Easter 2016

Thankfully I didn't hav,e to work this Easter so we had a day full of family.  We went to church, then to B's parent's house for brunch, and ended the day at my Dad's house.  

The Easter Bunny was good to me and brought me the new Tarte palette I had been eyeing! 

Full baskets for the kids

B's basket

Tired kids up early since we went to the 8:30 mass so we could get to both family's celebrations.

All ready to go

Brunch at Grammy and Papa's

Dinner at Grandpa's

Ready to hunt for some eggs

Sully getting so big!

The little cousins

Grandpa showing Peyt a pic of the rattlesnake he encountered on his trip to Arizona

I swear the night always ends in the kids wrestling

Dyeing Easter Eggs

With very busy schedules, we found a day to squeeze in some Easter Egg dyeing!  Always a hit with the kids.  

OSU Game

The Oregon State Beavers who are coached by my former college coach Scott Rueck, had an amazing season and were starting the NCAA tournament at Gill Coliseum. Jill contacted Kerry, Scott's wife to see if we could get some seats for the 2nd round tournament game and she got us front row seats right next to her!  Thank you Kerry!  It was so awesome to watch them play.  Scott and Kerry are like family so it was so great to see them.  Jill and I were having very mixed feelings....it's a weird mix of emotions of being so unbelievably proud to have been coached by Scott along with a tinge of jealously of wanting to be out there playing!  We are both so proud and not surprised of Scott's success at OSU.  Go Beavs!

Along with my excitement of seeing Scott, it's ALWAYS good to see my Jill.  She is my person, we always pick up right where we leave off.  Her and Becky are my true best friends for LIFE! Love you Cook!

Love her forever!

Scott is such an amazing coach...always has been, always will,

So proud to have been coached by him.

I had a cameo in the stands on one of their media photos.  We had amazing seats!

Olivia YMCA Hoops 2016

I signed up Liv for YMCA Pre-K/Kindergarten hoops this Winter and she did amazing!  She is such a natural athlete.  She was one of the youngest on the team but did so great. She has great focus for her age and good coordination! She scored lots of points and learned a lot.  Most of the kids have no concept of dribbling so there were lots of traveling and double dribbing which was hilarious to watch.  I love watching my kids compete!

Pointing to who they are guarding before the game starts

Receiving her trophy

End of the year awards banquet

So proud

CYO basketball season

After a frustrating Fall YMCA season, I decided to coach Peyt's school CYO team.  Boy oh boy was this a challenge.  We didn't have enough third graders for a team so we did a split 3/4th grade team (6 third graders and four 4th graders) and played up at the 4th grade level.  This was a big jump for the 3rd graders going from CYO hotshots last year where they played on 8 foot hoops, they could travel, double dribble and couldn't steal.  Now all rules applied (aside from no double teaming outside the 3 point line and no full court pressing in the first half.) and they played on 10 foot regulation hoops.  The first half of the season was-to be frank-FRUSTRATING.  We were totally out of our league. Also, 8-10 year old boys are so rambunctious, with not the best attention span which was another frustration. So, I scheduled a few extra practices and worked super hard to figure out the right combos of kids and finally things started clicking. I put lots of time and effort in and it finally paid off.

Peyton struggled at the 4th grade level, as did a lot of the 3rd graders.  This was too much of a jump for them for sure.  He was frustrated, but he continued to work hard on his dribbling and shooting. He definitely got stronger with his shooting and understanding more of the rules and fundamentals of the game.

I now know how hard it is to coach.  I'm not sure I'll be a head coach again...I think I'd make a better assistant. It was a big time commitment.  I also realized that I don't have the voice or dominant presence needed. But I love teaching kids what I'm passionate about.  The last few games, seeing the kids using the skills I taught them was the best feeling ever.

Big thanks to my friend Meggan helping me keep the boys in check during the games!

We ended up taking 3rd place in the end of the year tournament