The End of Soccer Season

Well, soccer season for Snow Canyon High School is officially finished. It ended with a disappointing loss tonight against Desert Hills High School. Both teams played hard and the final score was 1-2. The game was at 4:00 p.m. and it was above 90 degrees. We were all melting in the stands and I am sure it was WAY worse for the boys playing their hearts out on the burning turf. All of the other games this season were played at 7:30 p.m., where the temperature was much more pleasant. I don't know why they put the semi-final games at 4:00! Thankfully we got some cloud coverage the last thirty minutes or so and that helped immensely! The game was very intense and it was SO disappointing to lose. 

The winning team goes on to the next level, playing up north. The boys really hoped for this. I brought my camera in the hopes of getting some last-game footage of Josh. I didn't get much, but I did get a great shot of Adam's amazing goal. I will try and add that to this post at some point. I think a lot of the boys cried -- not so much because they lost the game, but because this game marks the end of an era! Many of these boys will never play on a soccer team again. It is difficult to put so many years of hard-work and sweat into something and then finally see it come to an end. Mixed emotions for sure! I sure  enjoyed cheering them on at every game. I am going to miss watching them play! 

Our Seniors with Coach Nani! 

After the game many of the boys went hot-tubbing at Max's house! 

Josh, Soccer Banquet and Awards

Josh had his final soccer banquet and awards ceremony tonight! We got all new coaches this year and they have been awesome! There just seems to be much more positivity and team unity than in the past and that has definitely shown on the field! However I am not thrilled about the proposal this week to have the whole team bleach their hair before the quarter-finals!! 😝😂

Here is a picture of the Varsity Seniors (missing one) 

Josh received the Warrior Letter Award, Offensive Player of the Year, and Academic All-State for Soccer! They have started calling Josh "Josh LIGHTNING Jensen." Coach said he was the fastest player that he has ever seen! Here is a picture of Josh with head coach Kendall Nani (who also bleached his hair, but his isn't as noticeable). 

Josh, Soccer Senior Night

 Senior Night!! 

Tonight was Senior Night! Unfortunately we were playing the most difficult team -- Dixie. Snow Canyon was tied with Dixie for first place in Region going into the game. Sadly we lost -- by one point. If we had won, it would have been a three-way tie with Snow Canyon, Dixie, and Crimson Cliffs for first place. But since we lost Dixie took first, Crimson took second, and Snow Canyon took third. So it was a very disappointing loss -- especially on Senior Night. The boys played well though! Hopefully we get a come-back going into the semi-finals! 

Go Josh!!

 Nice little article and video featuring Josh from the soccer game last night!! 

https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2024/04/27/ggg-spo-region-9-boys-soccer-snow-canyon-dixie-tied-on-top-of-the-table-desert-hills-wins/

Happy 18th Birthday, Josh!

It was a good birthday for Josh! With his birthday money ($75.00) he bought a pair of shoes and kept the rest of the cash. We also got him some little snacks and treats. His friends also came through with several gifts for him. Tonight he had a soccer game against Pine View. Rick and I went to watch. He made an awesome assist and another awesome goal and his team won. Josh was voted "Man of the Match," (MVP) for the game. Way to go, Josh! (Also, can you believe he is 18??)

Josh Soccer

Madrigal tryouts are coming up soon and the first audition prep workshop was this morning at 7:00 am. So Jenna, Clarissa, Grace, and Anna all went. Usually those four go to the temple every Friday morning at 6:15 am, but Madrigal auditions will mess up their plans for the next month. This week I just happened to schedule their temple trip on Wednesday, instead of Friday, since Friday was already booked. That was before we knew about the conflict, so that worked out well! 

I then interpreted from 9:00 to 2:00 at the University. Jenna had her appointment for dance pictures at Southwest and so she and I drove to that and then Ricked picked her up after his interpreting appointment, and then he had a work meeting. 

Tonight Jenna sang the national anthem for Josh's soccer game! I guess she takes after her big sister, ha ha! I was proud of her for agreeing to do it and happy that she did well. Then Rick and I watched Josh's soccer game against Crimson Cliffs. It was such an exciting game!! Crimson Cliffs is the school that seems to win every year. Josh says that they are actually supposed to be a 5A school, but then they wouldn't have anyone to compete with in the area since all of the other schools here are 4A schools. 

The game ended on a tie and so it went into overtime with two ten minute halves. And then a couple of minutes later Josh scored!! It was so exciting! The whole team ran on to the team and was hugging and cheering and the stadium started playing music and flashing lights. Rick and I didn't even realize that the game was over until someone told us, ha ha. We thought that if it went into overtime then they would finish the rest of the time. But then someone explained that the first goal scored in overtime was the "Golden Goal," and the game was over. So, Josh scored the winning goal! It was especially exciting since it was against Crimson Cliffs! Snow Canyon is undefeated, having won their first four games, so as of right we are the only undefeated team in our region!  

https://youtube.com/shorts/LlH3OTIRwD8

https://youtu.be/6c5CDWCgz7w

Soccer Games!!

Ellen had come down the week before Easter with the boys and stayed with her parents and siblings at a place in Washington since it was their Spring Break. Jase joined them late Thursday night and we were able to spend some time with them over the weekend.

Thursday was a stressful day at work. I had just found out a couple of days ago about a presentation on campus that would require interpreters today. We were already short on interpreters since a couple of interpreters were out of town this week and almost everyone else was already working. So I had to interpret for it and do some re-arranging to get my regular class covered. I was a little nervous for the presentation, but it went well. There was just a lot going on today and several last minute changes to the schedule, which was stressful. Later in the afternoon, after work, I went to my friend's adoption party (they had just adopted two children). It was a ways away and I had Jenna drive me there for driving practice. 

I brought Jenna to and from dance (with her driving for driving practice) and then we went to Josh's soccer game. Ellen and Evan were already there. Jenna's dance was scheduled to finish later than usual tonight and then still went over and so I was chomping at the bit because I didn't want to miss the game! We didn't make it to the game until halftime, but I was glad that we made it for the second half. Josh's team played Desert Hills. It was a close game, which is always nerve-wracking, and we ended up winning by just one point. It was exciting with the lights and music and lots of cheering! It was so much fun -- just what I needed after a busy, stressful day! 

Josh: Olympic Development Team

(Josh write up): I just got back from a trip to Mesa, Arizona with the Olympic Development Team (ODP), with the best 2006 players from Southern Utah. It was really fun because we got to all stay in a hotel together and I quickly became friends with all of the other kids from other schools. I became closest friends with the cedar kids, and I hope we can hang out sometime. It was fun to meet all the kids from other schools because now I’ll know them when we play against them during high school season. I got to room with all the other Snow Canyon boys, and we stayed up late playing games and it was really fun. (We actually only stayed up until 12:00 because we had games the next day). I played the whole tournament as a right back, which is a defensive position, and that’s not usually what I play. Even though I didn’t really like defense there was some parts of it that were really entertaining. Our team did really well on the tournament and we even made it to the finals, but we didn’t win. We still got silver medals though. The bus ride home was awesome because someone bought a speaker and we played music the whole way back and it made us happy again even though we lost. That was how my trip to Arizona went for ODP.

Josh: United FC Soccer

Well, Josh just finished up another season of club soccer. They didn't do as well as last year. Last year they were undefeated and took first place. This year they lost a couple of games and tied a couple of games and ended up in third place (I think). Josh decided to continue the season by trying out for the Olympic Development Team (ODP). It was pretty expensive -- $565.00 ($65.00 for registration, $250.00 for the training sessions and uniforms, and $250.00 for the travel expenses for the regional championship tournament in Mesa, Arizona, which covers a few days. So far Josh really likes it and says it is fun being able to play with the top players from the area. I will give an update on ODP later, but for now here are a few pictures of his United team. 

 

Josh's Soccer Game

 Jase, Ellen, and Evan came to cheer Josh on at his soccer game tonight!! 

Josh -- Student of the Year in Science!!

Josh got the "Student of the Year" award in Science for the Sophomore class! Way to go, Josh! He got 99% in his concurrent enrollment Chemistry class and finished the year with a 4.0. He also lettered in soccer! Congratulations, Josh! I went to the high school Academic Pep assembly to watch Josh and Jaiden get their school awards and Rick and I went to Josh's end of year soccer banquet in the school media center. They honored the seniors and served a delicious meal of teriyaki chicken, shredded pork, rice, salads, and desserts! Jenna had a "parent night" for her Leaps and Turns dance class at the same time and so I felt bad about missing that, but Jenna didn't seem to mind and they have their concert coming up next week anyway! 

Fractures and Soccer

Josh fell wrong on his hand during the alumni soccer game last Saturday night and wondered if he might have fractured his wrist. Monday morning I brought him to the Insta-care for x-rays. He had also twisted his ankle and it was swollen and so we got that checked out also. They said that the ankle was not broken, but they were not sure about the wrist. They couldn't see a fracture, but since it was in the anatomical snuff box they wanted him to get checked out by an orthopedic specialist. Then a few hours later the clinic called and said that the radiologist looked at the film and there actually was a fracture. 

We were able to get in to the orthopedic specialist on Tuesday (I was able to get out of my interpreting job) and Dr. Millward looked at the x-rays and said that this type of fracture (if there was one) was hard to decipher. He said to keep the splint on it and come back in ten days and they would x-ray again and be able to tell if it had healed with the splint or if it would need to be put in a cast. He said if it needed to be cast then it is a big cast that would need to be worn 8-12 weeks. So hopefully next week's appointment has good news. Josh thinks he won't need the cast because he said that it is feeling a lot better than it was. 

In the meantime, the doctor said that Josh could still play soccer, so that is good news. I brought Jaiden, Jenna, and Jenna's friend Grace to watch his game tonight in Hurricane. Josh's JV team beat Hurricane's team 7-0 and the Varsity won 4-0. So it was a good night! 

Josh Soccer Pictures

Josh was NOT happy about the way his soccer pictures turned out with the wind and sun making his hair look so weird! I said that maybe we could go take our own pictures at the soccer field this week! 

Soccer Camp

Every year the high school boys soccer team does a mini soccer tournament for a fundraiser. They get tons of boys and girls ages 8-14 who participate and it is a lot of fun! Josh's little team won the tournament for their ages group and so they all got medals! 

President's Day Weekend

Shane and Adria came down over President's Day weekend for Adria's soccer tournament. It was fun to have them! Thankfully the weather was lovely! I was especially grateful that it wasn't too cold this weekend because our furnace totally quit on us! We had it checked out on Friday because it had been making a loud awful noise the past few days. They told us that it was really old and torn apart and that we would need a new one -- for $2200.00!! So that was a major bummer, but thankfully we have an emergency fund! It is the original furnace since we purchased the house, so it is 33 years old. It is time for a new one! But with it being a weekend they were not able to come replace in until the next Tuesday -- just in time for the dips in temperature!  

Janika and Brandon also came down for the long weekend and so we enjoyed spending time with them also. Shane and Adria went straight to Adria's soccer game at Sullivan on Friday night. They said that the traffic coming down here was horrible and it took them an extra hour to get here, causing them to be ten minutes late for the game. Janika and Brandon were late also. We put Janika and Brandon up in Jenna's room and Shane in the studio and Adria and Jenna on the floor in the basement.

Saturday Janika and Brandon went out to lunch with some friends. The kids pretty much just hung out that day. That night we all had yummy Hawaiian Haystacks and then Jenna, me, Janika, and Brandon went to cheer Adria on at her soccer game at Little Valley. It was at night and so it was chilly!

Sunday we all went to church (Jaiden had been suffering from a bad cold for over a week and woke up with pink eye, so she stayed home). We had a nice meal of hamburgers and hotdogs and then Jaiden taught the Come Follow Me lesson. Shane and Adria and Jenna and I went on a hike on the temple quarry trail. It was so beautiful out! Unfortunately Jenna fell on the way back, hitting her leg really hard on a rock. She lost Jaiden's sunglasses somewhere on the hike and felt really bad about that. Other than that, it was a really nice hike! 

After we got back the gang played some Jackbox games and watched a family movie called Luca (not our typical Sunday kind of activities, but we let it go since we had company.) 

Monday morning Jaiden and I went to Adria's game. I thought it would be cold, since it was at 8:30 a.m., but it was really pleasant. In fact I had to take off my coat because I started getting too warm! This was her fourth game and the only won that their team won. At least they were able to win one of them! After we got back Shane and Adria packed up and headed home. The rest of us were able to join in on Janelle's P-Day call and Janika and Brandon headed home soon after! I just realized that besides this hiking picture (which Shane took) I didn't even get any! That isn't like me! (But I will add a few more from Jenna's daily selfie shoot, ha ha!) It was fun to spend time with family this weekend! 

Josh Soccer Tournament

Josh had a soccer tournament in Mesquite this weekend. He got a ride to and from the other games, but I went with him to his Saturday game. He had to leave early in the morning, which was a perfect opportunity for him to get some driving practice in!  He did a great job driving to and from Mesquite and played well in the game, but they lost. It was cold and windy and those of us who watched were FREEZING!! 

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we had everyone here, except for Jase and Ellen and Evan who had gone up North to be with Ellen's family. We had a lovely meal of turkey, candied yams, pretzel jello, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, four step pudding, and pies. I have everything covered in foil in the picture in order to keep it warm and half of the food was on the snack bar. So it doesn't look pretty in the picture, but it sure tasted yummy! We are grateful that Janelle could be with us for Thanksgiving (as she is currently in home MTC). She had the day off to spend with family! Jenna helped me do a lot of the cooking the day before Thanksgiving and so the Thanksgiving Day went pretty smoothly!  

Janika and Brandon also chose today to share their "baby news" on social media!! 

The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving Josh had a soccer tournament in St. George with two games on Friday and two games on Saturday. Everyone attended at least one of the games. I think I went to all four of them. Josh's team won two games, tied one, and lost one. It was fun to watch and I was finally able to get some great video footage of him making some goals! (I will have to add the video footage if I can get them copied over to YouTube.) A few days after the tournament Josh's knee started hurting though and we think it due to one of his falls during the tournament. 

Recently Josh wanted to get a soccer ball bag for when he goes to practice shooting at the high school. He now has a whole collection of balls. He already had a couple balls and his friend gave him about five more and he seems to pick more up here and there!  

The Sunday after Thanksgiving I taught my RS lesson and it went well. Janika and Brandon headed back home right after sacrament meeting. That night we had a family devotional online with Janelle from the MTC called "Come and See" to help missionaries and their families know what to expect this coming week!