Ice Rink

Brent has been dreaming of putting in an ice rink.  We did it when we lived in Idaho and it was a great success.  We have the space and we got new grass this summer, so why not! (I am worried about the new grass, but Brent said it will be fine.  The girls said it is better on the grass because the weeds would have just poked a hole in the plastic.  True.)

He spent some careful planning and talking to another neighbor who does it every year.  Brent had to go big.  Take up the space that we have.  The rink is 60 by 35 feet.

He started by putting up the boards.

 Kara is his cute assistant.  Love the pink boots and the little kick back!

 Wes was a helper too.

 Brent, standing back, admiring his work.

 Boards up!  Check!

 Then the plastic.  Since they don't sell a big enough one, he had to piece two.  He got a deal on the black.  Thank goodness.

 Then we started filling.

 And filling.

 We had a cold week in December.  It was perfect for freezing the ice.  We still had 6 feet or so to fill, but the girls went out with Wes to play.

 They would take turns hitting the puck to Wes.

 Wes is a great brother when he chooses to be.

 My ice crusted snow pants after putting a layer on every night.  I would bundle up and play Zamboni.  It was looking great!

 But then spring decided to come in January.  It has been too warm.  It melted and melted. We only have one tiny piece of ice in the corner.

 The birds even came to play.  They thought the water was great for splashing in.  It was cute to watch them.

So now the great debate.  Will February be cold?  Should we leave it up or tear it down?  It was a disappointing first year for our Lehi Ice Rink!

Utah County Independent North---Warriors

Wes loves hockey.  He loves to play.  We love to watch.  Lehi High School doesn't have a hockey team.  There are other schools around us that don't have teams either. So different high schools in Northern Utah County have combined to create an independent team.  The last couple of years he has been able to play for both the junior varsity and the varsity teams.  He has great coaches.

He usually plays in five different arenas.  It has taken a while to remember which is where: Steiner, Peaks, Acord, County Ice and Maverick Center.  We drive to Provo, Salt Lake, Murray and West Valley. Sometimes we venture to Vernal, Logan and Cedar City. Our usual spot is the Peaks in Provo.  It has been nice since Wes got his license he can drive himself to practices. 

Our usual view:

 Our pictures usually turn out blurry, yellow, far away or we miss the play entirely. 

Like this: 

One of the player's dad has a nice camera. He shared the pictures with us.  He took tons and we downloaded the ones that had Wes in them.  I had to look for the obvious name "Prime", number 11, CCM gloves, Easton stick or holes in the socks.  We have about 120 pictures from two games!  I will only feature a few here!

Once in a while he gets to play at the Maverick Center, which is where the Grizzlies play.  It is kind of fun for them to play where the big dogs play.  For us, it is nice to sit in seats, not bleachers. We didn't quite fill the house.

I love seeing the players lined up on the bench.

 

 He shoots, he scores!  (Maybe, I can't really remember.)

 He stays cool under pressure.

 I think this is one of my favorites. You can see Wes' face through the mask.  

 This game was their last JV game.  They played great.  Their JV team ended up 3rd in the division.

The varsity played even better!  The regular season ended this week. The varsity team is second but won over the first placed team.  Park City only had one loss...to us!  We'll see how finals go!

 Sometimes he falls down on that slippery ice.

 I know for sure this is one where he shoots and scores!  

 I love the team unity with fist bumps.

 And congratulations.

 A trip over to the bench is in order.

A lot of his games have been a 9:30.  So we don't drag the girls along.  In fact, I usually take him to those games because Brent has to get up so early for work.  But otherwise, we make it a family affair.

The little girls like to line up for some fist bumps.  Sometimes Wes is accommodating, other times not. 

 Notice Erin's nose plug?  They open the locker room and we all want to run from the smell. 

 Can't say the girls watch the game.  They usually pack bags full of stuff to entertain themselves.  It ranges from dolls to coloring.

 Or Janiel is good at playing with hair.

 Lining up for some congratulations!

Locks of Love

 Kara has beautiful thick and gorgeous hair.  You wouldn't have guessed from her baby hair. 

One year old and only a little peach fuzz.  

Two years old and barely squeezing in piggy tails.

But given 4 more years, she grew some beautiful hair.  But it got to the point where it was a pain to wash and comb.  It often brought tears in the morning.

 We talked about a haircut.  No can do.

Then I told her about Locks of Love.  After that, she considered a haircut. She has a friend at church who shaved his hair off because his cousin is going through Chemo.  So I think it helped her to relate to someone.

 She was worried about "cutting off the blonde".  She has lovely natural highlights.  Florida sun helped with that too.

 We made a trip to Aunt Esther's.  

 Look at those lovely locks!

 Trying not to smile.

 Then Esther works her magic.

 Tada! The smile says it all.  She LOVES it.

 And there are still some highlights in her hair.  She walks around kind of flipping her hair as she goes.  Nothing like a new hair style to make a girl happy.

 Then we packaged up the hair and sent it off.  Hopefully some cute girl will appreciate the thick, natural highlighted hair!