MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Party at Donna's

My friends have a tradition to get together during Christmas time. We have met at Donna's the past few years, probably because she lives in Salt Lake and some of us are in Provo and some in Kaysville. So, Donna's house is in the middle. We met at her house again this year on Sunday, December 21st.

Donna makes her yummy sausage/hominy soup (I love this soup--she used to make it when she lived with me), Cheri makes Taco Soup, I brought rolls and Pumpkin Cake, and Rebekah brought a Pumpkin Pie. Donna also made a Corn Chowder and Pumpkin Soup. All of the soups were so delicious!

Here are some pictures of who was at the party:

Donna -

Tanya -
Jason and Rebekah Grow -

Rick and Cheri -

Cheri and her daugther, Alex -

Me and Scott -

Jackson Family Christmas Party

On Saturday, December 20th was the annual Jackson Family Christmas Party. The whole family meets together for yummy food and fun. My aunt Barbara (my mom's sister) plans the whole event. Her daughter Jakoye also helps. We all help by bringing different food items.

Here I am holding my nephew Ryan:

Here we are playing Bingo:

Scott and I enjoying the fun!

After the Bingo game, we play the gift exchange game. Everyone brings a $10 gift and we put them in the middle. Then, we pass two sets of dice around the circle. When you roll doubles, you can pick a present to open. We continue until everyone has a gift. You can also trade gifts with someone to get something that someone else opened that you like better.

Here we are with the gifts that we had at one point in the game:

Pretty decent gifts--there is a cooler under Amanda's feet, I have a cute plaid fleece blanket and Hollie has another fleece blanket. I think Scott didn't have a gift yet. But, little did he know--

He was going to end up with the best gift ever! He ended up with the rooster! My uncle Morris Blackett opened it originally, but then he traded Scott for some tie downs.

Here is Scott with the coveted "rooster":

Watch for it at next year's party!

Hollie ended up with the plaid blanket. She loves it--I think she wanted to take it with her to church the next day--but she left it in the truck.
The party was a lot of fun and we all appreciate the time and effort that my aunt Barbara puts into the event. We are already looking forward to another great party next year.

Celebrating Hollie's Birthday

Hollie's birthday was on Monday, December 22nd. On Friday night, the 19th, after I got home from the basketball game, we went to Red Robin Restaurant. It is a family tradition to take the girls there for dinner and get the birthday treat that they give you on your birthday. Here is Hollie, feeling a little sick, before she eats it.
She decides to eat it . . .and is very happy and satisfied! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLIE! She is 16!

Last week of school - before Christmas Break

The last week of school before Christmas break was a nice and easy week--at least as far as drill team is concerned. No competitions! The team performed their prop routine at halftime of a girls basketball game on Tuesday, December 16th. This is a picture of the team in their prop costumes.
On Wednesday, December 17th, Scott and I went to his work party. It was held at Noah's in South Jordan. We played wallyball, pool, some old-school video games, and some people played racketball. We ate food from Joe Morley's Barbecue. It was a fun time!

On Friday, December 19th, I took half of the day off from school and went to see my cousin Marci and her husband Cody have their daughter Savannah sealed to them in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It was a special event and I'm glad that I was able to witness it.

We all went to lunch afterwards at Los Hermanos in Lindon. (It was Savannah's request.) While sitting there, the snow started to fall and it got heavier and heavier. I decided to leave right after we ate because I had to get home and change clothes and go back down to Payson that night for a basketball game.

I decided to call the school and see if the game had been cancelled because the snow was really coming down. It took me about an hour to get from Lindon to our house in Provo! Everyone was driving really slow and it was really slick!

Well, the game didn't get cancelled--so I drove down to Payson. The roads were actually fine once I got past Spanish Fork. But, the team that Payson was playing (West Jordan) wasn't there yet, so the game started late.

Anyway, the drill team was so excited to perform their "Christmas" dance. We just put the camp dance that they had learned this past summer and set it to some Christmas music and then got out some old costumes that had a little bit of red in them and some Santa hats. They were so excited to perform! I'm glad that they were able to have so much fun and because some of the girls who don't ever get to perform got the chance to perform. So that made it all worthwhile! Here they are showing their Christmas spirit:

They even added some "Christmas" vocals to the dance by shouting "Merry Christmas" and "Ho, Ho" during the routine. The small crowd that was there loved it.

Competition - Week 2

This past week has been another busy one full of games, dance concert performances, and another drill team competition. Monday night was the only night that I didn't have something dance or drill team related to attend!

Tuesday, Payson had a home boys basketball game, so the drill team performed their military routine. It went well--they stuck their headstands and are getting sharper each time we perform it.

Here they are in their military uniforms. The second picture is of the beginning pose of the routine.

Wednesday night was the Drill Team Christmas Party. We held it at one of the girl's houses and we ate dinner and then opened gifts. It was fun to just relax and not be practicing!

Thursday and Friday the team performed in the Payson Dance Company dance concert. They also performed Friday morning in the Fine Arts Christmas assembly.

Saturday the team was up early to go and compete in the "Beet Classic" drill team competition at Jordan High School. We had to meet at the school at 5 a.m. so we could load the props and get to Jordan High by 6 a.m. Luckily, the snow hadn't started yet and we made it there in good time.

Here they are in their kick routine costumes:

Our music is "Free Ride", so we wanted our costumes to have a "driver" feel to them. So we wanted to use the checker board pattern in our costumes. Our seamstress found the fabric in green and white, so we thought that was cool since it is one of Payson's school colors. We also wear black hats. They performed the routine really well, but unfortunately we didn't get in the top five. The competition this week was a lot larger than the one last week. A lot of the "top" 4A teams were there and so the competition was very hard.

We did end up placing 5th in the Prop category-so we were excited about that. No broken benches this week--but we did get a penalty. During the routine, they do a straddle jump with their hands on the bench and then they go up in the air. Well, the penalty judges said that they go in an inverted position (their hips are above their shoulders) and this is illegal. So, even with the penalty, we still managed to place 5th. We would have been 4th, had we not received the penalty. So, we will be changing the straddle to something that won't give us a penalty!

Now, we get a break from competitions until January 9th. I am also looking forward to just one more week of school and then a full two week Christmas Break this year! Yes--I can not wait to sleep in!

'Tis the Season

Tis the season for drill team competition and dance concerts! On Monday, December 1st, my classes performed in the Payson High Dance Department Showcase. It went really well--a few technical difficulties, but we had a good size crowd and the dancers all had fun.

The rest of that week was busy with baskeball games, parent teacher conferences, and then my drill team's first competition on Saturday, December 6th at Timpview High School.

Here is the team eating lunch which was provided by some of the team moms. They had decorated the table and gave the girls some cute "frog" items. Our team theme this year is "Nothing is Out of Reach" with frogs as the logo. We have a different theme/motto each year just to make it fun and different for each team.

The competition turned out really well for us! The Paysetters placed 1st in each of their routines! We were very excited. We competed in the military, dance, kick, and prop categories. The competition was a new one this year, and so it was small. So we were actually unopposed in kick and prop. But, oh well, we came home with 4 big trophies and we were pretty excited.
We had a little "break down" in our prop routine. One of the benches broke during the routine. Well, at least that is what I thought when it happened. But, what actually happened is one of the girls got too close to the bench and leaped right into it and pushed out the bottom of the bench, causing it to fall and then crack on one of the sides! When it happened, I said to my assistant, "What just happened? How did that bench break?" Luckily it was near the end of the routine and she could just fake the rest of the dance and she wasn't injured. She just had a scrape on the back of her knee. Here she is with the broken bench.

We didn't get a penalty--but I guess it wouldn't have mattered anyway, we were the only 4A team in the prop category, so we would have received 1st place either way.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I have another reason for loving the holidays--the time off from school! I remember when I first started teaching and some of the "older" teachers counting down until the next break, and I thought, "I can't believe it, how can they say that." But now, I know what they were saying, teachers love the breaks just as much or more than the students! It is always nice to just be able to sleep in and not really have to go anywhere!

Here are some pictures of things that we did during the break:

On Wednesday, the Payson High boys basketball team was playing in a Utah County tournament being held at UVU. The drill team was invited to perform at halftime of the Payson game. The game was with American Fork and it was at 12 noon that day. Here is a picture of the girls that performed. It was a great opportunity for our team because we were able to perform on the same floor where the state drill team competition will be held. They did awesome and were able to wear their new dance costumes. My team is smaller this year because of the new high school that opened in Salem. I lost five girls to Salem. Payson has 14 girls on the team this year. Ten of them perform in our dance routine.


Thanksgiving dinner was at my parent's house in Levan. All of my extended family on my mom's side were there. I think there was about 63 people there! It was fun. There was a lot of good food and it is always fun to see everyone.

Scott helping my mom dish up the potatoes.

Scott and Amanda



Amanda, Jason, & Kaycee--
Relaxing after the big meal.




Hollie--texting and checking out her facebook.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We also worked on the piano benches. On Wednesday night, we painted them. Then on Saturday afternoon we put new pads on the legs and taped them up. We also put some silver trim on one of the benches to see how it would look. We will probably finish that up this week. The drill team has their first competition on Saturday, December 6th, so that is why we were working on them so they would be ready. The drill team uses the benches in our prop routine this year. We also have some flag/kite-like props that we pull out of the bench.

Measuring and putting the silver tape on.

The finished product!

Scott and I also went out and shopped on "Black Friday". We even did the early bird thing. It was crazy at Target. People lined up around the building on both sides! We didn't get what we went for, but we did get a rain check. We did get a few things and we met up with Scott's sisters Heidi and Debbie and went to breakfast.

Saturday we went to a movie and then on Sunday after church, we put up the tree!

What a weekend! Only three weeks until Christmas Break--I can't wait!

Bowling

Last Saturday, (November 22) we went bowling with our friend Cheri and her date, Rick. We also met up with Jason and Rebecca Grow and some of their friends. It was a lot of fun. It was the same day as the big rivalry game between Utah and BYU. We started watching the game there at the bowling alley, then we all drove to the Harley Davidson restaurant out in Lindon to get something to eat. We finished watching the game there. Needless to say, any cougar fans that were there were pretty disappointed!

Here's Scott getting his shoes on. His high score of the day was 194. He even bowled a "turkey", which is three strikes in a row. (I learned something new--three strikes in a row is a turkey).

Cheri & Rick

The "turkey" couple! We both bowled a turkey!

My first time ever--I'm lucky if I get one strike.

You would think the ball was heavy, or something?

Such concentration.