Jr Jazz

Jan 7 - Feb 18 - Logan started his first year of Jr Jazz in January. He has been looking forward to this day for a long time! He is a BIG basketball fan and couldn't wait to play. He got his first hoop before he was even 2 years old and has always loved to play. Being a big basketball fan, that makes me happy and I secretly hope he will like it more than soccer...
I volunteered to coach, but then realized I was much too pregnant, so Dad took over the coaching duties and did a great job. Logan had a lot of fun playing and got a little better each game. It was a little hard to watch if you are a basketball player or fan... They didn't call fouls and sometimes the kids would go the length of the court without ever dribbling the ball!
Logan was pretty fun to watch. He got really into the games and would sometimes do some commentary. He was really focused on the way he ran down the court and it would make me laugh. He also played some VERY tenacious defense, which sometimes other parents from the opposing team did not appreciate. Unfortunately, they didn't win any games, (and they only came close once...) but they had a good time. And they got a trophy! That was all Logan really cared about!
Here are some pics from Logan's first season... They aren't too great. I don't have a zoom lens for my camera and Avery was usually sitting on my lap. And somehow I didn't get a picture of either of the 2 baskets he scored.
Jan 7 - Logan all ready for his VERY first Jr Jazz game. He loved that he was #24 - Paul Millsap! He also told each kid on his team whose numbers they were. Either from the Aggies or Jazz. He is a sports trivia nut and remembers those kinds of things really well.
Dribbling down the courtI love that he gets SO into it!
Logan and his teammate Carter after their first game.
Jan 14 - The fans - The girls had fun going to the games, too. Especially since their friends Savanna and Hallie were usually there to play with.
Dribbling the ball
Some of Logan's defense... The only problem was his team had the ball. It took awhile for him to get that he DIDN'T want the other players close to him when he wanted the ball. For the first few games, he followed the guy he was guarding everywhere! Jan 21 - Warming up...

Logan after scoring his FIRST basket!!! He was SO excited you would have thought he just won the NBA Championship! He had quite the celebration. I was in the bathroom taking Avery potty (she really likes to use public restrooms that I don't want to take her into...) and I walked back into the gym right as he scored. I wish I had seen the whole thing or got it on camera, but at least I saw it. Afterwards, he called my dad and gave him quite the story. Some of it included that he was "surrounded by white guys" (meaning the other team) and that he had to dodge back and forth. Darren said the dodging part went on for a good 20 seconds before he actually shot it and he never dribbled. Just ran back and forth. But still... it was a score! And he gets $2! Yep...I am THAT parent who bribes their kid....
Logan drew these pictures of him playing basketball to send to Uncle Jeff.

Jan 28 - The girls watching ANOTHER game. This is how we spent most of our January and February Saturday mornings. Some more of Logan's awesome defense... Notice he is grabbing that kids' hands. I think this was the game where the parent yelled...
This picture captures a little bit of how Logan runs down the court. It doesn't really do it justice, but it was the best I could do.
Some more of Logan's defense
After he scored last week, he REALLY wanted to score again. Probably for the money. He kept trying to steal it from his teammates and became much more aggressive. Logan going for another basket! He made it again! His shot was pretty similar to last game... lots of going back and forth with the ball (no dribbling) and then finally shooting it. He was very excited!
And Grandma came to watch and got to see him score, too!
Feb 4 - Doing some drills before the game
Getting a pep talk from Coach Dad and a wrist band. They wore these to tell who to guard. Sometimes the kids would fight over what color because they wanted to (or didn't want to) guard the person with that color. Shooting...
Dribbling... He really liked to take the ball down the court.
Feb 11 - There he goes again!
This was Logan's favorite game of the season! We played against some of his best friends and he loved playing against them. He was a little crazy all game. This time he was guarding his buddy, Morgan. The other good thing about this game was they only lost by 4! This other team hadn't won a game and had gotten killed in every other game just like us, so this was a good matchup. The kids had so much more fun when they weren't losing by 20 points!

Logan chasing after his friend, SpencerFocusing on his dribbling
Feb 18 - The final game! I think they were fighting over who got that wristband.
Logan ready to start the game. Not sure what sport he thinks they are playing!
Going for the ball.
AND... the meltdown! I can't say that I really blame him. He was upset because it was only the end of the first quarter and they were already losing - by a lot! They had already lost every other game. He was really frustrated. I felt bad for him because he really doesn't like to lose and they didn't have a chance most games. This game there was one boy from the other team who scored close to 30 points. It seemed like most teams had one player who would score all the points and steal the ball every time down the court, but we didn't have one of those players.
The meltdown continues... He calmed down a little later.
Some more of Logan's defense... These silly girls survived the season, too! Logan was pretty upset about the game... Until he saw the trophy he got and the certificate. Then he didn't seem to care. He also got a team picture of the Jazz. He was so excited about a REAL trophy! He even sent Uncle Jeff a picture of his room. It was a Before/After picture of his shelf. One before the trophy and one after. It made me laugh!
Logan with Coach Daddy! What a good and patient dad to coach all this craziness! I don't think Logan has played a sport more than once without one of us coaching. Another sports season all finished up! I think this might be Logan's new favorite sport. At least I am hoping....

Changes

Everything I have posted recently has been pretty much ancient history - Things that happened MONTHS ago! So, I thought I'd post a couple new things that are actually a little bit more current. We've already had a few pretty big changes happen to start off 2012.
We had a FABULOUS Christmas! We barely left the house for almost a week! It was great! Someday I will get around to posting the whole story! On January 11, our cute Uncle Jeff (my little brother) left for the MTC. I was the biggest mess! I really had a hard time with him leaving. I think it is mostly because of my kids. They adore their Uncle Jeff and will really miss them and he has spent a lot of time hanging out at our house and even babysitting. It is crazy to think how big they will be when he gets back! It makes me a little sad to think of all that will happen while he is gone, but I know that he is doing the right thing and is where he should be. We are so proud of him and are having so much fun writing letters and the kids pray for him all the time. It is so cute! We told the kids we need to pray for him a lot at the beginning because he will probably miss his family and it will be hard for him so Logan always prays for Jeff to "remember all the family memories" and to not be lonely. And the other night, he said for him to "look deep into his heart and find the Spirit and our family". Saying good-byeJust a couple days after Jeff left, we got a new family member! My sister had her baby! Robin Jayde was born on January 15 at 6:07am and weighed 7lbs 12oz. We are so excited to have a new cousin and niece!
On the 16th, the kids were out of school for Martin Luther King Day, so we gave them the choice of what they wanted to go and do. They chose to go visit Aunt Heather and meet Robin. They were so sweet holding her! It makes me more excited for the arrival of our little guy! This one was in LOVE! She wanted to hold the baby the whole time. I think our baby might be in for it with this big sister in charge! Also, we started our VERY first season of Jr Jazz. Logan is loving it and Daddy is his coach. It is pretty hard to watch! 1st graders playing basketball.... it is total craziness! There have been a few occasions where kids will run the full length of the court and never dribble. It makes me insane to watch, but Logan is having so much fun and is pretty entertaining. He really gets into it and plays some intense defense! Someone in our ward even told us it made his whole weekend just to watch Logan play. And... on Saturday, he scored his VERY FIRST basket! He was SO excited you would have thought he just won the NBA Championship! He had quite the celebration. I was in the bathroom taking Avery potty (Another big change for us...at least almost! We are still perfecting the potty thing, but we are almost there....) and I walked back into the gym right as he scored. I wish I had seen the whole thing or got it on camera, but at least I saw it. Afterwards, he called my dad and gave him quite the story. Some of it included that he was "surrounded by white guys" (meaning the other team) and that he had to dodge back and forth. Darren said the dodging part went on for a good 20 seconds before he actually shot it and he never dribbled. Just ran back and forth. But still... it was a score! And he gets $2! Yep...I am THAT parent who bribes their kid....


Also, last weekend they split our ward! I hate that kind of change! Our ward was huge and it needed to be done, but it makes me sad! A lot of my good friends ended up in the other ward and a lot of the kids' friends, so it was a little hard for me. But, I guess now we will be able to get to know some of the other people in our ward we hadn't before. We went for the first time this last Sunday to the new ward in a brand new building. It was a little different, but I guess we will get used to it! The new chapel is so nice! It just felt a lot smaller without so many people there. And, for one last fun change... we got some new furniture! We have had these old couches since we got married and we really haven't purchased ANY furniture since. They were $350 for the set at the clearance center. I have never really loved them, but they were just about the only thing in our price range at the time and they are now 9 years old and not in the greatest shape. However, they are VERY comfortable and every time we went looking, I couldn't find anything I liked to sit in as much as these. But, I finally caved and last week....
Our new couch arrived! It is pretty exciting since it is the first real furniture purchase that we have really made! The ottoman is still on back order or something so it hasn't come yet. I have to say, it isn't as comfortable to watch TV, but it does look much nicer in my family room.

And tomorrow.... we are getting blinds after almost THREE years in our house! Good thing we don't have any neighbors behind us!