Utes Victory Over Georgia Dogs

Yes.

That's Georgia's mascot. A dog. Don't really know what that is about.In football, when the team is introduced, they get a smoke machine. In gymnastics, the girls get this: Lights around the floor, a fountain, and spotlights. I always wonder if the firealarm is going to go off, but it hasn't yet.
My friend, Remmington, came by:
He's so dramatic. And lucky! He was in the section that received the free t-shirts.

This meet was especially nerve-racking. Georgia are the dogs (get it? Dogs?!) that beat us out of the National Championship last year. We did well on the vault, but then the judges scored us extremely harsh on the uneven parallel bars. Really harsh. That's where we fell behind. But! Then, thanks to a redheaded gymnastic on Georgia's team who stepped out of bounds twice and fell during her floor routine and then fell off the beam, we managed to beat the Dogs by .05 of a point. I hate to say anything bad about a fellow redhead, but I'm sure was treated like a redheaded step-child by the rest of the team after the meet.

Between the beam and the floor, the Red Rocks have a tradition of chanting "Who Rocks The House?!"

The answer is "The Red Rocks Rock the House!"

Very close meet. But, a win is a win.

Daria Bijak, a senior gymnast who flirts with Mike every time she comes into the bookstore, took home the all-around prize. And this win over the Georgia Dogs jumped us in the national rankings to #3.

After the meet, Mike heard some of the gymnasts talking about how lucky they were to pull off a win when they were being judged so harshly, and if the judging had been fair, then we would have beaten them by more than a .05. Stupid judges.

When Sarah and I left to go home, we came outside to find big, fat, UGLY snowflakes.

I hate snow and Sarah loves it.

Kaylee

This is my niece, Kaylee.

This is me and my niece, Kaylee. Do you see that dark pink thing she is holding? It's a purse. And guess who got it for her for Christmas? And guess what she refuses to leave the house without?!
This is me, extremely happy that Mike and I got her something that she loves (okay, truth be told, Mike actually picked it out in Disneyland). And that's Grandpa's head in the background. Hello, Grandpa's head!

Gymnastics Meet vs. Iowa State

And here you were hoping that I'd have nothing to post about once football was over.

Since Mike has to go to every home meet anyway, he bought me a season ticket this year so that I can go too.

Amazingly enough, Mike really enjoys gymnastics. We went to most of the home meets last year too, and (it might be really girly for me to admit this about him, but he'll just have to forgive me) he actually got so that he can recognize when an event or a specific element is done well or not.

Unfortunately for this past meet, we didn't arrive until the very last event, the floor exercise, was taking place, but here are some pictures that I snapped:

And the Red Rocks beat Iowa by a fairly large margin.

Next weeks meet will be HUGE. Seriously. It's against Georgia, the team who took the #1 spot away from us last year.

Revenge will be had!

Congratulations Ed & Jen!

It finally happened!

Jennifer Platts became Mrs. Edwin Parker on Friday, January 15th!

Since Mike had to work, Sarah & Ryan were kind enough to let me tag along with them to the reception.

Cupcakes! (Jen's favorite thing.) Congratulations, you guys!

Cindy & Kevin Come A-Visitin'

The only reason I'm allowed to say "a-visitin'" is because Cindy & Kevin are from Kentucky.

Cindy is a friend of ours who came to Utah from San Diego to live with her cousin Shannon, then moved to Kentucky with our friend Christa, where she met the love of her life and is still currently (and happily) living there.

None of us have seen her since she moved to Kentucky, so this was the first time any of us had ever met her husband, Kevin. Because just what we need is another Kevin in our gaggle. And, I would say Kevin is a really nice guy, if it hadn't been for his comments concerning my beloved Yankees. For this, he is forever barred from my good will and I curse his filthy mouth! (Cindy, I'm sure you can kiss the curse away, if you try really hard.)

Raelynn was kind enough to host us for the evening, so what a nice reunion it was for all of us to get together! I'm trying to remember the last time all of us (well, mostly all of us, I'm pretty sure Shannon and Christa are excused, because they both live out of State now, but believe me, they were missed) were together. Minus Cindy, was it Beth's wedding?! That was in JULY! Bad us!

Kara & Lewis

Lewis & their daughter, Miriam. And what a ham she's turning into! I would point my camera at her and she would just "CHEESE" it. A Diva in the making? I think so! Also, she tends to stand on her toes, which means, she has the dancer's gene! Kimmy & her husband, Kevin (not to be confused with her brother, Kevin, or Cindy's husband, Kevin; I told you, too many Kevins!)CelestialKara & CelestialRaelynn & Miriam

The only ones I didn't get a picture of are Beth and her husband, Kevin (okay, not really, his name is Gayln, but I had you going there with the Kevins, didn't I?), because they had to leave early.

It was really nice to catch up with everyone! And we really missed those that couldn't be there!

P.S. For those who are wondering where my "Kevin" (aka, MIKE) was, he was busy putting $1 down some girl's g-string at a bachelor party.

Cameron's 5th Birthday Party

My nephew, Cameron, is now officially five-years-old.

That's a whole hand!

And to celebrate, my sister threw him an "Animal Party." So, all the kids brought a favorite stuffed animal to the party, and we played Hide-'N'-Go-Seek with their animals. (Which means, Trent spent a lot of time hiding stuffed animals.)

Not to totally judge my sister (but I'm still gonna!), there was way too many kids there. Just look:

There's 1, 2, 3 . . . I don't think Cameron can even count that high!

(*NOTE* Reader, Beware: I am about to sit high on my non-child throne. I firmly believe that there should only be as many children at a child's birthday party as the number of years that child is turning. 3 years-old = 3 children, 6 years-old = 6 children. Yes, yes, I'm sure I will throw that rule out the window when it's my kid, but for now I will perch here on my throne and Aimee can comment and tell me that she was under obligation all she wants; I stand by my statement. WAY too many kids there. This incident did, however, give me a new found respect for Kindergarten teachers.)

Anyway, the kids all had a fun time banging on a pinata:

And after ALL the kids had a turn, the pinata still hadn't broken open (it was some sort of mutant gene of a "Super Pinata"), so Aimee and Trent let Tyson beat it until it burst open. After that, it was time for cake and ice cream. And, once again, my sister totally amazes me with her cake-making abilities:
I know.

Seriously.

Can you believe she made that?! My kids are going to be so embarassed by the store-bought cakes they're going to get for their birthdays from me. I hang my head in shame already.

After the cake, the kids came up with this fun game: It was called, "Hit Aunt Lissa with the Balloons." Kaylee thought it was hilarious. And after that, I constantly had kids "battling" me with balloons. I believe Grandma is responsible for thinking up that game. Thanks a lot. Happy Birthday, Cameron!Welcome to being a whole hand!

Welcoming 2010 . . .

The "Ball" dropping in Times Square

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!