Diet Water, Heck Yeah!

So Matt was asked to join a robotics team this fall.  He was pretty excited about it because it was a step up from the robotics league he was in last year.  He had already also signed up to be in that league as well so he just did both.  He had a lot of fun with his Diet Water team.  They got to build the robot using whatever materials they wanted with only a few limitations.  He had a lot of fun with the building part of it.  His team was definitely a rookie team this year so they didn't have a lot of expectations, they just wanted to figure it out by trying.  His coach had some experience with these robot leagues but not actually this league in particular so she was some help, but a lot of it was just up to them.  They had their first competition in December.  They worked really hard, but finished their robot right before the competition and even the morning of the competition at the warm up area, they learned how to drive it and hit some buttons on the game floor to score points.  So they were excited, but didn't plan to do too well.

These robot games are a little hard to explain and understand without seeing exactly how they work.  They have a qualifying round first and they play 5 or 6 matches in the qualifying round.  They are matched up with another team and both teams score the same points.  They are competing against two other teams.  So they have to work together to maximize their points.

After the qualifying rounds the first 3-5 teams get to choose 1-2 other teams to be their alliance and they compete in the finals together.  So you want to score well in the qualifying and showcase what skills your robot has in particular.  Matt's team was lucky in the qualifying round to be paired up with some high scoring teams and they also had to chance to get better at scoring the points that there robot was capable of.  So they were chosen the in the final round to be on an alliance with one of the other teams!!  It was really exciting!!

They did really well in the final round.  All the robots were still in their beginning stages of being built and perfected.  A lot of the robots had problems if their robot got bumped by another robot.  In the final round, all three of the other robots stopped working so their robot was the only one running!!  It was totally exciting.  They were able to change the lights to their color so they could score almost all the points in the match!  It was a pretty big deal!  They were so excited and their team quaified for state!  That was so cool and a huge relief because now they could use the remaining competitions to perfect their robot without any pressure.  One thing they wanted to work on was the first 30 seconds of the games is set for autonomous driving so you have to have the robot programmed.  They didn't have any of that for the first competition so they worked really hard on that for their later ones.

Matt with the trophy.

The team.

Here's a video of the last match and the Diet Water robot was the only one moving.  It was a cool competition.

On the way back home

On the way home we decided to stop at Horseshoe bend.  Jerry and I have of course seen tons of pictures of it, but it's always better to see with your own eyes.  It was really cool, plus it was awesome to see the Colorado river again.  There was even a couple of boats going down so it made me miss our river trip even more.  I love the red rock and the river... it's so amazing the things that God created!

Arizona nights

Friday we went to a climbing gym with the cousins and had so much fun climbing and messing around.  That evening we decided to go see some Christmas lights in warm weather instead of freezing like we always do in Salt Lake.  It was fun to see the Mesa Temple and the lights were cool, but Temple Square is still way better.

Swimming on Thanksgiving

The weather felt really nice so the kids decided to go swimming.  Juliette and Josh were smart enough to put on their wetsuits, but Kate and Sara of course didn't have one so they just jumped in.  I wish I had a video of their faces because it was hilarious when they felt that it wasn't as warm as they thought it was.  They stayed in the water for a little while but they didn't last too long.  At least they can say they swam on Thanksgiving.

Jeff found a wetsuit for Abby.  It was way small for her but we squished her in!

They didn't last long, but they laughed and had fun!

Hiking in Sedona

We took one day to go up to Sedona and hike around.  It was a ton of fun and beautiful.  I'd been to Sedona once when I was in Flagstaff with my mom, but I didn't remember much so it was fun to go back!

Having a treat at the top.

We were there too.

We had time to go on a couple of different hikes.

We got pizza for dinner and watched the sunset.  There weren't many clouds, but it was still fun to enjoy a nice evening together.

Thanksgiving in Phoenix-post 1

We had planned on going to Phoenix for Thanksgiving so we were excited when it finally came time.  We were looking forward to a week off and a lot of time to hang out with family.

If you could see the top closely, you could see Jerry and Kate up there.

First on our agenda was hiking around a desert preserve.  We were passing by this trail that led to this mountain and Matt said, "It would be cool to hike to the top of that."  So we did.  It was fun.

We all climbed up a ways on the trail and then first Matt, Sara and I climbed to the top.  We didn't want to make Abby hike up and Kate was feeling a little nervous about the heights. (What?)

From the top...

Pretty cool view.  After we climbed down, Kate was ready so her and Jerry hiked up.  She was proud of herself.  She does have a little fear of heights so it was a big deal.

Little moments

I sure love this little girl! 

Recital time

My nephew, Doug, is a really accomplished piano player so when we found out he was holding his junior recital, we knew we had to go, even though it was in Rexburg.  It was a crazy weekend, we were gone for barely over 24 hours, but we packed in a ton of fun.  It was a great weekend.

The weather was gorgeous and we even had a great view of the Tetons, which is rare.  They were so often covered in clouds.  So it was kind of fun to see.

We drove over to see Mesa Falls.  They were really cool.  I went there once on a date when I was in college and it wasn't my favorite date so it was nice to go back and make a new memory!

It was chilly, but a beautiful day.

We had so much fun with our cousins.  We all got to stay together in Matt's family member's cabin.  We had a blast.  We stayed up late the night before playing games and laughing and having a great time.  

Saturday we went to the recital and it. was. amazing.  I'm so glad I got to hear him play live.  He has an amazing ability and he has put so much work into it.  It was incredible and very inspiring.  I was hoping it would inspire my kids to work on harder on their piano practice, but no.  That's ok.

We left soon after the recital and had to get on with our weekend.  It was so worth it even if we were a little tired at the end!