The Day our Cougars Visited Tennessee

 

When we heard that BYU would play Middle Tennessee this year we told the boys that we would go to that game and looked forward to it all year!

 

 It was such a thrill to cheer on our team in real life again!

I got up early on Saturday and made lots of yummy food for tailgating with some friends before hand

I brought Ham and Cheese Sliders, 7 Layer Dip and Texas Sheet Cake--but my favorite was what my friend Nora brought--Guatemalan Hot Dogs.  They were incredible!  I will be posting the recipe soon!

 

Rise and Shout the Cougars are out:)

It was pretty cold--but so worth it especially when

 our Cougars WON!! 

 

Connor says this cheerleader "really wanted a picture with him and he was totally OK with it."

What a guy! 

 

I need to download all of the boys pictures--they got pictures with so many players!

Let me tell you, the BYU football players are incredibly NICE!

Coleman got a selfie with the quarterback Christian Stewart and he gave him his towel.  Exciting:)

 Cannon getting the Rise Tshirt he got signed--

it was so big on him it reached his shoes!

 Jamaal Williams--

 

 

 

The boys were in HEAVEN!!

Although in the last 2 pictures Cannon was a bit sad because someone referred to his big HUGE  Rise Y Tshirt as a dress.  He was seriously humiliated for a few minutes! Poor little guy!

 

All in all it was an INCREDIBLE day!

WE love our Cougars!

7th Grade Football in all it's Glory

TJ (#17) loved playing football this year and his team went UNDEFEATED. 

 Not just undefeated, but UNDEFEATED--as in seriously whooping every team they played.  Awesome!

Last nights score was 44-6!

TJ plays free safety and corner back. ...which honestly I am not sure what that means, but I do know that he looked great!  He was fast and aggressive!
  In fact, he was so quick that I seemed to be unable to get his great plays on film!  I was too busy cheering...and trying to figure out which player was mine so I could zoom my camera in on the right boy all the while handing out snacks with one hand and keeping little boys from tumbling down the bleachers with the other!

  Phew--it is really crazy fun at those games for me!

But I did get a shot of the cute cheerleaders:)

That is something I understand!

What sweet, I mean TOUGH  Football players!

Don't you just love 7th graders?! 

Sometimes, I look at TJ and I can still clearly see a cute little toddler running around the house clutching a mini football like it was yesterday. My heart wants to burst with love for this boy and a longing to slow down time!

How did he get so big and grown up already?!

I am trying to soak up every minute with these boys of mine because my goodness their childhood is racing by!

Football Stories

My boys are a little crazy for football. I mean, really you have to be a little crazy to wear 10+pounds of gear, for 3 hours a day in 90+ heat and humidity, while chasing and smashing each other as hard as you can, all for a little brown ball:)

What a glorious pass time, huh?!

Actually, I did enjoy watching the boys play, and even more I was so impressed with how hard they worked and committed they were. It was a lot of loong, sweaty, difficult daily practises and they never dragged their feet about going even when they did not get the playing time their hearts desired. That is determination and true toughness!

I love it when my boys are a great examples for me!

Did you know that it is not cool to grin while wearing a football uniform?

I had to crack some seriously funny jokes to get this much...
(actually I think they were teasing me and my desire to snap some pics)

(TJ as a sixth grader was one of 7 boys to make the JV team. His games were a few hours before Connors)


Connor forgot the order form and check that I filled out for football pictures, so I made him do our own little photo shoot as punishment:)
A little Connor trivia: He has been #84 since he started football in 5th grade.



One with the brothers...
Coleman and Cannon have the football face down.
Bridger (batman) needs a little work.
Little brothers wanted to get in on the football shots too!
Yeah, I am kinda worried about Bridger's football career with all those smiles and cute sparkly eyes...at least he will charm the cheerleaders:)

Weekend Fun

GO COUGARS!! We enjoyed watching the BYU game on Saturday! (a win-barely!)
This is a very exciting time in the Christenen household!

Last Saturday, these excited season ticket holders were ready for the big SEASON opener at home against Northern Iowa! (a win--yeah!)

Dad has no time for my silly pictures...must be in our seats by kick off! YEAH HOO!!

A Thursay Night Football Story

This is Connor--#84

Position: Starting Left Defensive End

for the Lone Peak Knights (6th grade)
He LOVES football!!! He gets very excited about games and practises. (He has never been heard to complain about the LONG, HARD, SWEATY practises.)

Thursday night he had a GREAT game!! They beat the other team in a thrilling overtime! Connor had 3 quarterback sacks, 3 great tackles and even caused a fumble! His Mom noticed that on the last play of the game he was uncharacteristically slow to get up. She expressed worry to his Dad. But Connor was tough and didn't show signs of pain.

His FANS were there to cheer him on! (AKA little brother-wearing his jersey from last year, parents and awesome Aunts, Uncles, Grandpa and Grandma!!) He was HAPPY and had FUN! No real sign of injury until we were in the car on the way home and he expressed pain in this thumb that was hurting BAD! The decision was made to visit the Dr. in the morning.

After a LONG morning going back and forth between Alpine Pediatrics and the hospital for x-rays, and back to the Dr. office, the heartbreaking result was THIS:

A broken thumb--right on the growth plate. No more football this season! This is a SERIOUS DISAPPOINTMENT!!!

After the splint was in place, with hopes of cheering him up, his Mom offered a lunch date, of his choice. He chose a slice of pepperoni pizza at Costco(eh...really..not Cafe Rio..or even Quiznos?...). And Costco pizza is what he got!!

THE END...but not the end of football for Connor---HE WILL BE BACK!!!!