Why go on rides when you can play in the water?

For Thanksgiving we went down to So. Cal for a week. We spent a day at Disneyland with all of the cousins. It was loads of fun. We had 11 little kiddos running around and only a few adults so things got wild. The highlight of the day was not the rides, but running through the water in California Adventure. They spent more than an hour there and all got soaked!

A Fanatic In The Making

To say I love BYU football is an understatement! To some it might be considered an unhealthy addiction, but what can I say? I love it! BYU football is a spiritual experience for me. I will have reached the pinnacle of my life when I am able to fly around the country every week for each BYU game. This obsession started when I was just a small child. I still have a scrapbook that I made when I was seven, filled with newspaper clippings of Robbie Bosco, Glenn Kozlowski, Jason Buck and Vai Sikahema. Like the gospel, BYU football is in "every fiber of my being". Is it any wonder that my children would follow suit? The first song they ever learn from the Primary Songbook is the Cougar Fight Song. Okay, so it's not actually a Primary song, but it should be!

As a testament that children learn from their parent’s examples, Tyler now bleeds blue. Over the past couple of months Ty has raised the bar on his fanaticism and moved into the “Fully Invested” stage. Nearly every minute he can spare he’s running around the house with his BYU football, watching games on TV, or drawing pictures of his favorite players (John Beck, Ty Detmer and Austin Collie). Every morning is a battle to get him to wear anything other than a BYU shirt to school. His teacher must think he doesn’t own anything else. He recently wrote a letter to John Beck, and is anxiously awaiting the chance to see him play with the Dolphins. Just yesterday, our friend Brandon Hardy gave Tyler autographed pictures from Austin and Zach Collie. Tyler was thrilled!

One of my favorite recent memories was taking Tyler to the UNLV game in Las Vegas. Being there with him was pure joy! He was so involved in everything that was happening, asking questions about every play and player. It's so much fun now that he actually understands the game.

Over the years, Kate has learned to live with a fanatical husband. Now she is learning to deal with two fanatics in the house. She's probably so thankful that Aubrey still prefers to dance and wear dresses as opposed to a football helmet. Although, she is getting quite good at tackling Ty.

Halloween

Halloween this year was really fun because the kids were SO excited about their costumes. Usually they get a little assistance when choosing what to be. This year when they were asked what their top choice was, there was no hesitation. Tyler chose to be Jack Sparrow and Aubrey was Annie.

Aubrey wished for an Annie dress for her birthday and it was perfect since it doubled as her Halloween costume. We were a little worried that she might think twice about her costume once she saw all of her friends be fairies and princesses. No need to worry - she was in heaven! She raced through the streets singing, "Tomorrow" at the top of her lungs.