We took our girls out of school for a couple days to go up and watch our boy and the BYU volleyball team a couple weeks ago.
It was a tournament where we could catch three games and we believe in not letting school get in the way with our education 🙂

We felt it would be as good a field trip as any to be up there amidst that roaring BYU crowd.

And it was.
Here we are when we arrived in town…pretty excited to go see Max and Abby:
Lucy was there, just hiding behind Claire.  But her cane gives her away.
So fun to sit there in the crowd with Abby who is now a pro volleyball fan.

Loved seeing that boy out there:

At first Lu wasn’t overly hyped about the prospect of being there, until her cousin showed up:

…and then you couldn’t stop them from yelling and cheering at the top of their lungs.  Nothing like that smile I tell you!

The crowd on the end of the court is particularly entertaining.  Love the distractions they hold up when the other team is serving:

 They squeaked by with a win that first night:

 Hooray!

My favorite pictures:

 There is something about this brother/sister bond that makes my heart mushy.  I love them.

This relationship is pretty cute too:

My sister and her kids (plus a friend) came to join us:

Lucy was pretty delighted about these girls:

The next day, while Max had some classes and practice, this crew went skiing:

 Oh how I loved getting these pictures they sent.

 I think it was Abby’s second time skiing and these guys had so much fun further showing her the ropes.

She was a total trooper and came out of that day with bruises from falling and a big smile on her face.

 I sure love that girl.

Meanwhile Lu and I went up and met up with my sisters (Lu tried her hand at skiing years ago and vowed never to go back…don’t blame her).  
We hiked through the beauty, and of course, sang “For the Beauty of the Earth” at the top:

Got to join Saydi and friends for her “Cookie Friday” she puts on for the neighbor kids every Friday.

Catherine, up there in that picture with us, is a pretty amazing lady.  Check out her blog HERE.

Lucy loved helping to prep for Peter’s birthday party that afternoon.

Then it was back for the next game:

This one a loss, gosh darn it, but still fun to share it with these guys:

 …and these guys:

 …and these guys too:

 Here’s the whole crowd after the game:

We continued the festivities at Max and Abby’s with a game of spoons orchestrated by my cute nephew:

The next day, after lots of waiting and wringing hands in anticipation, Grace finally got news of her ACCEPTANCE TO BYU-HAWAII.  And I know I already posted this picture but I’m posting it again because that’s happiness right there I tell you!

We were in pretty great spirits watching my nephew and nieces volleyball games and running after kids:

Love these guys so much!  My brother Noah is traveling the world trying to get his new company off the ground and Kristi, there on the left below, is a pretty amazing holder-down-of-the-fort with their six kids:

Plus my cousin is up there along with his wife and their volleyball daughter, and Isaac and Eliza who we stole over night the night before.

We bowled:

We got ready for another game:

Loved that Dave and I got to accompany Max and Abby to a team/parent dinner on Saturday before the last game.  It was senior night.  There is only one senior this year, and all the team members said something about him.  He has worked his heart out for five years to get some play time and it has paid off this last year.  He has helped everyone on the whole team in so many ways.  All the stories told with beauty and goodness woven through them made me love that kid who I don’t even know.
You can’t see very well from this picture but the whole team came out wearing fake mustaches since that senior has a mustache.  Ha!

This was the most packed game ever, such a great crowd.

The match, however, was against Hawaii who not only was undefeated, but had never lost even a single set.  They are so so good. 

We lost in three, but there was some pretty beautiful playing displayed, and BYU did fight hard.

That was the last home game of the year and we were so glad we got to be there with our boy.

Turns out my cousins were in the audience too:

(Well, my cousin’s wife and their kids…we missed you, Adam!)

Dave’s sister Carol Lynn was there too:

My parents:

Oh and we got to know Felipe’s mother pretty well in the stands, who was there from Brazil.  Which led us to get to know Felipe a little too.  Loved these two!

I wish I had more picgtures of the rest of the team…so many good kids, who are also great athletes  from all over the world who have taught Max so much in so many different ways.

And dang, I wish I had a pic. of the coach and assistant coach as well…and their wives too…who are all pretty outstanding people.  So grateful for them and the influence they’ve had on Max.

It’s been a fun first season I have to say.

Love this team:

One of my favorite things being up there was watching them complimenting each other’s personalities in ways that were beautiful to me. Oh sure, they’ll have (and have had) their struggles, but man, they’re learning a lot and glowing through it all. 

I love this team too:

They came with us to Cubby’s after the game.

There are about ten billion cookie places in Provo, so we went and checked one out late that night:

…then we went to church with Max and Abby the next morning and set off for home.

Yep, you can’t learn that stuff in school 🙂  (The volleyball part, not the cookie part, Ha!…but I guess you can’t learn about cookies much there either.)

It’s been fun watching this all season:

 Let’s get a close-up of that:

There we go.

Can’t wait to see all that energy transfer to the court next year!:)  There are some pretty amazing middles on the team who are young (it’s a really young team), but Max is excited to learn and grow among them.

So, BYU volleyball, thanks for giving us a good show this year.  Looking forward to next!

12 Comments

  1. Have I counted wrong or have you and Dave with or without kids been to Provo 3 times January – 1 week of April and Hawaii once and Mexico once in that time? That is a lot of out of state trips. In 13 weeks you have been away from home 5 times? That is highly unusual. Maybe you are not living in the correct state? Have you considered relocating?

    1. Yes it's a lot of trips…and it's not counting the four we've had to make with Lucy to Wisconsin to see some doctors and a couple others. Yikes! It's a busy time for our family right now but it's what works for us!

  2. Fun that your family could take this volleyball trip. So fun to see Max's enthusiasm with the team. I used to love to go to the BYU volleyball games (I live in the Pacific Northwest now).

  3. Our kids have had plenty of travel and experiences in their lives (way more than my husband and I ever had), including many states, multiple countries, service trips, etc. But we have traveled during off school time in most every case. We have kept school attendance as a priority. Now my kids are in college attending that first choice, hard-to-get-into, academically rigorous university the Pothiers hoped all of their children would attend–on scholarship to boot! As a professional educator, I spend my days helping students who are behind academically. While there are many reasons a child may need extra help academically, one reason is that their parents have not made attending school a priority–the student was not present when a concept/lesson was being taught. Then those parents wonder why their children grow up to be "not good test takers, by golly" and aren't admitted to the hoped for university the parents attended.

    1. This comment is incredibly unnecessary. What kind of adult publicly writes a comment implying a parent is disappointed with their child's academic achievements where that child could read it? While bragging about their own child's academic accomplishments? It is pathetic and you should be ashamed.

      There is far more to life than academics and a person is worth more than their test-taking ability or alma mater. Rubbing in that your child is going to a better school than an internet stranger's because you disagree with her parenting choices indicates your values should be analyzed.

    2. I rarely comment here but had a great chuckle at Katy's comment! School attendance is important, but were you aware that many, many, many children thrive in environments of learning that are not as structured? Every year, since my kids were little, we have taken extra time around our school spring break – pulling them out of school – and travelled. While on these trips, they have learned SO much – it has truly broadened their overall education, minds and perspectives (and strengthened our family bonds in very unique ways). They always caught up in their work quickly, and shockingly (perhaps to you – but not to me) have been successful in being accepted into "the first choice, hard to get into, academically rigorous" university (although it may also be shocking to you that not all kids want to go there and the first choice may in fact be the island version)! And yet, some of their teachers chastised and shamed us for "not putting our children's education and school attendance first". I always smiled, thanked them for thinking they knew what's best for my family and enjoyed every extra second of time with my kids on these wonderful adventures that have been anchors for our family.

      And FYI – I have a kid who has a 4.0 for his entire high school career and is NOT a good test taker for standardized tests. I'm glad that your kids seem to fit the perfect mould you decided kids should be in. I'll take my unique kids with their varying strengths and weaknesses any day! I guess that's why we are the perfect parents for our own kids:)

    3. Katy, I'd love to hear your thoughts on homeschoolers, my goodness. My homeschooled sophomore is held to high academic standards, currently has a 3.8 GPA, holds down a job, and is currently being recruited (although soft, since NCAA rules prevent true recruitment until September 1 of junior year) for – this will probably shock you – SPORTS! And, he will be accepted into his first choice, because he's just that good at baseball… regardless of his academic prowess, which is real as well.

  4. We have also made school attendance a priority, as did my parents who were both educators. I believe there is some value in teaching your children the work/life balance. But I also believe, regardless of whether a student can "keep up" outside of class, that it weakens their overall work ethic.

  5. Dang. Nothing like a bunch of wet-blanket comments to brighten up our day!
    What a fun trip. You have much to be proud of, Shawni.

  6. Shawni, how fantastic that you all were able to attend! I love the closeness that your family still shares, though some are no longer at home. xo

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