BYU vs. Utah....

 ....aka The Holy War
It's a great rivalry.  I look forward to it every year.
Despite the fact that I hold a bachelors degree from the University of Utah and am proud to do so, when it comes to football, I bleed blue.  (Family tradition.  Try as I might, I can't switch loyalties...it's just too ingrained in me.)

This year we were invited to watch the game with some friends down the street.  A BBQ first and then some serious football.

We were split pretty evenly between Ute red and Cougar blue which made it all the more fun.  Those representing the red cheering section ended up with much more to cheer about than the blue, unfortunately, so I was very glad to be watching the game amongst friends rather than by myself where, I'm sure, I would've been much more depressed.
Fumble, fumble, fumble, fumble, interception and oh, did I mention fumble?
Wow.
Six...really???
Final score: Utah 54  BYU 10.
(My poor little Cougars...how emotionally devastated they must have been.)     

I am, by far, the most passionate about BYU football in my little family.  Truth be told, though my husband and children would consider themselves, when pressed,  "for BYU"...they don't really care all that much.  Brandon looked at me like I was just a little bit nuts when I insisted he wear a blue shirt to the rivalry party. "Football is not my sport, Mom" he said.  "Do it for me, please." I replied.  Too involved in the game, I didn't realize he had left at the beginning of the 3rd quarter.  So I was surprised when a bit later he made a grand entrance designed to get my attention, a sly grin on his face.  Along with the grin, he was wearing  red, red, RED!  Face paint and everything.  Trying to get a rise out of me.  Little stinker.  :)

Stitches

A crash followed by a scream made me drop what I was doing and run down the hall.  Lilian came out of her room with blood running down the side of her face.  So as to not freak her out, I didn't comment on the blood, just picked her up and rushed her to the bathroom.  She put her hand up to her face and when it came away bloody she gasped, "Mom!  I have bleed!!"

I set her on the counter and and grabbed a kleenex.  I know head wounds bleed a lot so I figured this wasn't going to be as big as it looked.  I was surprised, however, to find a gash next to her eye that, though not huge,  might require stitches.  Although whimpering, Lilian was more interested in the gash than hurt by it.  She applied pressure with a wet washcloth while I called Bryan to ask his opinion.  While still unsure as to whether the wound was serious enough for stitches, two things decided us on heading to the Insta Care.  It was on her face.  She's a girl.  (Take a look at Brandon's forehead next time you see him...he has a tiny scar from a fall that had his head meeting the concrete steps.  Professional opinion was sought from a U of U medical student neighbor and the two of us decided together that it was probably 50/50 if we took him in as to whether they would throw a couple of stitches in or slap a bandaid on it and send us home.  But Brandon was a boy and little scars add character, right?)

Bleeding mostly stopped, Lilian and I made the 15 minute trip to the Insta Care.  Rather than being nervous, Lilian found the whole thing quite the adventure.  They layed her on a triage bed and covered her with a warming blanket.  (They claim it was chilly in there...I was fine.)  While the numbing medicine took affect, we read stories that I had hastily shoved in my purse thinking ahead to a potential wait.  The stories were punctuated with giggles.  Lilian was practically giddy.

  The doctor came in and declared that yes, the gash required "string."  They explained every step of the prep to Lilian seeing as she was very calm and quite interested in the whole procedure.  The doctor had me hold Lilian's hands...just in case she started wiggling while he was sewing.  She didn't really need it, she was as still as could be.  I think she realized the seriousness of what they were doing.  But it gave me a front and center view of the stitches going in.  I was fascinated and grossed out all at the same time.  Interestingly enough, it turns my stomach more thinking about it NOW, than when I actually watched it happen.  The doctor and I discussed the big rivalry game while he stitched.  With no bowl games or championships on the line, without a whole season behind both teams, would this game be as big of a deal as it has been in past years?  It was quite the debate.  Especially since he roots for the U and I root for the Y.

 Different loyalties notwithstanding, the doctor put in four nice and neat little stitches next to Lilian's eye and declared it good.  The nurse gave Lilian her choice of bandaid colors....and also loaded her up with stickers and a sucker for being such a brave little girl.  She really was!  I was so impressed with my girl!  After a quick stop at Target for Tinkerbell bandaids, we headed home...Lilian super excited to share her "boo boo review" with her very sympathetic siblings and father.    

Feasts, Gingerbread Houses and College Football

We had a Thanksgiving dinner with Bryan's family last night. (Can I just say, YAMS...YUM!) After the big feast Bryan's mom brought out gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate. Although the thought was that this activity would be more for the younger kids (ie: Brandon and Lilian), Rebekah and Julianne were totally jazzed about supervising which meant I got to sit in the den and discuss college football with Treg. BYU won...Woohoo!!! U of U lost miserably to TCU...hahaha!
Okay, sorry. I am a proud U of U alumni. Really I am. But I was raised to be a True Blue BYU fan when it comes to football. And seriously, the Utes were getting so cocky. I think that piece of humble pie was well deserved.
Ahem.
But back to the original topic of my post...
TA-DA!! Don't you think the finished project turned out well?

Crafting With My Sisters

Melissa and I went to Katie's house yesterday and spent HOURS cutting, sanding and painting blocks. And after all was said and done I thought to myself, "I took a shower this morning, why??"


This is what we made....


And then we watched the end of the BYU vs. Utah game....red on one side, blue on the other. Notice in this picture both Jeremy and Dalton have their eyes closed and the rest of us have eyes wide open? Maybe it's a coincidence, a fluke of the camera but BYU had the ball in overtime... Maybe they couldn't stand to watch BYU take the comeback away from Utah and go on to win the game! :)

What A Day

We had a busy day yesterday.

I took the girls to see The Nutcracker up at Weber State. Wow, it was impressive! Live orchestra and everything. As soon as I heard those opening notes I got chills and a big grin. I know the music well but, amazingly enough, I've never actually seen the ballet.


We were hungry when it was over and stopped at Marie Callendars for lunch. Is it just me or has that place upped it's prices recently?


We were right near a movie theater and decided to see, if by chance, they still had tickets to the 3:00 showing of "Twilight". They did...probably because they were showing it in 4 different theaters. Yay for us! Rebekah was so excited about the movie that she insisted on buying this t-shirt at the mall a few days ago.

By the time we got home the BYU/Utah game was already underway. We quick changed into BYU blue attire and settled in to watch the game. Originally I thought we'd have to listen on the radio but I discovered that we actually had the Mtn. channel. Who would've guessed? This is me cheering after the Cougars made a touchdown....and Julianne rolling her eyes at my silliness. The game didn't end well. Six turnovers? Seriously??

During all of this Bryan had Brandon and Lilian with him. They headed down to visit Grandma and Grandpa and had a glorious time.

Bryan convinced his Dad to head over to the gun show with him where he bought a bunch of ammo at fabulous prices. Apparently you can never have too much ammo. They were also going to try to see James Bond but the awesomeness of the gun show superseded any desire to hurry so they could do both. I have no doubt that they will get to the movie eventually.

Crazy day. Fun day. Filled with family, guns, art culture, pop culture and football. What more could you ask for? :)

Stuff

I should be posting a Favorite Photo today but out main computer has crashed and I'm unable to get to our pictures. I'm disappointed....I always enjoyed finding a fun, memory filled picture for Fridays. Hopefully we'll be back up and running by next week. In the mean time, at least I have my laptop.
Other happenings in our home this week:
*The girls had a Christmas piano recital on Monday. It was the first recital they've ever played in. They were a little nervous but they did great.
*I have a voice recital tonight and I'm a little nervous, just like the girls. Except that I've had 2 recitals and 2 voice competitions before plus monthly master classes that I've sung in so why I'm nervous I have no idea. Maybe I'm not as prepared as I'd like to be.
*Because of that voice recital we don't get to go see "Twilight" tonight with all the other hordes of vampire fans. Bummer. Next week, I guess.
*I had an ultra sound on Monday. And NO, I am NOT pregnant. :) I've had this ache in my side off and on for 4 years now and thought maybe it was time to go figure out what it is. I've always thought maybe it was kidney related but the doc. has no idea. I'm a medical mystery, apparently. So he's ordered lots of tests...blood work and an ultra sound were this week. A colonoscopy and a CT scan were also mentioned. Not sure I really want to do either one of those!
*Brandon is sick. Sore throat, cough, fever. Please, oh please, don't let it be strep!!
*I've been Christmas shopping like crazy. Getting close to being done, Hallelujah! My goal is to be totally done by Thanksgiving.
*Visiting Teaching like crazy this week too. Everyone is trying to get it done before Thanksgiving week.
*I've been driving Bryan's little red stick shift sports car around town lately and my confidence is growing. I even reluctantly told him that I would attempt to drive it to my choir rehearsal in Draper last night. If he could be home by 6:00 I would take it. But then he got stuck in a huge traffic jam on the way home and didn't make it in time. Off the hook! :)
*Big BYU/Utah game tomorrow. Who are you rooting for? I'm a UofU alumni. You'd think that it would be a no-brainer to guess who I root for. But you'd be wrong. School spirit? Well, yeah, I have some. Just not when they are playing BYU.