My National Champion

The BYU men's lacrosse team are the 2026 MCLA National Champions! The tournament was in Richmond, Virginia and unfortunately Randy and I didn't go.  We will probably regret that for the rest of our lives but oh well.  We weren't the only parents who weren't there and since Marcus is the oldest, he's used to doing things like this alone.  

We loved the family FaceTime call with him after as he showed off his medal and hat.  The ring comes in the fall.  The playoffs were exciting but nothing compared to the excitement of when they won their conference game against UVU, and I was there for that one.

Marcus and his teammate JP, who is also from Sammamish and played Skyline lacrosse 

We are all so proud of Marcus's hard work.  Getting up at 4:30am for practice is no joke.  Spending days traveling and missing classes and tests is no joke.  He juggled school, lacrosse, and his social life like a champ.  He was also never home!  

Marcus flew home a week after the big game and spent less than 24 hours with us.  Luckily he was able to pick Henry up at the bus stop (all the boys love doing that) and had time to play lacrosse in the backyard.

Henry got to wear the champion hat

Burnley Soccer Stadium

And now Marcus is in England doing a paid internship for Burnley Football Club!  That's kind of like doing an internship for an NFL football team in the USA.  It's a big deal.  He's living the dream!  Well, my dream anyway.  If I could hop on a plane and spend a few days roaming the English countryside with him I would do it in a heartbeat.  But I'm settling for all the videos, pictures and FaceTime calls.

Here's the locker room.  Definitely giving off Ted Lasso vibes for sure

The staff got to play football on the field before they ripped up all the turf.  Don't worry, before Marcus was a lacrosse player was a all in for soccer.  He said his skills came back, pretty quick!

Don't worry, Marcus even found a lacrosse team to play on.  How cool is that?  It's box lacrosse so it's a little different and really physical and he loves it!

People always ask about his social life so I'll tell you about this funny conversation I overheard.  When he was asked if he hoped to meet a girl on his internship he said "No way because I don't want a wife with crooked teeth.  But when I get back to Provo I'm gonna be ready with guns a blazing!"  I died laughing.  I've never seen Marcus doing the dating scene without his guns blazing.  He's ready to find the one!

Boise

I flew to Boise for a quick 24 hours and was able to catch two of Marcus's games.  Some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up to cheer him on.  I also texted a couple friends in the area at the last possible second and they came too.  Marcus and I went to dinner with my Dad and Kathy, then hot tubbed with my fun cousin and her kids.  After the second game, I had a nice nap in the backseat of my car (sleeping in the backseat is a talent I have), ate Chik-Fil-A, and flew back to WA.  It was quick and productive!

The best part was coming home and pulling into the driveway to see Henry waiting at the door to see me.  He ran into the garage and climbed into the front seat and hugged me before I even got out of the car.  I don't want to ever forget that. 

Marcus Lacrosse

 

Marcus is having a great lacrosse season this year!  Last year was rough.   He had a few injuries and being a freshman is always lame but he overcame.  This year he is faster and playing better than ever and he gets a lot more playing time.  They have only lost one game so they're looking good.  Go Cougs!

BYU Lacrosse

My boy plays lacrosse at BYU. I love saying that!  It's pretty cool to know a college athlete and even cooler to have raised one.  Marcus plays defensive middie and the first game of the season was here against U-Dub.  We were so excited.  It was on a school night and the weather was terrible so I was so impressed with the large number of friends who drove into Seattle to cheer Marcus on.  BYU won the game with a score of 23-6 or something crazy like that.  As the game wore on we began cheering for the other team's goalie because he was just taking a beating.  BYU trains at the level of a D1 team but are still considered a club team so they really dominate against most other teams.  They're about halfway through the season now and still undefeated.  

Practice starts at 5am which is early but crazy early for college boys.  I admire their grit.

Marcus's fan club and we were even missing a few for the picture

I'd recognize those quads anywhere!

Randy bought a bunch of BYU fan gear for us to wear but you can't see any of it because we were bundled up.  I can't remember the last time my toes were that cold!

After the game we took lots of pictures and did lots of celebrating before heading over to the team hotel where we fed the team dinner.  We had so much food!  And now I know the next time I cater event how NOT to do it.  I ordered more meat but this place also gave us all the sides that go with the meat so we ended up with enough lettuce, cheese, jalapeños, and salsa to feed 100 people and not 45.  Lesson learned.