Made it

We made it to Salt Lake yesterday safe and sound.  The kids did absolutely great, all day.  There were no fights, no throw ups, and no real sadness.  They were awesome.  We had sunny skies the whole way, and we got an early enough start (4:45am PST) that we made it to Grandpa's house before darkness fell.  It's great to see everyone.

Big storms are coming this week, and we're happy to just be here see what comes.  Looking forward to some snow play tomorrow, and we'll see what else.  

"Holidays Don't Count..."

Does anyone else live by the creed, "Holidays don't count", when it comes to watching what you eat?  I mean, I won't say I become a world-class glutton or anything, but as has been proven over the last week or two, this is the WORST time of year for someone trying to control sugar intake, in addition to any number of comfort foods.  We have been the grateful recipients of an amazing quantity of cookies, toffees, chocolates, candy, and other holiday treats, not to mention about four gingerbread houses we've had on the counter calling me subliminally every time I walk by.  So yeah, in my little world, the holidays really don't count, and they officially started about a week and a half ago.  I did my best this morning to live up to this way of living by consuming two donuts, eggs and bacon for breakfast - heavenly, but not listed anywhere on the Jenny Craig ok-to-eat list.  Oh well, Mormon guys are supposed to get fat, right? 

But not all is lost, I have been on a bit of an exercise kick, so I think I'm at least maintaining a weight that I'm not proud of, but it's not clinically obese either.  I've been doing quite a bit of swimming and biking (trainer, garage) and it has been very enjoyable (moreso once I'm done).  Some basketball scattered in is great too.  In fact last night I played, and I was more tired than I've been in a looong time after that run.  I swam at lunch too, so that was a heavy sweat day for me.

Looks like tomorrow's the travel day as the weather looks pretty bad all along I-80 starting Sunday and pretty much lasting into the foreseeable future.  Tomorrow looks reasonably good for travel, so we're scrambling to get everything ready to get out the door pretty early tomorrow morning.  I'm actually looking forward to the drive in that unexplainably, weird sort of way in which there's no logical explanation why I'm excited, but I just am.

And finally, I just want to tell you how great Angela is.  You may already know this, but she's the best!  She does so much for the kids, for me, for our home, for the school, for her friends, for others in need...  I'm not sure how she does it, I'm just grateful for her in every way.  I'm not sure how I got so lucky as to end up with her, but I'm holding tight.  She's awesome!

Building up to the Holidays

I gave the talk in our ward's Bishop's Youth Fireside this last Sunday evening.  That is one of the things I love most about being in the bishopric.  I love interacting with the YM and YW, and especially because I feel like I have a pretty good bond with them.  Here are some of the things I shared:

I started off asking them to think about "their best Christmas gift ever".  I was very specific about the wording - didn't say best gift they're "received" on purpose.  I then went on to talk about how it's ok to be excited about everything surrounding Christmas.  Of course it's good to think of the Savior, but it's also great to enjoy the fun times associated with the holidays.  It's even ok to really like the gifts and presents at Christmas.  Let me share with you some my best gifts...  I talked about some of the things I've received over the years, then asked a few of the youth to share their best gifts.  After hearing an assortment of electronic gadgets, clothes, etc.  I stopped them good naturedly and said, "I'm sorry, I still haven't shared with you my best gifts."  I then talked about five gifts I/we have GIVEN over the years that are much more memorable to me than anything I've received.  

The five things were: an anonymous sub for santa to a great family when we were young; a Christmas tree for Spencer when he was living alone in Mom and Dad's house after his mission; cross-stitched bibs for the unsuspecting grandparents to be that said: "Making a Mess at Grandma's" to announce Angela's pregnancy with Micah; Christmas of 2004 when I wrote a 163 page journal for Angela about our first ten years together; and another anonymous sub-for-Santa we organized a few years ago and included a large group of our generous local friends to help a young man and his sisters.  It was pretty powerful for me to talk about the things we've given, and how much they mean to me.  I also assured them that for every great gift, there has to be a giver and a receiver, so it's still fine to receive great gifts and be excited about it!  I had taken Micah with me, and I closed by singing Silent Night with her and my guitar - it was great.

Aside from that, I think we're pretty much ready for the holidays.  We've gotten most of the important gifts, although there are a few straggling items that still need to be taken care of.  It's now just time to get ready for our trip.  Usually leading up to these trips I get excited well in advance and spend a lot of time thinking about what to take and what we'll do.  This trip, I've been thinking about it a little bit, but it literally just hit me 10 minutes ago that the trip is looming.  I now feel that familiar pre-trip excitement and am looking forward to getting on the road.

Bowling Champ

I took our work team bowling yesterday for a fun event before everyone disperses for the holidays.  It was an absolute blast - very fun to get together outside of work.  I mentioned on the blog that over Thanksgiving our family went bowling, but before that, I honestly have no idea when the last time I bowled was.  I can guarantee it's been more than 10 years, but I can't remember when I bowled last.  So that will surely make my bowling exploits of yesterday seem all the more impressive.  Sometimes you just "feel it", and I was in the zone, on fire, en fuego, unconscious...  Who out there can beat a high score of 191?  And if you can, do you have your own shoes and monogrammed ball?  Oh yeah baby, I was king of Palo Alto Bowl for a day!

And speaking of Bowls, I'm looking forward to a few of the Bowl games this year.  Of course I'll watch BYU v. Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl, and then there's Texas v. Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.  I believe both of my teams will come out bowl champs in their respective bowls.  I'm also really looking forward to the Poinsettia bowl where TCU will take on Boise State.  I've got a close friend (BYU alum and fan) who lives in Boise and is a season ticket holder for the Broncos - he's sick and tired of fellow BSU fans saying the WAC is better than the MWC, and he's hoping and praying TCU shuts them up...I'm definitely on board with that.  There's also the Sugar Bowl, where Utah goes up against an Alabama team that will make it obvious to everyone why people say the SEC is the 2nd best conference in the country (like that Big 12 loyalty?).  It may be a long day for the Utes, but I actually hope they can pull off the upset.  Other than that, it's just a great time of year for football.

Holiday Travel Plans

Da da da da...(imagine in your mind the horns introducing the king)... we have finally decided on a plan for our holiday travels.  Our family has all waited so patiently for us to decide, which may have also been because they don't really care when, or if, we come, but either way, we're coming.  So here's the plan:

Drive to Utah Sunday (1/21) after church, arriving late in the night.  The main thing that might change that plan (i.e. move it up to Saturday) would be as we watch the weather throughout the week and if it looks dicey on Sunday.  We're going to stay through Saturday, 1/3, so we'll have a good long time to make everyone sick of us - but hey, what are holidays for?!

We're excited to make it out to Utah and hope to have quality time with lots of family and friends.  I think it was just last year that we vowed on pain of death never to come before Christmas again (because of the amazing difficulty of secretly transporting bags full of Santa gifts), but of course, here we go again.  Should be lots of fun and we look forward to it.

See many of you very soon!

California: Love / Hate Relationship

We love it here.  There are things here that we feel like we couldn't get anywhere else.  Then again, there are things here that we wish you couldn't even get here.  So I was thinking about it this morning and thought I'd share with you some of the things we love and hate about California.

Love:

Most of the people ~ we have the most marvelous friends, kind neighbors, an outstanding ward, and we associate with truly successful, brilliant, driven people on a daily basis.  Not to say you can't get that elsewhere, but it seems to us that the concentration of great people seems very high here.

The weather ~ I played golf today (yep, December 12th), in shirt sleeves (wishing I had shorts on), and I have the sunburned face to prove it.  There was a thin layer of frost crystals on my car the other morning and I couldn't think of the last time I'd seen that, not including our Christmas trips to Utah.  Most peope I know here are really happy when the rain comes, because it's something different from the perpetual blue skies (no-one's complaining, just enjoy a change every once in a while).

The jobs ~ you ever driven down the street and been surprised by the international company headquarters you keep passing?  You would be here.  Particularly in Silicon Valley, it's amazing the companies that are here, and that have made significant impacts on the community.  I tell MBA students interested in jobs out here (and usually with concerns over cost of living - BYU students especially) that there is NO better place to be working in this industry.  I have friends working at every signficant company, and I feel like the job opportunities are endless if needed.  The professional culture here is lively and dynamic, even in a recessing economy.

Education ~ there is an abundance of highly educated people in the Bay Area.  It is rare to meet someone who is not extremely educated, and passes that on to their children.  The schools make it a point to teach a broad, challenging curriculum, and the parental support in the schools we have attending is astounding.  Education is probably the most important factor in child-raising to most people here (for better or worse).

Activities ~ there is more to do here than anywhere else we've lived - maybe combined.  Going to the beach, the mountains, the City, the Aquarium, Broadway shows, sporting events, cultural events, Prop 8 protests (couldn't resist), etc, etc, etc. are all available activities, and they're just the tip of the iceberg.  

Hate:

The REST of the people ~ Yeah, it's the vocal minority, or in San Francisco, the vocal majority, that we don't exactly love.  Californians can be, as a whole, very absorbed in themselves, and there are so many of them that a large number of self-absorbed people can cause problems.  I guess you get that to some extent everywhere, but it seems there's more of "me first" to go around here.

$$$ of Real Estate ~ Obvious, but true...tough to buy your dream home here unless you happened to start one of the aforementioned "significant" companies.

So there you have it.  We're glad we're here!

The Big Man's Birthday

I'm not one to make a big deal out of my own birthday.  In fact, as each successive year goes by, I am less and less excited about being the center of attention on my birthday.  It's not out of some sort of "denial of my birthday will keep me younger than I am", it's more like I just don't need all the attention.  

Today was my 37th birthday.  Morgan informed me I should be 38 because the day I was born was my first birthday - well I will actually decline that invitation and cling to 37 for as long as I can.  The kids and Angela have made it a really nice day.  We started with our traditional donut birthday breakfast, and then it was off to work.  It was a normal day for me at work - Ang had been planning on a birthday lunch with me but a couple of the kids were sick so she had to stay home...oh well.  After work we all went to Armadillo Willeys for a fun BBQ (and I use that term loosely here in California) dinner with the whole fam.  Remarkably, everyone felt better when it came time to go to dinner.  The kids then gave me a few small but really thoughtful gifts, and it was a great evening together.  

Another great thing I have to admit was the chance I had to catch up with family members as they emailed and called.  I have a great, great family, and I love them all very much.  I guess birthdays are great after all because they enable (or force?) us to reach out and share some love and thoughts.  It's been an awesome day.

And one of the gifts I asked for from Angela was this: sit down with me and watch a movie without doing anything else for the entire time: no folding laundry, no addressing Christmas cards, no checking email, no calling anyone, no answering the phone, no checking homework, no school PTA stuff, no nothing ... just her, me, and the movie.  And we're about to start, so I'm out...

Monday update

Kennan and Morgan were in their latest school play, Cats, over the weekend.  I was SO impressed with both of them, and we were so happy for them to have good roles in which they were able to perform and have fun.  I was particularly proud of Kennan.  She's always enjoyed being in plays and musicals, and she's done fine, but previously it's seemed she's there to say her lines, not necessarily to perform.  This time however, she was confident in her singing, dancing, and speaking parts.  It was so fun to see her do so well, particularly with Micah's success in other performances. The benefit of school plays is we can actually video them, which I did, so I'll try to find time tonight to upload the video so you can see some of the performance.

That was our big weekend stuff, but we also had a fun time decorating the inside of the house for Christmas.  The tree now has lights and decorations, the stockings are hung over the fireplace, and Angela lamented the fact that our Christmas decorations are "ghetto".  That's apparently not good...

A funny note on Brig.  He's pretty obsessed with the division between boys and girls.  His latest thing is to inform me multiple times a day that, "we're boys, we always stand up!"  Think about that for a minute, and if you need further explanation you can let me know...

We're also in the process of finishing our Christmas cards.  It's mostly a matter of tracking down all the right addresses, putting them on the envelopes, and getting them in the mail.  So they're on the way if we have your address.  It's been really fun to start receiving the cards in the mail, and our card wall (actually the back of the door) is starting to fill up.  Don't worry if you are a little late getting your cards out - we'll be keeping the cards up until around Easter so you have plenty of time.

Foiled by Bishopric Visits

I have some personal goals in the area of fitness that I'm trying to reach.  In order to achieve them, I've resolved that I need to eat better.  So coming off of Thanksgiving weekend, I haven't eaten any sugar or sweets for a few days.  It's mostly an issue at night because I realized I like to grab a few treatskies as the night winds down and I sit down to relax.  I'm not going crazy with this, so don't get all Woodward and Bernstein if you see me indulging in something sweet and sinful, I just want to get into the mindset of not having sweets unless I really need them.  And to be honest, I had visions of lasting until the Christmas holiday started, which would have been a good few weeks of self discipline.  And then came last night.  I was out with the Bishop doing our weekly visits, and this really nice couple offered us homemade goodies.  Bishop readily accepted as my mind jumped into overdrive on how to decline without offending or making it a big deal, but before I knew it I was the center of attention with expectant eyes looking at me, and I caved.  Not because I wanted the treat, but only (seriously) because I was in "duty" mode.  So now, back on the horse today...

And on a separate topic, I finally broke down after nearly two years working at Google and scheduled a massage today.  I've been exercising pretty regularly and my muscles have been feeling tight and a bit sore, so I thought it would be a good idea to use my free massage coupon from last year's birthday (yep, 358 days ago) before it expired next week.  Let me tell you - whoever said massages are relaxing was flat out lying.  I was in pain from the word 'go'... the lady who did it was obviously trained in the art of agony therapy, and believe me, it's impossible to relax when you're getting cranked on.  The worst parts were my back muscles and my quads.  When I played rugby at Texas, I sustained a deep thigh bruise right before a critical tournament.  The coach sent me to a physical therapist for a deep tissue massage in which he proceeded to actually try and break up the deep bruise by force (child birth, shmild birth!).  Today's experience was only a slight step below that forgetful experience.  I'm going to be sore for a week.

Looking back at Thanksgiving

We had an awesome Thanksgiving holiday.  It's so nice to be able to string together four+ days of nothing to worry about (i.e. work/school).  

My Thanksgiving Top 10:

10. Taking Angela to the Stanford basketball game

9. Riding scooters and bikes with Brig, Morgan, and Kennan

8. Fun birthday dinner for a friend with a group that we don't get to see too often in that situation

7. Taking Angela to the new Bond movie (she loved it like I did)

6. Getting a great Christmas tree (still undecorated, but smells oh so good)

5. Putting up icicle Christmas lights on whole front of house (complete with two trips to Target to get the right number of lights)

4. Texas destroying Texas A&M on Thanksgiving evening

3. Festival of Lights Parade in downtown Los Altos with all our friends - the perfect kickoff to the Christmas season

2. Bowling and board games with the Healy's

1. Family, Friends (the Baughs), and great Food at Thanksgiving dinner

You may get slightly different answers if you polled our whole family, but I think the general themes would be the same: family, friends, food, fun (which broadly includes total relaxation and lots of sleeping in!).

Post Thanksgiving Thoughts

The number one thing I am most grateful for in this life is family.

First and foremost my own little family.  How can I quantify the depth of their meaning to me?  I don't think it's possible.  I am blessed beyond belief to have five people who really love me no matter what.  This last week has been awesome for me.  Being home during the days gave me a chance to become Brig's best buddy again, and he rewarded me richly for my attention.  We had many play times together, and times where he would just come climb on my lap and do whatever I was doing, or times when out of the blue he would just say quietly, "Dad, I love you so much." How does it get any better than that?  Micah, Kennan, and Morgan were sweet this week too.  They played nicely most of the time we were together, and they tried hard to be happy and helpful.  Our family is like any family where we have ups and downs, but when we're all happy and helping and showing love, I would bet there aren't too many families that are blessed by each other as much as we are.

I'm also really grateful for my family.  My parents are the best, and how great is it to have 5 brothers and 2 sisters, with all their spouses and children?  Big families can be hectic at times, but when you have that many best friends, it sure is great.  It's this amazing support structure that is always there, whether or not you talk or see each other all the time.  I know at any point if I need something, or have good news, or just want to reach out - they'll always be ready to help, rejoice, commiserate, whatever.

Same thing for Angela's family.  I'm so grateful to be part of another awesome family where the prevailing feeling is one of love and unity.  Through hard times and good times, they stick together and help out.  We're lucky to have each one of them as family, and I hope we add as much to their lives as they do to ours.

And speaking of family, I have to tell you this.  I've been riding my bike trainer out in the garage pretty frequently lately, and to pass the hours (ok, minutes...) I've been watching videos on a small TV.  Because it's a VCR/TV combo, I have to use video tapes, and so my selection is pretty small at home.  I decided to watch some old family videos from when I was 11 years old (Nov. 1983 - exactly 25 years ago), and it is an absolute riot.  Highlights include the following: Nate (5) trying to hit a non-moving pinata with a stick and completely whiffing multiple times; Matt getting mad at Spencer when he did move the same pinata when Matt swung; Nate giving a primary talk (picture big glasses and the "R's"); me giving a school report about Egypt and my current self thinking the whole time "Micah would think I'm such as idiot!"; 90% of the time the boys all having wooden guns in their hands; Mom trying to ignore the camera while doing a super-serious family home evening lesson; little Danny - everything about him.  It's some quality entertainment, and like I said, it makes the time go by much faster.

The Book Thief

I just finished one of the most remarkable books I have every read.  The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, is stunning not only in its story and perspective, but I have never read a book where the language is so descriptive and simple.  I honestly would find myself often sitting in awe of a small phrase or description of a common action, wondering how the author came up with such an amazing way of portraying it.

The book is set in Germany during World War II, and it tells the story of a young girl.  I won't tell you all the details, but I will say it is written from a truly unique perspective.  It is emotional, it is fun, it is sad, it is gut-wrenching, it is light, it is human ... all wrapped up in one.  While I love WWII histories from a military standpoint, I'm NOT one to normally read a lot of books from that era dealing with the Holocaust, but I'm very grateful I read this one.  For me, this book transcended a story on pages and became something that provoked thought and helped me see who and what I want to be.  I highly recommend it.

At a time of Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for many things.  I won't list them all because the list will be too long, and I'll inevitably forget many people and things I'm thankful for.  Suffice it to say we're very blessed, even with trials and adversity, and we're finding a lot of 'joy in the journey', as the Prophet counseled us to do.

We love you all and are grateful for you!

Normal stuff

Kennan's sick today with a fever and what looks like the start of a cold and cough.  The kids are really good about not really wanting to stay home from school unnecessarily, so we know when they do stay home they're really not feeling well.  She'll most likely read her book, watch a little TV, maybe get on the computer if she feels better, and she'll rest.  Kennan recently had an appointment for us to learn about braces for her ... great, here we go.

Brig's found his 2-year old rebellious streak.  He is cultivating such terms as "I don't have to!" and "NO, I WON'T!" when asked to do certain things.  He's a headstrong little guy and it's not a great thing when he sets his mind to wanting something that he's not going to get.  Oh well, he's still a cute kid and lots of fun to play with.  He's also in a phase where he really just wants his Mom almost all the time, although I can get him out of that pretty easily by playing with him.

Angela's been busy lately.  Aside from helping out with Micah's play, she's got meetings every week for the school and her duties there.  She's started running/walking again now that her knee's feeling a bit better, and it makes her happy to get exercising.  We cleaned out the garage a few weeks ago and it's now a very nice little exercise area with our treadmill set up, as well as my bike trainer.  Now if only we could get cable hooked up out there...  Ang went with some girlfriends to the Twilight movie over the weekend and even though she came back saying it was "ok", I think she secretly loved every minute of it. 

Micah's sort of in a mode where she's not sure what to do with herself now that she's no longer got play stuff 24/7.  She and I are looking forward to reading together over the break, and she's been catching up on sleep.  Thankfully she's also found plenty of time to spend with her best friend over the course of the last few weeks so there's no real catching up to do there.

Morgan's really just doing her normal stuff.  She still swims a couple times a week and she likes it, although it's tougher to get her out now that it's not summer-warm.  She will probably stop during December, but hopefully will pick up again in the new year.  

We all loved having Grandma and Papy visit for the weekend.  They came to watch Micah's play, but we also enjoyed other things like lunch at In-N-Out, Madagascar 2 movie, Papy singing and playing piano with the girls, Vietnamese dinner, and just having them around.

uggh

Let me just say that game yesterday was NOT on my Top 5 BYU-Utah games list.  Oh well, a little humility never hurt anyone or any teams.

Now back to other, more important, blog topics...

And the winner is...

You already know what it's going to be - how could you not?  Every single person with any interest in the rivalry knows all about this one, for better or worse.

#1

Caught for the Touchdown!!  Caught for the Touchdown!!

2006, back and forth game, amazing plays by Harline, blah blah blah.  Let's cut to the chase...  Utah takes the lead, 31-27, with 1:19 remaining on the clock.  I think it was Brent Casteel who caught it, and I think I hate him, wait, I know I hate him.  He was busy bowing to the crowd while BYU's offense was preparing itself for possibly the greatest drive in recent BYU history.  84 yards to glory.  A few key plays that I can replay in my head from memory: a key pass to Bryce Mahuika where he had the first down, then gave up ground, then dove forward to regain a critical first down.  Curtis Brown catching a short dump off pass and breaking a tackle to get to the sideline and stop the clock.  A fourth down conversion to Jonny Harline that was vintage Beck - patience, consistency, laser throw.  A beautiful pass into coverage to freshman McKay Jacobsen to set the team up on the 14 yard line where they eventually ended up with 3 seconds left in the game.  So it all comes down to one final play (I'm hyperventilating ... hold on a second).  The Utes rushed two linemen and dropped 9 players into zone coverage.  Beck went through his reads quickly, but of course nobody was open.  He drifted to the left, directing traffic with his left hand, trying to keep his receivers moving.  He had all day, but eventually one of the Utah linebackers, #44 to be exact, had had enough and rushed at Beck.  At the last second Beck darted right to avoid 44, and as he ran to the right, the entire flow of the defense followed him.  The TV also followed him, so we couldn't really see what was going on in the endzone.  As he was running right, he also took pressure from one of the D-linemen, and just as he was about to get hit by the big guy, he whipped the ball all the way back to his left, across his body (that's hard to do), and the entire world stopped rotating while the ball hung in the air...  Jonny Harline, slid to his knees (hence the "Answered Prayer" moniker), all alone in the endzone, and cradled the winning touchdown.  Two things happened at that point.  I jumped and screamed so loud that Brig thought the world had come to an end, and I also banged my hand very hard on the ceiling (which would hurt much later, but not even noticed at this point).  Sheer pandemonium on the BYU side, shocked disbelief on the Utah side.  Whittingham looked like he was going to cry, Mendenhall started jumping around, and the replay ran over and over at our house for the next 6 months.

For an AMAZING first-hand account from John 

Beck, follow this link: 

http://deepshadesofblue.com/john-becks-account-of-the-final-2006-drive/

Also, these YouTube videos are fantastic (I recommend Kleenex and a sound-proof room):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioPt9D90Lx4&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKQm9-fwlO8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OFf7vqzcSk

GO COUGARS!!!!!!

Numero Dos

It was very hard for me to decide between the #2 and #1 games.  It's almost like 1 and 1a...

#2

Brandon Doman and LaVell's last game

My good friend and rabid Utah fan, Jim Cowley, shocked me by inviting me to go with him to the Utah-BYU game in 2000.  I reminded him who I would be cheering for, promised to be polite, and there we were on game day in the North endzone of Rice-Eccles stadium.  It was cold, the field was a weird shade of non-green, and I was sitting/standing in a sea of red season ticket holders.  BYU played very well for the first three quarters, amassing a nice 26-10 lead.  The U then inserted disgruntled QB Darnell Arceneaux, and for some reason, it became a new ball game.  Utah scored 17 unanswered points throughout the fourth quarter, the last of which was a pass to their wide open tight end right in front of us (maybe his first catch that year?!) to go ahead with like 2 minutes remaining.  You should have seen the derision and abuse I took from the drunk U fans all around me.  So BYU gest the ball back and it was not going well, finding themselves on 4th and 13 from their own 17 yard line.  I remember Doman on a designed roll-out to his left (I remember thinking, "don't roll that way, that's where the pressure's been coming from!") and after a brief pause, flinging the ball down the left

 side of the field.  I was amazed that he threw it long, knowing he should have just been trying to get the first down.  But lo and behold, Jonathan Pitman had broken free and was coming back for the ball and a 34 yard first down.  At that exact moment, I knew we'd won the game.  Our kicker was nails that year, and I had no doubt we could win.  The next play Doman went up top again for Pitman, this time completing a 36 yard pass with a tightrope catch down the left sideline to move us down to the Utah 13 yard line.  The refrigerator door was all but closed...  Two plays later, Doman swept right, broke a couple of tackles, and powered the ball over the goalline for a victory in LaVell Edwards' last game.  I actually think I was still polite to the U fans around me, but you could say it was a very LOUD polite.

#3

For those of you who don't care about the BYU-Utah game, or have more important things going on in your lives, thanks for your patience with me as I indulge myself in this unique week.  There's not a lot of "family" packed into these blog posts, but I promise I'll swing back the other way after this week.

#3

Magic Happens

Austin Collie's taken a beating in the media for his comments along the lines of "if you're living right on and off the field ... magic happens".  Good for him for saying what he believes.  And good for him for helping BYU win a thrilling rivalry game just last year.  A newspaper story started out with the line: "For BYU, it was fourth down and 18, but it might as well have been fourth-and-hopeless."  That was the situation for BYU with a little more than a minute to play, ball sitting at their own 12 yard line, down 10-9 to the hated Utes, Max Hall playing with a sprained shoulder, and zero momentum.  Max took the snap, stepped up in the pocket, slid to the right and found some running room, and uncorked a long throw down the sideline to a wide open Austin Collie.  How Collie got that wide open I have no idea, but my guess is the defense was guarding the first down line, and he ran right past it.  A 49 yard completion to Collie, and the Cougs were back in business.  I remember thinking "we better get closer because our field goal kicking has been spotty at best this year", so by no means did I think it was over.  The next play was a pass down the sideline to Dennis Pitta, and in typical Utah fashion, the DB unloaded on Pitta's head well after the ball had sailed out of bounds...15 yard penalty.  After a couple more plays it came down to a run to try and set up the field goal team with about 30 seconds left, but Harvey Unga was having none of this field goal business.  He went off right tackle, cut back hard, ran over "The Mouth" - safety/loser Steve Tate, and found himself standing alone in the endzone holding the ball and the win in his hands.

Check back later today for #2 - I'm going to post the rest of the list before the end of the day today.

$2.21 and 2001

I stopped on the way to work this morning to get gas.  Two amazing things happened: 1) I filled my tank for less than $30 - $2.21 a gallon - I mean, I don't remember gas this cheap since well before we moved to California!  and 2) The guy who came out to fill my gas tank was NOT a Utah grad (the guy said in broken English that the U grad was in the back cleaning the toilets but hoped to move up to "pumper" by the end of the year) ... OOOOOOHHHHH!!!

#4

Staley, Nose Bleeds, and Pandemonium

The Cougs were 10-0 and ranked #8 in the country - you can imagine the expectations!  I truly was sitting in the nose bleeds of Cougar Stadium that year.  I was in the corner of the East stands, about 150 rows up, and had a great view of, well, nothing.  The game did not go well for the first 3 quarters and most of the fourth.  BYU found itself down 21-9 with about 3:30 left in the game, and they had driven 85 yards to keep hope alive.  Doman took the snap at the 7 yard line, scrambled around a bit, and found Luke Staley breaking free on the sideline right in front of us (although far below) for the touchdown.  A Staley 2-point conversion brought the Cougs to within four, and then the BYU defense held Utah and forced a punt.  With 2:11 remaining, BYU got the ball back, and drove down the field.  It seemed like things were stalling in the face of a staunch Utah D, and BYU needed something big when they got down to Utah's 30 yard with 1:16 to go.  Doman called the patented option to the short side of the field, and the play began.  It's hard to describe exactly how it worked, but you had Doman and Staley matched up with three unblocked Utah defenders.  Doman jitter-bugged a bit because there were clearly no openings for either him or for Staley, and in that moment of hesitation, he succeeded in drawing the two nearest U defenders to him.  He then flicked a pitch out to Luke, and the last U defender, who had also been leaning toward Doman, looked like a statue as Staley exploded down the sideline(again, right in front of us) untouched for one of the greatest touchdowns I've ever seen AND heard.  You should have FELT the stadium erupt...it was sheer pandemonium.  I nearly broke an ankle jumping around on the bleachers, hugging everyone in sight, and celebrating wildly.  As BYU was up 24-21, Utah still had a chance, and the put together a drive of their own down to BYU's 30 yard line.  Then Jernaro Gilford picked off a Lance Rice pass and the game was over.  Beautiful...

Rivalry Week

I know a few of you have been waiting patiently for me to bring up this topic.  Finally, I have succumbed, and the BYU-Utah football game this weekend is finally on the table.  Sorry Matt and Sam, I'm not going to add fuel to the fire of this already ridiculous rivalry by predicting a BYU win.  I'm not going to badmouth Utah and everyone who went there.  I'm not going to sing the praises of BYU and everything about it.  Instead, I'm simply going to share with you over the next few days some of my favorite BYU-Utah moments...5 of them to be exact.  I gave extra weight to games at which I was actually in attendance.

Here then, is the beginning of my Top 5 BYU-Utah games of all time.

Tie: #5

The Kaneshiro Klank

This was a tough game to watch at times.  Angela and I were with my brothers, Spencer and Dan, and a bunch of their buddies, sitting in the north endzone of Rice stadium for the game.  We were decked head to toe in blue, and the buddies even had their blue "cone-heads".  The game see-sawed back and forth, with BYU finally taking what seemed to be a big enough lead at 26-17 with under 3 minutes to play.  Utah proceeded though to run back the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, and then they held BYU on their next posession.  Here's where the fun started. Utah's first play from scrimmage is a 54 yard pass completion to about the BYU 20 yard line.  In classic Ute fashion, the receiver then felt it necessary to tell the BYU guys what he thought of them, and he got a personal foul penalty.  A few plays later, it came down to this: BYU 26, Utah 24; 22 seconds left; 32 yard field goal attempt by kicker, Ryan Kaneshiro, to win the game.  In my mind, it was over.  My pride was swallowed, my crow was before me on the plate ready to be eaten, and my tail was tucked.  We happened to be in the endzone behind the goalposts where the kick was happening so we saw it all unfold.  The kick was up, and despite the roar of the Utah crowd's premature celebration, everyone could clearly hear the "DOINK!" as the ball hit the right upright squarely, and bounced harmlessly away.  I'm not sure what was better - the fact that we'd won, or the incredulity of the Utah fans to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory in such a manner.  It was particularly satisfying to rub it in the Utah fan's face who had been elbowing Angela all game (I didn't find out until later or there would've been a problem).  And to cap off a brilliant outcome, the Richards clan got their picture in full color, front page and center, of the Provo Daily Herald.  I actually have the picture at home, but couldn't find it online for this blog edition.  Good times Cougar fans, good times.

Tie: #5

1989: Detmer...

There was a stretch of 23 years under LaVell Edwards that Utah only won two games.  Once in 1978, and again in 1988.  The 1988 game was painful for me.  My East High buddies and I snuck into Rice Stadium and made our way down to the blacktop behind the North endzone to watch. I was, of course, the only one of my friends cheering for BYU in 1988, and I paid for it as Scott Mitchell led Utah to a big win.  So come 1989, I was anxious to not have a repeat of the 1988 game, and boy was I in for a treat.  Long story short (too many highlights to share here), Detmer was magical, and Utah's humiliation was complete with a 70-31 victory that didn't even feel like it was that close.  Think we can replicate that this week...?  Me neither.

And check out the video on this site for a little background if you're new to the rivalry:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=635&sid=4843349

Opening Nights

Micah's Sound of Music production opened on Saturday with a spectacular 3-hour production.  She was fabulous, the whole cast did well, the sets were amazing, and Brig fell asleep on my shoulder for the second half - all was good.  Micah did very well, and as usual had many friends there to support her and the other kids.  We are very grateful to all our friends for their support, and for the flowers - Micah had a literal armful of flowers after the performance.  We have great friends.  Micah had another performance last night, and then there's a break until the final three performances this coming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Grandma and Papy LeBras will come out for the Saturday show, so it'll be fun to have family in attendance.

I also went with a group of buddies to the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, on opening night.  Let me tell you, that's a hugely entertaining show!  I love Daniel Craig as James Bond - none of the pathetic pansy boy Pierce Brosnans as Bond - this guy is awesome.  While the show is aggressive, action packed and intense, it is also violent, so maybe not for the squeamish, although I'm going to take Angela and I'm sure she'll be fine.  One great thing is that other than the typical Bond intro montage, there are surprisingly few bond girl "make me nervous" scenes, or even innuendo.  It was refreshing and welcome how much of the movie focused on real action, and not on other "action".

79 and sunny...

Ahhhh, the chill of fall in the air, or at least of the ice cold drink in my hand.

79 degrees, sunny and clear...

Weekend fast approaching...

New James Bond movie tonight with the boys...

Micah's opening night tomorrow of Sound of Music...

BYU football on my very own TV tomorrow...

It's all good.

Opera a La Carte

The kids' school has the fairly unique opportunity of performing an opera with the San Francisco Opera traveling company at their school.  Micah featured prominently in this year's production (surprise), and here are a few pictures.

Our travels over the weekend seem to have inspired a touch of the cold/flu for me, and I've been trying to fight it off since Saturday.  I think today I'm finally succumbing...

On a different note, I'm currently reading a John Grisham book called The Last Juror.  It's been a very long time since I read Grisham because there was a period of time during which that was basically all I read.  Of course I got tired of his books, but since it's been so long, I'm enjoying this read.  It's a different style than I've been reading lately and it's a refreshing change.  I've also been reading periodically from a book called Himalayan Quest, by 

Ed Viesturs.  It's about his quest to climb all the world's tallest 

mountains - 14 of them - over 8,000 meters tall.  The photography is amazing, and the stories are chilling.  If I had to narrow my list down to two 

things I'd never do, it'd be climbing Everest, and riding a bull.

It's chilly today...when's spring?

Grateful for Family

It was very rewarding to spend time with much of our family over the weekend as we attended Anne's wedding in Utah.  We had everyone from the LeBras side together for most of the weekend, and we even got to drop in on the Richards for an awesome lunch with Matt, Spencer, and Dave's families.  Overall for the weekend, we ate too much good food, we enjoyed hours of catching up and good family time, and we took a lot of pictures (ugh).  Congratulations Anne and Brandon!

One interesting thing that came out of our trip to Utah is rather than getting our fix of family, it really just gave us a taste and made us realize we should probably go for Christmas (yes, this has been up in the air).  I won't say the decision is final yet, but there's a good chance we'll be packing up and making the snowy trek East at some point this holiday season.  

I got a call from Delta airlines this morning saying they had one of our bags containing our video camera and digital camera.  Interestingly enough, we didn't even realize we had left it... I guess when you travel with four kids, and some of the family is in panic bathroom mode when the flight lands, it's easy to leave items behind.  We're very glad we put our name on the bag (I distinctly remember telling Angela, "you don't have to put our name on that, we'll have it with us the whole time"... good thing she doesn't listen to me!), and that the airline found it and not someone else.  We would've really been scratching our heads when Micah's play rolls around this weekend wondering where our camera is.

And randomly, we finally got around to watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and I think it's quite possibly the WORST movie I have ever seen.  I fell asleep during it, and I NEVER fall asleep watching movies.  Don't rent it, don't borrow it, don't even talk about it - it's that bad.

Airplanes and Brigisms

We're all jumping on a plane and going to Utah for the weekend for a family wedding.  Angela's sister, Anne, is getting married and we're all headed there to be part of the festivities.  Should be fun, although short.  It can be stressful to fly with kids, especially young ones.  But I don't feel the same level of anxiety that I would if it were a longer flight and we didn't have lots of helpers for Brig (not to mention movies, books, candy, snacks, toys, and child valium).  Will be good to see family even for a couple brief days.

Brig has been cracking us up lately.  This morning he came in and told us he might fall out of the plane, and he's also worried that his movie, Cars, will also fall out and get broken.  Yesterday as his buddy Sam was leaving our house, he said "Mom, can I PLEASE go to Sam's house - I never see him!" (they see each other literally every day - for hours).  He also came up to me this morning and announced that he wasn't cold any more because he was wearing his backpack.  As mentioned, he absolutely loves the movie Cars, and he thinks he is Lightning McQueen, or just McQueen as he calls himself.  Apparently I'm Mack, the semi, and Angela's Sally the blue Porsche (although Brig calls it the Mommy car).  After breakfast this morning he picked up his bowl, walked around the table to where I was sitting, and asked me "will you wash this now?"  That's all I can think of right now, but it's a constant stream of funny things.  I'll try to remember more later...

Have a great weekend.

Seems like there's something I should be doing today...

I have done my civic duty and delivered my votes today at the Hillview Community Center.  Truthfully, I had already filled in my votes on my vote-by-mail ballot that I didn't actually get around to mailing, so today's delivery was sort of anticlimactic.  But filling them out at home gave me the chance to take a little more time and try to really think through the issues.  What I realized though, is that there are many candidates and propositions that I just have no idea on.  You hear advertisements and see signs up to vote for or against certain things, but in reality it's actually very difficult to understand the true long-term effects of a ballot item.  So Angela and I just voted by what sounded good for our family.

I've had quite a few discussions recently about Obama v. McCain, and about Proposition 8 here in California.  I've written before on the blog about my personal feelings for McCain (not real favorable), and none of his politicking has done anything to change those.  However, what has become clear to me through the course of both campaigns is that I really do believe strongly in some key aspects of the Republican party.  So even though Obama is personally impressive, and I think he's going to win anyway, I decided to cast my vote not necessarily in support of an individual candidate, but in line with a party that closely matches what I believe.  I'm glad though that each person can vote as he or she sees fit, and I hope we all do that today.

Proposition 8 is a very polarizing issue here in California.  Most of my friends and close acquaintances are in favor of the proposition, but there are many people in the area who are strongly opposed.  It's been interesting to see many large Silicon Valley companies (including my own, which is no surprise) come out in support of, and donate lots of money to, the effort to defeat Prop 8.  Nonetheless, I think that measure will actually pass.  I've been wrong before (usually about sports outcomes), and it may get defeated, but there's been a huge grass-roots effort among many churches and conservative groups to pass 8, and I think it will pay off.  We'll see...

My final political thought.  There are a lot of people stressing about outcomes.  Truth is, you can't control it, and it's not worth the tension.  Opponents will celebrate, fingers will be pointed in triumph, and then the country will be back to trying to solve its deep problems.  As for my family, we will pay attention today, and then we will get back to the business of living and trying to be righteous.  Not much will change in our daily lives based on today's elections.  Thank goodness.

Have a great day.

Halloween and Rain

We had a great Halloween and weekend overall.  The kids all got barrels of candy, and in accordance with my fatherly duties, I'm doing my best to eat as much as possible in order to spare the kids' teeth.  The threatening rain held off until late Friday night, so we didn't get wet as we feared, and we had a great time trick-or-treating with friends.  As you can see from the pictures, we were all Peter Pan characters...see if you can guess who was whom.

The rain on Saturday (really from Friday night through Sunday morning) was pretty amazing.  It rained, and rained, and never really let up for any sustained amount of time.  There were some real benefits of a rainy Saturday.  Because we couldn't go out to a lot of our normal outdoor activities (soccer, swimming, tennis, bikes), we spent most of the day indoors.  We got a LOT of good work done around the house - cleaned the garage, cleaned the house - good stuff.  We also had some fun friends over for dinner on Sunday, so that completed a great weekend.

Busy week ahead of us, I'll check in when I can.

"...hey, it's good to be back home again..."

It's great to be back home again!  It's a remarkably long travel day from New York to San Francisco.  My alarm went off at 4:45am ET (let me point out that's 1:15am PT), the shuttle picked me up at 5:15am ET, and luckily I got to the airport with only 2 1/2 hours before my flight (thanks to the shuttle service insisting on morning traffic, which surprisingly was all coming INTO the city, and not OUT of the city to JFK like we were) - whew, barely made it.  I flew home with two kids behind me kicking my seat, or actually grabbing the top of my seat and hanging on it, the entire flight home (I don't blame the kids, I blame the rude, ignorant, selfish, former hippy parents who failed to do anything to help their kids not bother others around them).  Luckily, I didn't have to worry about eating with my chair rocking back and forth because American Airlines was kind enough to not feed us unless we wanted to pay like $17 for a 3-day old sandwich.  And to top it all off, the in-flight movie was - you're going to be jealous - Kit Kittredge, American Girl.  WHAT THE...?!  

Oh well.  The trip to NY was very successful and I'm really glad I went.  I got a lot accomplished while working with the team out there, and I feel like it was essential for making progress in our team.  I even got to take some time yesterday evening and ride the subway down to Battery Park (very cold!) where I was able to gaze on Lady Liberty for a while.  It was actually really neat to contemplate the symbolism of that welcoming statue.  I really enjoyed it.

The family just joined me at Google for the annual Googleween celebration.  While the rain put a slight damper on the festivities, it's fun to have them come.  Micah is really getting to that age where she's not anxious to dress up in public anymore, and I think she was happy to have the rain as an excuse to "not get the my costume wet".  Tomorrow will be fun as they have their school costume parade and parties, and then another annual tradition of going with a big group of school friends to the same house and all trick-or-treating together.

Happy Halloween.

New York

I'm in New York City for a few days this week and it's very cool.  I'm staying at the Four Points Sheraton in Manhattan, which if you want to look it up on a map it's on 25th St and 7th Ave.  My days have consisted of walking down to Google's offices at 15th St and 9th Ave, and then meeting/working with fellow team members and people I support.  It's been really fun to work in a different environment, and the feel here is pretty cool.  My business partners and team members have all been very friendly and they seem happy to meet me and have me on board.

I've enjoyed walking the streets of NY to and from the office.  It's interesting to see all the hurrying people, the shops, delis, vendors, parents walking their kids to schools that don't look like schools, a million taxis, and the smokers.  Yesterday was a beautiful East Coast fall day; today it's raining like crazy.  Luckily I walked to the office before the heavy rain came, but it certainly does have implications for my walk home later if it doesn't let up.

One thing I really don't enjoy about traveling is being away from the family.  I feel so separated, even if I know what they're doing at given times of the day.  It's even difficult to call them to feel better because it's fairly rare that nothing's going on and they can actually talk.  Let me rephrase that...it's tough to talk to Angela without feeling her stress of the day, without Brig screaming to talk, or without the car full of kids drowning out the conversation.  Fortunately I'm not gone long.

I also don't sleep very well in hotels.  Actually, I can just plan on the first night being horrible, and then after that I'm usually so tired from no sleep the first night that I can sleep.  But I got some exercise in the gym this morning, I've been drinking a lot of water to combat the plane/hotel dry air, and I'm good to go.

I feel slightly guilty that I'm not taking advantage of the trip out here to see a show or something uniquely New York.  The problem is, I try to work late to maximize the work time, so that doesn't leave too much time for other things after dinner.  Maybe I'll see what I can find for tonight or tomorrow...

Bracing for Weekend-O-Craziness

Hola, como esta?

Weekend comin, and in our case, you better buckle up.  

We have the pleasure of paying back our good friends for their always-generous help by watching their three kids while they vacation for a much-needed few days of R&R.  It'll be fun.  What it does though, is it introduces more activities and requirements into the already full plan, and it will be interesting to see if we can actually get everyone in the right place, at the right time, and not forget anyone who needs picking up.

We have the kids' school walkathon, which will take up most of the day by itself.  Shifts of us will be leaving intermittently for two different soccer games and two different sets of play practice.  Once the walkathon winds up, it'll be deliver the kids to a practice for the sacrament meeting primary program (who knew this was such a big production?!  Whatever happened to the days of get the kids up, sing a few songs, say a couple of funny little kid things, and then sit them back down?).  Anyway, after the primary program practices it's the ward Trunk-r-treat, which will of course require us all to don costumes for this glorious event.  That won't be hard for Brig, who's been in character as Peter Pan for roughly 7 days straight now.  The rest of us are trying to work around his costume...Morgan's going to be Tiger Lilly, Kennan's going to be Wendy, I'm going to be John, and I'm not sure about the rest.

I'm sure we'll also carve pumpkins, catch a few minutes of football games if possible, and hopefully not lose anyone.

Speaking of Brig, he was at the pool the other day and a friendly kid came up to play with him.  The kid said, "what's your name?" and Brig replied, "I'm PETER PAN" and then he did a flying leap into the pool.  He's also going through a time where he really likes hanging out with his mom, but he wants to make sure his dad doesn't feel too bad.  He's constantly saying stuff like, "I'm Mom's buddy AND Dad's buddy".  That's ok, as long as he earns his scholarship.

Also, on Sunday afternoon I am flying to New York so I can work with the members of our team who are in that office for a few days.  I of course am not thrilled about traveling on Sunday, but I needed to be there by Monday morning and I'm not really keen on taking a red-eye and then working a full day.  I'll come back home on Thursday, so it's not too long of a trip.  It should be really good to work with my team out there, and to meet most of them in person for the first time although we've already been on numerous video conferences and calls.  So yeah, I guess I have to pack for that trip too, now that I think of it...

So as Brig says when he and I have scooter races around my car:  "Gamark, Gaset, GO!!!"

Recent Kid Pictures

The family at the pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay

Brig posing with the pumpkins

Brig will be a tiger anytime, anyplace, no matter how wet the ground might be...

Morgan of the Corn

Brig with his two best buddies, Joey and Sam

Kennan riding the pony

It's either a horse or Peter Pan for Halloween

Long day ... one of my favorite pictures!

He's becoming a little man

Morgan the beautiful!

Kennan la bonita

If you register early, your kids might get Ms. Richards next year for 3rd grade

Angela's Marathon Pics

One of the biggest problems I have with this blog is getting pictures up in a timely manner.  It's not that it's hard to get the pictures, it's just a bit of a process...download the pictures from the camera to our home computer; upload to a web folder in Picasa (which I'm happy to share with anyone, by the way); then at work I have to download the photos back from the Picasa online album to my work computer, and then upload them into Blogger.  I know it would be easier to just download straight from the camera to my work computer, but you can also see the down side of that, hopefully.  Anyway, here are the St George pics.  I'm sad as I realize we didn't take any with Spencer & Molly and their family at the house, but at least we got the race...

Sports stuff

I was very happy to see the Phillies beat the Dodgers last night in the NLCS.  I will say Philly is one of the three or four teams I follow semi-regularly, but I cannot be considered a true fan.  I'm happy for Nate and Dan, because it's their hometown team, and I like a few players on the team: Utley, Howard, Victorino, but it was as much about seeing LA lose as anything else.  I guess it makes me happy when any LA team loses, mostly because of the fans.

I'm also happy that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to beat the Red Sox in the ALCS.  Not sure if it will happen tonight, but certain it will happen.  It's awesome to see a team go from dead last the previous year, to playing in the World Series this year.  Also, very cool that this team outta nowhere gave it to the big name teams in its division - Boston and the Yankees.

OK, enough baseball.  It's GAMEDAY baby!  The Cougs take on a very tough and motivated TCU team tonight, live and in color, from Dallas/Fort Worth.  This is the stiffest test the Cougs will have faced so far this season.  I honestly have no idea how the game will go, but I will say this: over the course of the game, our defense will be better than their offense (mostly running team), and our offense will be better than their defense.  Things like turnovers and penalties could really hurt us, but if we can limit our mistakes, and be patient with our gameplan, I don't think they can consistently stop us on offense over the whole game, and I don't think they can run on us effectively enough to win the game.  So yes, I'm predicting a Cougar victory, although this one will be ugly at times.  Should be fun to watch (I hope).

And then this weekend, #1 ranked Texas hosts #11 ranked Missouri on ABC at 8pm Eastern.  This is a huge game for the Horns as it will serve to validate what they did to Oklahomie last week, and it will cement their place on top of the rankings.  Might I add, it's quite a treat to have both schools that I attended and follow passionately ranked in the top 10!  I imagine that's a fairly unique dynamic.

Finally, as with every other year, it feels strange when the NBA and NHL start up with baseball still rolling, and my mind fully footballized.  

Coming up for air

You know that gasping explosion of air intake as someone lurches out of the water when they've been submerged for a little too long?  Water spraying everywhere and mouth open as wide as possible trying to make up for lost time?  I feel a little bit like that in the few moments, like right now, when I can emerge from my new job and a few other important things going on and look around.  A new job, especially coming into a management position with a team in place, is a wild ride of ups and downs, and a few sidewayses for good measure.  Sometimes I'm stoked, other times I'm overwhelmed and frustrated.  Oh well, at least I'm challenged, and that's better than what I was getting for a while before the change.  

I want to shout out to a very special person who just received the news that she is #1 on a transplant list in Pittsburg for a lung transplant and will be going back there for however long it takes.  She's been a contributor on this blog, mostly commenting on my political posts, but always adding valuable insights as the thoughtful person that she is.  I'm not sure she would want me to make public mention of this, but CSB, we're thinking of you and praying for you!

Speaking of coming up for air, I continue to swim 3 or 4 times a week (yes, I make time, otherwise I'd be depressed in addition to being busy).  I call it my 10-minutes-of-this-isn't-so-bad-followed-by-10-minutes-of-dreaming-I'm-a-triathlete-followed-by-10-minutes-of-hasn't-it-been-30-minutes-yet?! workout.  My rough calculation is that 30 minutes is around a mile, so I'm proud of that, just tired and sore when I finish.

Deep breath, and here we go again .......

Thinking about Dad

Tomorrow, or actually today by the time you're probably reading this, my Dad, the kids' grandpa, is going in for a surgical procedure.  It's nothing as serious as the last time - removing a massive cancerous tumor from his chest - but it still feels a little bit like, "man, seems like we should be there to help out or something..."  I talked to Dad and Mom tonight and characteristically he's in great spirits, just ready to get going and get it over with.  I have to laugh at his optimism and energy.  He's awesome!

I'm so grateful that he's my dad, and that he's the grandpa of my kids.  We couldn't ask for a better example, friend, leader, playmate, and patriarch.  I love him dearly.  I think as long as I can remember I've had a special relationship with my dad, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I just want to make him proud.

Good luck Dad.  Be strong through the surgery, the rehab, and the mindless hours of recuperation.  We'll be praying for you and waiting anxiously for word of success.  Love you man!

LG

Last night we were catching up on Conference talks that we missed over the weekend, and a thought came to me.  Our tv, which is very nice by the way, is an "LG" brand plasma.  I was thinking "LG...Life's Good".  And you know what, it really is.  

It's amazing how quickly the "mo" can change from week to week.  We got a loan on our house and we have had incredible interest this week on possible lease options.  I started a new job this week and feel totally rejuvenated and reenergized (pictures of new office coming ... gotta set it up just right first!).  Our kids are all doing well in school (parent-teacher conferences were successful). We're all healthy and happy.  I'm a swimming fool and loving it.  We have amazing friends.  Both of our teams are in the Top 10 (unfortunately likely to change this weekend Texas-OU, but hopefully not for the Cougs).

So this is a happy-to-be-alive post to end a very good day.  Hope you all are able to realize that whatever stage your life is in, it's not as good as ours.  Just kidding.

Marathon weekend

What a great weekend!  Let me give you a rundown of the haps...

Thursday afternoon and evening Angela and I left the kids with our great and generous and talented and kind and good-looking friends, and we headed to St George, UT.  Our 9:45 minute drive went quickly, aided by good conversation, good tunes on my iPod, good gyros and strawberry shakes at the Mad Greek in Baker, good traffic, and good weather.  It was all good.  We stayed with Spencer & Molly & their kids, as well as some of the Mason family, in their gorgeous home on the Entrada golf course.  Very nice!

On Friday, Spencer and I went and swam laps at the clubhouse after Angela, Molly, and Spencer ("why am I tasting blood?") went on a short run.  It felt great to swim in a lap pool so I knew how far I swam - I went 1000 meters with plenty left in the tank by the time we shut 'er down.  From there it was to the Marathon Expo for Ang and me, where we met our great friends the Cutlers for a quick browse and number pickup.  It was back to Entrada for a tasty lunch at the Kokopeli restaurant, and then Spencer and I graciously volunteered to get out of the ladies' hair and we hit Green Spring golf course for some serious fun the rest of the afternoon.  I played alright, but Spencer played better - beating me by one stroke and by one point in a tense game of Bingo Bango Bongo.  I calculated our lifetime head-to-head record for all sports and I'm still leading though, so I'm ok...  That evening's BYU-USU game left a bitter taste in our mouths, but we quickly forgot about it with a viewing of Deja Vu.  

Saturday dawned very early, very dark, and very rainy.  I ran Angela over to the marathon buses at 4:30am, and then hustled back to bed for a few hours.  We had brought our noise maker to ensure that Angela could sleep well regardless of whatever noise might be floating through the house when she turned in early, and it was set on "rain" noise.  So I was actually surprised when I got up how hard it had been raining - I thought it was just the noise maker...  So here's where I eat a little crow:  I assured my faithful readers in a previous blog that the forecast would be for rain, but that there was no way it was actually going to rain.  Well, I was wrong, and 5000+ runners were the unfortunate recipients of abundant rainfall, a stiff headwind, and falling temperatures throughout the morning.  On the bright side, it really prevented me from wishing I was running... so I guess it was good after all  ;-). 

Ang was incredible during the race.  I first saw her at mile 16, and she looked awesome.  Molly jumped in at that point and ran with Ang until just before the finish, and that really helped get her to the end.  Good job Molly.  I also saw them at mile 24, and I could tell it had been a hard day.  In the end, Angela achieved a personal best time of 3:47:23, in horrible conditions, and we are all so proud of her.  She is admittedly a little disappointed she missed a Boston qualifying time by 1 minute, 23 seconds, but she's reportedly still glad she did it.

Saturday highlights also included seeing the new Highland Rugby movie, Forever Strong.  I really enjoyed the movie, mostly because I coached at Highland for four years, knew about half the people in the movie, and had heard first-hand many of the one-liners throughout the movie. I thought it was really well done, and we'll be buying a copy of it when it hits DVD.  Another highlight was Spencer, Angela, and I spending about 45 minutes visiting Grandma Gurr in her assisted living center.  It's a nice place, and above all Grandma really seems to be doing well.  It was great talking with her, and seeing her happy.  Spencer and I went to Priesthood session of conference, and then Angela and I had a great dinner with the Cutlers and Trammells, friends from California, at Cafe Rio.  That's the best thing about St George for me - the friends and family who congregate for the marathon.  Good times.

Sunday was basically about the drive.  It always seems longer at the end of the vacation, and this was no exception.  We wanted to get home and see the kids, there was a ton of traffic pretty much the whole way, including hundreds of bikers, and we were both more tired than we had been on the way out.  We were very glad when we finally arrived home and picked up the kids.  They had all done very well with our friends, and we were so grateful for the help.  We owe them big time. 

Today I started my new job (still at Google).  I'll fill you in later when I figure out what's actually going on.  A shout out to Dave who also started a much-needed new job today.

Peace out.