Finishing off February...

Girls, Basketball, Girls, and more Basketball... 

February brings with it the end of region play and the state playoffs so at our house during February, Basketball kind of takes over to say the least. We have coaches at our house watching film until 12:30 in the morning, we have dinners and sleep overs and all sorts of things to do the last couple weeks of February. Here are a few pictures from our adventures... We had a great time and have lots of fun memories with this bunch of kids. Enjoy the pictures-

The little man and ALL his girls. He is a lucky boy:)

Team dinner at our house! We started this tradition a few years ago, (don't know what I was thinking:) the night before the first round of state, we have all the girls and the Senior's parents come for dinner.  It is a house full, but fun.

Cute, cute girls

As you can see, our white board that the boys draw on, coach with you name it, got tagged by the girls- 

These 6 young ladies have helped to build a program that will be in the record books at Juab High for a very long time, if not forever- These kids have played in the state semi-finals three out of their four years of high school basketball, being on the floor, contributing for all three of those years. You won't find many people that can say that. 

The first round of state at home. The girls program had not hosted a home state playoff game since 1998, that was my senior year and we had good results then as well. This game was just as awesome and the gym was packed! They played great :) 

Sleep Over and "Float Friday" all in one!
Another tradition the girls have is a sleepover in the gym before they go to the State Tournament.  They are so nice to ask me to be their chaperone and stay up ALL night with them. Let's just say, I'm getting old...

The boys had a ball in the wasp costume, and running around in their pajamas in the gym until they had to go home with dad at 11:30 or 12:00. Yes, we are "great" parents and my kids are little night owls:)

Clayton's turn

These four are too funny. Kobe Farrer has been Duncan's "favorite" player since she was a freshman. She is his basketball idol (at this point in his little life) and the two of them are buddies for life. Tessa Bradford, is Clayton's best buddy, of course on his terms (he is a little naughty some times) but he likes her 95% of the time. When the boys are playing ball at home or "coaching" they will run back and forth shooting and passing from front room to kitchen with Duncan yelling, "Kobe Farrer, for two!" and Clayton yelling, "Tessa Bradford!" You have to see it to appreciate it because it is hilarious and cute all at the same time. My boys will surely miss these two next year. 

We got another nice snow storm over the week end so of course sledding was on the list of to do's!

He loves sledding

And little man is quite fond of it too. Dad is a great sport to ride along

Then off to State we went! It was held in St. George this year at Dixie State College. Duncan and Richard left on the bus early Thursday morning with Clayton and I, Grandma & Grandpa Phillips and Jim, Shurron and their boys leaving a little later in the day and Grandpa & Grandma Pay coming down for Friday's game. How spoiled are we to have such great support from family. My parents still enjoy watching ball games, even after 5 kids and hardly ever missing a half time performance of a cheerleader or drill team member or watching the other three of us on the ball court during the game. They not only enjoy watching Juab but are content watching ALL of the other games too. I didn't get a picture of them but it is nice to see them relax and just sit once in a while, they are funny:) And... I am lucky to have such supportive parents. My boys spend a lot of time during basketball season sitting on their laps at the ball games watching and supporting Richard and these girls when I work on Tuesday nights. I have great parents. 

Mr. Intensity... and it was so loud in there that he had to yell so the girls could hear! It is a fun atmosphere.

words of wisdom.... or something like that! 

And then after the game, look who was waiting... None other than his girlfriend Alexa. She graduated last year and goes to school in Cedar so she made the trip to watch the team play. He was very happy to see her and she was excited to see him. He hasn't seen her since this fall so it was kind of cute to watch him and hear their conversation. What a cute pair...

Then on to the semi-finals... Duncan was on the bench again this year with his Dad, dressed in matching colored shirts and ties. And of course, everyone thought it was "soooo cute"

The kids played hard, but came up short against Snow Canyon who would go on to win the state title.

Duncan is a great little "water boy" and loves to be on the bench helping

That afternoon, back to the hotel we went and swimming for everyone! All these crazy boys had plenty of fun!

All of us...

Our fam...
The boys love to be in the water and splash and play. It was also fun because there were about 20 kids from the ball team, the band and so on in the pool to play games with and dunk and splash. "Mr. Pay" was a good target to pick on too:) 

One game left... On Saturday, the girls took on Judge Memorial for third place.
They played at Pineview High school because the UHSAA is not real swift in their planning efforts.  Kind of crazy, but the girls played very well anyway and ended their season with class.

Duncan was on the bench with Dad for this game as well, cheering on and coaching the girls just like he knows what he is doing, which he really actually does! It is kind of fun to sit by him during a game and listen to him because he does understand the game, as I guess he should:)

One last cheer and 3rd place in the state!

Our crew of coaches... What a bunch they are- I personally think the two in the middle are kind of handsome :)

The Seniors and.... their "coach"

One last picture with Kobe...
Duncan asked his dad in the locker room, "Dad, didn't we win the game?" Richard replied, yes, we did." Duncan replied, "Then why are Kobe and all the girls crying!!?"  Maybe someday he will understand the bittersweet feeling of playing your last high school game in a sport, until then he just gets to be a kid and make lots of fun memories with these girls:)

The next few pictures are with the girls on the team at Duncan's request. He would pick them one by one and of course, they would agree for a picture with "little Pay"

And we even got one of all of us, this coach's biggest fans:)

And one more with our non-compliant child...

Working with kids in athletics can be very rewarding, and it is easy to see why Richard enjoys coaching so much.
Being able to let your own children be influenced and associate with groups like this one is priceless...
Someday when these girls have children of their own they will understand why they are so special at our house...

And now, maybe our dad will have a few more "spare" minutes on his hands- but... probably not- he's coaching the 6th grade boys.....  I just keep reminding myself, I LOVE BASKETBALL:)