Jerusalem Day 1

We made it Jerusalem in one piece and very tired. None of us slept much....surprise, surprise. The Tel Aviv airport was the first of many changes Jerusalem has seen since I was there as a student back in '96. The first thing I noticed was how nice the airport was and that we actually entered the airport directly from the plane. When we arrived in '96 we got off the plane onto the tarmac and then took shuttle buses to the actual airport. The second thing that I noticed was the wall that is being constructed around the West Bank. In some areas it is mainly fence and wire whereas other it is actually a wall.

Our first day in Jerusalem we basically bummed around the center, napped to get over our jet lag and waited to make sure we had permission to go out, as only a group of 2. The Jerusalem Center rule for the students is that they have to go out in groups of 3 or more. We were flattered when mom and I tried to leave and they reminded us of this rule. We also went with dad and got fresh pita from the bakery today. I don't know how anyone ever found this bakery because it's back in some houses and very well hidden.

Our actual day one out of the center, actually full day 2 of being there and ironically June 2, we went down to Alladin's and had our money changed over. Another change--when I was a student there was a cork board on the back wall where you could leave notes for your friends, and the JC students used it a lot, but it wasn't there. The rate was almost 4-1 for shekels. :)
After exchanging our money we went over to Damascus gate and worked our way through the Old City to the Citadel. I wasn't very good at figuring out where I was in the old city when I was a student and I wasn't any better yesterday either. We ended up finding our way and went through the Citadel museum and excavations. When we finished we worked our way back to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It wasn't as dark and gloomy as it had been before, although it still is. They have renovated a lot. Christ's Tomb has all of its scaffolding missing, although it is still very smoke damaged from all the candles and incense. While were were there they started ringing the bells, apparently to announce the priests arrival to the sepulchre, but he was already there because a Romanian royalty member or head of state had come to visit. They were ushering him everywhere with bodyguards in tow. It was fun to hear the bells and just as they finished the minaret came alive with a call. I videoed the bells but can't get them to download so I'll have to add them later. After we finished there we went back to Damascus gate and caught a taxi home. The driving in Israel is always interesting. They are very aggressive drivers, but very good drivers.

Oh, and those who know me well, in case you are wondering, yes, I did get heat rash on my legs. Yipee!

I tried adding some photos but they wouldn't work so I'll try again tomorrow.

5A GIRLS BASKETBALL STATE CHAMPIONS 2009!

On Saturday, my girls basketball team took the 5A State Basketball tournament! They took second last year so this year was extra special, especially for my 4 seniors who have been playing for us since they were freshmen. They beat Riverton 51-40 and had previously beat Bingham, Kearns and Alta.



My 4 seniors, Kaycee Mansfield and Cydne Mason who both signed with UVU, Nikki Ybarra (she will probably play soccer or basketball for Dixie) and Haley Holmstead, who hasn't decided yet who she's going to play for.

The team in front of Energy Solutions Arena. After their win they were invited to do the Jazz pre-game show with Thurl Bailey, David James and Pace Mannion.



Haley Holmstead, 5A tournament MVP with the state trophy and basketball net. The team gave me a part of the net! So cool! Haley was amazing in the tournament. In the championship game she had 24 points.

MacKenzie and Liani recreating the "jump ball" the ref called in the game. A Riverton girl came over Mac's back and basically gave her a big bear hug and the ref called a jump ball. It was probably the worst call of the night!



Haley wearing Thurl Bailey's shoes. They're a little big!



The team with Pace Mannion and Thurl Bailey at the Energy Solutions Arena for the Jazz pregame show. Such a great group of people! Fun girls and great coaches!

To see a video link of clips from the game go to:

http://deseretnews.com/video/1,5563,782,00.html

CONGRATS LADY CAVEMEN! YOU DESERVED IT!

"Lady" Cavemen...in Phoenix.

Attached are some pictures from the Nike Tournament of Champions. The first pics are of playing "Psychiatrist" one night and the others are of our team party with the Mason's grandparents and the games. We played pool, cards, had great food and had a white elephant gift exchange. We even got our bus driver, T, to come in for a while. It was a fun trip! The girls had some good competition with some close games and ended up going 2-2.


AF 57, Villa Park, CA 55

AF 56, Chandler, AZ 52 (On their own court)

AF 44, Thunder Ridge, CO 48

AF 64 , Tolleson, AZ 66




Katie showing us the talent she picked up on her mission...playing the harmonica. Marin looks sooooo impressed!




Amy playing "Psychiatrist."



Grace, Shelby aka Shanny (I couldn't for the life of me quit calling her Shanny, her sister's name) & Laiani



Li, Kaycee, Tori & Shelby



The team waiting to play over at Chandler



3 groups of card games...this area was perfect to play in....except for one thing that Kaycee discovered later.



Raquel, T, our bus driver, and Sondra



The Mason's grandparents and Leanne



Haley attacking Cyd! (Emily in the background)



Katie Knight and her look-a-like doll. So funny!



Kaycee dead on the floor. She discovered that there was a low chandelier and cracked her head on it. So.....



We gave her a hat to protect her head.



Actually it was the white elephant gift that Haley ended up with.



Gerald Dibb, Hagen and Corey Clayton playing pool. I love that game!



Amy, Shelby and MacKenzie



Amy shooting a trey vs. Tolleson



Nikki, our little defensive pest :)



Cydne on the layup.



Laiani defending.



Haley driving after she stole the ball.



Li & Mac



Amy & Haley



Mac laying it in. And-1



Hayley, Rachel, MacKenzie, & Haley. Notice the computer. The 2 "Hayleys" were our Facebook/MySpace addicts.



Kaycee shooting the jumper.



Haley drawing a foul.



I love this picture. Cyd and Mac!



House of "Payne"...enough said. :)

December trip #2

On the 16th of December, after a long day of teaching and boys basketball games, I loaded a charter bus with my girls basketball team headed for sunny Phoenix, AZ. My team was playing in the Nike Tournament of Champions. They are currently ranked in the top 100 team in the country and the top 20 teams on the west coast, although I'm not sure what their ranking is exactly. They are ranked first in the state currently and are the team to beat in 5A. I'll be very surprised if they don't take state this year. Already, 2 of my players have signed with UVU and another is deciding where she will play. Very exciting!

When we left Utah is was cold and snowy. There was snow off and on all the way down to Phoenix. When we got to Flagstaff, AZ it was really snowing, although I think I was one of the only ones, besides the bus driver who saw it. Most people were dead asleep on the bus. I found out later that Flagstaff had closed all of it's schools, including NAU, because of the snow. Why is it Utah never gets snow days?

When we arrived in Phoenix it was raining but the sun was shining through. I was getting very antsy to get checked in because as soon as we did I had plans! I was going to go play with my sister Amy and nephew Andrew and it was my first chance to see my new niece Ella Jane Giauque!


The team had the day free until the tournament banquet that night and it turned out perfectly because they were one ticket short for the banquet. I told them that I'd just stay at Amy's and have dinner with them. I was able to spend the whole day with them! :) Andrew decided to be sheik Andrew. It's actually his long sleeved shirt that I started to take off so we could make cookies but he wanted to wear it as a hat. He has the cutest grin when he says "Cheese" for the camera!


After we had lunch we made chocolate chip cookies and I introduced Andrew to the joy of raw cookie dough. He loved it, but I think he loved just eating the chocolate chips even more and getting them all over his face.


Andrew was such a good helper in making the cookies. His love for dumping things carried over as he continually pleaded, "I dump" with Amy, to allow him to pour the ingredients into the mixer. She is such a good mom and not only allowed him to dump, but also helped him turn the mixer on. He was in 7th heaven, as you can see in the picture!



Amy made a wonderful dinner of pasta, yogurt-parmesan chicken, peas and peaches. Andrew devoured the peaches! I was sad to leave but it was about a half hour to my hotel. The next morning Amy picked me up again and I played with them until the afternoon when my team had their first game. We went to the park nearby and got to dig in the sand, go down the slides, play with the tick-tac-toe rollers and climb on the large rope octagon. Andrew enjoyed running home and the neighborhood Christmas lights that had come on.

I was very glad that I had been able to spend so much time with them. Even better, they came up here to Utah at the end of the week which meant I got to spend more time with them this past week for Ella's blessing and Christmas! More to be added later!

The latest and greatest

Some of you have been asking when I'm going to update my blog. Here's the latest occurrences:















At the beginning of December I was able to travel with my parents to Livermore, California for my niece Anna's baptism. Anna is the first of the nieces and nephews to be baptised. It was so much fun to see her and my other nieces (Claire, Eliza) and nephews (Josh, Luke and Jack) for the weekend. They are all so creative and full of energy.

We enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, watching Christmas movies, playing touch football (I watched and videotaped), singing, etc.

Eliza is quite the athlete and held her own with the boys. She was so funny. Every time she got the ball she'd run a reverse. Check out Brett's face! Ha ha!




Jack was very content to play with the toy train! Oh, how he loves his trains! Not even Allan could convince him to come play football for more than one play.




I even got to teach Anna and Josh how to play air hockey on my iPhone! They were better than me!




The only negative for the weekend was having to say goodbye. It's no fun having everyone live so far away! :(