April Jazz Stuff

Towards the end of the regular NBA season our household had lots of excitement about the Jazz. The rankings of the teams in the western division seemed to change almost daily since things were so close, and we were holding our breath to end the season with a ranking that would provide us home-court advantage and a favorable match up. Well, our ranking bounced around and at the very end of the season we dropped from 2nd place to 5th place after just one game. We went into the playoffs with Jazz fever in our house anyway (despite our disappointment that we would likely not be able to put off meeting the Lakers until the finals like we'd hoped).

Anyway, just before the end of the regular season, I found these Jazz hats on a super clearance sale. The next morning the boys both got themselves all decked out in their jerseys and the hats before waking me up in the morning...so cute.

So, we started off our day by playing a little bit of basketball in the front room and snapping a few pictures.

Look at that sweet little face.

This expression just cracked me up. It's so Lincoln.

Even though this picture is a little bit blurry I had to include it. Lincoln just gave Noah the biggest hug, and Noah did this funny hand out thing. Love it. I was glad that Noah finally conceded to being in a few of these pictures (he really protests that sometimes).

One of my favorite "brothers" pictures that I have of these two:

And, after not too long, Anna joined us for the rest of that day (that was my last week babysitting her). Noah really wanted me to take a picture of them with her (that's my boy)! As you can even see in this picture - she is a lot more mild & mellow than my two very active little boys, but as the months went on she became a lot more tolerant about Noah's affectionate hugs and request for photos together...not enthused, but tolerant.

And I just thought I'd throw this photo in because I liked it. I took it later that morning while we were shelling peanuts for a snack.

That same night (April 6th) I got to attend a Jazz game! Mark & I had tickets to the Oklahoma Thunder/Utah Jazz game, but Mark ended up having to attend the second part of a surgical conference in New Mexico (that had been rescheduled). So, I asked Emily (Josh's girlfriend) if she would like to go with me. I've been wanting to do something with her anyway, and I knew that she'd be lots of fun to go with...I know that she got really into the games when she used to attend them with Josh.

So, Emily drove all the way down from Logan (where she attends college) and we went to the game together! We snapped a couple pictures together with the boys (partially because I wanted them, and partially so we could send copies to Josh). Lincoln held her hand and wouldn't let go - so cute.

And my wonderful mother-in-law took care of the mini-Jazz fans while we went to the game. Thank you so much, Mary!

Before the game we went to eat at Vinto. I've mentioned this place before in a previous post. Yum! We shared a fresh squeezed lemonade, and this is a picture of my dinner - the Patate wood fired pizza. Scrumptious.

Emily ordered the current pizza special that they were offering. I don't remember the name, but it was reminiscent of eggplant parmesan.

And, upon recommendation from my friend Claire, we shared their delicious molten chocolate cake.

Then it was on to the game! I think it was the most amazing basketball game that I've ever been to. It was nuts! Close back & forth game the whole time. Playoff-type energy in the crowd (I lost my voice a little). And Williams hit a shot just before the buzzer to send it into overtime...where we won by one point! And D-Will played an amazing, all time career-high scoring game. For those of you that want to ruin my fun by griping about the missed Thunder foul at the end of the game...re-watch the game and look at all of the missed fouls that should have gone our way throughout the game, including not long before the end of regulation which could have likely prevented sending the game into O.T. in the first place. It was an amazing game, and I'm so glad that I got to go...and go with someone who was as into it as I was! Thanks for coming, Em!

Now this is random. We were at McDonalds one day, and while the boys were playing on the playland Lincoln screams out, "Jazz guy! Jazz guy!". I finally realized that through the glass doors leading to the lobby area, he had seen this cardboard stand up (of Paul Millsap). He really wanted to go see him, so I took the boys over. Lincoln got a little trepidatious as we got closer, and I realized that he thought he was real. I decided to take a picture of them with the fake-Millsap, so I showed him that he was not real and he reluctantly agreed.

Now moving onto playoffs. Mark got to attend a game with my dad, grandpa, and brother Matt...of course photos don't get taken if I'm not there, but he had a great time. Then, my dad invited me to the playoff game (also against Denver) on April 30th. We grabbed dinner before the game (just like we did when I was growing up), and we were even in our seats before tip-off - wahoo! It was a really great game. There is always a lot of energy, and fans on their feet during playoff games...and it's always more fun when you win too! We clinched our 4th win against the Nuggets that night, sending us into the 2nd round of the playoffs. Thanks again, Dad! I had such a great time!
I won't have anymore Jazz pictures to add to my blog for this season. And, although some other Jazz fans may curse me for saying this...I'm just hoping that we can prevent a sweep on the Lakers part. I am admittedly a Laker-hater, but I'll realistically admit that I think our chances are slim to none of overtaking the Lakers (especially with Okur & A.K. injured). Still, I say "Go, Jazz!"...and the next time I post pictures from a Jazz game, it will probably be from attending at the U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix!