Checking In

Here's a little glimpse of life for us since last I surfaced. Life moves pretty fast around here.

After their glorious victory, Noble and his team got to visit a local sports radio station, where they were interviewed about their killer season. A few days later we all had a fantastic time at his team banquet. 

The coach initially handed out these little trophies (as a joke)...

...and then brought out the goods...these nearly life-sized trophies for the champions.

trophy from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

 Afterward, with some of his football spoils.

And with that, the season was officially OVER. We've come a long way. What a pleasure it was.

Thanksgiving (this year it was "Hanksgiving" again -  coinciding with my nephew's birthday.)

We gathered at our house again this year. And started a new tradition. My mom comes up with the coolest stunts. She read the story of the "Discontented Pumpkin" (everyone kept misspeaking, calling it the "dis-CONNECTED pumpkin" ha ha) about a pumpkin with a bad attitude that meets a bad end.

We re-enacted the conclusion of the story:


the discontented pumpkin drop from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Mom gathered (and cleaned) the remnants to make into pumpkin pie filling, for next Thanksgiving. Ha ha ha. Not sure if the kids grasped the intended lesson from this dramatization, but it was super fun. Let's do it again next year. Smashing pumpkins. (Digression, just because this quote came up repeatedly over the holiday:  "Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins. Homer Simpson, Smiling politely." -one of the best lines in TV history. From the Lallapalooza episode of The Simpson's.)

What else?
Noble's Court of Honor. (Receiving his First Class)

Christmas prep. 

The last few years Mike has given in and let us get our tree as soon as Thanksgiving was over. We've had pretty good luck with the trees staying fresh. This year may be our last with a REAL tree. (I know. Sacrilege.) It is just so hard to justify shelling out $50-$80 a year. So I was determined to get the kind of tree I wanted this year (usually I defer to the majority on stuff like this)...just in case I never get the chance again. Years ago Mike's Dad converted me to the open / candlestick variety of Noble Fir. I think some people think they look like Charlie Brown trees. I think they are lovely, with their natural, unshaven branches. They look real. We found a perfect, not-too-fat 8 footer. It's my favorite ever.

This year I picked up this advent calendar at IKEA and filled it with treats and good deeds for the kids to do for each day. We'll see how it works out. 

I love the way it looks on the landing shelf.

One more random snap shot. We came home from shopping on Saturday to find this note posted in the butter. Rather than just throw it out, Grace devised this method to warn us all of the danger. Ha ha ha.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

A Vote for No Change, Followed by A Change in the Weather, and the Making of Champions

**Disclaimer - before you start reading - this is a mega-post, and all over the map. But it's good stuff!**

Mike worked hard this past Election Day as a poll manager. Ahead of the election he had several training sessions, spent hours prepping the voting roles, and set-up the night before. On election day he was at the poling place from 6 AM until 9 PM.   Everyone should have the experience of working an election. It is such a fundamental and important way of serving in a free society where we all have a moral duty to help carry the load of governance, helping people to exercise their agency.  We take so much for granted.

The night before Election Day. More prep work.

 Speaking of Election Day...I know I am not the only one who found it hard to sleep Tuesday night. The presidential election was a big disappointment for approximately half of the country (at least among those who bothered to vote), myself included. Not the kind of disappointment that goes away the next day. The kind that fills you with foreboding. Life goes on...but down a path I hoped it wouldn't go. Still, I am an optimist. I believe all things work together for the (eventual) best. So, onward (not so much "Forward") - remembering to pray for our leaders.

Bringing us to Thursday...when the weather looked like this...

70-ish degrees. One last mowing.

Only to wake up Friday to this...

30-ish degrees. The first snowmen of the season.

And then on to Saturday, which looked like this...

Holy smokes, what a day! Noble's team played their championship game in whiteout conditions with over a foot of fresh snow on the ground.  

I am telling you, this was the best day of football ever! 

Sidelines lined with huddled die-hard fans trying to stay warm, dads working to shovel the yard lines before the game just so the players and refs would know where they were (Mike was soaked with sweat after that), hot chocolate,  players slogging through deep snow every play (sometimes the snow did the tackling), fumbles, face-masks packed with snow after a tackle, warming the game ball over propane heaters to try to keep it flexible, cold feet, and a championship shut-out to show for it at the end of the 4th. 

Bingham - 19.  Bountiful -0.

Chillin' on the sidelines. (Beth was awesome! 8 months pregnant - in a snow storm...to watch a football game. Love her.)

Noble on a tackle.

White-washing.

Noble - gunner on kick-off team.

Super fans - Cousin Hal and Grandma Sullivan. Casey and Helen and their posse were troopers!

Celebrating another touchdown.

Noble in pursuit.

Post game with Coach.

More dedicated fans - some from out of town. Thanks to everybody who came! We had a blast!

CHAMPIONS

Brothers

Time to bring it down...

***Now, I know when we started down this road I was hesitant about football. I worried, and wondered about the wisdom of Noble's choice. In retrospect, would we do this football thing again? Was it worth it to let Noble fulfill this dream? Absolutely. Everything about this season and this experience was meant to be. Amazing things happen when you let kids choose and grow. I am just glad I was along for the ride. (It has been So much FUN!)

Thank you, Noble. You are a champion. 

Seasonal Highlights

Another great Halloween, come and gone.

The annual pumpkin patch visit.

Carving the pumpkins. Jessie - determined to carve her elaborate "Captain America" pumpkin, even though we were short on time (aren't we always?) - missed the deadline to be in the family photo-op.

The also-annual Sullivan family party at the homestead. Dinner and games at the church, a hayride to the Sullivan farm, a treasure hunt, donuts on a string, stories around the fire... and a near-full moon.

Bonfire story-telling.
No worries. An actual National Guard Range Master (my little brother, Sean) was on hand for fire management. 

Double-A in his monster/alien costume.

Mom playing Kay's popular (if a little gross) "Stick the Wart on the Witch" game. Two words: chewing gum.

HALLOWEEN

Halloween dinner of champions: pig-in-a-blanket "mummies", veggies, and kiwi "ogre eyes". Fuel for the big night. Other festive food today: a breakfast of "scrambled brains" (green eggs), grapefruit and toast and a snack of "green slime smoothie" (spinach, blueberry, yogurt, bananas & coconut milk), and "monster apples" (apple slices in the shape of a mouth with slivered almonds as the creepy teeth). By the way, I LOVE Sully in this picture!

Game faces on.

We had a crowd of about 15 fidgety kids standing around in the front yard waiting impatiently for me to take this photo, so they could get going.

Ready...set...

Sully was in rare form tonight. He (along with his little buddy, the mummy in the background with the head lamp) ran hand-in-hand from house to house until they had canvased a good swath of the neighborhood, the grown ups hard-pressed to keep up. A record-setting night for him. Abner only made it to about 3 houses before we had to call it a night. He couldn't understand why he could only take ONE piece of candy when there was a whole bowl full. The idea of Halloween has not completely coalesced  for him yet. Maybe next year. But he couldn't be cuter.

And...our awesome woodland fairy. 

This was my favorite costume this year. I thought it was magical. Grace saw something like this in a catalog, but it was pretty chintzy and very expensive. So I made this one. (Except the wings, which I paid too much for at a costume store.) Her headband was awesome. (Wish you could see it better in these photos.) We sprayed green streaks into her hair for that final touch.
She pulled it off with STYLE.  (I wish I had a better picture - i.e. not instagram, She was perfect!)

Halloween (along with everything else) is changing as our kids grow up. Suddenly we have conflicts about where the kids are going, parties, friends...and the realization that they are out-growing some of our traditions from when they were young. It is expected...but still a surprise when it happens. Mike and I are trying to maintain the excitement and newness for the little ones, and at the same time, adapt for the older ones. In some ways the new reality seems to lack a bit of the sweet bliss of the old days when all our kids were little, and everything was magic. But, there is still magic to experience. I mean, look at Grace in this picture ^. :)

John Stockton is So Cool

How can you top this guy? I saw this interview today in the news, on the occasion of his being inducted (along with Karl Malone) into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame (I didn't even know there was such a thing). If you have the patience to watch the whole 7 minutes you'll get to see the part when they ask him if he wants to get into coaching in the NBA, now that his kids are getting older. He responds that he still has kids at home, that 5 of his 6 kids are still playing ball, and he doesn't want to miss their experiences for anything. Maybe later he'll coach. Go, John.

For those of you who remember my John Stockton-themed room growing up, you have to admit, he was a quality role model. More people should be like John Stockton. (Too bad I don't have all those posters anymore.)

Weekday Mornings

A snap-shot of my life every AM between 6:30 and 8:30

For the record...so I don't forget when I am old. 

The kitchen after feeding the army:

Abner begins his important work for the day (unloading every cabinet, drawer, and garbage can in the house... repeatedly):

Sully and the cute little sisters of the family we carpool with browse in the kitchen, asking for more of this and that, play with toys, watch cartoons, listen while I read them stories, or sing songs...

And, with a kiss, we send Mitch-darling off to work in a whirl-wind of pajama-clad action...

This is living. :)

6 and 1

That's Noble's team's record for the season so far. They are now 4 and 0 in division play, and locked as first seed for the playoffs coming up in a few weeks.

(Photo credits: #87's mom)

Yesterday they played Bountiful, the toughest team they will play in their division. They won. It was a bit of a fight, but they put up three more touchdowns than Bountiful, and....

...this awesome safety (Noble, #20 coming in on the tackle).

I just love this picture of #35 beating his helmet triumphantly after the safety. He was SO stoked.

My dad kept telling me that I was getting a little "excited"...I can't help it. The kids are so fun to watch.

Mike snapped this great shot of Noble at nose guard.

High fives. Another great game, guys. (I, for one, am having a blast.)

And, as a special treat, footage of the team's pre-game ritual: Dance/Hit/Tag...or whatever you want to call it. Enjoy.

(The best part in this first one is when Noble turns to shush me after I cheered....hahhahaha...)

MVI 5935 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

...And Noble's rendition of the Macarena to "Eye of the Tiger"...

MVI 5937 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

This is so fun.