6 on 6

Wes got to play in a 6-on-6 outdoor tournament on Saturday.  He played with his brother, Bryan, and some childhood friends, Kenny, Travis, and Lance Ririe.

It's been a long time since we've been to a tourney, because Wes only played in one last year due to his schedule changes at work and out new little Jonah.  It was so nice to be at the point where it felt feasible to haul all the kids there and watch again.  Wes was so excited that it almost made me guilty it had been so long.  I'm going to have to remind myself more often how happy Wes is when he has a tournament coming, and how little he really does see his buddies. I'm always trying to think if things that I can do to support him for working so hard for us, and volleyball tournaments seem to be such an easy way to do that.

This is his brother, Bryan.  Bryan is so much fun!  It's funny, because we used to hang out quite often before Wes and I started dating.  He took me rock climbing for the first few times, he came ice skating with me, etc. I had so much fun with him thinking it was so fun to feel like I had a "brother-like" friend.  He was everything I'd pictured a big brother to be like: he has a kind of arrogant, hard exterior, but he is a sweet softie inside that would do anything for you and is always there when you need him.  He's a lot of fun, and he was always up for any kind of play whether it be indoor soccer at the church, volleyball, climbing, anything.  (We had a huge, really fun group of friends back then, and we were always doing crazy, fun things like single young people do.  I'm so grateful I have those fun memories of the time in my life when I felt like I was really blossoming and growing my testimony so much, as well as having tons of new adventures and trying many new things and having a total blast doing them!)

Obviously, things changed a little when Wes and I got married (we moved away to Nevada the day we got back from our honeymoon), and a few years ago Bryan moved to Huntington Beach, California to play in the AVP (professional beach volleyball league) where he did us all so proud.  He recently moved back after being prompted by the spirit and soon after started dating the most darling girl, Anna, who I have a feeling will be my next sister-in-law!  I am so happy for these two!  They are a beautiful couple and Anna is so perfect for Bryan.

So, to make a long story short, it was a real treat to have Bryan at the tourney with Wes. 

 He is one heck of an assertive player!  He really goes after the ball and he never seems to get tired.  (I think the endless energy is a Stewart trait.)

 Here are Wes and Bryan going up for a block. I thought it was so cute watching them play together and wondered if this is what I would be watching our boys do in another 10 years or so.

 My sweetie is a blocker all on his own, too.  I LOVE watching him play!

 Brothers again.  I couldn't help myself, they are so cute how identical they look in the air!

 Wes doesn't think so, but he's a pretty amazing player, too.  When we were engaged and travelling to his college tourneys all the time, everyone used to rave about him and wish he would believe in himself enough to play for a bigger school.  He's so darn fast and such a good team player, cool as a cucumber under stress, and so reliable.  I truly think he is right up there with his other two amazing brothers, but he will never believe it no matter how much he hears it from so many people.

Jonah (and Kolton and Micah) was such a jewel the whole time.  Tourneys usually go until around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, but this one went until almost 6.  I was SO tired of chasing them around, hauling them back and forth to the bathroom, and so on, but I was truly amazed at how big they've grown and how much easier it really has become to go to anywhere.  I have so many fond memories of going to my dad's softball games when I was young, and I hope they are building similar memories with volleyball.

Man alive, Wes is so darn sexy when he plays volleyball!

The whole posse, returning from the net after taking second overall.

Travis, Bryan, Lee (in the back), Wes, Lance, Kenny, and his cute wife, Monica

I've got a few more pictures, although my camera card got full because I couldn't unload onto my hard drive.  We all had a ball together and I hope it's the first of at least a few more tournaments this summer!