordinances. He is a blessing to us all.

A special thank you is in order for my dear friends Cari, Kristen, and Robin. They were incredibly thoughtful and helped provide part of the dinner we enjoyed afterward. They brought tears to my eyes with such an unexpected kindness.

This is a day that we will never forget!