Basketball: All in the Family

This post is about a week overdue, and my sister, Olivia, already did a fabulous post about state basketball (you can read it at http://www.lifeaslivi.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-end-of-our-era.html), but I thought I would post a few pics here as well.  Livi had a super fun time at state basketball this year, but me . . . well, not as much.  I LOVED watching Tessa play, I LOVED that her team won the championship, and I LOVED spending time with all of my siblings, but I gotta say it was pretty stressful and miserable at times as well.  Why?

Well, this picture pretty much sums it up.  Mariah was sick the entire time.  And not just a runny nose.  She seriously felt horrible and was miserable the entire three days.  Ugh.  Poor girl.

The nights were also pretty rough.  The first night there, between Brady and Mariah waking up numerous time, I think I got about 3 hours of sleep, with the longest stretch being about 1 1/2 hours.  Not so fun.  The next two nights were a little better, thank heavens.

(I figure these two troopers went to about 45 basketball games this winter, and somehow were still smiling at the end.)

Thankfully, Mylie and Brady were really good during the day and Mylie really liked the games this year.      

She loved cheering for the Panthers!

Although the first person you notice in this picture is Livi, if you look a little to the left and down you can see that Mylie was pretty pumped about the Panthers taking state as well.

Although it wasn't the easiest weekend, I would have done it again in a heartbeat to be there with everyone, doing this state tournament thing for the last time.  Being the oldest, I have really enjoyed going back to watch my siblings compete at state events through the years.  As far as I can remember, I have only missed state track once, and I missed Sulli's state wrestling one year.  Other than that, I have been there for all of them.  And I loved every minute of cheering them on.

This was also a really neat moment for my dad, as he finished coaching his last daughter in basketball.  He has coached all of us, and this was the 4th state championship trophy he won with daughters on his team.  He is a great coach, but more importantly, a wonderful father.  

 Now, what am I going to do next winter? 

 Oh ya, my husband is a coach, so probably go to over 40 basketball games again.

I can hardly wait.