We hauled ourselves out of bed this morning and piled on the snow gear for a day of glorious snowboarding at Solitude. The snow was nearly fresh. While the sky was mostly cloudy, it was not too cold. Beecher, Truman, Anna & Patrick (Shawn’s kids) and Brock & Taylor) were in the party. I realized I was getting old for all it takes to get kids on the slopes (gear, passes, etc) and the snowboard legs were a little shaky too. Still, I love the feeling of the cold and the quiet and the speed. My friend Tony Johnson also joined us for half day.

The day ended with a trip tp Brigham City to meet Gina’s parents, Kay and Gene. Beecher and Truman were happy to see their grandparents and looking forward to more snow in Malad, ID, lots of food, the library and  late nights watching videos and playing cards. Tony made the trip with me, which was greatly appreciated. We stopped in to see Todd Wetsel and his kids on the way home. I have to get up early and hit the road to wish my darling wife Happy Birthday tomorrow. Thanks to Anna and Truman for photos.

My brother Shawn and family were kind enough to provide food and shelter while we were in Salt Lake as well as a nice sledding adventure not far from their house.

With a couple of plastic sleds in hand we climbed a hill leading to a ravine in the golf course and the fun began. Karen, Patrick, Anna and Beecher, Truman and I all took a turn down the hill on the sled. Karen attempted to take a safer route than the main hill but ended up catching the most air over the jump at the bottom of the hill.

We had a great view of the snow covered Salt Lake Valley to the west and the Wasatch Mountains to the east. Truman took great photos with the camera he got for Christmas. Anna was behind the lens for the following photos.

I am a little slow getting these photos up of Dylan starting his frehsman year at University of Santa Barbara. He actually started at the end of Spetmeber and the family dropped him off and helped him move in.

Beecher, Dylan and Truman at UCSB.

Dylan with Gina and Hal in Dylan’s dorm room.

Truman’s Pop Warner team, the Brea Bengals (#7) beat Costa Mesa (#2) Saturday night in the Division II semi-finals for Orange County. I am an assistant coach on the team. Costa Mesa had beaten Brea in our opening game of the season but the Bengals came to play on Saturday and dominated the Costa Mesa Eagles 34-16.

Truman was injured assisting on a quarterback sack with less than a minute to play. He took off his helmet to expose a gash on his right eyebrow that was bleeding profusely. He ended up needing 5 stitches to put it back together.

Brea plays Lakewood next Saturday in the OC semi-finals.

Truman took five stitches to the brow after tackle

Truman’s eyebrow gets split open then stitched shut

Dylan Halladay

Beecher & Truman Brea Bengals Football 2008

Beecher and Truman play Pop Warner football for the Brea Bengals in the Orange Empire Conference. Beecher plays fullback and linebacker on the junior pee wee green team (3-2-1) and Truman plays defensive tackle for the Midget team (4-2). Truman has one game remaining before the playoffs and Beecher’s playoff game is Saturday.

We drove south yesterday to spend an evening with the San Diego Chargers and New York Jets. I scored some

Truman and Beecher before Chargers vs. Jets game Brett Favre vs Chargers on MNF

tickets on Ebay for the Monday Night Football game. Beecher has kept an eye out for games that we could attend. So, he and Truman saw their first NFL game.

We left early enough beat the traffic on I-5 and got to the stadium exit by 4:00 pm. Kick-off was 5:30 pm. We picked up a sandwich at Quizno’s and decided that we would park and take the light rail system to the game. We had been warned about the crowds and long lines for the train after the game but we decided to give it a try. It was fun being on the train with all the fans. We got to our seats by 5:00 and saw the the teams warming up. We were on the 20 yard line and not far from the top but the seats were great and we had a good view of the game.

Our friend Susie Kershaw visited upstate New York and the sites where Macy is serving her mission. She took some great photos and posted about it on her blog, There’s No Place Like Home.

Noteworthy is Macy singing with her companion. it stands as the first known photo of Macy singing.

Macy and her missionary companion, Sister Nielson

Macy serving as tour guide at Smith home in Palmyra, New York