Easter weekend 2012....

Easter didn't go as planned this year for many reasons.  First was Casey and the kids were still sick.  Cael had spent the first of the week home from school and then around Wednesday Casey came down with the darn stuff.  Horrible coughs, body aches, headaches, and no appetite.  When I asked Casey to go get the trailer out of storage he said he didn't even care if we went cause he felt so horrible.  The only thing that made him feel better was soaking in the tub and unless there was a way to pull our tub behind the trailer he wasn't going anywhere.  Casey loves to camp so I knew he felt miserable.  So we decided to wait and see what happened by the end of the week.  The second thing was that the kids were in school all week and then out the next.  With Cael already missing so much school I didn't feel right about letting him miss anymore.  Lastly was my Grandpa Earl taking a turn for the worse the weekend before. I'm going to do a detailed post about this, but it was a very emotional week and I knew I couldn't be without cellphone service and not know what was going on with him.  So it turned out that we didn't go camping which was fine with Cael since he claimed to receive more from the Easter bunny if he came to our house instead of the trailer.  I don't know where that came from.  Saturday morning we woke up and decided to treat the kids and go to Denny's for breakfast.  While we were there Linda called and asked if we were coming out to ride because they were doing their annual ride to Sand Mountain.  We love this ride and once the kids got wind of it they begged to go.  We hurried and went home, loaded up, and headed out.  It turned out to be a great ride and the kids had fun.  We stayed and had dinner before heading home.  When we got home I went over and saw my Grandpa.  I knew he was getting close and I'm glad I went over that night because the next morning my mom called to tell us he had passed.  I tried to keep it together because soon after the kids got up to find their Easter.  They both got pillow pets (we are so behind the times...), clothes, sandals, and candy.  We then got ready for church and then headed to my parents that night.  This year was different for us, but we still tried to make the best of it.  The kids were good with it and this was probably our most spiritual Easter yet. I love my Savior and all he has done for me and my family.  I know true happiness is through him and I strive everyday to become like him.

State wrestling 2012.....

I mentioned in the last post that Cael had been under the weather for the past week. I kept hoping he would get back to 100% and by Friday night I was pretty confident that he would be ready to go. We got up early and headed down to Salina. Both grandparents came along with Chad, Jessica, & Kalee for the day. We love our family and they are always so good to support. We got settled in for the day and watched the boys warm up. Cael again was starting to get whiny. I thought great here we go again. Cael ended up in a 5 man bracket with only 4 of them getting metals. I kept hoping Cael would at least win one so that he could get a metal, but by the look on his face and his mopey attitude i knew he would have to get lucky. His first match ended up being against who else but the North Sevier kid he has wrestled all year. This was there 4th time wrestling each other and Cael has seemed to weaken every time. Cael came out strong but with a blink of an eye the kid had Cael on his back and the ref immediately slapped the mat. Usually they give them at least 1 second to try and get away so I was shocked he called a pin so quickly. After that Cael started pouting and saying his throat hurt. I had to have one of my "talks" with him and told him to stop whining and complaining about having to wrestle. I reminded him that he was the one who wanted to come and he had reassured me all week that he felt good enough to go. I know he is young, but he is going to know that it is not ok to waste our time. If he says he wants to do something then he better do it his very best and not complain. Coach Christensen also talked to him and told him he look like the little dog and he needed to be the big dog. Confidence is a huge issue with Cael and we keep reminding him that he has to have the right attitude to win. He seemed to perk up after that and his next match was against a Canyon View kid and Cael pinned him the first round. This placed him at least 4th so he would get a metal. He wrestled for 3rd & 4th against the North Sevier kid again. Cael lost again but was excited to still receive a metal. I had been frustrated with Cael all day and felt bad i had to get after him. My mind was soon off of Caels poor behavior when we got word that a wife of a Canyon View Coach was killed in a car wreck on the way to the tournament. I was soon brought back to reality of what is really important. I don't know this family, but my heart aches for them and I pray they can get through such a difficult trial.

Millard Tournament 2012

Unfortunately the sick bug hit our house this week. Kensie had not been feeling well the weekend before and then sure enough both me and Casey started in with it. I kept hoping Cael wouldn't catch it, but Friday he started to come down with it. He woke up Friday night crying that his throat hurt and he didn't feel good. I gave him some Tylenol and he went right back to sleep. I was not planning on him wrestling the next morning, but he got right up and said he felt better and wanted to go. He acted fine and I thought that it must have been a 12 hour virus. I was starting to think differently when we got to Fillmore and he started to whine about having to warm up. I could see Casey getting after him so I went down to see what was going on. He started crying and said he had a headache and sore throat. I hurried and rounded up some Motrin while kicking myself for letting him come. It's hard to know what to do when they are insistent they feel better. Shortly after the matches started and I could tell by the look on his face he didn't feel well. His first match was against the same kid he wrestled in North Sevier the week before where Cael had dominated the whole match and ended up losing in over time. I knew it would be close, but with him not feeling 100% the kid ended up pinning him. The next match he lost in points and then finally perked up the last match and pinned the kid. In the end he took third and was feeling better by the end. We stopped and ate with the group and then by the time we got him home he was feeling sick again. Cooper & Brax came down and watched a movie with him and tried to make him feel better. The next morning he still was sick and spent the whole day on the couch. Monday he was feeling better so I sent him to school and he did fine. Now I'm just crossing my fingers we are done with this sickness and looking forward to state!

Juab Boys.....I can imagine this picture in a yearbook 10 years from now.

Cooper, Treyson Coombs, Levi Dansie, Gav, Brax, Cael, & Will Harmon.

Obsessed???

Obsessed? I think so! This is how Cael dressed to watch the NCAA wrestling championship. He was still worked up from the tournament the night before and loved watching every match. Soon the Blackett boys joined in and after every match they would wrestle off. I don't know how long this obsession will last, but as for now he definitely has "Wrestling Fever".

North Sevier Tourney 2012....

With working 30 hrs a week, wrestling practice 3 times a week, helping my grandpa on Thursdays, preparing for sharing time on Sunday, field trips, dentist appt, hair cuts, birthday parties, sick kids, weddings, Zumba, and then tournaments on the weekends lets just say the past couple weeks have been a blur, but I'm still sad to see it coming to an end. Cael has been so fun to watch and we enjoy spending time with our Juab wrestling families. Everyone is so good to cheer each other on and then we usually grab a bite to eat after. Cael was in a 3 man bracket and had to wrestle one of his fellow wasps Treyson Brotherson.

Pin!!!! Go Cael!

This kid was from North Sevier and actually wrestled Cael last year in Gunnison. It was close last year and Cael ended up winning by a few points so I knew it would be a good match. Right out of the gate Cael took him down and almost pinned him. The kid got away from him and they went back and forth with Cael pretty much dominating the match. During the last round Cael was getting tired and the kid scored a few more points which left them going into overtime. When you go into overtime what ever kid scores first wins the match. Cael tried to shoot for a takedown, but the kid blocked him and ended up taking him down first and got the points. Oh Man! Anyway it was a fun match to watch and everyone was cheering him on.

Pin!!!....almost

Brax, Will Harmon, Gav, Coop, Levi Dansie, Cael, & Treyson Brotherson

North Sanpete Wrestling Tourney 2012....

Juab had an awesome turn out with over 30 kids showing up to wrestle. When we got there the parking lot was empty and I was thinking that we had made a mistake and hope that Cael would have some kids to wrestle. It turned out he had a 4 man bracket. The first kid he wrestled was from team takedown and made it obvious he knew what he was doing, but Cael gave him a run and only lost by a few points. The next kid was from Richfield and didn't give Cael to much trouble. I think Cael won by 10 points. We then watched his last kid, who was from Carbon, wrestle against the Team Takedown kid. Wow was the Carbon kid impressive and almost pinned the team takedown kid. Me and Casey both looked at each in fear. I thought for sure it would be a blood bath. Cael again proved his strength is his best accent and went all three rounds with the Carbon kid and at one point almost pinned him. The kid was full of free-style moves and in the end got Cael in some kind of head lock. Cael was upset when he came off the mat and I told him not to cry because he had done so well. He said he was crying because he had hurt his neck. Coach Christensen talked to him after and pointed out some things he could have done different. I would actually prefer for Cael to get matched up with good kids, because he learns so much from wrestling them. If he is not challenged then he can't figure out his weaknesses and improve them. I've been so proud of him this year and I know he is giving it his all and trying to learn as much as possible. In the end he took 3rd and added another metal to his growing collection!

Beaver Wrestling Tourney 2012....

Brax, Chase Poulsen, Crue, Gav, Cael, & Cooper

I don't know what Cael was more excited for...wrestling or getting checked out early from school. Halle was in the hospital with Pneumonia so we took Gav with us and my Mom joined us for the night. The Beaver tournament started at 4:00 so we headed down around 2:00 and made good time. They were really organized and started wrestling right at 4 o'clock. Cael was in a 3 man bracket and did really well. He actually wrestled a kid from Milford that he had beat in the Delta tournament. The other was from Beaver and you could tell this was his first year so he wasn't much competition. So in the end he earned another first place finish!! Good Job Cael!

We stopped with our posse at a local cafe called Archele's for some dinner. Brady's dad Morris loves this place and for good reason....the food was delish! My mom said it was the best salmon she's ever had!