July 4th in Utah!

We had decided to make a trip to Utah for July 4th to go the Stadium of Fire.  Carrie Underwood was performing and the girls love her music.  Just before it was time to leave Grandpa bought a 40 foot motorhome and so we travelled in style to Utah.  It was so fun to have the space in the motorhome to travel in with a bathroom on hand and a fridge stocked with food and pop.  The kids thought it was soooooo great!!

On the afternoon of July 4 we went for a picnic up the canyon with Sonya's family.  

It was a beautiful hot day and the river felt really good to cool us off.

We played all kinds of fun games and even Kailey was able to participate despite her broken wrist.  

It was horrible to be in the heat with a cast on her arm.

Of course little Lucy was everybody's favourite!

My boys!

It was so fun to watch them play football together.  

They would draw up plays and execute all kinds of running plays and complex handoffs.

 And then the celebration when they scored!  A little hip bumping in the air!

That evening we went to the BYU stadium to see the Stadium of Fire.  Carrie Underwood was amazing and it was the first concert the kids had been to.  The fireworks were amazing too!

Flag Football Season 2014

Spring sports are a bit of a whirlwind in Calgary.  Kailey has been busy with badminton and then flag football starts overlapping with badminton season.  She spends a lot of time on the field and in the gym.  This year her team was pretty good.  Kailey is the female receiver on our team.  

 A little running action to keep the team undefeated all season.

City championships at McMann Stadium!  This was a tough night!  

We ended up losing in double over time.  

This is Kailey going in for the final touch down to win the game.  We all thought for sure she was going to make it across but the ref says she was flagged just before her foot crossed.  There were a few questionable calls made in such a close game and in the end we had a chance to win in our last possession when Carlos caught the ball in the end zone and then dropped it.

Needless to say this team was not a happy one to have their pictures taking after losing this game in double overtime, especially given they had been undefeated all season.  You win some and lose some. It is just hard to lose such a close game.  It has kind of been Kailey's story this year.  She has taken really close losses in volleyball, basketball, and now flag football.

Kailey was not happy!  This is her last year wearing her St. Joan flag football 

jersey and she was really hoping to bring home the gold for her school.  

Flag Football City Champ

After poring rain all day I was afraid we might have a miserable night to watch the City Finals of Flag Football this year.  About 3:00 that afternoon the sun started shining and it was a beautiful evening.  This is the second year in a row Darcy and I have spent our anniversary watching our kids at St. Joan of Arc win the City Finals for Flag Football.  Kailey's team did not disappoint.  They won without letting the other team score a single touch down!

Kailey receiving her gold medal 

and of course the team picture!

This sport is super fun to watch and Kailey has absolutely LOVED playing it!  

Her coach keeps telling me what good hands she has.  

A lot of girls can't catch a football very well, let alone catch it while running a given pattern but Kailey does a great job.  She has been playing catch with her brother since she was little.  I can remember her being little (like 2 years old) and Carson yelling "Babes, just catch it like this!" and he would throw it to her until she caught it almost every time.  All that practice has  come in handy!

This sequence of pictures is great as it shows her running down the field for one of her many touch downs.  The great thing about being a girl is that usually the girls from the other team are the ones that play defence on you.  The other coaches usually assume that the passes will mostly be going to the guys and so they don't worry about having their best defensive players on the girls!  This is where Kailey comes in handy!  You would think after 4 touch downs and 4 conversions that they would play better defence on this girl!

 Kailey catches the ball and starts to run.  The first defensive player tries to flag her . . . 

  . . . but ends up sprawled on the field instead.

So then the boys come running after her to try and grab her flag . . . 

 . . . but a quick little move and . . . 

  . . . he ends up on the ground as well watching Kailey score another touch down!

 Again. . . 

 and again,

 and again! 

(This girl thought she finally had Kailey stopped by pulling her flag before Kailey caught the ball but that doesn't count!  As soon as Kailey catches the ball she runs for another touch down and of course the defensive player can't reach Kailey's other flag!)

She tucks that ball in nicely and away she goes!

To win the banner for the school all three grades (7, 8, and 9) have to win cities and that is exactly what happened!  St. Joan brought home the banner this year!  Way to go Cavaliers!

Kailey Playing Flag Football

Kailey made the flag football team and plays offence.  

Mr. Brosseau loves Kailey because she can catch the ball.  So many girls can't catch well so it is a bonus when they have a girl that can catch and run the ball.

You always have to have 2 girls on the field at all times.  

Here they are getting ready for their next play.

Kailey running the ball!  The girl chasing her is actually one of her teammates from her club basketball team.  She never did catch Kailey!

Kailey and Coach Brosseau critiquing the defensive line!

And Camsi in on Kailey's tail again as she runs down the field for another touch down!

City Champs at McMahon Stadium

Carson's Flag Football team won the City Championship on Monday night.  They got to play the game at McMahon Stadium and boy did they give a good show!

Carson's best friend Albert was our quarterback and he was amazing.  

Right on the money most of the time!

Kwami could run the ball like no other!

Carson and Devo (as they call him) were an amazing team on Defence!

Carson made quite a few interceptions . . . .

. . . and ran almost the full length of the field a number of times for touchdowns.

(Carson is not competitive at all :) )

And then there is the Cavalier's #1 fan!  Always there to cheer them on the loudest  . . . JJ!

Of course Jordan found a friend (Coach's son Casey) and they had to 

imitate the big boys on the sidelines.

Congratulations to Carson and the Cavalier's for another great season!