1/2 Hour News Hour

The debut of the "1/2 Hour News Hour" was last night on Fox News. I was driving back to Powell on Sunday evening, but was able to catch the rebroadcast at 11 p.m. I thought the opening skit with Rush Limbaugh as the President in 2009 and his VP, Ann Coulter, was a hoot. I laughed so hard when Coulter threaten to kill world leaders and convert everyone to Christianity. The show was fun to watch. I enjoyed it, but I am a partisian to the "n"th degree and although Stewart and Colbert are funny, I get tired of the left bent of their shows. I don't know if this new show will make it or be on the same level as the Daily Show or the Colbert Report, but I liked it. The ACLU skits were great too, but seems a little outdated since we havent had a lot of ACLU bashing since Bush 39. A lot of liberal critics, today, are attacking the laugh tracks that they placed in the show. "If you have to put in laugh tracks, it's not funny...." blah blah blah. Go back to the Daily Show then. I hope they keep this show going. Should be a lot of material with the upcomming election cycle.....

Mighty Rangers

I went up to the high school to watch Sean play in the Pep Band on Saturday afternoon. He had to play at the varsity boys and varsity girls basketball games. Boys won, I'm not sure about the girls, since I left after half time.

Page and I also went to the Stake Youth Dance in Bozeman on Friday night to watch Sean dance.

I also made a King Cake and Seafood Gumbo in honor of Mardi Gras. The cake was a hit, nobody (but me) liked the Gumbo since it had shrimp, crab and cod in it. Not a lot of seafood lovers in this house. I have a big pot of it too. Looks like I will have gumbo for a few days.

I like Mitt

Mitt Romney is now running for President of the USA. I am supporting Mitt. Of course, I only support Republicans, but I also like his religious beliefs, for some strange reason. However, I know that will be one of his biggest obsticles to overcome. I've never been to keen on McCain or Guiliani, but if they are the nominee, I prefer them over a democrat! But if Mitt drops out, I would hope Newt would run or some other candidate.

Death by Chocolate

I won 3rd prize in our Death by Chocolate competition at work today. It was the easiest recipe- nothing from scratch and I beat out all the homemade dishes. I made a chocolate chip pudding cake. One large box of chocolate fudge pudding (not instant), add 3 cups of milk, bring to boil, add one box of devils food cake mix to boiling pudding, pour into greased 9x13 pan and pour chocolate chips on top. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. That's it! and the judges freaked over it. I felt sorry for all those saps who spent three days making multi-layer cakes, truffels, and homemade chocolates. All it took was a few boxed ingredients thrown together to win a prize. Muahahahahahaha!

Best of Show

Did you watch the Westminster Dog Show over the last few days from New York? I always seem to be drawn to it. Well this year a Springer Spaniel named Diamond Jim won the top prize. Springers are great dogs. I have had 3 of them, Sophie, Sadie and Angus. I usually want to get a new dog after I see this dog show, but this year I think I'm safe and got the bug out of my system. Our golden, Molly is 13 years old and not doing very well. She has mammory cancer and hip problems. I don't think we are going to have her too much longer. She has been a great family dog and we are all going to be really sad when she goes. Some of the dogs my family and I have had are:
Queenie, black lab
Tinkerbelle, terrier mix
Cricket, beagle
Sophie, springer
Sadie, springer
Pepper, lab mix (didn't last long- big dogs and small apartments don't mix well)
Molly, golden
Maggie, lab mix (didn't last long- too mean to Molly)
Copper, beagle (didn't last long- too mean and liked to snap at little kids... not good!)
Angus, Springer
Liberty, black lab
Lately I've been drawn to Old English Sheepdogs, Bearded Collies, Newfoundlands and English Bulldogs. So who knows if there is another dog in my future..... or maybe a big fat cat....(distant future!)

Lacey's Scholarship

Lacey just found out she got the scholarship she applied for at Northwest College. She is studying graphic arts and really is enjoying her classes. She is making lots of friends in her classes and at Institute. Congrats Lacey !!!

Billings Temple

The Livingston youth had a temple trip today in Billings. They needed extra help so Lacey and I took off from Powell to Billings this morning to meet up with Page, Sean and the rest of the Livingston Ward youth. We did baptisms at 10:30 this morning. The Billings Temple is one of the prettiest I've been in. It is so peaceful in the temple. I was sitting in the little chapel next to the baptismal font this morning and I felt so good being there with the sun shinning brightly through the windows. I also realized this is probably the last time we will be in the temple with Sean until he goes through for his endowments. After our morning in Billings we all came back to Livingston where Lacey and I will stay for the weekend.

BYU BYU BYU

Sean got his acceptance letter to BYU yesterday in the mail. We are all really excited. So looks like Sean will be packing his bags and moving to Provo in August. Sean has really worked hard to keep up his GPA and score high on the ACT. Sean called me when I was in my Bishop's office getting a new calling. I was just telling the new Bishop about Sean and his desire to go to BYU and that we were still waiting to hear, then my cell rings, and it's Sean telling me he got the letter, just when I was talking about it. So looks like we have to find some money for tuition, books, housing, food. How hard could that be? Oh, and my new calling? Ward Missionary!

Me and Governor Dave

I had a legislative conference in Cheyenne this last week. On Thursday night at a health care reception, I ran into the Governor of Wyoming. A friend of mine snapped this picture with a cell phone in a dark room, so not that clear, but that is me and Wyoming's Governor. Also earlier in the day our state representative for Powell, introduced me and the rest of the Powell delegation at the legislative conference to the legislators on the floor of the House. We were up in the balcony. As he read off our names, we stood and all the legislators stood, cheered and clapped for us. It was pretty cool. Then they went back to work passing new laws.

Sleepless in Seattle

I flew to Seattle this morning for a meeting to get orientated on the medical student program from the University of Washington. We have a third year medical student about to come to Wyoming for a 5 month rotation in rural health at our hospital. The meeting is on Saturday, so Dr. Spomer and I toured Seattle today. My feet are killing me. I was walking up and down hills, huffing and puffing. But I did get to see the Farmers Market, Fish Market, the Warf and the Space Needle. We ate lunch at Ivars and had their famouse claim chowder. It was good, but I have to admit, nothing is better than Page's chowder. I haven't tasted anything that beats it. I got to see the Fish Market (see post below) which was a highlight of the day. We walke miles today. We went to the top of the Space Needle too and looked over Seattle. It was a cloudy gray day, but the views were still spectacular. Tomorrow I am in meetings all day long so no sight seeing, and I fly home on Sunday morning.

FISH!

Bear
Erik
Richard
Yori

I went down to the Pike's Place Fish Market today in Seattle. It was a dream come true. If you know anything about the customer service program "FISH!" you know it is based on the fishmongers from this fish market in Seattle. When I was working in Montana, the hospital I was working for adopted this program and I was the facilitator. I taught FISH! and had to watch the videos a million times. Richard and Bear are in the videos and it was so cool to see them and talk to them in person. It was a quiet day, not a lot of people around the market. Bear talked to us a long time about the salmon. Richard snuck up on us and made a monk fish move right in front of us by pulling a string. Dr. Spomer screamed. It was fun. I bought some paella seasoning and when I gave them the money they were all shouting at each other the price of the seasoning. It was cool to see them in action. They are world famous and have fun at work.... if fish mongers can do it, you can do it.

John Wayne Marathon

I had a little John Wayne marathon today. Two movies I really like are 'True Grit" and 'Rooster Cogburn'. It was a lot of fun watching these old John Wayne movies. My favorite part in True Grit is when he goes up agains four outlaws, the leader being Robert Duvall. What a stud! Although Glenn Campbell has to help him before Duvall puts a bullet in him when John Wayne gets his horse shot out from underneath him. And in Rooster Cogburn I love it when Kathrine Hepburn tells John Wayne at the end that he's a credit to the male sex and she is proud to call him her friend then rides off and John Wayne is irritated that she got the last word in again, but then goes "well......" with a grin. I love it!

ucla did it again!

I finally get to watch a USC basketball game today. We played ucla in our new Galen Center (for the first time). It is being aired on Fox Sports Network and we have it on DISH. Yes! I think it's time for payback. I mean we were ranked in football and they weren't and they beat us. They are highly ranked in basketball and we aren't so payback is fairplay, right? We had won the last 5 out of 7 home games against them and this is our home game.... so many simularities. It was a pretty good game. We were leading at half. We were leading by 10 half way through the 2nd half..... so it's looking good. Wait! We start missing our free throw shots all through the second half and allow them to get right back in it. They are leading my 6 now with a minute to go. We shoot a 3.. YES! then we get it back and shoot another 3... it's tied... oh wait, they fouled us too, we get a FT and make it. Now we are ahead by 1. ucla gets the ball and shoots, misses, rebounds, makes it! ugh. We are down by 1 with 4 seconds left. We throw it in, it's tipped. We get it, we get blocked, we are running out of time.... desperation throw at half court as time expires..................... it misses! We lose by 1 point to the #4 team in the country and our hated rival, in our house. This was not the way it was supposed to end!

Wyoming Sunset

well, my "Sister from another Mister" was bragging about her Utah Sunsets on her blog the other day. So when Lacey and I were up on the bluffs looking for the comet I told her to take a picture of this Wyoming sunset as we look west towards Yellowstone National Park. It's beautiful too.... and I don't think it was due to any pollution in the air, unless the buffalo were stampeding a lot of dust on the other side of the mountains.....

Christmas Photo

We didn't take any pictures on Christmas Day this year. But Lacey got a new camera from Santa so the day after we had her try out her "timer" and guess what... it worked. Here we are in Powell in front of our Christmas tree the day after Christmas.

Comet over Montana

Last night on our trip to see Page and Sean in Montana, Lacey and I FINALLY saw the comet. See it above the mountain? We pulled off at the rest stop near Columbus to get this shot. It was 15 below zero at the time. We REALLY wanted a picture!

Freezing on the Range

It's cold! When I left for work this morning it was 2 below zero. At 4 p.m. it had gone down to minus 3!!! brrrrrrrrrr. The wind is blowing too and somebody said the wind chill factor was 20 below zero today.

Home on the Range? There are no deer or antelope playing today, that's for sure......

Searching for Comet McNaught

Did you know there is a comet up in the sky? Lacey sure does and she has been determined to see it. The problem is that the comet is heading towards the sun right now and the only times to see it is right at sunset when the sun dips below the horizon or early before sunrise (like we are getting up that early!). It is so low in the sky, that if you wait much longer the comet dips behind the horizon as well. So Lacey gets me to rush home from work to drive her up to the bluffs above town yesterday. I only have a 1/2 hour becuase I have a 5:30 dinner meeting in town. She assures me that is plenty of time.

We get up there and looking to the West towards Yellowstone National Park. And what do we see?... CLOUDS. nooooooooooooooo! Ok, so maybe we can try this again tonight, but we are expecting snow today, so probably will not have any luck again. Oh, what we are willing to do to see a chunk of ice hurl through space.

USC kicker, Mario Danelo, found dead today

ESPN has just reported that Mario Danelo was found dead at a bottom of a cliff in San Pedro today. The Trojan Nation is in mourning tonight and in total shock! Nobody is sure what happened. He was a major player on the USC football team. David Letterman just mentioned him in one of his Top 10's. Mario just helped us win the Rose Bowl. I feel so bad for his family. This is tragic. He was only a junior at USC.

R.I.P. Mario Danelo #19

Mario was the team's leading scorer. He made a couple FG's in the Rose Bowl just last week to help us beat Michigan. FIGHT ON, Mario!

President Gerald Ford's funeral today

Our 38th President was laid to rest today. He passed away at the age of 93 on Dec. 23rd. He was president when I was only 12 years old. I remember he took over for President Nixon who resigned due to the Watergate scandal. He was never elected Vice President or President. He is the only President who never won election. He healed this country, although he wasn't much appreciated at the time. After he pardoned Nixon, his popularity fell and he did not win election in '76 against Jimmy Carter. Now he is considered a healer and a uniter for what he did.

USC, Rose Bowl Champions

USC 32 Michigan 18

USC came back and showed us what this team is made of! After the UCLA defeat, many had written off the Trojans and didn't give us a chance against #3 Michigan. In fact we had fallen from #2 to #8 before the game. The first half was a defensive battle with a 3-3 score at half time. The second half we lit up the sky with pass after pass from John David Booty. He connected to Jarett in a lot of clutch situations. Many are predicting we will be pre-seaon #1 and may meet Michigan again in next years Championship Game. It was a great Trojan Day. It was good to see us win in the Rose Bowl again.

Despite how great USC did yesterday, the team of the Day was Boise State. I just happened to turn on the game during the last quarter. I couldn't beleive they were beating Oklahoma. Then Oklahoma came on fast and tied the game in very dramatic fashion, with about a minute to go. Then Bosie throws an interception and Oklahoma takes the lead. Ok, game is over, Oklahoma pulls it out..... no so fast Bronco! Some how Boise State keeps it's composure and throws a trick play, a hook and ladder, and it works! Boise scores and ties the game. Now they go into over time and Oklahoma scores a TD pretty fast. Boise takes over and soon it's 4th down and 18 yards to go, and I figure they are toast, yet they throw into the endzone for a touch down. Now they decide to go for it all and go for a two point conversion instead of playing it safe and tying it with a field goal to go into OT #2. The play is a fake statue of liberty play, another trick play, and it catches Oklahoma off guard and Boise State wins.

Like I said, I was happy for USC, but the Fiesta Bowl stole the show today. Except for what happened with a certain USC Song Girl......

Best Parade in the World

The Rose Parade

Watching the Rose Parade is a New Year's Day tradition that I really enjoy. Another tradition is eating black-eyed peas every New Year's Day, but that's another story. The kids had a big New Year's Eve Party at our house in Livingston last night so the family is all asleep still. I woke up to watch the parade, since I went to bed early last night with a terrible cold. I really enjoyed the Honda float with the fire breathing dragons, the float that featured Kathrine McPhee from American Idol, and I even saw Marie Osmond on a float. There were a couple Lacey would have liked. Cal Poly and LaCanada-Flintridge both had floats that featured Penguins. Star Wars was a big part of the parade since Lucas was the Grand Marshall. They had a float of Endor with the Ewoks, a float of Naboo with the Queens of Naboo, and Grambling State Band wore Imperial Guards uniforms. They also had Darth Vader and hundreds of storm troopers marching too. It was fun. Of course, I like seeing Long Beach's float since it is the city of my birth. They had sail boats and a light house... always a nautical theme for them. Lakewood use to have a float but stopped in the early '80's. I always liked seeing theirs too. The coolest thing I saw was the Oklahoma float where they had a guy with a jet pack come out of a giant gift box and he actually flew for 30 seconds over the parade route. The crowd went nuts. I was very impressed. And of course, I got to see my beloved USC Trojan's cheer leaders and band march down the route. I hope they beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl today, but it will be a tough matchup. HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone !!!

Lacey takes me out Star Gazing on the plains of WY

Here are a couple pictures I promised to post of me and Lacey up on the bluffs above Powell, WY, star gazing. It was really cold, but we stayed out for about an hour. The sky was clear and you could see the Milky Way.

It's freezing out here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Page and Sean came to Powell for Christmas. They arrived on Friday afternoon. Saturday we finished our shopping and that night went to see "A Night at the Museum" which was really funny. Sunday we went to church and then relaxed at home. I made a big taco dinner for Christmas Eve. It was really good if I do say so myself. Christmas morning Sean woke us all up at 7:30 a.m. That was a lot better than past years when we could expect him bouncing in at 3 a.m. After the presents, I made a breakfast of cinnamon roles, eggs, sausage and piggy pudding. The rest of the day we snacked on cheese, cut meats, crackers, shrimp and Christmas night we had apple cobbler with ice cream. I think we all got plenty to eat. Page took the kids back to Livingston on Tuesday (26th). So I will be alone all week and plan to go to Montana on Friday night to share New Year's with them.

First Day of Winter

Happy First Day of Winter. Today we had a nice snow fall of a couple inches, don't know if it will stay on the ground long enough for a white Chirstmas but winter came in to northern Wyoming with snow. Page and Sean braved the snow and made it from Montana today for Christmas. Lacey and I went up on the bluffs last night away from the city lights to look at the stars. They were beautiful. We saw a few shooting stars like the picture above. Lacey made some hot chocolate and we bundled up pretty warm. Lacey took a few pictures of us and once she downloads them, I will try to post a couple. HAPPY WINTER!!!

A BYU Blowout

Las Vegas Bowl: BYU 38 Oregon 8

Congrats to the Cougs! They dominated Oregon all night, last night. I am suprised at Oregon's collapse at the end of the season. I'm sure they never recovered from the USC loss.... hehehehe. The Vegas Bowl was rocking last night. The biggest sell out in it's history, and you basically saw a sea of BYU Blue. After the win, BYU fans stormed the field and the BYU QB, Beck, lead the crowd singing the BYU fight song. I'm happy for BYU. This was their first bowl win in the last 5 tries. I think they have their program back on track and can't wait to see what they do next year. Hopefully they will be good for Sean's freshman year....

Eragon

I got into Livingston last night, with Lacey, at about 8 p.m., and we noticed that Eragon was playing in the local movie theater. We had to go see it! Eragon is adapted from the Christopher Paolini's novel of the same name. Paolini is from Livingston and a little older than Lacey. Sean was playing in the pep band at the high school basketball game, so we called him and told him to meet us at the theater at 9 p.m. The place was packed. A lot of buzz in this small town about Eragon, with the Livingston connection. The 7 pm show must have been sold out becuase hundreds of people were pouring out of the theater. The most common quote we heard "You won't like it if you read the book". I was prepared for that. I have read the book. I remember Sean and his friends being a little dissapointed with Harry Potter after reading the book, since you can't put all the detail into the movie that is in the book. Let me just say, I agree.... the book is so much better. When you know all the details in the book, you notice how the director skips over things you thought were important and you wonder how people who didn't read the book are going to know that. It also is wierd how at times the director will totally disregard what is in the book and change it a little. However, I did like the movie. It did seem like a low budget film compared to Star Wars and Lord of the Rings... my two favorite movies. So I was a little dissapointed in that. My favorite character wasn't even human. I think they got Saphira, the dragon, right. She was just as I pictured her in my mind. The movie was only about an hour and 40 minutes long, so they had to rush everything. Not enough time to really bring out the struggles of Eragon and his preparation by Brom and the development of his use of magic. Oh well, and I hate to be rude, but I thought the fairy princess would be a lot prettier. I also don't thing the movie did a good job in introducing some of the characters. If I didn't read the book, I would not have known a lot about who they are. I guess when they film Eldest (book 2) they will draw these characters out more, I hope. I would say it's worth going to see this movie just to see Saphira. What a dragon!

Getting Ready for the Winter Formal

Sean took Chelsea Bowden to the Winter Formal tonight. They looked wonderful. We had a little trouble with the corsage today and it took three trips to the flower shop to make it acceptable if not completly right. Sean went with a group of kids from Church. They had dinner at the Carters before heading over to the high school.

The Grand March

They have a "Grand March" before the dance. All the bleachers on one side of the gym are full with parents and friends to watch the couples make an entrance. They had 171 couples. Sean and Chelsea were #125. They get announced and everyone claps. When Sean and Chelsea came out in their lime green, you could hear an audible sound from the audience in delight! Anothter interesting observation... only the Mormon girls had their shoulders covered in the evening gowns.

Sean and Sant

Sean and Sant at the Winter Formal

Sean and Chelsea at the Winter Formal

Sean and Chelsea posed for pictures

and we had to grab a couple shots for ourselves too. It was a fun night and it was nice to see Sean go to a formal dance at school, his first!

Trojan Defeat

USC 9 UCLA 13

Oh the agony. What an ugly game! Our cross-town rivals beat us in the Rose Bowl today 13-9. It was such a low scoring game... a real defensive battle. Have to hand it to the gutty little Bruins. Their defense was on fire today and killed our late drive to win the game with an interception. I knew anything could happen in a rivalry game, but we did so well against Oregon, then Cal, then a huge win against Notre Dame.... it may have just been too much to sustain. We have 15 Freshman starters on this team and we had 9 injuries of veteran players over the season. Yet we were only a win away from playing in our 4th straight championship game. But it hurts to lose to a rival. I hate that more than missing out on the BCS championship game, I mean, we still are going to the Rose Bowl! We are Pac-10 Champs for the 5th straight year ( a Pac 10 record). However our 63 games 'scoring over 20 points' streak, a NCAA record, was broken today, our 7 game winning streak over UCLA was broken today. Give all the props to the Bruins, they played great. How in the heck did they lose 5 games this year? Looks like we will play either Michigan or LSU in the Rose Bowl. Both teams would be fun to play. Under Pete Carroll, loses have been very rare, haven't had to deal with it too much. Good thing I had Sean's winter formal to keep me busy tonight.

USC beats Notre Dame , 5th straight time

USC 44 Notre Dame 24

What a game! We totally dominated the Irish tonight. Booty was a little shakey in the 2nd quarter, but came back strong in the second half. Jarrett was on fire tonight, he must finally be healthy, catching three TD passes. We had to win big to impress the polls to move up in the BCS. I think we did that tonight. I would expect us to move to #2. That means if we beat UCLA next week, we could be playing Ohio State for the national championship. Wasn't this supposed to be our rebuilding year? We have a chance to win a national championship 3 out of the last 4 years? Unbelievable. This is a great time for Trojan football. FIGHT ON, USC... beat the bRuins!!! And if we don't make it to the championship game, we still will be in the Rose Bowl. Not too bad if you ask me.

BYU finally beats Utah

BYU 33 Utah 31

ok, with our big BYU visit this week, Sean and I watched the BYU-Utah game on TV. It didn't look to good for the Cougars, but with only 3 seconds left BYU scores the winning touchdown and wins the game, to the shock of the Utah fans. It's been a few years since BYU beat Utah, so I am happy for the Cougars.

New Rexburg Temple

On our trip to Provo earlier this week we drove through Rexburg and I was amazed how far along the new temple contruction is. You can see the temple up on the hill from all directions coming into Rexburg. It sure is pretty!

Salt Lake Temple

On Wednesday night we stopped in Salt Lake to see the new Joseph Smith movie in the Legacy Theater. It was wonderful. The Church does such a great job on their movies: Legacy, Testiments and now the Restoration. I hate how they always make me cry. I'm glad they give you tissues before you go in. I am so grateful for the restoration of the gospel and that the Lord called a prophet to open the last dispensation. After the movie we stepped outside to see the beautiful Salt Lake Temple all lite up. Another testiment of of the faith and hardwork of the early pioneers.

Christmas at Temple Square

The lights on temple square were not being turned on until Friday, but a few trees in front of the Church Office Building were on.

My friend Karie

Poop-Magoop-Scoop!

Here is my great friend, Karie Ludwig. She fed us a delicious meal when we arrived in Utah on Tuesday. She even made me scones.... which were so delicious. YUMBO. Karie and I have known each other since I was a little kid in California. She lived 4 houses down from me. We were in the famous Lakewood Lancer's Marching Band together, she taught me how to dance all cool during the disco craze, she got me interested in singing and trying out for the school musicals after her stunning performance in the Sound of Music..... I got to come to Utah for her wedding to Karl and have seen her family grow. She is now a grandma too! wow. She has two married children already and a son that just went on a mission. A long way since our Lakewood days.... She may never know how special it was to our family when she named one of her girls, Konnie, after my sister died too. Looking back, it's so nice to stay in contact and be a part of somebody's life that you have known for almost all your life. I was thinking about it this weekend, and she is the only childhood friend that I am still close to, knowing who her children are, what is going on in her life, and also when we do get to see each other, things are still good and fun between us. Love ya Karie! and all the other K's in the Ludwig family....

Sean Tours BYU

g

We went to BYU this week so Sean could check out the campus and see if he really wants to go there. It was a great trip. The campus is wonderful and we had a nice tour. We got to see the different academic buildings and spent some time in the bookstore. We also checked out the tennis courts and Hellaman Halls where Sean wants to live. I think Sean is hooked, if there were any doubts, they are gone now. He wants to be a BYU Cougar.

Go Cougars!

It's rivalry week so everything is wrapped to protect property from the pesky Utah Utes.

Sean outside Lavell Edwards Stadium in front of the Cougar statue. Rise and Shout, the Cougars are Out!!! or is that wrapped?

Brigham wrapped

Well, we can't come to BYU and not take a picture of Brigham Young, even if he is being protected from red paint. Sean already looks like a BYU student with that Y hat on.

USC beats Cal

USC 23 California 9

All the experts said we didn't have a chance against Cal at the beginning of the year. In fact, the last four games were out of our reach. Well we beat Oregon, and now Cal. We have Notre Dame this saturday in Los Angeles. What a game that should be. This game was great against Cal. Our defense was awesome. Now there is talk we may be back in the championship game against Ohio State, if we can win our last two games. Exciting times to be a Trojan. We clinched our 5th straight Pac-10 Championship with this win. This is the first time any school in the Pac-10 has won 5 straight. We break another record! Pete Carroll has only coached 6 years at USC. We are assured a spot in the Rose Bowl with this win too. FIGHT ON, TROJANS beat the Irish!

Montana Weekend

I had a real good first week of work in Wyoming this last week. There were a few staff issues that seemed petty but necessary to give attention to. I have so many meetings, more than anyplace I have ever worked. In fact, I never had to go home or buy a lunch last week since there were lunch meetings everyday with a meal provided. At least my food bill will be better. On Friday afternoon, Lacey and I packed up the truck and headed north to Montana to spend the weekend with Page and Sean. I found Page not feeling well and she spent the whole weekend in bed or on the couch, poor thing. I was able to get the fence up for the dogs and fix the latch on the gate before the snow hit on Saturday afternoon, so at least that is done and the dogs can be let outside without supervision. Sean and I went to church today and it was good to be back in the Livingston Ward. It feels like home. My records are in Wyoming however, so should be interesting how they can put me to work this year. On Wednesday I went with my Bishop in Wyoming to the Stake Priesthood meeting in Cody. I met a few people, but it will be hard to really get involved in the Ward there with Page up in Montana. Friday night, as soon as we got here Sean was off to a Stake Dance and Lacey was off and running all day Saturday. But Sean and I had fun watching the USC game late Saturday night together. Page made some Taco soup to fill us up today before Lacey and I head back down to Wyoming.

USC Roasts the Ducks

USC 35 Oregon 10

Everybody had written off the Trojans. After the loss to Oregon State, the close wins at Arizona, Washington, Washington State, etc. this team could not beat the mighty Ducks or Cal or Notre Dame or UCLA...... blah blah blah. Well those doubts have been pushed aside as the USC Trojans killed the Oregon Ducks last night in front of a homecoming crowd in Los Angeles. It wasn't even close. The Ducks got their only touchdown on a questionable call. Even our coach, Pete Carrol had a few choice words about it..... it was great to see the Trojans play the way they did. I feel a lot better about our chances of winning the Pac-10 and getting to the Rose Bowl. A lot of top teams lost yesterday, Texas, California and Auburn. That will push us way up the polls. I've missed watching the last two games since I was busy with the move or had no television. Next week will be another tough test against California.

I Voted Republican

o.k. President Bush, I did my part and voted GOP today. Not sure if it will do any good, but I'm keeping the faith! I just moved to Wyoming this last week, so not a lot of political clout in Wyoming, and I think the GOP was looking good in Wyoming anyway. I was able to go to the polls and register to vote right on the spot.... that was pretty cool. Even if I didn't want to vote Republican, it would be hard not to in this part of Wyoming. In most of the county, city and school board races, the Republican was running unopposed. I guess it's hard to find a Democrat in these parts. Now if I was up north with Page in Montana, that would be a fun place to vote to see if Burns retains his senate seat and keep it in the GOP column or if the Democrats gain a seat there. Anyway, I won't even know what the election results will be. We do not have TV yet, so I cannot watch any election returns... but if the pundits are right, this may not be a good night for the Republicans.