Go COUGARS!!!!!!!

So in our family we are HUGE BYU COUGARS fans.  Perhaps because Mike and I both attended BYU and have a tremendous love for the school itself.  Perhaps because all of our children have expressed an interest to attend there.  Perhaps because of what the school stands for.  Perhaps it is because they do have good sports teams.  Whatever the reason we LOVE BYU.  I especially love BYU basketball!!!

We knew we would be attending the BYU vs. CSU game as soon as we saw the schedule.  We managed to buy our tickets just in time as it was  a sold out croud for the first time since 2005.  That's amazing since the stadium only holds a little over 8000 fans.  That seems so small when compared to the 23000 the Marriott Center holds and sells out regularly.

This has been a great year for BYU basketball.  Jimmer Fredette is the leading scoreer in the NCAA and he is backed up by an outstanding team of starters and bench players.  The team is ranked #9 in the NCAA and #2 in the Mountain West Conference. (only outdone in the MWC by SDSU ranked #6 and undefeated)  BYU lost one game this season to UCLA which was a bummer, but we are hoping they can hold the losses to that one.  A win over SDSU this next week would be awesome, but is going to be tough.

Anyway this past Saturday we took the whole family up to Ft. Collins to watch our amazing Cougars play against the Rams.  Sorry Rams the Cougars will always have my heart.   Kyle was so cute before the game, he was so excited for it to start he was practically shaking!  He kept saying "when is it going to start, I can't wait!"  Of course Mike and I were also quite anxious.  We knew it would be a good game with two fairly evenly matched teams and we were a little nervous about how it would go.  It was a great game.  The Rams played them well, but the Cougars were on top the whole game.  Jimmer had an amazing 42 points.  Other players had great games too and it was so much fun to watch this team play LIVE!!!  They won 94-85 keeping alive a 9 game winning streak!  I have to admit there for a little bit in the second half I was a little nervous about whether they would hold on to their lead.  Thank goodness they did!!!!

  Afterwards we wated around to see if we could meet some of the players.  Freshman, Kyle Collinsworth came back into the stadium to do an interview.  I overheard them talking to him about the mission he is planning after this season for the church.  It is so great to see these players that are willing to sacrifice those 2 years of playing sports to go on missions for the church.  I think that in many cases they are blessed for that sacrifice once they return.  The girls had their picture taken with Kyle and the boys all got his autograph.

We waited even longer, then the coach came in and said the players were heading to the bus, so we headed outside to wait in the cold.  The wait paid off as we were able to meet several of the players.

Jackson Emery just broke the BYU record set by Danny Ainge in the 80's for steals.  He is an awesome defender and his 3 point shots are usually dead on!!!



Charles Abouo comes off the bench and plays a great game. 



Jimmer signing Jacob's shirt



Jimmer signing Kyle's shirt





Jimmer signing Ryan's shirt

Jimmer with our whole family.  It was so cool to be able to meet him.

The kids and I with Brandon Davies.  Look at that smile!!

Kaylee and KEnsie were able to snag Jimmer right after he finished his media interview before leaving the court.  Look how kaylee is snuggling into him.  She says she is in love!!  hah hah  :)

What a great night.  I hope the kids will remember this one forever!!!!