The Tumbler

For the past few months Alex has been involved in a class - a tumbling class.  I've always thought that Alex has a gymnast's build.  Lean and wiry - the kid has a body made for jumping, vaulting, and flying through the air.  Sure enough, Alex has been a natural.

I don't know if gymnastics will be in his future, but for now it awesome to watch his moves.  Cartwheels, handstands, somersaults and more -  Alex can do it all.

 

Turkey Bowl

I've enjoyed playing football on Thanksgiving for years.  Back in high school it was a chance to get out some nervous energy while waiting for dinner.  In my twenties it was a good competition with friends and a chance to rekindle past glories.  Now, the turkey bowl is a way to get out and be active.  My number one goal is to walk away from the field without any injuries.  I don't care about the score, the moves, the competition - I just want to stay healthy.

Over the past few years I've had a couple of Turkey Bowl injuries and I thought about hanging it up.  Then 8 o'clock on Thanksgiving rolled around and I couldn't resist.  It was a simple game.  A few of the youth from the ward and some of old dudes.  It was a great morning.  Everyone had fun.  Best of all - no one got hurt!  Especially me!

Turkey Day

Our Thanksgiving Day was full of blessings.  We wanted to help the kids understand a little bit more about all the great things we have in our lives so we made a little craft.  We made Thanksgiving turkeys.

Each of the kids wrote down something they were thankful for on a paper feather and we created our gratitude turkeys.  It was a simple reminder of our blessings and a fun way to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving

Diary of a Utah Fan

The Utes first season in the Pac 12 has certainly been a wild ride.  Confidence was high in the beginning as we played well and started with a 2-1 record, including a 51-10 drumming of the y.  Then the injury bug hit, we lost Jordan Wynn for the season (no big surprise there) and the Utes stunk.  They lost their first four conference games and the year was dead in the water.  Utah was 3-4, the offense was terrible with the backup QB, the team couldn't stop anyone, and the season was bleak.  The low point was the Cal game, when the Utes were thoroughly outplayed and looked overmatched in the new conference.  The score may have been 34-10 but the difference in that game was huge.  We looked and played small.

Then an interested thing happened.  Utah changed the game plan.  We had to become a one dimensional team on offense.  John White emerged as the lone option and he started taking over.  Every game he seemed to top 150 yards rushing.  Even better, he held onto the football.   It gave us an identity.  We could run the ball.

The defense has been good all year.  There were a couple of games where teams scored in the 30's against them, but that was mostly due to short fields because of turnovers by the offense.  Since the Utes started taking care of the ball - the D has been stout.  Teams can't move the ball and we are creating turnovers instead of giving the ball away.

The Utes are back, winners of four straight conference games.  They now stand at 7-4, with a 4-4 record in the Pac 12.  This was unimaginable a month ago.  We were dead, but things have a funny way  of evening out.  Sure the schedule helped, as we started playing the lower teams in the conference - still, Utah has improved.  We are going to finish above 500 for our first year in the Pac 12.  Who knows, we might still play in the conference championship if the ball bounces our way.

A wild ride - that's for sure, but it's been a great time to watch Utah mature into a Pac 12 contender.  GO UTES!