My little "big" Jazz fan.

Last Tuesday Riley and I went to the Jazz vs. Charlotte Bobcats game. I had a friend give me her tickets on the twelfth row. I have been to 6-8 Jazz games this year. I am a huge fan and follow them very closely. Every time I go, I have to answer to Riley. She loves the Jazz and especially loves DWill.

I have not forced this upon her. She has a Jazz schedule in her room. If I don't know when they play next, she usually does. Her main goal of the night was to get DWill's autograph. I am usually pretty good about hooking things like this up. Riley was not able to get DWill's but did get her picture taken with C.J. Miles. She also got Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver to sign autographs on her ticket and Jazz shirt.

During the game, the Bear came and sprayed her with silly string. I hurriedly snapped this shot.


Her highlight however was giving Kyle Korver a "high five" as he left the court. Uncle Brian called immediately after and said that KJZZ showed the exchange on live TV. Riley was in heaven! The prospects of telling all the kids at school about her big adventure kept that toothless grin shining all night.

Cooperisms.

Cooper had one of those days today. The really good kind. The kind that makes you want to take him to work and show him off. When I came home from work, he ran up to me with a sun burned face, and said "welcome home partner!"

We wrestled and I tickled him. We played a game while we ate a few deviled eggs. Then for FHE we drove the marathon route. Towards the end it got a little long with traffic and red lights but Cooper was great the entire time.

When we got home I pulled him aside and said "Cooper thank you for being such a good boy today." He had a shocked look on his face, like I had really caught him by suprise. Then he said back to me "Why did you say that? Was it cause I was so Quiet?" It was really quite humorous. It reminded me of myself when a teacher complimented me, I was just so used to being told otherwise that when I was told that I was good, it caught me off guard.

I love my C Ja Diddles.

Model Children.

Riley and I got a little bored on Sunday afternoon. We decided the best cure was a modeling shoot. Cooper decided to join in but wouldn't keep a straight face. I was only able to get one "normal" shot of Cooper. It was fun and a great self esteem builder for a little girl. As for Coop, he has enough self esteem for the rest of us.

Riley in the park.

Cooper on the slide.

Team Meag-A-Tuff 2008!!!

It is once again time to start registration for the 2008 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Team Meag-A-Tuff has been set up so please click on the following link and sign up for Team Meag-A-Tuff 2008.

http://www.active.com/framed/event_detail.cfm?EVENT_ID=1536735&CHECKSSO=0&RESET=0

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Jeno.

My brother John is a very talented poet. He has penned several very good poems. A few months ago I asked him to write me a poem about those in our family who have passed away. I have always asked myself if "I am making them proud?" John returned to me three days later with this...

Am I Making Them Proud?

To everyone a family,

And with it comes a name.

Each individual member

Brings honor or brings shame.

We honor those who came before

By whom we’ve been endowed

When we can answer with a yes,

Do I make them proud?

Am I putting for the effort

That would bring my fathers’ joy?

Am I who I said I’d grow to be

When I was still a boy?

Do I hide what I believe in?

Or do I live it loud?

And follow the trails that have been blazed

By the ones who’ve made me proud?

Now when I’m all alone

Or caught out in a crowd,

Am I doing all that I should I do

To make my loved ones proud?

Am I making them proud by passing on

The truths they’ve taught to me.

Am I teaching those next in line

To be all that they should be.

Am I making them proud

By doing the right?

Am I making them proud

With all of my might?

I hope that I am making them proud

I hope to do all I can

To help give the gift that God would give

Love to every man.

Happy Birthday Brother!

Richard Lyman Robbins.

I stole the picture from Suzy's Blog. Yesterday Dad, Brian and I went on our annual Happy Birthday Dad trip to the Hunting Expo. We have done this for a lot of years. Toward the end of the expo we came to a booth that mentioned a "Mormon ghost town". Dad right on cue said "well that must be a Holy Ghost town!" I am glad that you still have it after 73 years.

I love you a lot old timer. It seems like just yesterday that we were tending a pawn shop together and all the patrons asked me if my grandpa had brought me to work.

Top 5 Richardisms:

5- "Go back you missed one." ( When driving a bumpy road)

4- "Look a 4 point duck." ( In an excited tone while hunting)

3- "Mark , Mark you DON'T have one." (In an excited tone while fishing)

2- "There's 30 deer right there! Do you know how I knew that? I just counted their legs and divided by four." (In an excited tone while scouting for deer)

1- "It comes in a box like this, comes up and around like this and comes up to a point like this" (Describing the gift that he got you before he gave it to you.)

Best Lesson:

"Never watch another man work."- Richard Robbins

Elevation.

Here is a picture of Mt. Evans just outside of Denver, Colorado(14,264 feet). When we went up to Denver in October we actually drove up to where the gate was "closed for winter". The elevation where we drove to was about 11,500 feet. This road in the summer is the highest road in the lower 48.

I love hiking and the pursuit of conquering elevation. I do not have any real elevation hikes under my belt, unless you count Mt. Olympus. This is something that I want to change. I made a goal at the beginning of the year to summit the 6 peaks of the Wasatch and finish up with an August summit push of Kings Peak.

I love to read about and hear stories about Everest. I don't think that in my lifetime that I will ever seriously think about Everest. However before my life is over I would like to have a respectable summit in my trophy case.

Anybody want to join me for Kings?

Guilty Pleasure.

Five years ago if you even mentioned NASCAR to me, I would have laughed at you and called you a hick or red neck or some other derogatory term.

The very thought of watching cars driving around in circles for 3 hours is ridiculous. At least that is what I thought. I had a good friend begin to explain the sport to me in great detail. As I began to understand the strategy and the underlying stories behind each race, I became intrigued. I decided that I would give it a whirl.

The first step to becoming a race fan, is picking your driver. This is a very interesting event. You pick your driver due to your favorite sponsor or something that the driver did that you liked. I was selling Dodge's at the time and my favorite number is 9.I picked a young rookie named Kasey Kahne, who drove the UAW Dodge Dealers #9 car (Now the Budweiser 9 car). I figured that I was a rookie and so was he so it was a good fit in my experiment. It is interesting to note that no matter how hard you try to cheer for another driver, it is near impossible once you pick your guy.

Kasey drove well and I was hooked. People cannot understand why I enjoy this sport. I know that it is really weird. Soon Brian was hooked. He also likes the 9 of Kasey Kahne. One of the funnest moments of my life was watching him witness a live race the first time. He could not stop laughing at the sheer noise that the cars produced. He called friend after friend holding up his cell phone to let them here all of those horses go flying by. This is normal behavior for a NASCAR virgin.

I thought that I would try and explain myself. Brian and two of our "NASCAR buddies" are headed to Phoenix next month to watch the Subway Fresh 500 under the lights on a Saturday night.

I am sorry if I have confused you. I feel that in some sort of way, I am coming out. It feels so good to have this off of my shoulders. With that said, I guess that there is only one more thing to say, BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY, LET'S GO RACING BOYS!!!

Pretty nice little Saturday.

Here I am on yet another run. These are starting to get long and frequent. Only a month and a half until marathon day. I feel that I will be ready if I can make a strong push these last 6 weeks. This run was 15 miles. The impressive part of this run is that I did it after a 4 hour rigorous service project at the home of President Boyd K. Packer.




Through a good friend I had the opportunity to go over and help the Packer family re-rock a portion of Little Cottonwood Creek, that runs through the Apostles back yard. President Packer was very grateful. We had a lot of fun including when Brian said that he wouldn't shake his hand due to his "strong grip", in which President Packer replied "okay but if a fight breaks out I want you on my side!"

After all the work was done all of the Sister's Packer had prepared a great big lunch which included the Packer family brownies. It was a very cool experience.