Now They Know

If you watched ESPN Game Day this past Saturday, you are aware that NOBODY picked BYU to win against #3 ranked Oklahoma, now they know that was a bad call.

I got tickets to this game and started by inviting my parents. Dad was worried about being out of town without getting his building rented, and did not want to fly out just to see a beat down laid onto BYU. (In his defense He, Mom and Dan my brother came out last year for the BYU/TCU game, and we didn't emerge victorious.) Now my parents know, that was a bad call.

I next invited my Brother Dan to come out and watch the game with me. He didn't want to be out of town so soon after having a baby. (Don't really understand that, his wife did 98% of the work.) Now he knows that was a bad call.

Then I called up three of my friends from BYU. Mike Park, Dan Park and Troy Eldredge, three guys I've seen more BYU games with than anyone else. They were all excited to come but only Mike and Troy could make it. Now they know that was a Good Call.

College Game Day Truck...Da Da dun Da Da Dun.

College Game Day Broadcast. Far Right is Trevor Matich, Center on 1984 National Championship BYU team.

We told the guy taking the picture this trophy was missing BYU on it. He told us "That's fine, we'll put it on for you in January." Sometimes prophecy comes from the strangest places.

View from our seats. Section 451 row 21.

Enjoy the Upgrade Boys.

We watched the game from behind the Cougar bench, mostly on the worlds largest Big Screen TV, which stretches from the 20 yard line to the other 20 yard line. (By the way, the Jonas Brothers paid $8,000 to play X-Box 360 on this TV.)

Max Hall, he led the Cougars to the victory throwing for 329 yards, and two touchdowns.

Jerry Jones, Owner Dallas Cowboys during halftime interview with ESPN. Very impressed with the new House Mr. Jones.

The guy to the left is not Matthew McConaghy, it's Austin Collie, who now plays for the Indianappolis Colts.

I also brought my son Daniel with me. Here he's enjoying the upgrade.

Troy Mike and I, all die hard BYU fans, all three of us were friends freshman year at BYU. All three of us missed BYU upsetting Miami at home, as we were serving missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. All three of us felt we had a chance to win against OU. I don't think any of us thought we'd actually win against a team that averaged 51 pts. per game last year against opponents, and was held to only 14 in the BCS championship game, losing to Florida. When OU kicked a field goal to go up 13 - 10 in the third quarter, I looked at Mike and said "14-13, final score, we're winning this game."

In case you can't see that, just follow the finger below.


Post game was euphoric, almost surreal. We kept repeating to ourselves "We were here when it happened." While watching the post-game interview with Bronco Mendenhall, (Of course we took pictures.) at one point in the interview, he looked over at us, smiled and gave us the nod that seemed to say "Yeah, that was a Great Win"

Of the 74,500 in attendance, 60,000 were OU fans. We stayed around after the game, and had a hard time finding any RED anywhere in the stadium.

25 years after BYU won it's first National Championship, we knock off the #3 team in the Country, have the strength of schedule to make a run at cracking the BCS again. I was 13 when we won, was at BYU 5 years later. Now my son is 13, wants to go to BYU history does repeat itself...you not only gotta believe, you gotta have faith in miracles.

January 7, 2011 I fully expect to be with Troy, Mike and my son Dan watching BYU play for the National Championship for a second time in my life. GO COUGARS!

Recent Trip to Durango

Last month we took a trip to Durango and spent some time with old friends, Kevin and Jadi Pugh and their kids, McKinley, Sierra, Hayden and Kea. Some people asked me "You haven't seen these people in 15 years, and you're going to spend a week together? That's taking a big leap of faith." You know, I didn't even think of it that way. Some friendships pick up right where you left off. (Quote from Melanie)


We started the trip in Amarillo, TX in Palo Duro Canyon. The second largest canyon in America. Also the home to the Play TEXAS, which is performed in an amphitheater in the canyon. It's been running since the '60's and was highly entertaining. Afterwards, the kids got pictures with all the main characters.


Next we went to Santa Fe, and played around in Old Town Santa Fe. We then drove to Durango, Colorado and stayed in a Cabin from the 1800's. It was the original homestead on a 500 acre ranch with La Plata river running through it. At one time the ranch was owned by Louis Lamour, and there were a lot of Safari trophy's in our Cabin that he shot.


We renewed our friendship with the Pugh's, went to Mesa Verde, saw all kinds of wildlife, and Kevin converted Danny to "Fly Fishing" (Yeah, there's a cheap hobby.) We also let the kids shoot bows and arrows, .22 rifle and 12 gauge shotgun. Much fun was had by all.


Jadi Pugh hit 50% of all skeet she shot at, destroying her husband Kev's record by 50%. The last shooting event of the trip was when I told Kevin "Alright, take one shell, I'll throw my hat up and you try to hit it. Then I'll take one shell, you throw your hat up and I'll try to hit it." Coerced by his children, Kevin finally agreed. I threw my hat up, and Kevin missed. Then, Kevin threw his hat up, I waited until it hit the ground, ran over and shot it. Kevin's kid's weren't happy. "Now he's going to look like a dork. He won't stop wearing it. He's going to try and sew it up or something."

Yes, some friendships do indeed pickup right where you left off. Kevin and I met 20 years ago in El Paso, TX while we were serving Spanish speaking missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The friendship we started then, has continued through college, marriage, children, careers, pets and now joint vacations. My life has been enriched by the friendship we share. I love you Kev.

It's been awhile?

For all my sisters (in laws too.) who are blog maniacs and freak out when I don't update regularly I've just got 4 words for you...I HAVE A JOB.
That being said, it has been a LONG TIME. Especially when I downloaded 4 months worth of pictures from the camera. So here are some of the highlights/updates:

Christmas / Wii pictures:
Not sure how Melanie manages to look SO GOOD, whereas I haven't aged as well. I'm a lucky Man.

On December 23rd, Melanie's best friend Christi (Hart) Hales passed away. This was unexpected and sad. But through the knowledge we have of the Plan of our Heavenly Father, and the Resurrection, we take comfort in the knowledge we will see her again.

We drove up for the viewing and memorial service in Bartlesville, OK. The night of the viewing, I took our 4 kids and 4 of Christi and Robert's kids for Ice cream. You should have seen the looks I got at the Braum's when I walked in alone with 8 children in church clothes on a Friday night.


Natalie's 6th birthday party was...wait for it...a Princess Party.
Even Carson got into the spirit of things. "Look I'm down with the whole Princess look, but I still want my new Star Wars Jedi Fighter."

He's very secure in his masculinity. He may be onto something here, the hunter always blends in with his surroundings to sneak amongst his prey.


After Danny's team took first place in Football, he went and won first place in Basketball! He wears a legacy number.

Oh, by the way, Danny's Coach, Bishop Whitworth, is 6' 8" tall. Yes, Danny is now taller than his Mother.

Danny's Band also won...wait for it...FIRST PLACE at a band competition they were in. No Uncle Michael, not a "Battle of the Bands".

He's on a roll...I think I'm going to have him pick me some lottery numbers!


Natalie let me pull her first loose tooth!

And didn't even cry!

Jadi is playing Soccer again, and doing very well! Here she is on defense.

and on offense.
And defending against the Cheetahs top scorer.
This was a GREAT Saturday. Jadi had a game at 8:30 am, Natalie had a dance recital at 10:30 am and Carson had a game at 1:00 pm. We were ALL OVER Wylie.



Here's a video of the recital. (Just Natalie's dance.)




Carson LOVES SOCCER!
The Joy

The Pain.

The Treats.









Well that's a brief Summary of the last 6 months. If a picture truly is worth 1000 words, I should be good for another month or so.