Happy Boys

Last Saturday I went to the store and when I came back Thomas and Keenan were doing the dishes. Keenan was really enjoying himself. He loves to be in on the action even if it means on Daddy's back. 

On Tuesday we got a package from my sister in North Carolina. I was not expecting anything from her so I let the boys open it. Once they saw what was inside there was no saving it for Christmas. They were super excited. They love baseball.   

Thanks Kelly Ann and Chad. Hopefully you enjoy these pictures as much as the boys do the hats. 

Xs in all the Boxes

Sometimes Seth and Carter are not well behaved.  They just tire their mother out with all their antics.  Jennifer decided that the boys need a little motivation to help them be good.  If they have a goal to work towards, that will help them to stay focused.  Or at least focus a few times each day.  One day when I came home from work, Seth told me that when he got Xs in all his boxes, then he would get a Grand Prize.

The grand prize ended up being slippers.  The boys did things to earn Xs.  Seth earned Xs for: writing his letters, writing his numbers, staying downstairs watching a movie while Jennifer tutored a little boy for 45 minutes each day, and helping to clean up.  Carter earned Xs for: keeping his underwear dry, staying downstairs while Jennifer tutored, cleaning up, and obeying.  Seth has earned his slippers, but Carter still has a few more Xs to go.

Pizza Rolls

Jennifer always comes up with simple meals that are just delicious.  Most of her meals are great for kids.  They are easy to eat and tasty too.  Just how I like it.  When we used to live in Cedar City, we would leave town to go our parents’ house as soon as I got off work.  Jennifer would have a meal that we could eat in the car.  I usually requested pizza pockets.  Jennifer would fold sauce, cheese and pepperoni inside some homemade dough.  I love Jennifer’s pizza pockets.  She has now come up with pizza rolls.

They are made by rolling out dough in a large square; kind of like you were making a regular pizza.  Put on the sauce and cheese and pepperoni.  Then roll it up like a scroll.  Then cut off one inch pieces.  Same procedure for making cinnamon rolls, just with Italian ingredients.  Then bake and enjoy.  They were delicious.  Just like a mini pizza.  The only problem is that there are never enough.  I could eat 15 or so in one sitting.  

Pictures

We have been needing to get an updated picture of Keenan for a while now.  Our last picture was when he was 6 weeks old.  He has changed so much.  He is a very smiley baby, so it did not take too long for us to get one that we were pleased with.  

It seemed like a good time to take a family picture as well.  This one turned out nice.  Everyone was looking and smiling.  

Christmas Tree and Lights

 As is our holiday tradition, we went out into the wilderness to cut down a Christmas tree.  Grandma and Grandpa went with us and the boys had a great time.  We found about five trees and then Jennifer chose the one that suited her best.  We chose a tall skinny one.  A fat, bushy one would take up our whole front room.  This one was exactly what we were looking for.  It is nice to choose a tree this size.  It makes it easy to get it back to the truck.  I was able to pick this one up over my head with one arm.

We also put up light on the outside of our house.  We set them up on an automatic timer.  It turns them on when it gets dark and then they turn off four and a half hours later.  The boys have been very excited to see all the lights in the neighborhood.  

Legacy Hall

We have wanted to visit Legacy Hall for a long time.  It was great to finally go.  Legacy Hall is a museum of BYU athletics.  It is also the headquarters of BYU football.  They have their practice facility there.  It mainly has memorabilia of all the great athletes from BYU history.  I mostly knew the football and basketball players.  It was really cool to see jerseys and shoes and awards from these players that went on to be pros.  The boys had a good time, but were more interested in going up and down the elevator than in seeing the BYU stuff.  

As we were just about to leave, a man there asked us if we had a bit of time.  He said that he wanted to take us on a back stage tour.  It was really cool.  He took us back to see the weight room, the practice field, the locker room, the training room, the coaches’ offices, and the team meeting room.  He told us that BYU football spends $120,000 per year on tape for ankles and wrists.  All players, more then hundred guys, have to have their ankles taped every time they play and every time that they practice.  That may seem like a lot of money but, the football program brings in a lot more than that.   

The team meeting room is a large auditorium.  The seats were twice as wide as normal seats.  They have to be big enough to fit 300 lbs players. 

Jimmer Fredette 

Steve Young

Ty Detmer

Ty Detmer

Heisman Trophy

Luke Staley

Jim McMahon

National Championship Trophy

Coaches National Championship Trophy

Just outside the coaches offices

Boys look pretty small compared to these players.

Shawn Bradley's silhouette

Football practice field

Team meeting room