We had our first soccer practice last night, and I'm glad of one thing - that I only have three daughters and not 11. Probably the highlight of the practice was the picking of our team name. I wanted the girls to have ownership in the name so they would be fully invested in the team. I told them of our green colors, and then asked them what our name should be. There were some good names like Green Tornadoes and Green Turtles, and then there were some interesting names. The kids then got to vote, and you should have seen the horrified look on my assist coach's face when they voted for, yep, you guessed it, the Green Puppies. It actually took me a minute to figure out if we would somehow be offending anyone with this unique name, but I don't think we will be unless we actually decide to dye a puppy green as our mascot. So there you have it - the Green Puppies....nice.
Micah's dance tryouts are today - wish her luck! I also went hometeaching last night to my new high priest families (actually older couples) and it was pretty fun. It's a lot different than my past assignments, which usually consisted of teaching cute lessons to the kids. But we had nice conversations, and I realized that, as Lloyd Christmas once pointed out, old people, while slow and dangerous on the roads, do perform a function in society (this just before he got his wallet stolen by the old granny...). Just kidding of course.
My big quandary today (and this ought to give you great insight into my mind) is whether or not to cheer for the Utes against Oregon State tonight. Sure it would be great for a MWC team to beat a Pac 10 team, but at the same time, I'm a much happier, content person if Utah goes 0-12 and scoreless for the entire season. So this is a big decision - who to cheer for... And yes, it does matter! What kind of a man would I be if I sell out, even if you might think it has no bearing on the game? One of the prophets once said, show me what a man does when nobody is watching, and I'll tell you what kind of man he is (or something like that...). Well, show me what team a man cheers for when nobody's watching, and I'll tell you what kind of man he is. As for me and my house, we will cheer for Cougs and Horns, and Cougs and Horns alone! Wow, that was intense.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Weird state of nothing to report...
I guess the really creative people can easily make up cool stuff day after day, whether or not something's actually happening in their lives. Here I am on my 87th blog post, and I've hit a creative wall. I think it stems from my mind being in a daze brought on by my tired legs (from running), and that darn upcoming football season seems to be taking up entirely too much bandwidth in my already limited mental capacity. I guess I could turn this into a BYU and Texas football blog and then I could go on and on and on and, well, you get the picture. But as this is a "family" blog, I'm stumped.
I imagine I could talk about Morgan's frequent awakenings of sleep-crying. She has no idea she's doing it, but usually when she needs to go to the bathroom she just starts crying. It can take a long time to calm her down - you actually have to wake her up (water and gentle face slaps work the best) and ask her why she's crying, to which she answers that she doesn't know, and then she stops.
I guess I could mention that Brig's little treadmill incident didn't turn out as bad as it could have, as we found out from his Dr. that if it had gone on any longer he would have had to have skin grafts... Hmm, we'll just be grateful it didn't come to that and move on.
I suppose I could tell you that Micah has a big tryout this week to get on the school dance team. She's confident and would be thrilled to make. Angela's a little nervous because she knows of the moms who have put their kids in summer dance camps just for this. I'm happy to support because I trust Micah, even though the dance teacher has been known to throw some uncomfortably (for the parents) "mature" dances, themes, and costumes into the routines. Luckily Micah knows what's good and what's not, and she'll take care of participating in what she feels comfortable with. She's a very good girl.
You probably would be interested to know that Kennan's first soccer practice is tonight, and mine too I guess. It's going to be a hot one - mid 80s - so hopefully we won't have any coaches wilting from the heat. If I get tired I'll just lie down and have the kids run laps...
I guess I could say something about Angela's race this weekend even though I've already told you about it. The important thing I haven't told you about is the competition between Angela and her running partner. Angela is hoping to run her foe into the ground, to break her will, to crush her spirit, to chew her up and spit her out, to clean her clock, to ring her bell, to beat her like a drum! Game on! ............ ok, just kidding about that (that was creative though, wasn't it?).
3 days until kickoff!
I imagine I could talk about Morgan's frequent awakenings of sleep-crying. She has no idea she's doing it, but usually when she needs to go to the bathroom she just starts crying. It can take a long time to calm her down - you actually have to wake her up (water and gentle face slaps work the best) and ask her why she's crying, to which she answers that she doesn't know, and then she stops.
I guess I could mention that Brig's little treadmill incident didn't turn out as bad as it could have, as we found out from his Dr. that if it had gone on any longer he would have had to have skin grafts... Hmm, we'll just be grateful it didn't come to that and move on.
I suppose I could tell you that Micah has a big tryout this week to get on the school dance team. She's confident and would be thrilled to make. Angela's a little nervous because she knows of the moms who have put their kids in summer dance camps just for this. I'm happy to support because I trust Micah, even though the dance teacher has been known to throw some uncomfortably (for the parents) "mature" dances, themes, and costumes into the routines. Luckily Micah knows what's good and what's not, and she'll take care of participating in what she feels comfortable with. She's a very good girl.
You probably would be interested to know that Kennan's first soccer practice is tonight, and mine too I guess. It's going to be a hot one - mid 80s - so hopefully we won't have any coaches wilting from the heat. If I get tired I'll just lie down and have the kids run laps...
I guess I could say something about Angela's race this weekend even though I've already told you about it. The important thing I haven't told you about is the competition between Angela and her running partner. Angela is hoping to run her foe into the ground, to break her will, to crush her spirit, to chew her up and spit her out, to clean her clock, to ring her bell, to beat her like a drum! Game on! ............ ok, just kidding about that (that was creative though, wasn't it?).
3 days until kickoff!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Things going on this week
We have a good week ahead of us. The kids were excited to go back to school this week, and will surely do well in their first full week back at school. There are piano lessons, dentist appointments, play dates, FHE, a YW presidency meeting, home teaching visits, a girls night out, a few short runs, a very long run before work on Friday, and college football games to watch.
Kennan and I are looking forward to our first soccer practice on Wednesday evening, it should be fun and hopefully nobody will get hurt on the first day. I was grateful to get a pretty good showing of support from the parents of the players, and it was nice to get volunteers for all the help we needed.
This weekend things get just a little crazy. Saturday morning sees me leaving bright and early to drive to Oakland, jump on a plane to SLC, drive fast down to Provo, attend a BYU lunch for Gifford Nielsen as he gets his number retired, go to the BYU-Arizona football game, drive very fast back to SLC, get on a plane back to Oakland, drive home, crash. The next day after church, Angela will get on a plane with a few girlfriends and head down to Anaheim, where Monday morning (Labor Day) she will run the Disneyland 1/2 marathon. It looks like a really fun course as it winds through all the little Disneyland villages, and even makes a slight detour out of the park to run through Angels stadium before finishing back in the Magic Kingdom. We're a little worried about Angela's ailing shin, but I'm sure she'll do fine. She'll come home late Monday night, which will be fun to pick her up. Then the first thing the next morning I get on a plane to go to Austin for work for a couple of days. This will be the weekend of family upheaval. Oh well, it's all fun and good and the kids are fine with it.
On a different note: Brig's been a handful in church the last few times. He came up on the stand a couple of times yesterday, which was fine, except that he wanted to run around up there in the choir seats. I was stressed because the bishop had just talked about wanting more reverence in sacrament meeting, and here my own kid was running wild... He just laughed about though, and told Angela it was fine. He's close to going into nursery, so we're excited for him to get comfortable there and our lives will get a little calmer and more spiritually enriched.
Have a good Monday!
Kennan and I are looking forward to our first soccer practice on Wednesday evening, it should be fun and hopefully nobody will get hurt on the first day. I was grateful to get a pretty good showing of support from the parents of the players, and it was nice to get volunteers for all the help we needed.
This weekend things get just a little crazy. Saturday morning sees me leaving bright and early to drive to Oakland, jump on a plane to SLC, drive fast down to Provo, attend a BYU lunch for Gifford Nielsen as he gets his number retired, go to the BYU-Arizona football game, drive very fast back to SLC, get on a plane back to Oakland, drive home, crash. The next day after church, Angela will get on a plane with a few girlfriends and head down to Anaheim, where Monday morning (Labor Day) she will run the Disneyland 1/2 marathon. It looks like a really fun course as it winds through all the little Disneyland villages, and even makes a slight detour out of the park to run through Angels stadium before finishing back in the Magic Kingdom. We're a little worried about Angela's ailing shin, but I'm sure she'll do fine. She'll come home late Monday night, which will be fun to pick her up. Then the first thing the next morning I get on a plane to go to Austin for work for a couple of days. This will be the weekend of family upheaval. Oh well, it's all fun and good and the kids are fine with it.
On a different note: Brig's been a handful in church the last few times. He came up on the stand a couple of times yesterday, which was fine, except that he wanted to run around up there in the choir seats. I was stressed because the bishop had just talked about wanting more reverence in sacrament meeting, and here my own kid was running wild... He just laughed about though, and told Angela it was fine. He's close to going into nursery, so we're excited for him to get comfortable there and our lives will get a little calmer and more spiritually enriched.
Have a good Monday!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
quick update
I don't have a lot of time to report today, but here's what's going on:
The kids started school today, and the whole day was summed up by Morgan, who turned to Angela on the way to afternoon kindergarten and said: "Mom, I am SO excited!" And all reports are that it was a fabulous day for everyone. They all love their teachers, and all have friends in their classes. Sounds like the perfect start to a new year.
I fly to Redmond, WA tomorrow to assist our fixed assets team with an inventory count. This is pretty much the number one reason I never went into public accounting - to avoid stuff like this - but here I am... Oh well, it's a change of pace and I got a much better location than most of the others, who have to travel back east and to the south (and warehouses are NOT air-conditioned). Luckily I'll get to fly home Friday morning, so it's a quick jaunt.
Finally, Ang has officially decided that St. George is definitely out this year. Her shin has started hurting her again and it was actually an easy decision, and a "relief", when she finally pulled the trigger. Bummer for her and for all of us still running, but good for her health.
OK, I won't be online tomorrow, but I'll try and report in on Friday.
The kids started school today, and the whole day was summed up by Morgan, who turned to Angela on the way to afternoon kindergarten and said: "Mom, I am SO excited!" And all reports are that it was a fabulous day for everyone. They all love their teachers, and all have friends in their classes. Sounds like the perfect start to a new year.
I fly to Redmond, WA tomorrow to assist our fixed assets team with an inventory count. This is pretty much the number one reason I never went into public accounting - to avoid stuff like this - but here I am... Oh well, it's a change of pace and I got a much better location than most of the others, who have to travel back east and to the south (and warehouses are NOT air-conditioned). Luckily I'll get to fly home Friday morning, so it's a quick jaunt.
Finally, Ang has officially decided that St. George is definitely out this year. Her shin has started hurting her again and it was actually an easy decision, and a "relief", when she finally pulled the trigger. Bummer for her and for all of us still running, but good for her health.
OK, I won't be online tomorrow, but I'll try and report in on Friday.
Monday, August 20, 2007
What's on my mind...
Lunch. It was good. Let me give you a smattering of what was on the menu in the cafe closest to me...(keep in mind there are 15 others with their own menus)
Grilled Ribeye with Gremalot Vinaigrette (HAD THIS - VERY NICE!)
Pan Seared Snapper with Kaffir Lime Vinaigrette
Honey Lime Chicken Wings
Emmentaler Potato Gratin
Pearl Barley with Tomato and Herbs
Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper Coulis
Cheese Steak Pizza
Steamed white rice
Classic Clam Chowder
A bunch of desserts - I avoided!
BYU Football. We got an interesting phone call last night. Ang's mom called and asked how many tickets we want to the Sep. 1 game vs. Arizona because Ang's uncle, Gifford Nielsen, is getting his number retired with Ty Detmer's (both 14). Well, we hadn't been planning on going, but when a difficult choice is thrust upon us such as this, we choose to take the high road and err on the side of family unity. So I'm going and leaving the wife and kids at home!!! Actually, that's true but it's not as bad as it sounds - Ang leaves the next morning for a trip down to Disneyland with her friends to run a Labor Day Disneyland 1/2 marathon, so it would be tough for her to go to Utah and then get right back on a plane and go to SoCal. And to my credit, I really decided to NOT go, but thanks to Angela's persistence, I finally acquiesced and decided to support her family in the best way I know how - going to a Cougs game. Yep, that's just the kind of son-in-law I am - I'm there for the family...
Coach John. We had a soccer coaches meeting last night and I think I've got my game face ready to go. I asked if it was appropriate to start off the first practice with windsprints, up-downs, and suicides to try and determine early who was fully invested. They recommended I wait until the second practice - whatever. So the practice plan looks like this: running and stretching, practice slide tackling, practice shirt grabbing out of view of the ref, practice "getting hurt" and rolling around while thrashing and screaming in agony, practice flicking the ball off your back heel with your other foot and then catching it between your shoulder and chin with a haughty look in your eyes, and then we run. I'll be taking after Coach Smyth in this regard: "Run you Maggots!" "You're about as useless as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!" "You call that a SPRINT?!" "LandaGoshen - what a bunch of WOMEN!" (which in this case is actually true, but it's still cool). Can't wait!
Running. Angela's trying to decide whether to try and fight through her injuries and still try for St. George, or just stick to shorter distances this year and save her body. Updates coming later, but in my opinion, she'd be smart to not run this year - she's tough enough, there's just no need to hurt yourself more. As for me, I've got 6 training weeks left for St. George, and it can't come fast enough for me. Not because I'm ready, or anxious, but just to get the dang thing over with. Either way, I plan on going out with the Kenyans at the start and then just hanging on from there. Should be fun...
I'm out, rack me!
Grilled Ribeye with Gremalot Vinaigrette (HAD THIS - VERY NICE!)
Pan Seared Snapper with Kaffir Lime Vinaigrette
Honey Lime Chicken Wings
Emmentaler Potato Gratin
Pearl Barley with Tomato and Herbs
Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper Coulis
Cheese Steak Pizza
Steamed white rice
Classic Clam Chowder
A bunch of desserts - I avoided!
BYU Football. We got an interesting phone call last night. Ang's mom called and asked how many tickets we want to the Sep. 1 game vs. Arizona because Ang's uncle, Gifford Nielsen, is getting his number retired with Ty Detmer's (both 14). Well, we hadn't been planning on going, but when a difficult choice is thrust upon us such as this, we choose to take the high road and err on the side of family unity. So I'm going and leaving the wife and kids at home!!! Actually, that's true but it's not as bad as it sounds - Ang leaves the next morning for a trip down to Disneyland with her friends to run a Labor Day Disneyland 1/2 marathon, so it would be tough for her to go to Utah and then get right back on a plane and go to SoCal. And to my credit, I really decided to NOT go, but thanks to Angela's persistence, I finally acquiesced and decided to support her family in the best way I know how - going to a Cougs game. Yep, that's just the kind of son-in-law I am - I'm there for the family...
Coach John. We had a soccer coaches meeting last night and I think I've got my game face ready to go. I asked if it was appropriate to start off the first practice with windsprints, up-downs, and suicides to try and determine early who was fully invested. They recommended I wait until the second practice - whatever. So the practice plan looks like this: running and stretching, practice slide tackling, practice shirt grabbing out of view of the ref, practice "getting hurt" and rolling around while thrashing and screaming in agony, practice flicking the ball off your back heel with your other foot and then catching it between your shoulder and chin with a haughty look in your eyes, and then we run. I'll be taking after Coach Smyth in this regard: "Run you Maggots!" "You're about as useless as a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!" "You call that a SPRINT?!" "LandaGoshen - what a bunch of WOMEN!" (which in this case is actually true, but it's still cool). Can't wait!
Running. Angela's trying to decide whether to try and fight through her injuries and still try for St. George, or just stick to shorter distances this year and save her body. Updates coming later, but in my opinion, she'd be smart to not run this year - she's tough enough, there's just no need to hurt yourself more. As for me, I've got 6 training weeks left for St. George, and it can't come fast enough for me. Not because I'm ready, or anxious, but just to get the dang thing over with. Either way, I plan on going out with the Kenyans at the start and then just hanging on from there. Should be fun...
I'm out, rack me!
Friday, August 17, 2007
work and stuff
Today is one of those work days that everyone loves. Our team had an offsite in which we played bocce ball and ate great Italian food. It was really fun to hang out with the members of our team and get to know people outside the office. The wine (and soda) flowed freely, our bocce performance was mediocre at best, and we had a great time. We've got a great boss who knows the importance of building team relationships and is willing to sponsor these outings.
I've talked before about speakers and important visitors to Google, but this week I saw the best one I had ever seen. Wyclef Jean came and performed during the middle of the day in one of our cafes. It was awesome! While I enjoy the significance of the political speakers, this was a whole different story. He was funny, entertaining, and very musically talented. I had to remind myself I was still at work and to not break out in a dance groove.
Is anyone else looking forward to High School Musical 2 coming out tonight? Yeah, me neither. Oh well, my house full of girls is all a-twitter about it, so I guess Brig and I will watch BYU Classic sports tonight - BYU v SDSU from like 1991 or so - while the chicks go to a friend's house for a big party. On second thought, we'll go for the food, and then leave and watch Classic Cougs. Yeah, that's what we'll do...
Brig has done a really good job sleeping in his own bed this week. He hasn't loved getting put there in the first place, but he settles down quickly, and then he's done great in the middle of the night. We started just giving him a bottle in his crib at 3am when he wakes up like clockwork, and he'll go back to sleep in his patented prayer position (knees tucked under him as if he was praying and just fell forward). He's such a good, happy kid. We were sad at times on our trip because our families didn't always see him for the happy, content little guy that he really is. He's also my little shadow, and I admit I smile as I leave every morning and he starts crying that his big buddy is leaving. It's nice to be loved.
15 DAYS TIL GAME DAY!!!!
I've talked before about speakers and important visitors to Google, but this week I saw the best one I had ever seen. Wyclef Jean came and performed during the middle of the day in one of our cafes. It was awesome! While I enjoy the significance of the political speakers, this was a whole different story. He was funny, entertaining, and very musically talented. I had to remind myself I was still at work and to not break out in a dance groove.
Is anyone else looking forward to High School Musical 2 coming out tonight? Yeah, me neither. Oh well, my house full of girls is all a-twitter about it, so I guess Brig and I will watch BYU Classic sports tonight - BYU v SDSU from like 1991 or so - while the chicks go to a friend's house for a big party. On second thought, we'll go for the food, and then leave and watch Classic Cougs. Yeah, that's what we'll do...
Brig has done a really good job sleeping in his own bed this week. He hasn't loved getting put there in the first place, but he settles down quickly, and then he's done great in the middle of the night. We started just giving him a bottle in his crib at 3am when he wakes up like clockwork, and he'll go back to sleep in his patented prayer position (knees tucked under him as if he was praying and just fell forward). He's such a good, happy kid. We were sad at times on our trip because our families didn't always see him for the happy, content little guy that he really is. He's also my little shadow, and I admit I smile as I leave every morning and he starts crying that his big buddy is leaving. It's nice to be loved.
15 DAYS TIL GAME DAY!!!!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Pics du Jour ... Mmm, That Sounds Good, I'll Have Some of That...
watching a movie with the kids
ang & brig
playing with richards cousins
popsicles on the balcony
on grandma lebras' swingset
pioneer day parade ... nice boots grandpa
chillin' at the pool that the rich people go to by spencer & molly's
mvp, secret weapon, aquamarine
morgan with the coaches/aunts
with the older richards couples in midway
umm, how did that one get in here?
slippy slidin' away with cousins
brig stretching with mom before a swim. nice body ... brig
brig in awe of the rodeo horses
ang and morgan looking like spanish fork natives
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