The Minnesota Preators: September 2008

Saturday, September 20, 2008

BYU's Amazing MN Fans Video

Check out this amazing video of our BYU celebration!

BYU Gameday

Thanks Donny, we have enjoyed this video many times and have enjoyed sharing it with our friends and family!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Basking in the glow of a BYU Victory!

After BYU smoked UCLA, 59-0, we were glad the rain stopped and we put our Cougar Field at Preator Stadium to good use. Teams were picked, rules were established and a vicious game of 'two-hand touch' football ensued! Everyone had a great time and many touchdowns were scored!

We loved hosting a great party and enjoyed the company of many ward friends including the Martins, Deans, Blakelys, Mecums, Wagleys, Macdonalds, Lamoreauxs, Barringers, Manzellas, Backers and Chipmans.

Minnesota Cougar Spirit

Cougar Field at Preator Stadium
A year long dream comes to life!
(100 feet of perfect backyard kentucky bluegrass,
15 cans of spray paint and
some very creative minds working together for about 7 hours)

The finishing touches on the field: hash marks, yard line numbers, direction arrows, and cougar blue around the 'Y'! Brent, Donny and Jamie worked hard to finish just before the start of the BYU vs. UCLA game.

The perfect additions to our field were yard markers carefully placed by Jamie and real end zone pylons.

Brent and Donny, the biggest BYU fans, admiring their final product...the field exceeded their wildest expectations!

Friday, September 12, 2008

BYU Football Obsession

It is here - our favorite sports season of the year!
BYU Football

Riley took this picture of a cougar during our late summer visit to Como Zoo.

He just happened to have his BYU shirt on that day!

Tomorrow's Big Event
We will be watching the Cougars play UCLA and
then hosting our own Cougar Classic.
Hopefully both games will be a success for the 'home team'!!
Brent has been preparing his back yard lawn all year by carefully watering every blade of grass to create the ultimate football field. He has been talking about painting yard lines and hosting a football game since our sod was laid last fall....that day is here!

Scoping out the side line.

Painting the very first line.

Painting the yard lines.

Brent and Riley had to leave for the 11 yr old scout campout, so Donny stayed to help me finish off the field with the all important "Y" in the center of the field and the numbers on the yard lines.

Donny worked until the paint wouldn't stick because the grass was a little wet as the sun went down and the temperatures dropped.

We are hoping the forecasted rain stays away and our beautiful field is still in tact in the morning! It will be a fun day!
GO COUGS!

Enjoying the outdoors!

All you need is an old soccer ball, a gently sloped driveway, 10 water bottles (still full) and sidewalk chalk to create your own bowling alley. The kids had a blast playing outside on Saturday and every time I have grabbed one of the slightly beat up waters to drink this week, I have appreciated the reminder of their creativity and ingenuity! :)

The weather lately has been so nice and the perfect temperature right after school for the kids to go out and play! Sidney is always the first one out the door (not much homework in 1st grade) and she loves to play with her friend Maddison who lives 2 houses from us. She and Maddison had the three little kids in our cul-de-sac entirely entertained for over an hour playing with these bogey boards on the grass in our back yard. They were just slippery enough to drag around the grass and give each other rides. (Pictured above: Maddison, Stella and Peyton)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Sidney's First Day of First Grade

Sidney's Favorite Things About First Grade:

her teacher
books that her teacher has read
reward plastic pennies that she can spend at the class store
new friends like Jayme, Maddison, Chloe
her own desk and locker
school lunch
recess every day
challenges (like filling in missing words in a poem)

(Hard to believe my 'baby' is in first grade....gone all day! Sidney has been very excited and LOVES it. She was definitely prepared and will do great in 1st grade.)

Jamie's First Day of 4th Grade

Jamie's Favorite Things About 4th Grade:

Mrs. Plowman, her teacher, the best ever
her 48 pack of crayons
2 of her friends in class with her, both are named Lauren (one of which is member of the church)
purple writing on the board which means more fun!
accelerated reader book list
being the biggest kid at the bus stop
same P.E. and music teacher as last year
making new friends
a clean, organized desk to start the year with
her own assignment binder
hand motion games in music

(Hard to believe Jamie is in 4th grade....I remember 4th grade! She is growing up very quickly. She is still the most social of my 3 kids and has about 12 best friends. She is already excited about reading this year....so we are off to a great start!)

Riley's First Day of 6th Grade - Middle School!

Riley's Favorite Things About Middle School:

his own locker
changing classes
new teachers
new classes like Tech Ed and American Studies
being in the WACA house
3 hot lunch choices every day
a cool new planner and assignment notebook
new friends
new bus

(Hard to believe Riley is in 6th grade already! He has been very excited all week and has adapted very well. They have spent a lot of time learning how to organize, learning where everything is in the school and teaching them all the rules of Middle School. Seems to have been a very smooth transition at our house!)

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

My New Favorite Video

I love Country Music and especially love my favorite station K102. I have enjoyed listening to Brad Paisley's new song Waiting on a Women. When I was out running errands today, the DJ on K102 interviewed Brad about his video for this song and as soon as I got home I looked it up and watched it. Brent and I both loved the humor of the video and the simple sweet message it conveys. Enjoy:

Video for Waiting on a Woman

The Lewis Family

We finished off our visit to Kansas by spending two days with the Lewis Family at their home in Kansas City. We love being with them and the kids had a very fun time 'sleeping over' with them, playing, swimming, and always get along beautifully! I loved visiting and catching up with Debra. Brent loved playing golf with Casey. Thanks Debra, Casey, Conor and Brigham for having us and we can't wait to get together again!

Liberty Jail

On the way through Missouri we made an impromptu decision to stop at Liberty Jail. We enjoyed the hour break from riding in the cars and appreciated the reminder about the extreme hardships that the Prophet Joseph Smith endured. He was a man of great faith and a wonderful example for all of us.

The National Rocket Launch

Who knew that 3 days in the middle of the United States in a field in southern Kansas with temperatures around 100 degrees could be so FUN! Papa Jim has been waiting a long time to have his family join him for a National Rocket Launch. We all love that he shares his favorite hobby with us! We found the field just south of Argonia, Kansas and set up camp with 2 canopies, 3 coolers, 10 camp chairs and lots of blankets. Aunt Jill from Illinois joined us and was an expert rocket assistant! Debra, Conor and Brigham Lewis also made the drive down from Kansas City and we loved having them with us!

Papa Jim Hard at Work and
Proud of his Finished Products