Holy Toledo!

Wow! The other night we went to the mother of all awards banquets. It was 5 HOURS long! The Academy Awards has nothing on the Mission Hills Football program for awards ceremonies. Granted, we did have dinner, but that only took about a half hour. I realize that a football team has a ton of players and for the most part the proceedings were pretty interesting but it was hard on the bum and the bladder to sit there for 5 HOURS. Since there are so many players on a team and they play a lot of different positions it's kind of hard to just give out the usual 3 or 4 awards so our coaching staff decided to go the other way and give out about a million. I was wondering how they would honor the many players who contributed so much to our season with only a couple of awards like best defensive player, offensive player and MVP. There were just too many good players who needed to be recognized so they came up with some really intricate titles for their awards. My favorite was "Best Sophomore to Play on the Defensive Line". What was so funny was that there was only one sophomore who played on the defensive line. He was the best of....1, himself. He definitely deserved recognition but I thought it was funny the lengths the coaches had to go to to create recognition. Since we had an amazing running back and tight end who deserved every good thing we could give them, I wondered what, if anything, they would give Hunter. He had a really good season but he's only a junior and these other two guys were amazing and they are seniors. They got MVP and Offensive Player so they invented one for Hunter, "Outstanding Junior". I was happy but my competitive sons thought he should have gotten "Co-Offensive Player". That's o.k. There's always next year. It will take me that long to recover from this incredibly loooooong ceremony. Thank heavens I only have to do it one more time!

Only a few more days!

In just a few more days my whole family will be together again! I'm so excited. I love my family. I can't wait to see my sweet baby, Ava. She is sitting up all by herself. She laughs and smiles constantly. Still no hair but I don't care. Also, my second child graduates from college. Way to go, Kyle! It only took 250 years because of little distractions like a mission and basketball but it's finally here. I didn't graduate from college so I have the utmost respect for those who do. I'm very proud of Brandon, who has a master's degree, and now Kyle, who has a bachelor's degree. You guys are my heroes and your twin brothers aren't far behind you. Keep plugging along guys. It'll come. I'm also very proud of Tanner for being brave enough to have a child while going to college. Very scary but very worth it. He's going to school fulltime and working his head off so his wife can stay home and take care of their baby but it's working and he is getting blessings by the ton for doing it. I'm proud of you, Nan! You're the man! I can't wait to have all of the Mighty Moores under one roof in just a week and a half. As the Grinch and Flan are fond of saying, "Oh Martha! Oh Christmas!"

It's over...but what a ride!

Well, our season is over but I'm totally O.K. with it. We lost 28-7 but the score looks worse than it really was. We fought like demons and held them to nearly nothing until they broke through on a couple of plays. Of course, they fought like demons too and held us to less. They said we were the toughest team they've played all year. My son is battered and bruised but certainly not broken. I am so proud of him I can't really find the words. He got slammed to the ground on his left shoulder early in the game and was hurting the rest of the game but no one in the stands could tell. The picture on the front page of the paper today pretty much tells the story. He spent most of the game either running for his life or trying to get off a pass really fast. His line fought hard but that Polynesian (translate - V E R Y T O U G H) blood runs hot. Hunter showed no fear and didn't back down at all. I have the utmost respect for him and every other quarterback to ever play the game. The pressure is incredible. He's not just "one" of the receivers or "one" of the linemen. He's "the" quarterback. He is amazing though, always as cool as the other side of the pillow. You would never know he gets nervous at all. I love our team and I was very proud of them. The emotions ran freely (translate - tears) after the game. That was the last time this team will ever play together and after all the hours they have spent practicing and playing, they really are a band of brothers. I'm so glad we have one more year to enjoy this. Maybe more. Some college coaches have started to express interest. Can you say Colorado St. and Oregon St.? Now it's on to basketball. I love high school sports. Go Grizzlies!

What?

Today in our local paper they had a big article about the game tonight. They were going over the strengths and weaknesses of each team and putting out predictions, etc. Right in the middle of the article they wrote that the #6 team and the #7 team play tonight for the right to face Oceanside in the final at Qualcomm. Oceanside? Has this game been played yet? We were so mad. Terrible journalism. Unbelievable that they would write that when the game hasn't even been played. I hope so bad that we beat them and then the paper will have to eat crow for a year. The only good thing was that Oceanside's coach said our quarterback is dangerous and scary. My little baby-faced boy, dangerous and scary? You betcha! Especially after that stupid newspaper writer screwed up so bad. Tear 'em apart, Grizzlies!!!

Texting

I love texting. I'm so glad it was invented and that I finally learned how to do it. It is so handy for talking to multiple people at the same time. When I am giving a play by play of Hunter's games to his three brothers in Utah I only have to write things one time and all three get the messages. Unfortunately I am kind of slow and so when things get going fast and furious during the games or I get overly emotional I just throw my phone at my 13 year old daughter and say "Take over!" The Utah boys get a kick out of the texts that say, "Hi, it's Sav. Mom is bawling so I'm taking over". She is much faster than I am. I also like to personalize my messages and sometimes they can be confusing. I texted Alana "How are my two favorite girls who live in Provo?" (meaning her and Ava, Michelle lived in Orem at the time). She saw Michelle later that day and said, "Did you get the text from Dyanna?" (She thought I meant her and Michelle). Michelle hadn't gotten that one because she didn't live in Provo so Alana was confused and thought she had hurt Michelle's feelings. It all got straightened out after a few good laughs. I also love it that the boys can text me during work or school and stay in touch with me. They aren't big talkers so it's hard to get them to call me but by being able to send little messages we are able to keep up with each others lives. I'm so glad I was born in this day and age when everything is so cool!

MVP!

We had the middle school volleyball awards banquet at our house last night and my baby girl won most valuable player along with her best friend! I'm so proud. She was the varsity setter and she had the team record for most serves. The coach said some very nice things about her like how naturally athletic she is and how she will go far in sports but the only thing that Van heard and cherished was when the coach said how sweet and kind she always is. That's what my daughter wants to be known for! What an angel. I have been so lucky with my kids being gifted in athletic ability because that goes a very long way toward building self esteem which is huge for teenagers. I have been very spoiled because I don't have to work hard finding things for them to excel at so they can feel good about themselves. The Lord took care of that part for me. All I have to do is cheer them on and I LOVE doing that. Now on to basketball in the spring and then we are done with middle school sports forever!

Oceanside

Well, we squeaked by Grossmont last weekend (35-7) in our first playoff game and now we face the mighty Oceanside Pirates for the semifinal game. They haven't lost a game in almost 3 years. They are large, talented Polynesian brethren who are very used to winning. Sounds like David and Goliath you say? Not hardly. The Mission Hills Grizzlies are no slouches at 9-2. We have just as much chance of winning this game as they do. I did pause for a moment though when I read an article on the guy who is supposed to take my son's head off every play. He is the defensive player of the year for our county and he is very large and very talented and very Polynesian. Luckily I continued reading until I got to the part where his future plans include a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Whew! How mean could he be if he's a potential elder right? Just in case, I told Hunter to go up to him before the game starts and introduce himself as Brother Moore. Just a little insurance :) If we win this game we get to play in Qualcomm Stadium for the championship. Go Grizzlies!