Joshua's first win in Football

Last night was a great night for us. I am sorry I do not have pictures, but this is a blog, right?

Joshua's games are on Thursday nights. Problem for me since I usually have Stake Presidency meetings on Thursdays. I have missed most of the games. At first, Joshua was not playing a lot, but now he was put on the line as a tight end and really started to get into that position. He won a starting position this week and did a good job. Well, his poor little team had not been winning too many games, so we are learning lots of lessons from losing. We would rather not have to learn those lessons too many times, but really it was starting to get on the boys from the team. Joshua continued to say how much he loved it, though.

Well- he got the late game and I got out of meetings early enough to get there in the 2nd quarter. His team was down 6-0 and it was not looking good again as both teams were stopping eachother and it did not look like there would be a way to win it. Joshua's team, the Maulers, really took over in the 2nd half though and actually controlled the ball the entire 3rd quarter. In the 4th, the team drove down to the opponents 20 yard line, only to fumble the ball. The Mauler defense took it to them, however and got that ball back without allowing a 1st down.

With only 2 minutes left, they had to dig deep to get into the endzone. They had only scored one other TD ALL YEAR, so they looked like it could be another disappointing night. Thankfully, they did pull it together and drove to the endzone with 40 seconds left. The converted the extra point try to go up 7-6. They held their ground after the ensuing kickoff and won their first game of the season.

After the game (all of the parents were going nuts, so happy to not have the "let's be good sports, and winning isn't everything' speeches again") we went over to congratulate the team and Joshua- who had contributed to the victory. They won. They tasted victory. They felt what it was like to get a win under their belt and deserve it. Joshua had the most amazing look on his face. It was a mixture of joy, relieved frustration, exhaustion and pride all at the same time. We are very close and I could almost feel what he was feeling. He looked up at me and he just said -"we did it". His eyes welled up with tears and he just cryed for joy. It was definitely one of those moments that I will treasure forever. We connected. We bonded and it was all I could do to keep from crying myself. The history of the world will never remember the night the Maulers beat the Pouncers on a fall evening in Gallup- but we will remember. If it had happened on the first night of the season- it would not have meant as much. If it had happened early in the game, it would not have meant that much. But it was all aligned in such a way to have a great life moment for a 9 year old boy. I love sports for exactly that reason. A little microcosm of life lessons.

Football Time

This is Tyler ready for his first flag football game of the year. He is ready to go, as you can see. He is part of the Paws- and I am happy to be his coach. He is fun and has a great time out there, although he plays so "full blast" that he sometimes forget that he does not wear a helmet or pads when he is going full force out there.

He loves football and is very good on the defensive line "sacking" the QB by grabbing flags before the play of the opposing team really gets going.

Happy Birthday Babe! :)

Well, today (August 12th) is Tommy's 40th birthday. Our family is so grateful to have him. I asked the kids if they could tell me one favorite thing about their daddy and here is what they had to say:

Tyler's favorite thing is that his dad is his football coach.

Joshua's favorite thing is that his dad is funny.

Ashley's favorite thing is her dad's sense of humor.

Kayla's favorite thing is her dad's dorkiness.

My favorite thing about Tommy is that he loves me - even with all my faults.

As you can see, Tommy makes life fun! (I always said I didn't want to marry someone boring.) He does so much for our family. He works hard at his job to support us. (He's the Senior Vice President of Pinnacle Bank in Gallup, NM.) He loves the Lord and serves Him in whatever ways he can. (He's the 2nd counselor in the Gallup, NM Stake Presidency.) He likes to tease and be silly. Life with him is great!

We love you!!!

Family Get together

Some of the related pictures are on other blogs- and thanks to Melissa Roquemore for these pictures. We are so happy to have been able to get together during Jeremy's furlough from Iraq. It was the first time that so many of us we able to get together in a very long time. We love our family so much and although we get caught up in our own lives for the most part, we are happy to take a break and get reaquainted wtih the people we love the most. Thank you Tyra for getting us together.

Las Vegas Trip

Eileen and I went to a six State Bankers Convention in Las Vegas. It was held at the Wynn Resort- some place we would never be able to afford on our own. It was sure very nice to be able to be together for a few days, though. Thanks to Grandma helping out with the kids!

The covention was a success and I leared a lot of good things. The time schedule was not too hectic, either. Eileen and I got to go to the temple and spend some time together. We got to see a couple of shows and ate some good food.

Las Vegas is a busy place and we could not believe the growth. So much money is spent in that place. I heard a good analogy the other day, though. Las Vegas is like eating something rich or sweet- it might be good for a while, but if you get too much of it, it gets old real quick. We were happy to get home and back to our more simple life.

Baseball Time

Here are our Cubs- Joshua and Tyler before their first Game the other day. They are on the same team - which makes it nice for the practices and games. We have not had them play for a couple of years - couple that with the fact that there was not a lot of athleticism to pass on from Dear Old Dad and I hope that all goes well. Nice thing about this age is that there is a lot less pressure than when they get older.

Joshua, who turned 9 earlier this month, and Tyler, who turned 7 this month, are both just happy to be playing together and having a good time- so we are not going to stress about it, either.

They are sure fun to watch.

Tomorrow is finally last day of school- so they should be able to get into lots of fun stuff. Our summer is going to be pretty busy- so hope to keep you all up to date.

(and it is good to be blogging again)

Decmeber or May?

No, this picture was not taken a few months ago, but rather a few days ago. To show how crazy the high desert weather can be- we were almost 90 degrees on Monday of last week and this was taken on Friday Morning after a Thurs night snowstorm.

It was good to get some moisture, but the snow was a surprise to get the day before the Memorial Day weekend started.

As you can see- we now have a camera again. I will post a few blogs about goings on in the Haws household the last few days. It is hard to believe this is the last week of school for the kids and then it is going to be a crazy summer.

Hope all is well- Tommy