STATE PLAY-OFFS

* * STATE PLAY-OFFS * *

Jaren led his team through an exciting season. We were anxious and excited for the State Play-Offs. We felt confident that we would do really well. 4 Games. Just 4 critical, single elimination games! Everyone is playing for their lives. You lose – you’re out!

Play-Off Game #1: Mt. View vs Mesquite. I wasn’t worried about this one. We easily won by 27 points! It was fantastic

Play-Off Game #2: Mt. View vs Corona. People said “This will be tuff. We beat them once but they beat us once.” I reminded them that Corona only beat us because that was the game Jaren sprained his ankle. Jaren is back and he and the team are playing better than ever. Sure enough, we killed them! We won by 25 points! Some were surprised. I was not.

Play-Off Game #3: Mt. View vs Buena. Again, everyone said “Oh, this will be close.” Because Buena was undefeated and ranked #1! However, they play in an easy region. Again, I wasn’t nervous at all. People were amazed that I wasn’t nervous. But, honestly, I felt so good and confident in the boys. Something inside me knew we were going to win it all. Even about half way through the season, I knew. I never spoke it out loud, because I didn’t want to jinx them or sound crazy. But something inside of me knew. And sure enough, poor Bueno was destroyed! We won by 27 points again!! They didn’t know what hit them. They walked off the court in tears. It was so sad!

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: against Brophy. Brophy is good! They play a lot like Mt. View. No one could predict a winner. Everyone looked forward to a CLOSE, nail biting game. I thought it would be close, but I still was so calm and knew we were going to win. What I didn’t

know, and what no one else ever guessed in their wildest dreams, was that we would beat them by 21 points! It was said in different articles that this was probably the most dominating run through a Play-Off series ever in Arizona history! We beat our teams by: 27-25-27-21! It was simply amazing. Our boys were awesome and play so well together. They truly are a team. Jaren was for sure the best player, but he was no hot-shot super star. He led and shined in such a subtle way. Even though he was almost always the high scorer or high rebounder he always made sure everyone was involved, everyone was shooting. I think that’s part of what makes him a great player. My heart swelled and tears filled my eyes as the buzzer buzzed and I watched Jaren celebrate, hugging his teammates and coach. Jaren and the other 3 starting seniors were whisked away for a TV interview. So cool. I’m just so proud of him, for all his hard work. He deserves the win! He deserves a spot on the BYU team! I’m just so, so, so thankful that his dreams are coming true and it’s because he has been willing to work so hard and make big sacrifices.

Solid As A Rock

Our trip to Yosemite and hiking Half Dome

We're going to the TOP! Yes, to the top of that!!

Hike Day: Up at 4:00am! Quick breakfast of hard boiled eggs, bagel and oranges. On the trail by 6:00am. We filled our water bottles & packed granola bars, trail mix, apples, sandwiches & more. It's going to be a long day and we can't be hungry on the mountain. We also packed band aids & good old handy duct tape. Off we go... With Half Dome - in the back ground, we're well on our way!

Michelle wants to make sure everyone see the warning sign! "DANGEROUS - SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH" Why are we going to the top?? Because we can! Because we're amazing! :) Nothing can stop us. We read our scripture theme again: Helaman 5:12

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.”

I LOVE that!

They are called the “Granite Stairs”. But we called them “the CLIFFS OF INSANITY!” :) The photo does not do justice to how incredibly STEEP these “stairs” were. People warned us that they were difficult and they weren’t exaggerating. These stairs are carved out of the granite; they were straight up and went right along the edge of cliffs that dropped 100’s of feet below!

We finally arrived at the top of the Granite Stairs… relieved & exhausted but so proud, only to find ourselves facing the giant, daunting, yea, even almost threatening Half Dome! It was 

crowded the day we were there, which made it even more difficult, as we had to wait to go up and then while, literally hanging on the mountain, holding on for dear life to the cables, we had to wait more for people who were too weak or too afraid to move forward. It really added to the difficulty.

We all grabbed onto the cables and started our climb up. Again, the photos don’t do justice, because what these photos fail to show is that on every side around us the mountain drops to steep cliffs 1000’s of feet below. There were several times where I had to focus and not allow fear to enter into my head: once someone dropped their water bottle. It went tumbling past us dropping over the edge. And you seriously thought “Oh my gosh! That could have been a person!” Then someone’s camera went flying by crashing over the cliff. Oh boy!

Yipee! We made it to the TOP! We think we’re pretty studly. We are! It was a TUFF climb, a long hike, but worth every painful step, every scary thought, every strenuous, grueling stride. The view was spectacular! Heavenly

Back down the mountain we went… Jaren ran most of it! He darted between the trees and the trail like an elk. :) Oh, to be 17 and in great shape! Doug and I actually ran a bit, but we’re old so we didn’t last very long and we certainly could not keep up with Jaren. We finally reached the half way point again. This time we took off our shoes and soaked our poor aching feet in the cold river. It felt soooo good! You can see all my duct tape, trying to avoid blisters. Our feet were sore and dirty. We were working and hiking hard!

Surprisingly, the hike down was almost as difficult as the hike up! Perhaps, partly, because we were tired & sore & blistered at this point! But in spite of the pain it was incredible and absolutely beautiful! We wouldn’t change a thing, well, except maybe a few blisters.

10 Hour… 18 miles… 4800 steep feet gain… 8850 feet elevation… blisters… sore feet… and tired legs later, we were done! Impressive! What a great accomplishment.

Michelle-Volleyball

Michelle playing Volleyball. She does a great job and she has a super serve.




Go Michelle!





Great serves...

Spring Break 2009

Spring Break!We had lots of fun in Utah for Spring Break. We skied, snowboarded, went to movies, played games, stayed up late, ate good food... It was great to meet up with Owens and other friends from the ward. Here is Katie, Michelle, Hillary & friend Kristin Smith.

Jaren had fun skiing with friends from school.

Jaren riding up with Nick & Nate. They thought that was pretty cool.

This is what the married kids get to do while riding up the chair lift! ;)

A few jumps: (It was the end of the day & we were running out of sun light & I was running out of camera memory! So of course, it was complicated & I didn't get the best jumps. But here are a few fun shots...

1. James

2. Jaren

3. Mike

4. Erin

Fun Doctor Visit:

It's a Girl! A sweet baby girl! So fun!!