An Unlikely Champion

Haley's High school had a dismal football team. For the past few years their football team had not won a game. In fact, up until this season, they had lost 23 games in a row. Since they only play about 8 games a year, this means that they had not won a game in YEARS. An not only were they loosing - they were getting KILLED. Most games we lost BADLY.

This season our football team got a brand new coach. He told the team that the only thing they needed to do was "believe". He brought in a new offensive strategy. We ran the ball on almost every play. The offensive line was so unique - you could hardly tell who had the ball. From the stands, with a birds eye view, it took a good 15 seconds to figure out which player was running with the ball - I can imagine it was even harder for the other team to figure it out.

So this season started out the same as the last. We lost our first game. Trounced 30 to 6. No big surprise. The new offense did not make a difference. We all figured this season would be like all of the rest. We do have quite a great fan base though - and even when our team was loosing, the stands were always filled with supportive parents, friends, fans, and classmates.

After the first loss, the coach was not concerned. He told the team that as long as they believed that they could win, it would happen. The second game we played our in-town rival, Idaho Falls HS, and low and behold we won. Not only did we win, we won big! 39 to 14 and every single touchdown we scored, we did by rushing - no passes. The new offensive strategy worked.

The third game - same thing, and the forth, fifth, and sixth. We were on a roll. We finished out the regular 8 game season with a record of 7 wins and 1 loss. We were heading to playoffs - for the first time in a very long time.

We sailed through the playoffs - winning most games by a very large margin. We were headed to the state championship game. A team that had not won in years was playing for the state championship. The students, family, and fans were all so excited! Last night was the big game - played at Holt Arena down in Pocatello.

What a game - Hillcrest won by a score of 55 to 35. It was close at times - tied 28 to 28 near the end of the third quarter, us up by 5 with 7 minutes left. Then our explosive offense - who just needed to "believe" took over and again, lead us to a huge victory.

Imagine that - a team that had not seen the left side of a win-loss column in almost 3 years, brought home the schools first ever championship title. I guess you can get anything as long as you "BELIEVE".

The Things We Do For Our Kids

When I was 15 there was no way in the world that my mother would have (a) let me stay up until 3:00 in the morning on a school night or (b) waited in line for hours to get into a movie. Times have changed and I feel like the kids these days have so much more power over their parents and I am guilty of letting it happen!

Never the less, after reading the book 4 times (all 4 of them in the series 4 times each in fact), I knew Haley would not be able to wait until this afternoon to see Twilight - not that she gave me an option. Was it all worth it? Not sure, Haley was pretty darn disappointed last night when we got back out to the car at 2:58am.

We bought tickets back a the beginning of November. At the time we purchased them, the theater was offering 5 showings - 4 at 12:01 and because those had sold out, they opened up a 12:30 showing. That is the one we got tickets to. So Haley and her cousin Rachael decided at about 8:30 last night that we should head to the theater because they knew there would be a line. We have done this before for Pirates and Harry Potter and there are people who line up pretty early. So we go there at 8:40 or so and the line was already around the side of the building. I guess people had started lining up at 6 - CRAZY.

All 3 local news crews were there and it was quite cold and windy. The manager of the theater walked by and I was able to grab her and ask her what the plan was. She said as the previous movies ended and they emptied the individual theaters, she would begin calling out theater numbers and lining them up 1 at a time and let those people into their proper theater. Little did I know at the time, but they had opened 7 additional 12:30 showings - hence the giant lines!

So at about 9:30 the anchor lady from the Local News 8 crew came over and told Haley and Rachael the she wanted to interview them in a few minutes if they were still in line. They had been trying to get on camera all night. Of course, not 2 minutes later they called our theater number so we had to go inside.

What a waste of time that was. We were in there by 9:45 with about 30 other people, all alone with this cheesy music/news ad that was on about a 15 minute loop. We must have heard it 10 times before the previews finally started. So the theater is basically empty until 11:00 when all of the smart people (who probably waited at home and took a nap) started showing up. They, of course, would have been able to walk right into the theater (since the line did not exist any more because all 12 showings had been seated at this point) and grab a seat. It did make me a bit angry when the really late people started showing up around midnight and expected everyone to move around so they could sit together. Get there early like the rest of us and be torchured by the stupid music/news loop if you want to be able to pick your seat!

So at about 12:40 when the previews still had not started, the manager came in with a mega phone. I thought, oh crap - if there is something wrong with this movies projector and they make us move to another theater I will be so mad. We always sit in the very top row, right in the middle in every movie we go see - that way no one can kick the back of our chairs. If they were going to make us move, we would be the last ones out of the theater and would have the crappiest seats in a new theater. Luckily, that was not the announcement. She said that they were having a bit of trouble with the film. Because they had so many showings, they were having to string the film across all 8 projectors and it had broken a few times. Sure enough, if you looked up into that little projection room, you could see the film coming into our projector from across the room and heading out to another projector. I had no idea they could do that.

Finally at about 12:45 the previews started - the whole theater erupted with applause. At this point, I was really wondering how I was going to stay awake. I was more worried about how Dave was going to stay awake since he usually falls asleep during movies that start at 7. Poor Reagan was just about asleep. Haley and Rachael had both taken little cat naps and were now wide awake - much too excited to even think of sleeping.

So how was it? Well there were obviously differing opinions. I really enjoyed it. I have read the book (only once mind you), and thought they did a pretty good job with the movie. Now maybe it wasn't exact - but do movies EVER follow the books exactly? The movie Running Man comes to my mind. I was a huge Stephen King fan growing up. The Running Man was one of my favorites. Absolutely loved it. When they announced a movie for it, I was thrilled! Unfortunately, the book and the movie had almost NOTHING in common. I was so disappointed after I saw the movie, that I stopped even try to see movies based on books. I just knew they would be ruined.

Haley, on the other hand, was pretty mad. I am not sure what she did not like since she went straight into bed when we got home and woke up by herself this morning and left for school before I was awake. Rachael had mixed feelings. She said on the way home last night that there were things she liked and did not like about it. She was totally infatuated with the actor that played Edward Cullen (Haley thought they should have cast someone else) so that may be why she liked it more than Haley. Hopefully, Haley's disappointment at the movie and her huge lack of sleep (besides the fact that she is a normal, somewhat hormonal teenager) will not cause her to be completely unbearable this afternoon!

As I said, the things we as parents put ourselves through for our kids is ridiculous - when did the kids start to rule the world?

New Calling!

So I was called into the First Counselors office on Sunday morning before church. We all know what that means. I was called to be the Laurel Advisor in Young Womens. I was very excited since, as I was getting ready to go in, I had convinced myself that they were going to call me to be the primary chorister - a calling I have no talent for, nor any desire to learn. When he said Young Womens, I was thrilled! I held it together and didn't even cry until Sacrament Meeting, when I saw the faces of some of the kids in my class. Ugh - I never thought about the fact that I would have to say goodbye to them. My joy turned into pure sadness and I cried pretty much the rest of church - all through Sacrament Meeting and most of the way through Primary Opening Exercises and Singing Time. I finally pulled it together enough to teach my last lesson. I am going to miss those kids so much! On the up side, Haley will be a Laurel in February, and many of her friends are already Laurels, so I am really looking forward to having the new challenge! I guess I will take the sad with the happy....

I recommend...

For those of you who are Glenn Beck fans, you probably already know about his new DVD "An Unlikely Mormon. The Conversion Story of Glenn Beck". I purchased it for Dave for our anniversary. He is a huge Glenn Beck fan and has been listening to his radio program for over 5 years now. More recently, Glenn had a show on a cable news network and is now switching to FOX come January.

We were able to see Glenn live in a benefit he did here in Idaho Falls for a family in need. His daughter goes to college up at BYU Idaho and in his travels here, he met a family that was in desperate need of help. The family consisted of a healthy mother, father and 3 sons in wheelchairs, and a sister that died a few years ago. The mother is trying to take care of everyone and work full time and the house they lived in was not handicapped accessible. Glenn did a fundraiser show and donated all proceeds from ticket sales to the family so that they could build a new, handicap accessible home. The show was wonderful.

We knew bits and pieces of his Glenn's conversion story through his radio program. He talked about it every now and again. But in this new DVD he really opens up about where his life has been, and where it is now. He is a recovering alcoholic and drug user, divorced, and from a very broken family - yet he has completely turned his life around and is one of the most successful radio talk show hosts - third only to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

I highly recommend this DVD - especially if you have non member friends who are investigating the church. It is uplifting, real, and moving.

Ward Split

Sooooo.... It was NOT as traumatic as I thought it would be. They took about 150 members from our ward and combined them with 200 members from an adjacent ward, and created a new ward. Our entire Bishopric stayed in tact. We lost a few teachers from primary and a leader or two from RS and YW, but that was about it. I did loose my visiting teaching companion, but all of the ladies we visited are still in our ward. All 8 of the kids in my primary class are still in our ward. And NO, I have not gotten a new calling yet! They filled the position of Primary second counselor that was left vacant last week, but that was the only announcement they made. I am assuming now that the ward was officially split we will have a bunch of new callings next week. We do get to go to a new building - which is great because it is within walking distance of our house (not so great in the winter - but wonderful in the summer). Well I guess I will keep everyone posted on any new news!

Rumor Has It....

That our Ward is being split this weekend. Dave and I got called into the Bishop's office this weekend. I was thinking we were finally being released from our calling (I have been in Primary as a teacher for almost 5 years and am looking forward to a change - Dave joined me about 2 years ago after serving as Elders Quorum Secretary for 2 years). I LOVE my current CTR 6 class - I have had them since they were Sunbeams, just moved up with them each year, but I was looking forward to a change. Anyways, as we sat and talked with the Second Counselor (he is over Primary), I realized we were NOT getting released. In fact, he asked us if we had any musical talents - to which I quickly replied "NO!". Anyways he said he was doing some fact finding and was not making any changes at the moment. All of this happened just prior to Sacrament Meeting.

Haley was really sick on Sunday so after the interview we headed back home and then just went to the last half of church. What a day to miss Sacrament Meeting! The entire Primary Presidency was released. They called a partial new presidency but they did not fill the position of Primary Second Counselor, Choirister, or Piano player (hense the earlier questions from the Second counselor I assume) and they announced that we all need to be at the Stake Center at 9am next Sunday to hear the announcement of the new ward boundaries. Apparently they are taking 2 wards and making them into 3 wards. UGH! So I guess maybe sometime this week I will get a new calling! I would really like to be in Young Women's so I could be with my girls, but anything with the exception of Primary Teacher or Nursery Leader would really be fine! Guess we will have to wait a week to find out!