Utah County Champions!

I love Jack!

He had on: long underwear on top and on bottom, long socks, sweatshirt, pads, jersey, gloves, football pants and a hand warmer muff that had at least two Hotties hand warmers in it. 

In the warming tent with his best buddy Will.

We played the championship game at Lehi High School.  They even had an announcer.  It was very official.

Jack and Will again on the sideline waiting to go in.

See Jack on the right.  Look at that game face. 

Getting his award from his coach.  His coach said, "Pound for pound, Jack is the best lineman in the conference."

Another update

I was inspired by Amanda's update. So here goes:  

Brian: Brian is currently still on crutches from his surgery. When they opened his knee up for surgery, they saw his ACL had reattached. The surgeon said that he sees it about 1-2 times a year. BUT while they were in there, they saw that he had a cartilage injury. They ended up clearing out all this torn cartilage and then they used this mini-ice pick thing to poke the femur bone about 50 times to "Make the bone angry." So said the surgeon. He said the marrow cells will grow a patch over the cartilage. Oh, but you can't put any weight on it for 6-8 weeks. This was totally unexpected for Brian. He thought he'd be up and about after a week. He hates the crutches. (He may or may not have said some bad words while throwing the crutches at the garage stairs the other day... allegedly) I was thinking that it wouldn't be a big deal.. so he can't use his knee... WELL... since he his hands are on the crutches, he can't use his hands either! He can't pick anything up, carry his plate to the table, carry anything. We've all had to do a lot of helping. I'll leave it at that. He's anxious to be well again and back to work.
 
Allison: I was released from primary sing-time and put into Young Women's. I've been busy re-learning the ropes in YW and organizing activities. I'm also helping with Tristan's First Lego League program and I'm in charge of the project portion of their team assignment. It's not due until January, but I'm afraid with the holidays January will come really soon. I'm also coaching his Knowledge Bowl team at the elementary school. We meet Wednesday mornings before school and study and practice the science packet the district gave us. I also volunteer in Tristan's class on Friday mornings and Jack's class on Friday after I'm done in Tristan's. After school I drive kids around and crack the whip on homework.

Coleman: Coleman is finished with football this fall and is getting good grades at school. He just got braces on Friday and he's less than excited about them.  

Tristan: Tristan is involved in First Lego League robotics competition, Knowledge Bowl, scouts and he's starting Jr. Jazz in a week. Jr. Jazz will be twice a week, the rest of the activities are once a week. He LOVES his teacher. They are such a good match for each other. He loves Minecraft and wants to talk about it... a lot. (He has pestered me the ENTIRE time I've been writing this update to discuss Minecraft in more details. Ummm, no.) Tristan and Archer Skype and go on Minecraft at the same time so they can talk about all the things they're doing. Ok, it's actually a much more complicated game than it seems. He has to figure out how to wire things, use pistons and he probably knows more about computers than I do. I made Tristan take the gifted test on Saturday. He wasn't thrilled with this. He didn't want to spend 4 hours on a Saturday taking a school test. I don't blame him, but I'm happy he went.  

Jack: Jack won his semi-finals football game on Saturday. I was really proud of him playing in the cold and snow. It was a high of 35 degrees. He has practiced in the snow and cold and not really complained. We've had to buy things I never even thought of before... like a football hand-warmer muff. It was a mixed feeling win. If we had lost, we could be done with football, now we have another week of practices. Jack currently has football, for 2 hours, 3 times a week and he started wrestling last week and has 1 hour practices, 2 times a week. Good thing he loves all of it. He has more energy than any child I've seen. This week he's playing for the championship, at the high school stadium. They are currently still undefeated. He loves school and is really good at spelling. He's just a really happy kid.
 
Hudson: Ummm... Hudson is 2. enough said. No really, he's SO CUTE. I think Heavenly Father made them so cute at this age so we don't throttle them. He's a stinker. He brakes things (expensive things like the X-Box), dumps things out, etc. He's noisy in church, so whiny when he's tired and a general pain, but he's also super funny and adorable. He says the cutest things. He can't start words with a "K" sound, it becomes a "T". So, he snuggles down in a blanket and says, "I'm so tozy" or if he likes something he'll say "So tute (cute)". He also can't say words that start with a "S" blend sound. Like snuggle, it becomes "nuggle", smell becomes "mell". I got ready for church and he sees me and says, "Mom, mell good. So tute." See!!! It's priceless.

Surgery

Brian is having ACL reconstruction surgery on Thursday.  I had to laugh because originally he told me I didn't even need to go to the hospital with him, that he was going to drive himself home.  It's his left leg, so he thought he'd just drive with his right.  After going to his pre-op appointment, his opinion of the surgery has changed, somewhat.  He will have to be on his back, with his leg elevated, for 7 days after surgery.  SEVEN days!!! He has to have his leg strapped into a range of motion machine for 23 hours a day.  Ummm... how am I supposed to sleep through that?  I also told him that I hope he can get up to go to the bathroom, because I have my limits.  The following is an animated video of ACL reconstruction surgery.  The difference between this video and Brian's surgery is that he is having the ligament harvested from his hamstring, not the patellar tendon.  (We couldn't find a good video of his same surgery.)

Football!!!

Whaaat?!?  Who's that football player?  

Jack started playing tackle football this year the beginning of August.  They practiced 6 days a week, 2 hours a day for the whole month of August.  I have to say, the more I know about football, the more I respect the difficulty of the game.  Imagine having to teach a game to 6-7 year olds where everyone on the field has a different job.  Jack is a lineman; which is somewhat funny given his size as the 2nd smallest on the team.  He is really good at his job though.  He's gone up against the biggest kid in the league and took him down, over and over.  Jack has perfected the "submarine" move.

 Just after the huddle.

 Couple of things you should notice:  1.  Look how small Jack is, in comparison to the other players.  He and Tristan both ask me ALL THE TIME, "When are we going to grow?"  umm... I don't know.  2.  Look how long his pants are.  Those are XS.  When I can't see him on the field I look at everyone's feet and look for the only kid in "long pants".  His knee pads are shin guards.

 The weather is starting to cool off, a bit.  It was still 85 yesterday at the game.  The first game was played in 100 degree weather.  We had a bucket of water with sponges that we would squeeze out over their helmets and the water would go down the holes in the helmets.

 Here he is in a rare moment running off the field.  He plays both offense and defense. Plenty of kids are on the sideline, just not Jack. Two games ago, they sent him out and the team played one play.  Then I hear, "Get Plummer back out here!"  What happened was, the kid Jack was blocking got through and sacked the QB because the kid who took Jack's place didn't make the tackle.  Look... it's serious business in the 1st-2nd grade football games.  They play to win, not so much to worry about the kids' feelings. 

Jack's team is undefeated.  We only have 1 more game and then the playoffs.  One of the parents suggested that, when they're 2+ touchdowns up, they could let other kids run the ball.  So, two Saturdays ago, Jack got to run the ball and almost made a first down.  He went about 8 yards.  This was his run yesterday.  He got a few yards.  

Click on the picture to open the stop-motion movie I made of Jack's football run from yesterday.

Brownie Heaven

We had company for dinner on Sunday and she made these delicious brownies.  From the first bite I knew that they weren't from a mix.  She gave me her recipe and it is too good not to share.  Warning:  these are not low-fat or low-cal, but they're so rich you can cut them into small servings.

1 1/3 c. butter
3/4 c. cocoa
2 tsp vanilla
3 c sugar
6 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips

I creamed the butter and sugar, then added the rest of the ingredients.  The batter is pretty thick.  Spread it in a greased 9X13 pan.  Bake at 350 for some undetermined period of time.  My friend didn't tell me and I baked them for 30 minutes and it was still SUPER runny in the middle.  I kept setting the timer for 5 more minutes and checking it.  My oven is funky and bakes things weird, plus I live at a high altitude, etc.  I think they baked for 45 minutes and they were a little too undercooked.  Don't worry, we'll still eat them.

They are SO good. 

Motorcycling

We've been really busy with school, football (especially), LEGO robotics and various other things.  We squeezed in a trip to Idaho to the Idaho state fair.  We went to the tractor pulls there.  It was highly educational for everyone.  We camped at the fair.  Brian, Hudson and I stayed in Grandma Plummer's trailer, but the boys slept in a tent.  The kids had a good time.
Brian had a 10 day stretch off work.  We had a lot of plans, but really only worked on the basement and took the kids motorcycling 1 day.

 Hudson is at the age where, when he wants something, he just keeps repeating it...over...and...over...and...over until you want to rip your ears off.  He LOVES motorcycling.  He asks, probably daily, "Ride momo?...Ride momo?" times that by 500.  I'm not joking.  He wanted a soda the other day and started asking at home.  We got in the car and 20 minutes later he was still repeating the same phrase.  I'd already tried every technique to get him to stop.  I find I just have to ignore it and turn up the radio.

 This old abandoned bus is pretty cool.  They all posed with the bus. 

 As you can see, this is in the middle of nowhere.  It's west of Tooele on I-80 about 20 miles... out past the Morton Salt factory.  Someone has built this really cool track for motorcycles.  The kids just ride around and around, getting more daring with every lap.  "Mom!  Did you see that one?  I jumped like 5 feet in the air!"  (More like 1 1/2 feet, but who's counting?)

He posed himself.  Soooo cool. 

Not pictured:  me, sitting on the reclining lawn chair, reading;  Brian, trying to get Hudson to stop asking him to take him on the momo; and our two dogs who were running around until they were foaming at the mouth and had to sit under the trailer.

Some crafts

I made my first quilt!  I think it turned out cute.  I call all the imperfections the "homemade" look.  It gives it authenticity. 

I made a pillowcase as a demo for Young Women's.  It is such a hit around the house, they all want holiday pillowcases.

My first try with "french seams".  See... no raw edges. 

These are a just a few of the things I've made lately.  I didn't take any pictures of the 20+ baby burp cloths I sewed the last 2 weeks.  They were cute.  I also learned to make the newborn girl headbands out of tights where you can clip different flowers and bows to it. 

New Family Pictures

Apparently I've been remiss in updating my blog. (sorry Kyle) I have a lot of pictures to post, but I feel like I've been busy. I'll start with the latest family pictures we had done. Here are a few individuals of the kids.

Don't worry, during the time that she was taking Tristan and Hudson's pictures Jack was running around like a crazy person. So when it was his turn....
What? Who doesn't love that shade of red face?

Timpanogos Cave

This was fun to take the kids to because we can see Mt. Timpanogos from our house and I had never taken the kids to the cave. It's only 1.5 miles, but it's pretty steep. It also climbs to almost 7,000 ft in elevation, so if you live at Sea Level normally... there wasn't quite enough air. Since we live at 6,200 ft. we didn't notice. All the kids did great! There was minimal complaining and the cave was great.

On our way up. We left early in the morning and it was a little chilly. The chill didn't last long.

At the top.

Inside the cave. It's really hard to get a picture that does the formations justice.
The "heart" of Timpanogos. I was VERY disappointed that they no longer tell the legend of the heart of Timpanogos. There are a couple of versions. Here's one:

According to the legend, on a quest from his father a young Indian warrior named Timpanac met and fell in love with Ucanogas, a young Indian princess. As time progressed, this love caused the other braves to become jealous. In order to put an end to the jealousy, Ucnanogas' father proposed a challenge: the first brave to scale the highest peak of the mountain could claim Ucanogas as his bride. During the race, the braves ambushed Timpanac causing him to fall to his death.

When the young Ucanogas saw that her lover was dead, she offered herself to the Great Spirit to be with Timpanac. During the burial, the folds of her robes made a perfect profile of the mountain peaks; thus binding the two lovers together after death in Mount Timpanogas.

I can remember hearing this story as a kid and when you look at the mountains from straight on, you can see the Indian Princess lying on top of the mountains. Her hair makes Provo Canyon. Her heart lies inside the mountain. They also used to light up the "heart" with a red light. Umm... no more. You also can't touch the "salt and pepper shakers" anymore. It was still fun.

American Fork Canyon

We went, on Sunday, up American Fork Canyon to make S'mores and just hang out. We hiked a little, got really dirty and had a campfire. Amy and Eli came with us and we invited our friends to go too. As you can see, it was a good time.

The Great Tooth Debacle of 2011

This post is not to be confused with the Great Tooth Debacle of 2010, which I realize I didn't blog about. So, a little history. Before we moved Jack had gone to the dentist and had 2 cavities. He had them filled and he didn't have laughing gas. The experience was unmemorable. We move here and 6 months later he complains of a toothache. We didn't have dental insurance, so I just took him to a dentist I found on the web. They X-Ray and evaluate and tell me that he was 9 cavities!!! 9?! They kindly give me a quote for $1,400. *cough cough* I come home and panic a little. I then went online and signed us up for dental insurance. It was kind of lame insurance and we had very limited choices for dentists that took it. I called the closest one (which wasn't close at all) and made an appointment. Thus beginning the 2010 debacle. We went and Jack seemed ok at first. The dentist was very obese and old school. I had Hudson with me and there wasn't really anywhere for me to sit near Jack so I just had to keep checking on him and waiting in the waiting room.
Suddenly, Jack's not ok anymore. He's panicking. He's crying and screaming and hyperventilating, etc. The dentist had drilled out 4 of the teeth. I calm Jack down and the dentist puts this ring around the first tooth to fill it. In Jack's continuing panic, he somehow sucks the ring off the tooth and inhales it. Now he's choking. He can't breath. I was near his feet and he's clawing to sit up and staring at me like... "Mom!!! Help me!"
The dentist does nothing. No moves.
I jump up and pull him up and start to move behind to do the Heimlich when he coughs up the ring. So here's the problem. He can't leave because he has these big holes in his teeth from the drill. He has to lie back down and let the dentist finish. We left and vowed never to go back.
He still had 5 cavities to fill. I found a different dentist. Jack had a panic attack again at the new dentist, but no choking. We used laughing gas the next time and it was a MILLION times better.
This brings us to two weeks ago. Thursday night Jack tells me he has a pain in his mouth. I was busy and didn't really pay that much attention. After dinner was cleaned up I looked in his mouth and was shocked. He has this big pus pocket on his gums.
So, our regular, new, nice dentist doesn't work on Fridays. We had to go to another new guy. He tells me that the tooth has to be pulled. I try and discreetly tell him that Jack has high dental anxiety. Apparently, I was too discreet and should have shouted it out. We should have given him gas. He screamed, choked, sobbed and carried on. It was grueling. Don't worry, I had Hudson there and he peed through his pants and had to go around with no pants on. I made him a balloon out of a latex glove which he played with until it popped. THEN he put the popped glove on his hand and he kept running back into the room saying, "I fix Jackie's teeth." He would then try and get his hand into the action. I was sweating, the dentist was sweating. ugh.
If you've never seen a tooth pulled... it's ugly. The dentist kept stopping and coming to ask me if I wanted him to carry on, since Jack was so upset. What? We've come this far... press on. Finally it was over.

How to blow up a Barbie with bottle rockets

For Tyler:

The boys tried several different ways to blow up Barbie. First, they gave her a mullet hair cut. I'm not sure why, but they were REALLY excited about it. Then they tried taping her to the rocket and it didn't really work out. Bottle rockets are not as powerful as you'd think. So, they took off her head and taped it to the rocket. It didn't work. Maybe their tape was faulty. They finally put Barbie's head ON the rocket, lit it... and it went. Very successful.

They also taped 2 rockets to a toy car to try and get the car to shoot forward. The car was kind of too big and it only moved a few feet. Hardly the shoot off they were hoping for.

For all these experiments they decided they needed more powerful explosives. We didn't agree.

Challis- Lots of pictures!

We just got back from an 8 day trip to Challis, Idaho. For those of you who haven't been there, we took pictures this time.

Coleman riding around Brian's Mom's house.
Jack riding around the houseThe boys getting ready for their rides. Brian is supervising... starting bikes, etc.Tristan getting ready for a ride.

There is a skatepark in town. It's really nice. The boys forgot their scooters, skateboards and bikes, but Grandma Plummer has a collection of bikes that she bought at the thrift store in town, The Hub. They're mostly pink and sparkly, but the boys didn't have many options. They rode them anyway. They also didn't bring bike helmets, so they wore their motorcycle helmets.









Wait, who's this handsome guy?? You really should click and make it bigger. He was such a cute kid. I also dig the fro in 11th grade and the SWEET mullett in 12th.

The kids always get a kick out of the town. Challis is a small town with about 900 people. There aren't any stoplights. There is a Main street and a highway. The Main street is full of historic buildings, some of them dating from the mining days.

This is the county court house.
The boys like that there's a gas station called, "Stinker"
Here is the famous bowling alley. The only drive-up food in town. You can get a delicious shake or any number of fried foods. The first time I ate a finger steak was here. Yes, a finger steak... deep fried pieces of steak. Yes, it was delicious. We ate many shakes and bowled here at least once.

This is Brian's mom's insurance business. She owns the company and the building. It's nice because she's just down the block from Brian's brother's gas station. It makes visiting both of them easy.


The art gallery in town.
The Custer Saloon. It is still in business. See... They're now serving food... in addition to alcohol.
The most favorite Challis destination: The Hub. You can go here and buy a toy for $.25. We bought a barbie to blow up with bottle rockets and Hudson got a tool workbench. The kids ALWAYS find some treasure to get here.
The bottom of Main Street. The boys just wanted pictures of all of it.

Random abandoned building. Clearly original.
We had a great time. We bought fireworks at the Indian Reservation on our way up and the boys spent Saturday night lighting them off. Some of them were VERY big. We drove home Sunday and I took the kids to watch fireworks at a park by myself. Brian had to work.