Roddick knocks out Djokovic

Great match last night between Roddick and Djokovic. THe #9 player beat the #3 player in the world. Way to go Andy Roddick. The Australian Open is going on right now. This win pushes Andy to the semi-finals against Roger Federrer. That is going to be a tough match. It got to 133 degrees on the court yesterday. Andy was winning the match, but Djok quit in the 4th set due to the heat. Andy looks good this year. He has lost 15 pounds this year and in great shape. I hope he can upset Roger. I am very happy for Andy.

Let it snow

We had a nice snow fall Saturday evening and night and woke up to a blanket of white

of course, we had to go to church so I had to get into my winter clothes and go out and shovel the porch, walkway, driveway, and side walks. It doesn't help that we live on a corner so I have sidewalks on two sides of the house, plus a little sidewalk along the back. And to add to my fun, I decided to shovel the neighbor's driveway and stairs to her front door. I know, I am a good boy scout!


Look, and I am still smiling after all that work

Utah Getaway

This past weekend, Page and I took a few days off to getaway and spend time together. We chose Utah. It is close and has fun things to do. And a chance to do some shopping in the big city. On Sunday morning we went to Salt Lake City and heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during their weekly live broadcast from Temple Square in the Tabernacle. We go to sit way down front. Afterwards we saw the Joseph Smith movie in the Visitor Center and the beautiful Christus statue.

Here we are in Temple Square with a view of the Salt Lake Temple.

We also stopped by to see a few of Sean's BYU friends. They let us film them talking to Sean. We sent the tape along with some messages from Page, Lacey, the Ludwigs and me. We also sent some Valentine goodies to Sean today in the mail.

Here is a picture of Sean's friends in their apartment at BYU

Back- L to R: Emily, Kitty, Natalie, Alex

Front- Page

We also had lunch one day at Tango House in Provo. It is an Argentine restuarant. We had empanadas, milanesa and gnocci. And to top it off we had flan covered with Dulce de Leche.

Here is Page with the owner of the restuarant, Andrea and her daughter Antonella. They are from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They moved to the USA when Antonella was 11. They first lived in California then moved to Utah. They were so nice and of course we told them all about Sean and they talked about Argentina. They are going back for a visit in March and offered to take anything to Sean we wanted to send him. Isn't that cool? We only met for a few minutes, but we could tell they are great people.

Our trip was a lot of fun. We had fun talking and hanging out together. I have to admit I pooped out more than Page did. By 5 p.m. everyday, I wanted to take a nap. We got to see our friends the Ludwigs, although not for very long, but they all seem to be doing very well. I finally got to eat at Cafe del Rio. For the past 5 years I have been wanting to go and every time we are in Utah we never make the time to do it. Well, finally Page and I went. I had the pork burrito and it was AWESOME. I will go back there again sometime.

We made it home safely and both of us went to work today, but we are already thinking about when we can get away together again.

I love this picture

Here is a picture of Sean with Elder Sabey (who also was in his BYU ward last year and lived down the hall in his dorm). Elder Sabey isn't his companion but they are in the same zone (Catan). They are at the mission Christmas Party in Haedo, Buenos Aires, Argentina the week before Christmas. The missionaries had a white elephant gift exchange and Sean got a pair of women's sunglasses and he wore them all day.

Doesn't he look great and happy!?! And look at his hair! I can't believe he has a part in it now. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can get a good look at him....

Crowned

I finally got a crown on my tooth this afternoon. I broke off a piece of a tooth last April when Page and I were driving to Utah to pick up Sean from BYU. I remember the incident well, I was in biting into an egg mcmuffin in Lander when I thought I was chewing on some hard grisle only to discover half my tooth broke off in a couple of pieces. After that my toungue kept getting cut and I still had to get to Utah, pick up Sean then drive down to California so Sean could go through the LA Temple. When I got back, I couldn't find a dentist available to fix it. I finally got established wiht a dentist in October and now this has been the earliest I could get into to get a crown.

Anyway, I am numb, sore and tired. So much so, that I don't have any desire to watch the rest of the BCS Championship game between Florida and Oklahoma. The best team (USC) got jipped anyway......

USC and Black-eyed Peas

USC 38 Penn State 24

Rose Bowl Champions: USC TROJANS

Another exciting Rose Bowl game today. The USC Trojans proved they are one of the best teams in the country. First time in history that one team won three consecutive Rose Bowl games. 7th straight BCS bowl game, 7th straight Pac-10 championship. Our QB, Mark Sanchez broke the all time completion record in a Rose Bowl game today. It was a wonderful game

For the 46th consecutive year, I had a bowl of black-eyed peas. Nobody in my family really appreciates this tradition the way I do. Growing up, my family had black-eyed peas every New Years Day since I was a baby. Now that I have my own family, it is basically me cooking black-eyed peas and everyone grumbling, so I doubt this family tradition will go beyond this link of the family tree, but as long as I draw breath, I will have my black-eyed peas on New Years Day for good luck. (My mother also called to make sure I had my black-eyed peas today)

We started out the day at the stroke of midnight with a treat. Powell is celebrating it's 100th birthday in 2009 and they started it off with a huge fireworks show. It lasted 20 minutes and we could see it right from our front window. I thought that was fantastic and it put a smile on my face.

Happy New Year !!!

South America in Snow

Lacey was parked out in front of our house for Christmas and the snow on the back of her window looked exactly like South America. I swear I can see where Sean lives in Argentina.

I thought it was pretty awesome. Lacey quickly took this photo before it dissappeared.

Christmas Day

We started out with a nice breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs and sausage. Lacey tried to wake us up early to open presents but we fought it until 8:30 a.m.

I got a few USC things today. Here is a fleece blanket from Page. We all got some nice presents, but the best of all was 40 minutes with Sean. He called us about 12:30 p.m. It was great to hear his voice and learn more about his area. He went to eat at a members house last week because the family is moving back to Peru. He said they first had some chicken, then the Dad brought out OCTOPUS!!! He said it didn't even really looked cooked. At first he was shaking his head no when offered the delight. He ended up trying it and said it was real rubbery. I guess I hogged most of the telephone time, I didn't realize I was doing it. At one point Sean had to say "let Mom ask a question". After the call, I missed him even more. It took awhile to shake off the feeling that we can't speak to him again until Mother's Day. It was also nice to find out they have air conditioning in the apartment since it's started to get real hot in Argentina. He sounded like he was doing well and a few times was using Spanish words instead of English, and when he would catch himself we would all laugh. What a special experience to talk to him.


We ended up invited a couple of the missionaries over for Christmas Dinner since nobody signed them up. One of the Elders, Elder Morris, went to BYU with Sean and they were in the same ward. We met Elder Rougeau for the first time tonight. He is from Utah but his family came from Lousiana. We have a feeling he is related to our dear friends, Frank and Lynn Rougeau from Lousiana. We will have to find out.

Here we are at the end of the day in front of our Christmas Tree. After the Elders left Lacey and I went to see the movie, Bedtime Stories, that just came out today. It is a great movie. You should go see it.

And here we had to take a picture of Elder Taylor Morris before he left the house.

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Christmas Eve in Cody

Lacey wants to know what will happen if she sticks her tongue on this pole when it is freezing outside.....

Lacey and Page after our Christmas Eve dinner in Cody


Every Christmas Eve since we left California we have gone out for a special dinner as a family. Tonight we ate at the Rib and Chop House in Cody. Here is a picture of us outside the Rib and Chop after we had nice steak and chicken dinners. Then we headed back home to wrap up the day and get ready for Christmas.




It will be nice to have Lacey spend the night and spend the day with us tomorrow. Also the big phone call from Argentina by Elder Sean... how great is that going to be!!!!!!


Merry Christmas

O' Christmas Tree

We found this ornament of the sun that is on the Argentina flag. We added it to our tree this year in honor of Sean serving his mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Only three more days until Christmas, and that means a phone call from Sean. Missionaries can only call home twice a year: Christmas and Mother's Day. This will be the first time we get to talk to him since he has been in Argentina. Lacey will be coming over to share Christmas Day with us too. It's going to be a great Christmas for us this year. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas too.

More Elf Mischief !!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Coach Pete Carroll

Watch CBS Videos Online

USC's coach, Pete Carroll, was on 60 minutes tonight. Not only is he a great coach, the winningest coach in college football, but he also has helped lower gang violence in LA. We are lucky to have him. Fight On!

Connie Jean, I miss you

24 years ago today, I lost my dear Sister, Connie. She was driving to Utah from California and was involved in a tragic car accident and she did not survive. She was only 21. Connie is a great sister, and I love her so much. It's been a long time since she has been in my life, but I am comforted in knowing that families are eternal and can be together forever. That brings me much peace.

I am grateful for the great plan of happiness and the knowledge of knowing God is our Eternal Father and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and he lives! It is nice to reflect on the Savior during this Christmas season. We get so busy with all the activities of the holiday, but we all need to take time to think of the great gift we received and why we celebrate Christmas.

May you all have a more peaceful and reflective Christmas this year!

USC beats UCLA- Pac 10 Champs

USC 28 UCLA 7

USC beat it's cross-town rival in the Rose Bowl today for the 8th time in 9 years. It is our 7th straight Pac 10 championship and we are going to the Rose Bowl to play Penn State. It is our 7th straight 11 win season too. This has been the greatest run for USC football.

Today we wore home jerseys. Both teams worked it out so that we both could wear our home jerseys, which used to be the tradition when we both shared the same field at the Coliseum. It was nice to see it brought back. Cost us a time out.

We were dominate over the Bruins today. It's been a great year for USC.

After the game, Lacey and I went to Subway for dinner then hit downtown to watch the annual Christmas Parade. It wasn't a very big parade this year, but was fun to see all the lights.

Stocking to Argentina

Page and I had a great time shopping for and putting together this Christmas stocking for Sean. Page had the stocking made to look like Elder Gilmore. It even has a name tag in Spanish, and he is holding a Libro de Mormon (Book of Mormon).

If you click on the photo you will get to see a nice close up of the name badge. Pretty cool !

We filled it with lots of neat things for a missionary. Candy, nuts, toys, Mormon Tab tapes, CTR ring, ties.... what any 19 year old would want. We just hope it makes it safely in one piece to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We stayed away from anything chocolate since it is Summer down there and we didn't want a gooey mess.

Feliz Navidad

USC Humbles Notre Dame... Again

USC 38 Notre Dame 3

We have beat Notre Dame 7 straight years. We have had a 10+ win season for 7 straight years. And we are going to another BCS bowl game. Looks like the Rose Bowl against Penn State since Oregon beat Oregon State tonight and knocked them out of the Rose Bowl if we beat UCLA next week. The game was never in doubt. The Irish didn't even get a first down until the last play of the 3rd quarter. Our defense is so awesome this year. And the offense put in a great effort tonigt too Let's do this again next week agains the UCLA bRuins.....

Kid's News

Well, I thought I would just update the blog with some news from the children....

Sean wrote us from Argentina this week telling us he is going to have his first baptism on Saturday. We are so happy for him. He is going to be the one doing the baptizing too. His first time. He has been teaching a 19 year old boy the gospel for the last month and he has committed to be baptized. We are really excited and send our love down to Buenos Aires.

Lacey has been a road warrior for the last two days. She drove, with a friend, down to Shreveport, Lousiana to be a bridesmaid at her high school friend's wedding on Saturday. I personally would have rathered flown to Shreveport, but Lacey wanted to have her car with her, so she drove 24 hours (12 each day) to get there. She just got there tonight. She gets to make the two day trip back starting on Sunday, but I know she will have a great time seeing all her friends and hanging out in the Ark-La-Tex. I wish I was down there so I could eat a chocolate eclair from JulieAnnes......

The Ol' Homestead

My brother, Pat, and his daughter, Taylor

Me and my Mom

It was great seeing my family in California last weekend. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with them, but I am thankful for the time I did have. I have to talk my brother into coming up and visit me in Wyoming sometime. I know Mom will be ready once the snow melts.

USC Game against Cal

I found myself in downtown LA on Saturday afternoon for a football game.

On Saturday the 8th I was in California seeing my family, and I was able to get two tickets to the USC-Cal game. It wasn't too hard to convince my twin brother, Patrick, to come along with me to the game in the LA Coliseum.

So can you tell I am a USC Trojan?

We got seats in the end zone, but they were still great seats. I haven't been to a USC home game in 10 years. I sure do miss my season tickets. I had a blast and USC beat California 17-3.

Pat and I had a great time. I was in heaven.... USC football heaven....
and it was the "perfect day".

(Perfect Day= USC win, UCLA loss and Notre Dame loss)