Provocative Headline

One of my favorite websites is CNN.com. The site is organized to help users find quick headlines and interesting stories. Imagine my surprise when I saw the following headline earlier today:



How could I pass up on an article about my brother and me. Not so fast, turns out this article was about two freshmen congressmen, one of which is Jason Chaffetz from Happy Valley. It was interesting to read their stories, but the headline was the best part of the story.

BTW - looking at their pictures is nothing like looking in the mirror....

Blaming Teachers

Here's a great letter to the editor from yesterday's Trib:

Blaming Teachers

So 59 percent of Utahns support basing a teacher's salary on performance ("Utahn support teacher merit pay," Tribune , Jan. 25). To this ridiculous proposal, I have two suggestions:

First, if wages are going to be affected by student test results, then not just teachers, but every district employee should have their pay affected, from the district superintendent on down. They all impact the learning ability of students.

Second, if teachers are going to lose money for perceived lack of effort inside the classroom, then parents should have to pay increased fees for their lack of effort outside the classroom. Poor diet, poor health, inadequate parental supervision and interaction, allowing students to miss school to go to Disneyland and allowing over-involvement in social and religious activities are just some examples of how parents fail to prepare their child to learn and undermine the best efforts of educators. Where is the "financial motivation" for parents? Why is so much focus put on teacher responsibility while none is directed at parental responsibility?

Blaming teachers for the condition of the American education system is like blaming a factory line worker for the failure of General Motors.

Mitch Lambdin

West Jordan

Diary of a Utah Fan

It's been a month of celebrating for Utah fans everywhere. The only problem is football's over and it's time to turn our attention to hoops. I've tried to watch a few basketball games this season and I'll admit, this team is a tough one. It seems like every time they are about to turn a corner, they fall back into the Mountain West crowd. For example I turned on the UNLV game on Saturday to see the Utes were up eight. After watching for ten minutes Utah was down eight and the game was over.

Tonight I was prepared for the a similar result. The Holy War resumed once again with byu coming into town. I was out for much of the first half, in fact, I only turned on the game in enough time to see Lee Cummard drain a shot to end the half. I checked in on the game throughout the second half and every time the cougars were up four to six points. Utah was good enough to hang around but not doing enough to catch up.

The game came down to the last play. Utah had fought back to tie the game and we had possession with 35 seconds left. We held the ball and started the play with 10 seconds to go. Suddenly Drca pulled up for fifteen footer that barely drew iron. The game went to OT and it seemed we were doomed again.

I don't know exactly how it happened but the Utes made every big play in overtime. We made free throws, got loose ball, and made a few defensive stops. In the end Utah won 94-88 and improved to 4-2 in conference. I don't know if the Utes made a stand or if it was a lucky break. Either way, the Utes are 2-0 against the cougs, not that anyone's counting.

35 miles to Baltimore

Later this summer I'm going to a national conference in Washington D.C. I can't wait to see all the historic sites, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, Oriole Park.

That's right Oriole Park in Baltimore. It seems the same week I'm in D.C. the Red Sox are in Baltimore, a mere 35 miles away. How can I be within 35 miles of the Sox and not take in a game, or two.

The tickets came in the mail and now it's only 5 months til I'll be sitting in the lower box. I'm still not sure how I'll get to and from Baltimore, but I know what I'll be doing once I'm there.

Happy Birthday, Big Brother

I actually have three big brothers. One of them just happens to live in Phoenix and is turning 50 today. The reason I'm posting about this is because I haven't seen my brother, Richard, for at least six years. Richard moved to Phoenix about 20 years ago and we don't see him very often. So my other brother, Paul, hatched a plan a few weeks ago for all of us to surprise Richard in Phoenix for his big 50th birthday. I never thought we would pull it off, but after lots of white lies (mostly from Paul, we figure he's already going to hell!), 11 hours in a car with my parents and sisters (we sure did have a lot of potty breaks), a really scary room in Flagstaff reserved on the internet-(yes, you get what you pay for), and lots of Pepsi to keep us awake, we made it to Phoenix. This picture is of the padlocked door to the hot tub at the hotel in Flagstaff with what looked like a bullet hole in it. Lovely.


The plan was for us to meet Richard for dinner on Saturday. He thought he was just meeting Paul while in town for business. When Richard stepped into the room where all eleven of us were waiting to surprise him, it was awesome.


He was so surprised and didn't quite know what to do at first. He finally came in and the tears came. We all got a little misty eyed as Richard gave mom and dad hugs first, then we all got a great hug from our brother. He was really emotional and just kept saying, "I can't believe you are all here!" He was amazed. Those moments made up for all the driving and crappy hotels we encountered on the trip. It really was a special moment for our family.



We took lots of pictures and chatted and enjoyed our time together. We invited Richard to come and stay with us that night. We were crashing that night at my Aunt Connie's and Uncle Kent's house in Mesa. They were nice enough to turn their house over to the Houtz clan for the night. That can be pretty scary. We weren't sure if Richard would accept, but he was excited to spend time with us and came back with us. We ended up playing games, eating ice cream and cake and just enjoying a few moments together as a family for the first time in six years.

One of the highlights of the night was when my Uncle Kent (who has a great voice and can sing almost any song you request), pulled out his guitar and started playing some of the old songs from when we were little. He talked my mom into singing with him (who also has a great voice) and it was a memorable moment.


The best song of the night was the one about the old woman who swallowed a fly, but a close second was the funniest song I've ever heard about the old outhouse in the backyard. I never knew an outhouse could have so much going on! It was really neat to see my mom and her brother singing together.

We woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon, eggs and the best waffles I have ever eaten. My Aunt Connie is an excellent cook and made an amazing breakfast for all of us. My brother Richard is stick skinny (not sure where he came from), but I have never seen anyone put down that much food. It was a great meal! After cleaning up a little, we headed out. My brothers decided to drive home all in one day, but the rest of us decided to break it up. So we hit a couple of stores in Mesa, had some yummy ice cream, then drove to Page. We stayed in another mediocre (but much better than Flagstaff) hotel and drove the rest of the way home on Monday.

This trip had all the markings of a disaster written all over it. Yet, we pulled it off and had a perfect weekend with our family. So happy 50th, big brother. We love you and we are so glad we could spend this fun time with you!