What I love about Fall & moving Jill's parents!

I love Fall, I do not believe that it is my favorite, but It is great. Every season has things in it that I like along with things I hate. Fall is great because it means Football and the Major League Baseball playoffs. I think fall goes extremely fast because I spend a good 3 weeks watching baseball games. Is that bad? I do not believe so. It starts to cool off after the HOT summertime. Here in Utah it does not rain like I wished it would, but you can certainly feel the winter approaching. In the fall I do not like that the garden and lawn begins to die. Not die, but begin to go dormant for the winter.
This weekend I over did it. We have been preparing and trying to help Jill's parents move. They moved from up near Cottonwood High School and now live near us by Bennion Junior High. I think I realized that I am almost 39 years old. My best days are certainly past me. I tried to work hard and get the move done as fast as I could. Jill's parents have tons of stuff. It took us 2 full loads in a 17 foot Uhaul to get them moved. One of the guys helping said we are never going to get all this stuff inside the apartment. We made it! but there was a path to direct you around the apartment. After we finished at about 3 in the afternoon it began to set in on me. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. I do not know what it was, but I do not want it ever again. I finally called Jeremy and told him there was no way I was going to make it to teach our Primary class. After relaxing Sunday and watching my fantasy team get spanked (I am sitting on a pillow). I feel lots better. Not sure what was up, but maybe I am getting OLD!

Dodgers !!!

There will be some of you that question my sanity. I am posting a picture here of my dirty, sweaty Dodgers hat. I currently own 3 Dodgers hats. This happens to be the most worn and loved for the moment. Now why would I post it's picture? 2 reasons, First off my team clinched it's playoff birth today courtesy of the team I hate... The D'backs. This is the first NL west championship since 2004. Next week we will begin the post season. The rest of the season games are meaningless, but they must be played. Tomorrow we head to San Francisco to rub it into the Giants' face that we are playing on. Go Dodgers!!

My second reason for posting the picture of my hat is to tell a story. I have to admit that I stole my first ever Dodgers hat from a friend. Kyle Anderson (Brother Anderson to all of you Hunter High School seminary students), was my roommate at Snow College. He "let" me borrow his hat and I just took it over. He claimed that he did not want it back, but why would he? It had been on my head (I had hair then). You cannot share hats right? Kyle has since been excommunicated from the truth that is the Dodgers, but someday maybe he can return to the fold.

If you cannot tell I am excited for my team to enter the playoffs. I pray we make it out of the first round. With Manny, Loney, Either, Dewitt and everyone else, I like our chances.

Saftey Patrol

Monday I will start Saftey Patrol, I will tell you what we do and what the rules are. The first reason I haven't started it earlier is because, my class is the very last class to serve. And we get the last week of ever month. And this is how it works, we go to school at like 8:15 and get there at 8:35 and I will sign a paper and that paper will tell me which post I will be at and so on. And the post that I REALLY WANT is... FLAG POLE!!!!!! The reason why I want it is because you get to bring the flags and fold them and every thing and my friend will be there most of the time! OR I want wood chips it's by the houses by the kindergarten playgrounds. Because a lot of fights happen there. (Mrs.Parsons wants more write-ups so kids will know the rules.) I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!! My friend Joclyn is captain and she gets to kick people off on our team when they are disrespecting her. And at the end of the year every Saftey Patrol team gets to go to Lagoon!!!

Blog!

Somehow this blog has turned into Greg's. I need to get my family to post on here more often. I apologize for that. I have tried to make this things about my family and what is going on in our lives. My other windows blog is where I will post my feelings about my favorite subject.... Sports. I will do a better job of keeping my mouth shut and hoping my family will insert it's opinions here.

My Truck

Ok, I cannot believe I am going to post about this, but here goes. My wife has been pestering me for years to get my truck up to the shop. I am not sure if her motive is to get it out of our driveway so we are no longer the rednecks of the neighborhood or what.

Kate sat inside to "drive" it, but in all reality she was just sitting there. It used to be my joke that it has power steering and that was my arms. When it will not run then the power steering comes from the guy pushing.

Kate ans Kolbie looked so good in the truck. Neither have actually ever taken a ride in it. We officially parked the truck about 6 months after Chris was born. See Jill did not like the fact that no seat belts meant that Chris and his car seat would ride wedged in between the seat and the floor boards. I think that was one of the safest places for him to be, but I realized that being a responsible parent also meant following the law.

It seems as every time over the last 13 years that I thought about starting the rebuilding project on the truck. We would find something more important for our money to go towards. You know how that is. Not sure when I will begin the restoration, but the first step is to get it running and up to the shop. Besides maybe up there some of the guys will give me some help and we can get it cruising again.

Just so you know I am posting in red for a reason. I love my truck. It is my very first car. I bought it for $25 from an old man up by Brighton High School. He wanted to pay us to haul it off. I was 17 and it did not look like it does today. During high school I drove it in different stages. I worked for my Uncle at his body shop and we fixed it up slowly. During my junior year it did not have a bed on it for most of the year. In the winter we had to find some weight for the back end because I would get stuck stopped at a light. So my dad got a 55 gallon barrel and we made a bracket for it to sit on the back. I quickly got nominated as the kegger truck because that is what it looked like. My senior year is when it really took shape and began to look closer to what it does today. That was 1988. It drove me too and from college most of the next year. It has also been in at least 3 parades that I know of. Story is that when I was on my mission Carl (my brother) was headed to a family reunion in Mount Pleasant, Utah. He got to one of the small towns on the way and they had main street blocked off for a parade. They asked Carl if he would drive the truck through with some of the royalty on it so he did. It won several car shows including best paint several times. The engine gave out while I was on my mission so when I got home it was parked behind the garage waiting for me. Dad found a new power plant and we got he back on the road the next summer.

My truck played a roll in my first meeting with Jill, see I was involved in our stakes single adult Sunday school. Jill was told to come and see what it was like. I could never seem to park it straight in the parking stall. Jill showed up late and her exact words are "what dummy needs to take up 2 stalls". Needless to say I borrowed my Mom's car on our first date. I did not want her parents to have a bad impression of me. But date #2 I pulled up and she just rolled her eyes.

My goal is to get her back on the road and enjoy it for what it was made for. I think all I will need to do is get a battery home tomorrow night and I can get it to run. Of course it will take some TLC, but I will take my time and get her cruising again. FUN!!!!

Kolbie's glasses

Today Kolbie became a part of the national club of "four eyes." She got glasses. I being the great parent forgot to get a photo of her in them before I sent her off to bed. By the time homework was done I had enough and shewed them off to their rooms. Kolbie looks very cute in them. During her homework tonight I caught her with them on the end of her nose. I almost called her grandma. They even have pink ear tips or whatever they are called.

The glasses came with this pink prada styled bag. I being the fashion expert that I am know that it is important to look good while you are carrying the new glasses. I am sure she will double up the purpose of the bag and carry something else in it too........ like ......... lint might fit in there. the bag is ginormous and will encompass her entire room. If not get lost in the room eventually. It even has a label on it. "Natacha" I am sure that cost me a pretty penny.

Oh for the days of flip flops (thongs) , t-shirts, and shorts. Wait! that does look hot digiity dog good!

X-Country meet #2

Today was cross country meet #2. Held up at Jefferson Jr. High on 5600 West. This seemed like a tougher course than last week. If you have never been to Jefferson they have some hills in the back that section off the different fields from each other. The kids ran laps around the soccer fields and then around the east side of the school then back up on the field around and finished at the back stops.

Here is the start. I am not sure where Chris is, somewhere in the middle. These 2 pictures are of the start of the JV group which Chris runs in.

This is near the 3/4 mark, Chris has been around the school and is getting close to the finish.
He finished 79 out of 87, not the fastest, but he finished. I can tell how exhausted he is. Next Tuesday they are over at Southridge park by Kearns Jr High.

Friday night photos

Patientley waiting for halftime to get started.



This is my sister with her oldest daughter Jayda on the right. In the orange is my other neice Reagan. Someday we need to get Jaylynn to start this blogging thing. Especially if they move to Spokane.

Bruce Hwas here on the left. He is Heather Bankheads Dad. He is such a nice guy. I have played softball and watched him coach for lots of years. You know one thing. He NEVER misses osmething that his grand kids are doing. Here he is waiting for Kodi to perform at halftime. Of course I think he is enjoying the game deep down.


This is Dan Bankhead with my niece Jaycee. She was great during the game except for when Jeremy got a little bit excited over a bad call by the officials. That is why Dan has her, we tried passing her around to calm her down.

Kolbie & Kate got their hair done. Don't ask me, hair and makeup are big things when there is a dance deal.
















I love it when Kate and Kolbie have a good time at these things.

Hunter Dance Team and my new toy

No news on the James side of things lately. Kate and Kolbie are performing at the Hunter/Alta game tomorrow night. That will be lots of fun. The game should be decent even though I do not expect Hunter to put up much of a fight against the top team in the state. I am most excited about the girls. They love this week long camp that Hunter does. Every year we hear the begging from the start of the year. This year it is the dance team putting on the camp so I do not "get" to hear those chants over and over and over again. No now I just hear the same songs over and over and over again. Kate is dancing to Supergirl, and Kolbie has Kung Fu fighter. Oh boy, I am old. Now the girls are begging to get back in dance. We need to, they deserve it.

If any of you read my other blog you know that I got a neat new "toy" today. Since we completed the shop's remodel I have had the urge to get all of my sports memorabilia up and try to display it. I have got thousands of baseball cards. Some of them are autographed and others have special stories to me. I have Chris Latham's autographed bat and quite a few other things that each have a story. Anyway, the other day we were talking to our Sikkens outside salesman, Chris Nielson, and he was telling me I needed to get a Cowboys helmet. Chris calls on a guy in town that does helmet certification and also makes display style helmets. I told Chris to check on how much one would cost and to let me know. I guess Louie and Stan called him later and they found a helmet. The helmet was an old Ute helmet that for some reason has been deemed unsafe. The helmet was then resurfaced and painted. The color silver is very close to the real Cowboys silver. The guy who does the work does not like the real Cowboys silver so he takes the Raiders silver and adds 3 drops of blue. I did find it interesting that the decals are NFL decals. These are the same decals that are found on the real NFL helmets. He has to have a special licence to buy the decals. It is so cool. Some day I will find a player and have it autographed. Wouldn't that be awesome! I need to really thank Louie and Stan for their efforts in getting this, it is so awesome.

Can I say it YET??? TGIF, Only a couple of hours away. BTW, some of the girls on that dance team really know how to swing it, it has been fun watching how they teach these younger girls how to do it. I am not sure if the realize how much the younger girls look up to them. Well, I had better get to bed.... Tchau..... Not sure if my title for this post is very appropriate, oh well.

What an expierience!

So this week was really eventful as you may know I made the cross country team and I almost came in last all because of this kid that cut me off at the very begining! I had a good pace going thruogh the first turn and I was an like third and this kid cut me off and tripped me and I fell to about 67 the reason I did not come in last is because this kid was walking the whole time and I just got lucky IF THAT STUPID KID DIDN'T CUT ME OFF I WOULD OF GOT IN LIKE THIRD OR FOURTH!!!!!!! And that is the good expierience of the week!

Cross Country and Dance Team in one night

Ok, I have done my duty as a parent. Today I experienced Jr High athletics. I am glad the Granite school district allows the junior high kids to participate in after school programs. I can see how this adds expense and also liability to the school. Jill and I have told Chris to be involved at school. Find things to do. I feel this helps him to stay out of trouble. Chris thought about joining the volleyball team, but after a couple of go rounds he decided that was not for him. Some of his friends talked him into trying cross country. I have never been a big track and field fan, but I was excited for him to try. If you know Chris, he is not blessed with speed. This is something he will need to work at. His coach, Mr. Reese, has taken the time to help him and even though he is not the fastest kid he encourages him to try. Our first meet was today at Bonneville Junior High. Chris is on the JV team. I got there and the JV racers were just beginning to finish. At first I could not find Chris, but then I saw him. Still lumbering around the track. He was near the end, but still trying. Chris finished the approximately 2 mile course in just about 15 minutes, and was 68 out 0f 71. I was proud of him for trying. I found it cool that the other kids were cheering for even the last runners and his coach came up a congratulated him. He said first time out not bad, now we know what to work on. Way to go Chris!

Then I grabbedKate and Kolbie and headed over to the high school for the dance team fund raiser. Every year the dance team and cheerleaders raise money by taking a week and teaching the younger kids a dance to do at halftime of the football game. My girls love it. Jill was not sure that Kate would want to do it this year because she is starting to grow out of these things, but when I mentioned it she got so excited. I really wish we could get them in dance. Every time we talk about it it is either too late or we just do not have the funds. My video is very amateurish and it has no sound, but Friday I will get something more professional. BTW, I was just trying to see how this blogger upload works for this.

Family Update

I am writing in Red now to help inspire the Utes. Currently it is halftime and we are tied at 14. The game has been a mess literlay. Offensively the team has not been able to move the ball and we have not gotten much going. We need to crush this team, the rebles always have our number.

A post from some friends of ours got me to thinking about our family. September 2, 2008 makes 16 years since I popped the question. I can remember being so nervous that night. I am not very good at expressing my feelings so I will spare you with the whys, but you should know that I love my wife.

I was thinking about the feelings I had that day as we drove down to the Salt Lake Temple. I asked Jill on the South side. The sign there explains why Mormons believe that temple marriage is important and how families can be forever. We read the sign and then I asked her if she would like to be an eternal couple.

Since then we have gone through tons. Some of my favorite days include the days my three kids were born. That experience increases my testimony of how close we are to our Heavenly Father. I felt as though I was part of the plan he has prepared for us. Baptizing each of the kids was also very touching to me.

Chris is the son I always wanted. From day one he would sit with me and watch sports. I love watching and helping him play baseball. He has a love of the game that most kids do not.

Kate is 11 and teaches daily what girls are made of. I love seeing how beautiful she is becoming. I think I had better buy that shotgun that Louie wants to sell me so that I can ward off the boys soon.

Kolbie will be the death of me some day. She is eight now and she knows what buttons to push to get what she wants.

We have lived in 6 apartments and 1 home. 10 1/2 years here on Woodgrove Dr. We have owned 8 cars, 4 of them we still have. (Warning, my truck is going to be rolling again soon, that is my goal!). I have had 2 jobs, Inkleys and Rick Warner Body Shop. Jill has jumped around, but her most important "job" has been being the Mom. The callings we have had include young mens, elders quorum, primary, and young women. The kids keep us busy. Chris has played hockey for 5 years, baseball since he was 6 and basketball for a couple. Of course we were sucked into the leadership of the baseball league for 2 years. That almost killed me with stress, but I gained valuable experience.

I love my life, I am glad that 16 years ago I had the cahones to get the ball rolling. I would not change a thing (other than earning more money, and gaining less weight). I just hope I have another 16 years to enjoy. By then all the kids should be out of the house and I can chase Jill around whenever I want.

By the way --- the color inspired the Utes they are up 28 to 14 with 5:54 left in the 3rd Qtr!!! Go Utes!!!

A Little Explaination

It has come to my attention recently that my husband has posted a couple of posts that I need to comment on very, very breifly. First, I've talked to everyone I need to talk to about the School Thoughts Post. So, if I didn't talk to you about, I must not care too much. But the Strategy post needs a quick note:

I love my husband with all of my heart, but quite honestly he can be a bit weird. My husband is a very simple man, he works very, very hard for our family and loves us all very, very much. (He puts up with a lot from me. I do have a tendancy to be overly dramatic.) All this being said, I have to overlook certain "defiencies" he may have. And writing an entire blog and Rock Paper Sissors is just something I have to overlook.

Greg loves to play games. Any games, sports, cards, board games you name it! I'm not a game player and here's the reason why: GREG IS RUTHLESS WHEN IT COMES TO PLAYING GAMES!!! The few times he has gotten me to play games with him, he ALWWAYS WINS AND WON'T EVERY SHUT UP ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! He still brags about beating me at Risk 5 YEARS AGO!!!!!!

I do still play Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Football, weekly Football Picks, and of course my Mets vs. his Dodgers. These are fun things to compete with him about, and can make for some intresting bets. He had to clean the bathroom for an entire month once because he lost a bet to me.

Anyway, I digress. After reading Greg's post about Rock Paper Sissors I felt I need to explain to the world one of the weirdest things about my husband. Basically, he loves strategy. The Rock Paper Scissors was a bit over the top, but WELCOME TO MY WORLD!!!!

I love you sweetheart!! --Jill

Strategy!!!

First off, The Dodgers are currently leading the Padres 5 to 3 in the top of the 5th. The Diamondbacks won earlier today after the rotten Cardinals could not hold the lead. We need to win tonight to keep pace. Kuroda is keeping them in check even though he is not throwing his best game. GO DODGERS!!!!

Some of you may know by reading my regular blog (http://www.sportstats.spaces.live.com/) that we have been completing a remodel at the shop. It has been long and tiring, but we are almost done. Louie, my assistant manager, and I have been given our own little cubby hole so we have a place to complete our work in peace and quiet. Our secretary is the first to greet the customer when they come in the door. If a customer needs an estimate then she will let us know so that we can come up and help. I write about 80% of the estimates, but every once in a while Louie will be there and so it is whoever is available to write. We play Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who has to go.

This has got me to thinking, what is the strategy of Rock, Paper, Scissors? I am a gamer and love to think intensely about what I need to do to win. That is why I like baseball so much. There is lots of time to think. So I am challenged to a game what do I pick first...... Louie always picks PAPER, until just the other day. I think the best choice right off is ROCK, and let me tell you why:

Rock is powerful and beats the scissors, which the other person will pick if they think you will try to pick paper to defeat their rock. Are you following me? Pick Rock, and if the person picks PAPER they win, but most likely they will pick scissors to try to beat your paper to beat their Rock. Now I do not see the benefit of picking scissors first because most people pick Rock. Now scissors is the best pick in round 2 because if you just picked rock then the other guy is going to pick paper to beat you then you have scissors and you win. So now you are up 2 to 0. best of 3 is the usual, but if you did best of five you need one more win to take the title. Get ready because game 3 is the confusing one. Your opponent has picked Rock and scissors so which way will they go, I guess back to Rock therefore you go to paper to win 3 to 0. If your opponent is smart they will take scissors and take you down. Of course you could double cross them and take rock just to see, then you are back to the start and take scissors because they will go with paper... Have you got all of this? It is important to make sure you do not allow your opponent to cheat. so make your choice right at the last moment, but THINK about it. Pick ROCK!

On one of my fast pitch softball road trips we played this game for 3 straight hours. I was ahead by quite a margin, but my head was starting to hurt. It was all that thinking that got me. If you have some time Google Rock Paper Scissors, it will amaze you. Check out this link http://www.thethinkingblog.com/2007/12/10-steps-to-play-rock-paper-scissors.html and yes there is a world championship go to http://www.worldrps.com/

ROCK PAPER SCISSORS ---- Greg

Sadie

One of my many friends name is Sadie. She is so nice and smart and strong. Sadie is a kind of strong that is different from anyone, she is quiet so when you first meet her you won't see that. Sadie has a strength that means she belive's in herself that she can do it. She goes to Shelly's School Of Dance, and Jazz adituide is the thing that you want to be in when you go there. And you have to run A LOT!!!!!!!! And she has trouble making friends at school. I feel so bad for her!!!!!!! But Sadie is coming thru it. She made at least 2 friends at school. Sadie is in the 5th grade. She has Mr.Williams ( he will love her because she is smart and quiet.) Sadie is like I was when I met new people shy, quiet, and you don't know what to say. She has been at Shelly's scince forever. And she diserves to be in Jazz adituide because she is WAY TO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

---Katie