Every now and then

Every now and then you find lifetime friends. Growing up I never felt like I had too many friends, especially at school, but was lucky to have 2 great friends at church. Ben and I grew up together since I moved to TX at age 4. Kevin was a transplant to TX from California when I was about 15.

Then (1992)

Me, Sarah, Santa, Kevin,
bottom-row Ben.



Now (2009)

me, Ben, and Kevin.

As you can tell, our hairstyles have changed over the last 17 years.  All of us have alot less hair now, some by choice, some by genetics.   However not too much has changed in the last 17 years, still the same old Brett, Ben and Kevin.  We haven't all been together in years, but we had a great time attending the Priesthood session of General Conference and then visiting for a few hours afterwards.

32 years ago today

I'm not sure why I was so lucky to meet and marry Deni. She's beautiful, funny, loving, caring,... the whole package. Happy 32nd Birthday Love.

Growing like a weed

If you've ever grown squash or zucchini you know how they can take over your garden really quickly. To attempt to keep them manageable, I put them inside these cages and pruned leaves off throughout the season.. The only problem is that they quickly grew up and over the cage and all the way back down to the ground.

So I pruned the plant a little more than usual and decided to tie it up and grow it vertically.

It's over

Soccer Season is finally over. After over a month of games on every Tues, Wed, Thurs and Friday nights, we're done.  Sydney scored a goal in her very last game.  First goal ever, last game of the season.

Unfortunately we had just been handed Sydney's soccer pictures and I had taken them out and was attempting to show Deni when Sydney scored her goal.  She came running back with her hands in the air, just like her brother. She was excited to score a goal.  (the winning goal too.)

Ryan's last game was on Thursday. Although he didn't score a goal in his last game, he had alot of shots on the goal. Here's an action shot of him shooting.

There was a hand ball in the goalie box and Ryan's team wanted to take the shot.  All the boys were fighting over it and Ryan just took it. The goalie caught it.  The referee said he (the referee) wasn't ready, so they brought the ball back and put it in the same spot.  Ryan kicked it immediately and the goalie caught it again.  The referee blew his whistle again and then clarified he wasn't ready and that Ryan had to wait for the whistle.  So Ryan took 3 penalty shots (only one of the counting) and he didn't score once, but he got lots of practice shooting.

Ryan's coaches bought them medals with their own name and team name engraven on them.  

Up Payson Canyon

Today was my "long" ride. On Thursday, Deni rode up Payson Canyon to Payson Lakes. Never having ridden my bike up that far up Payson Canyon I thought I'd attempt the same today. I left from my house, rode through Salem and then Payson.

Total elevation gain was 3,500 feet (and my body felt it.)

I suffered up the last few miles and probably would have turned around had Deni not have done it earlier this week.

It took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes to ride from my house past Payson Lakes to the turn off to BlackHawk Campground.

Below is the grade I was riding up.

What goes up, must come down. At around 24 miles I turned around and flew down Payson Canyon. I passed one car that was going 20mph and kept a steady 30+mph for about 12 miles. I learned that the "caution 15mph" signs for sharp corners applied to bicycles as well.

All in all I did 50.24 miles in just under 3hrs and 29 minutes of continuous cycling.

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL

Ryan's team played tonight.  We're still not sure what got into Ryan tonight, but he was playing soccer better than he's ever played before.  He was playing forward when he has some close shots on goal and then it happened. Ryan got the ball dribbled it in to about 10 feet from the goalie. He shoots, he scores! GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Ryan came running back, hands in the air. Deni, Sydney and I were doing the same thing while yelling at the top of our lungs.  We were tremendously proud of his accomplishment.

And then it happened, about 20 seconds after the goal, the stupid teenage ref's (that don't hardly pay attention) called offsides.  (What I really think what happened was the father of the goalie dishonestly called offsides after the goal and the teenagers listened to him.)  Ryan's goal was stripped from him. He was devastated.  It was the only score on either side for the night and Ryan's first goal ever.

As far as I'm concerned, he scored the goal.  I was on the oppisite side of the field and things looked good from where I was, besides he had the ball in front of him the whole time.

$50 ride

I was thoroughly enjoying my lunchtime ride when 16 miles into a 20 mile ride I road through an intersection and heard the dreaded sound. 

At first, I thought I had run over something and that something was stuck in my back tire, however as I quickly slowed, I heard the sound of all the 100 pounds of pressure escaping through a gash in the side of my tire. 

I was riding with Tregaron, a buddy of mine from work.  We stopped and assessed the damage of my tire.  Not only did I ruin the tube, but I ruined the tire as well. It appears that a rock gashed the size wall of the tire, which meant I was done riding for the day, even though I had a new tube with me.

Being 4 miles from work, I called Deni to come pick me up and sent Tregaron on his way.

Now I have to buy a new tube AND a new tire, which will set me back around $50.00.  The joys of training for a bike race.

Sydney Soccer

Last year we missed the soccer sign ups. I want to say it was on accident but after having games every night (Tues - Friday), it might have been on purpose.  Actually it was on accident, but looks like a great excuse for next year.

2 years ago, Sydney took an "intro" to soccer class.

At this age, it's pretty much swarmball, but still fun to watch. Sydney has gotten less timid as each game comes and goes.

Someday all the rules and plays are going to click and then watch out.

Sydney throwing the ball in. Nice throw.

Ryan Soccer

After a year off from Soccer, Ryan's back playing.

After all that running, sometimes you just need to see if your heart hasn't come out of your chest.

Ryan has gravitated toward the goalie position. For whatever reason, all the boys fight over this position.  It baffles me, as soccer is a running sport and I always wanted to be up front attempting to score, not standing in a box waiting for the ball.  So I asked Ryan why he wanted to play goalie. The answer was simple - "You don't have to run when you're goalie."

Oh Crap

How many times have you gone to the bathroom at home, sat down, done your business then realize there is no toliet paper within reach?  I'll be honest, it's happened a few times to me.  Once I notice I'm in need of toilet paper, I begin yelling at the top of my lungs for anyone within the sound of my voice for some help.  99% of the time some kind soul, usually Deni comes to my rescue with toilet paper in hand.

As I got to work this morning, lunch and bike in hand, I was invited to lunch to celebrate the release of a new rev of a product I work with.  It's hard to pass up a free lunch.  So I  decided that I'd ride my bike home to compensate for my lack of riding during lunch. Because I was riding my bike home and not catching my vanpool, I stayed a few minutes later than normal to finish up on a few emails.  Then I went to change.

Before I changed into my bike clothes, I had some bathroom business to take care of.  I found a stall, sat down and ..well I'll leave it at that.  Then came the moment when I looked at the toilet paper dispenser and realized I chose a stall with no toliet paper. Now what?  There was another guy 2 stalls over.  Do I ask him to hand me some toliet paper?  Do I wait for him to leave?

I decided I'd wait for him to leave and attempt a quick dash to another stall.  After waiting for a few minutes, but felt like 30 minutes, I was alone in the bathroom. I stood up and quickly jumped into an adjoining  stall with 2 rolls of toilet paperl

I then quickly changed into my bike clothes and headed on my bike home.