Go Utes!

I try to take Griffin to a game or two every year to properly indoctrinate him into being a true Ute fan. He's getting there, though in all honesty - all he really cares about right now is the popcorn, hot dogs, lemonade and dibs he can talk me into getting him while we're at the Huntsman Center. It's pretty much like any activity where there are concessions or vending machines. He does however LOVE to do the cheers and to yell GO UTES when the time is right. Also, he thoroughly enjoys the "Everybody clap your hands" cheer/activity, whatever you want to call it - but really, who doesn't?!?!? I do wish they would play the whole thing where it gets to the "how low can you go" part, that's always fun.

Somehow, every year Griff and I seem to catch the Air Force Academy (AFA) game. I'm not sure why, but we've seen it the last 3 years. At least we have a pretty decent idea that it will always be a Utes Win, so that's a bonus. This year was no different. The Utes pretty much controlled the game from about the mid-first half on - at one point going up 25 points. The downside is the Hunstman Center is not very full at all - even the student section is thinned out for this one - I guess that's a product of a crummy team coming in, but it's too bad more fans don't attend all the games. I know I should attend more, so I can't fault others for not going more. The atmosphere is still pretty good and very loud for the 10k people that were there. And to me, it always feels good to be on campus. Being surrounded by Y fans at work gets old sometimes, so being amongst kindred spirits on campus is a good thing. And, when the Utes made great plays the place still got loud, which is always a good sign that the fans are lively. To be fair, the football stadium wasn't full for Utah State this last season, so I guess expecting the Hunstman center to be full for AFA in hoops isn't realistic. The guys played hard, put on a good show and made sure to entertain a little too, I would say.


All that said, it is kind of a letdown that the Huntsman center isn't always full like it has been in the past. Was that because of the level of talent on the court? Maybe. Was it because the Fatman coached a better brand of hoops? Maybe. Is it because football is king at the U? Maybe (though it was not TOO long ago that Hoops was king, I still have significant issues stemming from the 1998 Final Four). Whatever it is, I'm going to work on getting to more games. It was fun, Griff and I had a great time - he loves cheering for the "Go Utes" (hasn't quite realized that's a phrase not their name, but it's cute, so it works) and the concessions aren't ridiculously priced like at a Jazz game or the movies. We have a great time going, make some fun memories, and he'll be able to tell his college buddies, when he gets to the U, that he's been coming to games since he was 5! We'll definitely keep up our tradition of father/son trips to the games.

We were trying to find Swoop to take a picture but he was gone already. He should really come up to the upper deck - there were lots of families up there with little kids that would have loved to meet him. We'll find him next time!

Griffin is 7!

Every time one of the kids in our family has a birthday, I like to say it like Kaja did when she was 2. She would put a ton of emphasis on I'M then say two! I'M two! Always cracked me up.

Anyway, Griffin had his party at Pirate Island and LOVED it. They did a really great job and all the kids had a blast and the adults didn't have to do much, and we had a private room so it was all very calm, which I think we all appreciated. The game area was a different story, but it was super fun too.

Here are the pics...(and it's late on the 18th, so I'll do more another time...)

Griffin and some of his buddies in the room we got at Pirate Island! It was pretty cool.

The remnants of one of the giant "Kracken" pizzas the group ate - surprisingly good - way better than Chuck E. Cheese for sure.



The two pirate cakes Aunt Amy made for Griffin, she did an awesome job, they were really cool and very tasty. Thanks Am'!!!

Amy getting some help cutting the cakes from Jax-onian (or Jax-onville, which I like to call him because he'll always say, "I'm not Jax-onville, I'm Jaxie :-D )

One of the many cool gifts Griff got from his friends and family, probably my favorite - the remote control Audi R8 - super sweet!

DSi games from Grandma and Grandpa H - what were you guys thinking??? :-D

Uno Attack from Paul/Andrea and kids and Dave and Amy, pretty excited to play this! Griff and Aunt Amy have been cleaning up on regular Uno lately.

Q helping Griff open cards - she does enjoy a good party and So helpful too!

Griff got about 10 Bakugan - if you don't know what that is, just Google it. He and his buddies got to playing with them right there at the party. So good job those of you who got these for him :-)

Opening gifts with friends and Q looking on. Great party, thanks to everyone who came!


Griff and Cap'n Jack Sparrow! The guy was awesome - did the character perfectly, it was really funny. Quincy was scared of him though :-D

Jump On it!

It had been a long time since we'd been to Jump On It. It's still one of Griff's favorite places. There was almost no one there when we arrived, so we pretty much had the run of the place. Griff did find a little friend to play with and they had fun.

Taking a quick break from the action!
Bounding along from trampoline to trampoline!
OK, enough pictures already...
...yeah right (which is why he's trying to hit me with a ball in this one :-D )

Costa Vida for quesadillas!

Snowbird

It's been a little while since I posted, so I figured I'd dig out some recent pics and make a post.

For those of you who may not know everything about me, when I was 11 I received my first set of skis for Christmas. I also got ski lessons at Sundance and I would go with a couple of my friends from the neighborhood - Danny and Greg, if I remember correctly. Anyway, I spent the next 7 winters skiing as much as I could. My senior year of High School I bet I was at Sundance more than school :-D (That's probably an exaggeration, but not by much.) Long story short, I was pretty good...until that fateful Saturday in December of 1989 when I landed a jump at Solitude, got hung up in some scrub oak, flipped foward and broke my elbow into many little pieces (if you're in Utah you can come check out the scars and maybe even still feel one of the titanium pins in there!) Sooooo, with that and with living in AZ, IL, and TX for 10 years, I didn't ski at all for a long time.

Since moving back to UT in 2005, I've been skiing a grand total of 5 times - just never got around to getting back on the horse and I didn't have equipment (I borrow Reece's stuff still - thanks Reece!!!) I took Griff a couple of winters ago, and that was fun, but I think he's going to want to learn to snowboard since that's what all the cool kids are doing these days...

So, I decided I need to hit the slopes and went up to Snowbird. This was my Christmas present to myself :-) It was one of the best days on the slopes I can ever remember - topped only by the time Mike Smith and I got to make first tracks in Bishop's Bowl at Sundance - that was so surreal just floating through the fresh powder - amazing. Well, I'm tired of typing, here are some pics...

I'm not in skiing shape yet, but it was a great day!
Look how beautiful that is! It wasn't even that cold, which made it really nice!
No, I'm not upside down because of a wreck, just thought it would make a cool pic.
Getting into some powder - that is real fun! The bumps and cruising were fun too!
This is the last run I took. I got kind of lost since I'd never been to Snowbird before and ended up on a run with a sign at the top that said "Cliff area, ski at own risk" Hmmmm, yeah. Well I made the run successfully (it was exhilerating! Luckily some people went right before me and showed me the line or I may have slid down on my bumb!) Reece's skis may need some p-tex repair though (is that what they still call it when you get the rock gouges in the bottom of skis repaired? :-D )

The Soloist

Since I've become a pretty big Robert Downey Jr. fan (for reasons completely different from Rylee's I'm quite sure! :-D ) I decided to rent this from Red Box the other day. I remember the previews, thinking it looked good, but then a friend told me it stunk so I never watched it.

I'm not sure how this review should really go either so...

Really I initially decided to rent this movie because I wanted to see if RD Jr. stuck to his typical character in this type of movie as well. And well, he totally does. However, it is really interesting, and one of the reasons I REALLY liked this movie - despite some pretty disturbing imagery at times - that it almost seems like this is the way RD Jr. is in real life and this movie exposed some of his weakness behind the cocky, sarcastic facade. Things didn't work out well in ways he wanted them to and he freaked out a little - or a lot. Jamie Foxx's character wasn't malleable like people RD Jr's character is used to dealing with, he didn't fall under the spell of the character's charisma and it shook him a little. He had to dig a little deeper for something innately human and not just a show of confidence or even arrogance. He had to TRULY care about Jamie Foxx's character, for HIM and for no other reason. I found it really honest and expressive and almost real - not like a movie but how I'd think he would react in a real situation like this. I'm not sure I've ever watched a movie where I thought this is SO disturbing yet SO real?!?!?!?! I didn't know if I wanted to love it or hate it and for that very reason I love it. A drama that isn't trite and over-cooked (despite the obvious politicizing of the plight of the homeless in LA), that isn't TRYING to be an Oscar-nominee, that is just a real story told very well by some pretty good actors.

There are parts of this movie where I felt disgusted, where I could see why someone would hate this movie and yet it really made me feel something. I liked that. I give it 4.5 stars just for that. Just for letting me turn this movie off and not think Hollywood has tried to teach me something fake or manufactured. Anyway, give it a shot if you're interested in a drama one of these nights.