Thanksgiving Weekend

It's not our normal Thanksgiving picture by Grandma's fireplace, but we were happy to be together.

Thanksgiving Weekend was quite a bit different this year than normal. Mom's sister had an exposure to Covid at work, so we decided to be safe and stay home. Mom and Dad hurried and shopped for everything a few days before Thanksgiving and decided to do a turkey and a ham. It was sad not to be with Grandma and Grandpa on Thanksgiving since we go there every year, but we had a lot of fun at home, too.

Seth learned about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and wanted to watch it, so we turned it on and watched for the first time ever. The boys played a little football in the backyard while Mom cooked. Everyone was great at helping Mom, and dinner turned out delicious. Mom couldn't decide what pies to make, so she made 4 kinds to please everyone.

This was our first time watching the Thanksgiving Day parade.

Seth had made his own Slash balloon for the parade. 

Dad is a great defender in family football.

The boys learned how to peel potatoes.

4 pies: apple, chocolate, banana cream, and cinnamon.

Mark was so excited for all of the pies!

The day after Thanksgiving we skipped Black Friday shopping and headed to Antelope Island. We really wanted to see some porcupines since someone in Dad's class had said they'd seen them out there. Not only did we see porcupines, we saw a ton of porcupines. They were in the trees right next to the road, so we spotted 12 in all! It was very exciting. They were just starting to move around when we found them, so we watched them wake up and eat. We also saw bison, pronghorn, a coyote, a great horned owl, and beautiful views of the Great Salt Lake. We walked around Fielding-Garr Ranch and Dad taught us all about the farm equipment. It was an awesome adventure.

Mark wore his Bills sweatshirt to attract the buffalo.

Mom and Dad always love a trip to Antelope Island.

We spotted buffalo in quite a few places. 

There was a big herd of Pronghorn.

We watched the coyote for quite awhile. He was pestered by Magpies, and he pounced on something.

The porcupines were amazing!

We were so lucky to see them moving around.

This tree had four porcupines in it!

The owl didn't seem to mind we were there.

We always enjoy visiting historic places.

There are old homes and storage places to see.

Watch out for the truck Dax. 

We stayed until it was almost dark.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the day we cut down Christmas trees. We couldn't wait! We rode up the canyon with Laurie and Glen in the truck while Dad and Mark drove one of the 4-wheelers. It wasn't too cold, and there was more snow than we expected, so the boys were able to go sledding. Dax hurt his wrist, and we were worried it might be fractured, but it was okay and he just ended up with a bruise. Finding trees was a little more difficult because our favorite spot had been burned down, but we cut down two trees. Once we got them home they ended up being our favorite trees ever. They are so beautiful!

We stopped to pick up donuts for Saturday, and Jack's Donuts were awesome!

You can't tell, but this is Mark and Dad heading up the mountain.

We found some snow. Seth was so happy!

Mom and Laurie rode together because girls gotta stick together.

Seth and Glen always have fun together.

We hiked all over to find a tree, and we found this fort.

Here is our huge tree!

Mom and Dad love cutting their own trees.

It was really bright!!!

How many Ockeys can you fit on a 4-wheeler?

This is Dax's epic wipe out.

Our basement tree is beautiful, but it is also pokey!!

We love how full our upstairs tree is this year!

Fall Baseball

Fall Baseball was a little crazy in 2020. It fit right in with the rest of the year. The boys were able to play a little bit, but plenty of things got cancelled, too. Mark played most of his league games on Saturday, but his tournament in November was cancelled, so it felt like his season had an abrupt end. It was his first time playing with the Scrappers, and he enjoyed his teammates. Mark pitched a lot more and pitched well. He also played well in the field, and hit pretty good. He did not have as hot a bat as his final season with the Diamond Thieves, so he is hoping to pick things up a little more in the Spring. Mark only has this Spring season with the Scrappers, and then he will try out for the high school team, and we will go from there.

Mark pitched a lot for the Scrappers.

Mark is speedy on the bases.

Mark loves playing baseball. 

Mark had to switch numbers because someone was already 8 on the team, so he changed to #12.

We are always happy when Mark is on the base path.

Dax's team didn't play in a fall league, but instead did a bunch of tournaments. They ended up playing in 3 out of 4 of their tournaments. This was Dax's first time playing in the Barons organization, although most of his team was the same from the Curve. Dax played tremendously in the field and at catcher. He didn't have the opportunity to pitch, but is hoping to pick that up again in Spring. Dax also hit well, but dropped a little in his stats, so we are practicing hard at home to get back on top!

Dax also switched numbers. He went from #8 to #18!

Dax is becoming a great catcher.

He looks so small behind the plate, but he plays well back there.

Dax also plays a lot of 2nd base, 3rd base, but left field. He loves outfield!

Dax is a smart base runner. 

Dax's team won the first tournament that they played in. They were so excited. It was a small tourney with only a half dozen teams, but it was a hard fought win. In their next tournament, they took second. It was a hard loss, especially since they led for most of the game. Dax got hit by a pitch in the side of the face, but he was tough and finished the game. He has the worst luck for getting hit in big games. They played a third tournament in St. George and didn't perform very well at all, but Dax and Mom sure had fun hanging out together. We can't wait to see what Spring brings for Dax and the Barons.

The Barons have a professional photographer as a parent, so there are great pictures of Dax.

The Barons first tournament win!

Dax was so excited to win a trophy.

This umpire was the sweetest. He stepped right up to make sure Dax was okay and Dax cried on his shoulder. It was so sweet since I can't go out and check on him.

Second place was pretty great, but it was a hard loss.

Fall Soccer

Fall Soccer was a little different this year because Mark wasn't playing. We decided that it was time to start narrowing down our sports a little bit, and since his coach decided not to coach this year it made our decision a lot easier. Mark has played with Coach Clark for 6 years, so he didn't want to find a new team.

Dax and Seth still played soccer and they both had great coaches this year. Dax was back on his team from last year with a few new players. He missed a lot of games for baseball, but when he was there, Dax was still pretty dominant. He scored 5 goals (or more) in most of his games. Dax is really speedy, so he is able to beat the other team down the field even when in possession of the ball. His coach doesn't let him play goalie anymore (which he misses), but keeps him as striker the entire game.

Dax loves soccer!

Dax usually gets to kick off.

Dax is so quick down the field. 

It's fun to watch Dax be such a leader on his team.

Dax can really boot it if he needs to.

Seth had two coaches that really knew what they were doing and they had a good little team. Seth played all the positions: forward, mid-fielder, defense, and goalie. He did well at all of them and scored a few goals this season. He prefers to play defense, so maybe Seth will develop into a solid defender. We will have to wait and see. It was fun to watch him have a fun time on the soccer field.

Seth enjoyed soccer this year.

Seth is intense when he plays, and he works hard.

Don't mess with Seth on defense. 

Seth didn't play goalie very often, but he hates the sun in his eyes.

He made a lot of great stops when he did get to play goalie.