byu, air force and utah...

what a great game tonight...

since the tcu game, my good friend rob has been after me. it is fun for him as a utah fan to see byu fall off the bcs wagon and utah soldier on. it made me very nervous when byu was down at the half--since rob had guaranteed a byu loss to air force. needless to say, hall's connection to collie on a 45 yard touchdown pass to ice the game was extremely gratifying.

give credit to the cadets as they played with reckless abandon tonight and nearly took control of the game.

this leads us to several issues. issue one. a byu team this good should be given the opportunity to play top ranked teams from other conferences in a playoff. how is usc ranked 6th having lost to an unranked (bcs rankings) oregon state team who is looking to be the pac 10 champion? of course, it is fun to think back to the time when oregon's head coach mike bellotti repeated the idea that BYU would be a mediocre, middle-of-the-pack team in the pac 10 after being drubbed by the cougars in the las vegas bowl.

the pac 10 was the doormat to the mountain west conference this year.

i'm not taking away from the right of boise state and ball state to have a crack at a big bowl game.

each of these very good teams should have a fair chance in a playoff instead of the machinations that the larger conferences go through to keep other conferences out of the big money bowls--and therefore out of the national champsionship hunt. it is greed at its worst.

issue two. the byu utah game.

prediction time? i've gone on record with rob that byu will beat utah 34 to 31. rob has stated that utah will win 34 to 24. what say ye? i will send the person with the winning prediction a 'yes on 8' yard sign...

here's to more magic like hall to collie on 4th down...

and beck to harline on that same down...

American Gladiators...

AYSO Soccer season is here again, and this season our family will be trekking to the soccer fields each Wednesday night for practice and Saturday morning for games. Today was our first game.

The team: The American Gladiators. They do a guttural roar that's supposed to scare the other team. Their colors: NEON yellow and royal blue. Here is Michael trying on his uniform and gladiator face the night before today's big game.


And here are some words of anticipation:



Michael was excited... I was terrified. You see, Paul worked today and the game was at 8am. What's that?? Get all the kiddos and myself up and fed and ready and in the car and on the field by 7:30... AM??

Well, we weren't really there at 7:30... but we did make it before the game started. And the girls wore their clothes to bed. And I got McDonald's on the way. And miraculously, Abby and Bekah stayed on the blanket with the diversions I brought... and Ella was awake but graciously calm. Whew.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Michael loved playing his first game. Here are a few pictures to put you in the moment.

The team huddle. Coach Uribes is so good with these kids--thoughtful about the whole "experience" for the kids and their families. He's teaching them great concepts and is so positive with them.


It was so fun to watch these kids get the hang of being in a game. Here is a short video... Michael kicks it in.



Michael did a great job running for most of the game. This is how Michael walked on the field when he wasn't running--on the heels of his nifty cleats.


Michael loves playing defense... or, as Coach Uribes calls it... "Monster Trucks." He would prefer to play goalie if this league had goal keepers. He guards it anyway, as you can see in this picture (didn't get a closer shot b/c I didn't dare leave the girls...).


So I don't feel the need to publish the score of the game, but I'm hopeful that the American Gladiators will score next week :). Win or loose, I think these boys just love playing the game. Here is Michael with teammates Kai and Luke. They love the banner that we made.


The best part of games are the snacks at the end, right?? Especially when they're doughnuts!


The girls loved cheering for their Michael. They felt so big hanging out with the players after the game.


And Michael was named the "Player of the Game" by his coach! Go Michael... we are so proud of you! Coach tried to establish the tradition of giving a "team tackle" to the player of the game. The kids got the hang of it eventually...



This is what Michael has to say about his first game: "I was the player of the game. And we did good. And I was a good monster truck. I did good goal kicks. And we did cheers for us. Love, Michael."

I asked him afterwards what his favorite part of the game was. He told me "When we scored the goals." I didn't have the heart to tell him that... well... they didn't score any.

Maybe next week...

it's the playoffs...

as the jazz get ready to sweep the rockets...michael has been swept away in basketball madness.

it's been a while since we've seen a jazz game, and lately he's taken to choosing the team opposite me so we can compete while we watch (not sure how i feel about that:), but after watching the rockets and the jazz he soon came around. in fact, he ran upstairs during the first game and put on his jazz uniform that lafe gave him.

since that first game, michael has had the hoops set up in the front room and with most spare moments he is shooting baskets and adding points to his totals. when he makes a basket he adds one point to the jazz. when he misses a shot he adds points to the rockets. when he's in the thick of a game he prefers to find amy or me after each shot to show us the new score tallied on the couch armrest in plastic letters.

at the very least, michael has had some sweet addition practice since the start of the playoffs.

nick will be proud to know that when michael plays in the front room it is rare for the jazz to ever fall behind.

the halls will be glad to see michael in his florida gators attire. you see, we do have something in common...i always knew i'd see rob and jacob in blue..:)

super bowl saturday...

amy made a great find this month and i thought i'd share it with you. the first saturday of each month, home depot has a kid's workshop. a parent can bring their kiddo and build a free manly craft. amy pushed for a father son outing and i am glad she did. each kiddo gets an orange apron, a craft and a certificate of completion. michaeal's big moments during the building process included elmer's glue, a hammer and nails. he really enjoyed himself...as did i.

michael gives a detailed description of the process here:



michael was pretty happy with his new acquisition...



when he got home he had to show his best dude his new football stool.



as the sheen of the new stool wore off, we reflected on how we would be using the stool and its significance on a broader scale:



and how about you? do you have big super bowl plans? a big party? only tivo till monday morning? and do you want the patriots to be perfect? or the manning brothers each to have a super-bowl ring...

We'll Begin With... The Las Vegas Bowl!!!

So the kiddos and I arrived safely last night with Mom Frandsen helping us travelers to survive the long drive without Paul. And survive we did... the kids have been great travelers through all our driving these past weeks. The only scary part about our trip home was the torrential downpour we hit coming into California--the worst rain/wind/fog combination I've ever seen (and I grew up experiencing a LOT of rain...). We were glad to be home safe.

So anyway... there is lots to post, share, and remember with all of you. I think I'll do it slowly instead of trying to tackle it all at once. So first up... THE LAS VEGAS BOWL!!!



Paul has been planning on his Cougars going to this bowl game all season long... until the end when there was a glimmer of hope at the possibility of a BCS bowl (I wasn't holding my breath...). So were the rest of the Frandsen men, as well as my Risenmay crew. We were happy that so many of us got to be there together.

So we drove to Spanish Fork on Thursday night and had a few adventures on Friday before we left for Vegas...

Michael was soooooo excited at the first sight of snow on our drive, and talked about it all the way until we got to Spanish Fork. He was out in it that night (no coat, bare feet, and all) and couldn't wait to get out in it the next day.



He got to go snowmobiling with his daddy and beloved Uncle Lafe on the old snowmobile Grandpappy fixed up just for the occasion (thanks again!)...



And the girls flooded Grandpatty and Grandpappy's bathroom floor with a good 1/4 inch of water (I think the floorboards in the closet have recovered???)...



First of all I must say thanks to Mom Frandsen for watching the kiddos so that we could go down w/o the elaborate planning it would take to bring kids to such an adventure. But she did have a few adventures of her own.

Paul and I went down with Jonny and Mel on Friday night and stayed at the famed Golden Nugget. We wandered around the strip for a while before the pregnant girls turned in, leaving Paul and Jonny to their own devices. Let's just say our breakfasts were two-for-one because of their genius use of the vouchers the hotel provided.

The next morning we got to sleep in (!!!), enjoy breakfast with Jonny and Mel, and then make use of the much-awaited (and never-to-be-the-same) shark reef pool/slide. I won't pretend to know all of what happened once my brothers got there, but here is a video showing the layout of the place...



Jonny and Paul enjoying a relaxing dip, and the calm before the storm (by storm I mean, of course, my brothers)...


Be very glad I left at this point and wasn't there to get pictures/video. But perhaps the Nugget security cams can provide some for you...

Then off to grab some M&Ms and squeeze 5 people into the backseat of a Malibu on the way to our VIP tailgate party.







We enjoyed(?) some brats and ale (ginger, that is...), good company, and the menfolk threw around the pigskin...





The game was cold and but enjoyable.


We enjoyed some Frandsen time, then scandalously sneaked down to some closer seats with my brothers. All that really matters is that the last field goal attempt was blocked, and the Cougars came out on top, causing a mad rush from dedicated fans... of which we were a part.



I am proud to say I told (screamed) Max Hall "Good Job" while personally assaulting his shoulder pads. We were right up close to the podium to see the awards ceremony. I must say I was touched to see the emotion on Bronco's face. What a guy. What a game. What a great day. See here for the Risenmay Recap.

The roads were snowy on the way home, but home we went with enough time to get a *few* hours before church the next day. The house was still standing, and the girls only flooded the bathroom another two times!

Stay tuned for more holiday happenings...