Mark Basketball

Mark was the leader on the court.

Mark played his second and last year of Bantam Ball. It was severly hampered by Covid, so there was no tournament, and the schedule was cut to ten games. The team ended up 7-3, despite the improvements we made in the off-season. For Mark, this is a great chance to get together and lead his friends on the basketball court as well as he leads them on the baseball field. 

This year there weren't any really close or exciting games. We either won pretty handily, or lost pretty badly. Mark was a leader and point guard, and Dad challenged him to be a better passer and look for shots for others. Mark took this challenge and did well with it. In our seven wins, he only led the team in scoring about half the time, though he always led in assists, and usually in steals and rebounds. 

Mark went to the line every game.

Mark is a great passer.

He loves playing with his friends.

In the final game, Mark moved the ball really well and every player on his team managed to score. This was the first time all season that the team accomplished this feat. It was a great way to end the season, and since it was a win and there was no tournament, everyone felt pretty good about that!

We love watching Mark play!

Mark is a good ball player!

Dax Basketball

Dax on the dribble!

Dax played another year in Junior Jazz with Dad as his coach. He loves basketball so much! And he loves having Randy as his coach. Dax is such a great little shooter, and he is so speedy. No one can keep up with him on the court. In fact, Dax dominated the competition so much, that he was recruited by several other teams playing in serious leagues. We decided that he is committed to baseball so we can't handle a serious basketball team, too.

Dax didn't have much help on his team this year, but he still led them to a 6-0 record to start the season. His team had to play the two toughest teams over the last two games, though. He played really well in the penultimate game, and his team had a three point lead with under a minute to play. Unfortunately, they had a bad turnover when no one would pass the ball in, and they lost by one point.

In the final game Dax's team led most of the way before losing 52-48. Dax had six 3-pointers (no one else made one all year) and 38 total points in the loss. He wasn't a ball hog, though. He helped all the players on his team to score when they were ahead, and he consistently passed more than he shot until those last two games. Even though they ended up 6-2, everyone knew who the best player on the court was!

Dax is a great ball handler, other than the carrying.

He beats everyone down and makes a layup.

Dax is a great leader on the court, too.

Dax loves being with his dad on the basketball court

He played great defense!

Look how happy he looks!

Dax shot pretty well from the line.

Mark made himself the unofficial assistant coach.

Dax's team in 2021.

February Fun 2021

February was not very cold or snowy. We had plenty of basketball games, but it was actually a pretty calm month and we enjoyed our time together!

We tried a bunch of sugar cookies through Utah taste off. It was so fun!

Seth's Valentine Box (Slash)

Dax's Valentine box (Josh Allen)

Dax and Seth made homemade Super Bowl t-shirt signs!

And we watched the Super Bowl with the puppies that are getting huge!

We renewed our Thanksgiving Point Pass this year, so we took an evening and enjoyed the Dinosaur Museum together. We spent the entire time searching for gnomes and found 10 of 13, which is pretty impressive! They hide them really well now.

Mark doesn't look as tall next to the dinosaurs.

Seth loves the erosion table.

Seth also loves taking funny pictures like this one--running away from the T Rex.

Dax wasn't sure if he was to big to dig in the sand.

We always have so much fun together!

Dad found a gnome.

We have become addicted to Handel's ice cream.

Mom and Mark went on a few Wednesday adventures. They hiked to Rocky Mouth Falls and did the bird drive around Utah Lake. It was so fun! 

Mark climbed up by the waterfall.

Mom bought some ice cleats so they could hike on the ice. Mark was impressed how well they worked.

Wonderful Wednesdays with Mark.

The clouds were beautiful over Utah Lake.

Mom makes Mark take a selfie on every adventure.

We saw this pretty Golden Eagle.

Lots of pronghorn.

Our favorite was this pheasant.

Mom convinced Dad to go out to Mexican food for Valentine's Day.

The horchata was especially good!

We always enjoy date night!

Dax built this HUGE tower!

Every year, the boys compete in Federation and AIM. These are both chances to perform before judges and show off their talents. All three boys earned Superiors in their Federation performances this year, and this was Seth's first time. We are so proud of their piano work.

They are such handsome boys!

Mark plays better than Mom now.

Seth did amazing for his first time!

Dax has improved so much this last year. He is becoming a great pianist.

Seth and Dax went to a winter camp with the Barons.

One sunny day we visited Patriot Park.

Our van reached a special milestone.

Cherry Peak Day 2

We had two rooms in the hotel, but Dax was up early, and he made sure everyone else was up by 7:30, too. We felt surprisingly not sore, and everyone was excited to get back and try skiing again. Though a winter storm warning had threatened to shut down northern Utah, the skies were clear, so we weren’t in any hurry. In fact, after breakfast in the hotel, we let the boys swim for a little while before heading back up to Cherry Peak.

The boys love swimming!

It was much snowier and colder on the mountain, but the boys headed straight up the slopes while Mom and Seth continued to practice on the bunny hill. There were a lot more skiers, but that didn’t stop us. We went all the way up the second lift. Then Mark led us down a steep tube called the chimney. He did great, Dax did well, and Dad had multiple crashes! Luckily, we all survived, though.

Seth hardly fell today. He became a pro!

The older boys braved the snow to try some harder runs.

They did great!

When we got back, we were really excited to take Mom and Seth on the bigger run. At first, Seth was really afraid of going over the edge. But after he saw there was a nice lip along the trail, he did great. He only crashed once or twice, and he controlled his speed really well. Mom did okay, too, though she didn’t love it. She crashed a few times and only got a little upset with Dad for taking her up that lift.

Seth was excited to try the bigger runs on the mountain.

Seth really got the hang of it. Mom did not!

Mark was so patient with Mom. He helped her all the way down.

This pic is from the first day when it was sunny and clear. Look above at the difference.

We had lunch at the resort around three and then did a little tubing. The tubing run was short, but it was fun. We rode up the magic carpet and then shot down the canal in a tube. It was really fast and you had very little control, but only Mom walked away with a sore tailbone. We were supposed to stay and tube in the dark, but we were just so worn out that we headed back to Logan. 

Seth and Mom found bunnies on the bunny slope.

Mark might have skied into the ditch! 

The food was really yummy at Cherry Peak.

While Dad slept and the boys watched a movie, Mom slipped out to grab some dinner. She got the boys Panda Express and Wendy’s and then took Dad to a Mongolian Barbecue place, so everyone was happy! We ended the night with another Utah Jazz win, so it was a great day!

Seth waved at Mom even though he went backwards.

Dax zipped down the hill. 

Mark enjoyed tubing but liked skiing better.

The tubing run was speedy.

Dad takes great videos and pics!

We watched the Jazz game in the hotel.