Fishing with Grandpa

The boys and me were able to go fishing to grandpas special fishing hole on the last day of our trip in Washington. Grandpa is a member of a fishing club that leases out a small 3 acre pond in Ellensberg Washington.

For about two weeks before we left for Washington, I would get an occasional call from Scott. He was really excited about taking the boys fishing on this lake because it has some really good sized Rainbow Trout in there. Se with all of these high expectations, we went out on the water. Grandpa and I forgot about life jackets, so we did the appropriate thing and loaded the kids on the boat. We figured if one of the kids jumped in we'd be able to rescue them. Wasn't the brightest thing I've ever done, but we did come back with the three boys we set out with.

AJ did really well in the boat. He was a little afraid at first, but it quickly wore off as he was helping me reel in his first fish. It was about a 14 inch Rainbow which was the smallest fish Scott has caught or seen caught in this pond. A few moments later, Britten reeled in another fish on my rod. This one was much better. It was about 8 inches in size and again broke all of Scotts small trout records. Finally a little while later, I got a big hit on the pole. It tool a few minutes to get it to the boat. When we did, we weren't disappointed. It was one of those lunkers we had been wanting to catch. Unfortunately, it ended up breaking the line as Scott was trying to situate his pole, the boat motor, and the boys who all seemed to gravitate towards him. So we all saw the big one, but it ended up getting away. We figured it to be better than 30 inches and 12-15 pounds. Now, it is nothing more than a fish story.

Moments after this fish ran off with my lucky fly, Scott had a big hit. He reeled it in and found a pretty good sized Bluegil on his hook. I laughed because Scott was really talking this lake up. Then a while later, Scott hooked a decent trout and brought it in. The kids examined the fish and took a picture with it. Moments later, I caught another fish that wasn't quite as big as Scott's, but better than any of the fish I'd caught to that point. Then, we went back to shore and left back for Cashmere to do one last whitewater rafting trip.

Scott seemed disappointed in the trip but he was nice to take us. The boys loved hanging with their grandpa no matter how the fishing was whether good or bad, big or small. These boys are lucky to have such great grandparents in their life on both sides of the family. Not everyone is that lucky.

Trace "Happy Boy"

Trace really enjoyed his time with his grandparents in Washington. He was awesome on the drive up and back. I am sure that having him ride in the front with us didn't hurt. There isn't an airbag in between in the middle seat of the truck so we put him there. He was all smiles the entire way up, but a little sick of the drive on the way back.

Trace is all smiles all the time it seems. He rarely gets to fussy and enjoys the attention he gets from all of his brothers. His brothers always sing the "happy boy" song to him that we have grown to love that we would hear every day when picking JD up from school. For whatever reason, Trace gets a big grin on his face when we sing the song to him.

He is a handsome devil I will have to admit. He is a great blessing to our home.

Anthony J

What a character this little guy is. He was a lot of fun on our trip to Washington. He was actually really well behaved in the truck ride up there, and really quite excellent for us while at the house. He as usual wanted to be a part of everything.

AJ is always into something. He is always trying to egg his brothers on and tease them. Especially Britten. He has a special ability to tease and annoy Britt. Since I spent the morning and early afternoon with Jaden and Britten playing golf, I decided to take AJ on a drive and show in the power of the Wenatchee River up past Leavenworth where the canyon really drops and the river is running fast and wildly. I thought he would really be interested, but I think the whole time he thought we were going to jump in because he was really freaked out by the whole thing.

Up the canyon, there is a dam where the water slows down coming from Lake Wenatchee. It is really pretty and you can often times see Bald Eagles in the area. There is quite the waterfall created from the dam of the water which is what really scarred AJ.

We stopped a couple times down the river and took a look at the different parts of the river, saw a couple waterfalls from the spring runoff, as well as an old bridge. The river is dangerously fast but awesome to watch, and even funner to raft. At least in the right spot, and not where we were looking at the river. That would be a death wish!

Leavenworth Golf Course

A couple weeks ago, we spent about 6 days or so up in beautiful central Washington. Marti's parents live right in the Cascade Mountains in a small town called Cashmere Washington. It is near a larger city called Wenatchee. Wenatchee is a river city as it is located on the Columbia River. About as big as the Mississippi, but about 10X's prettier. I know, I have seen them both.

Scott, Marti's dad took Jaden, Britten and me golfing to the Leavenworth Golf Course while we were there. The golf course is located in Leavenworth Washington, a Bavarian Village. The course has a pretty river that runs right by it. The Wenatchee River.

Jaden and Britten really enjoy golfing and especially with their grandpa. Grandpa got them both really nice kids golf clubs for their birthday and they have been out a couple times to play since. They play all the time in the back yard with the practice balls I got for them.

Jaden's shot is coming around as he is starting to develop a decent swing for a 7-year old. Britten still has some work as many times we need to turn him in the right direction before he tee's off right at us. But it is funny anyways. Scott and I were allowing JD and Britten to tee off, then pick up their ball and drop where Scott and I had hit to. On a few holes, I let JD just play all the way to the green with his little iron. On the last hole, he played from the tee until he hit the ball in the hole. It was a 160 yard par 3. I think he actually got a 7 on the hole which wasn't bad for his second official time out. He nearly chipped in a shot from about 40 feet. It hit the stick and spun off about 3 inches.

As always, our Washington trip was full of fun and great eats. We love it up there and always want to move back after we visit. We'd love it there, but we are where were supposed to be. At least for now....

Updated MWC Tourney

The first round had some surprises, but not many when you consider the match-ups....

Air Force did in fact knock off Colorado State for the opportunity to get hammered by BYU.

First Round

BYU vs Air Force: Air Force hung in there and rallied a few times. They even had a few leads. Even though I am a huge Utah fan, I never thought BYU was in jeapordy of losing this one. Maybe it's because I had to listen to Wrubell scream into the mic. Air Force shot the ball well but in the end, couldn't match the BYU offense.

UNLV vs SDSU: I picked SDSU in a close one so this was a bit of a surprise. But, the Aztecs are healthy. They play outstanding defense. SDSU won 71-57 and it should have been worse. UNLV threw in some prayers during a minor 2nd half rally. UNLV was also benefiting from a little home cooking.

Utah vs TCU: This was also a real surprise. Utah didn't deserve this one. They were outplayed and Nevill was horrid! I despise Drca because he is a walking turnover when the game gets tight. Somehow he found Bohra for an open three to win the game. Utah is lucky...

Wyoming vs New Mexico: I thought this one would be close. It had the appearance of a blowout early on with UNM jumping all over Wyoming. Wyoming put on a great rally just before halftime led by Sean Oguirri. This guy can shoot the lights out of any gym. He's been on fire the last couple weeks. Brandon Ewing stepped up with some extremely difficult shots. There was one or two in the first half he should have been shooting a free throw for a four point play. Not really surprised Wyoming won, these two teams played a one point game in Laramie a few days ago with New Mexico getting the win. Again it's hard to beat a team three times in one year. A big help for the Pokes was with about 6 minutes left when Farris fouled out of the game.

Second Round

SDSU vs BYU: Again, SDSU is not the team I would want to be playing right now. They are healthy, and confident. They want revenge on this Cougar team that embarassed them on their home floor just a couple weeks ago. SDSU is more talented and is shooting the ball extremely well right now. Two weeks ago, BYU rallied behing a zone. If the Aztecs shoot like they did last night, the zone will only create a really long night for the cougs. BYU can't handle the athletes in man to man. That said, this should be a good game. BYU finds ways to rally behind the garbage that JT chucks from 25 feet and the crafty offensive rebounds and defense that Emery plays. SDSU wins this one late.

SDSU 70 BYU 64

Wyoming vs Utah: The Pokes scare me!!! If Utah doesn't gaurd the three, they will lose this game no doubt! After watching the New Mexico game, I don't know if it really matters because a lot of the shots they are hitting are being gaurded. Utah seems to play well agains the Cowboys. Nevill needs to rebound after his poor performance against TCU. Drca needs to take better care of the ball! Utah should dominate the paint and the rebounds. Again, it is hard to beat a team three times, but it will happen here.

Utah 73 Wyoming 68...

Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament.....

This years conference basketball was a great battle between Utah, BYU, and New Mexico. Personally, I didn't think Utah would be in the mix with the way they'd played the last three season. Last year Jim Boylin turned them around and instilled some toughness into his players that they lacked from the previous years with Ray Giocoletti before he was fired. I did however think Utah would finish better than 4th which they were picked by the media and coaches.

This years tourney appears to be a moot point for Utah as they are projected a lock for the NCAA tourney which starts next week. BYU is pretty much a lock for the MWC as well. Teams such as San Diego State, UNLV, and New Mexico need to have a decent run in the conference to get in although the ESPN bracketologist has all 5 teams in his field of 65 right now.

Predictions....

#9 Air Force vs. #8 Colorado State: Air Force has played better of late, but were still winless in MWC play. They probably should have beaten BYU in Provo last Saturday. But I think that was probably more of the lack of preperation on BYU's part than the skill and ability of Air Force. Colorado State has improved a lot over the second half of the season knocking off UNLV, and taking Utah and New Mexico into overtime.

Winner... Colorado State 64-58

#8 Colorado State vs #1 BYU: While CSU has improved, they will play better than they have against byu all year. They were blown out in both meetings. It is hard to beat a team three times in one year, but it will happen here. BYU is to good for the Rams.

Winner... BYU 75-59

#5 UNLV vs. #4 San Diego State: The fact that UNLV is playing on their home floor is a sore spot to BYU fans as they can't beat UNLV down there or anywhere for that matter. SDSU on the other hand seems to match up with the Rebels and are healthy for the first time in a while. SDSU plays hard defense and has a lot of talent. UNLV seems to step up on their home floor year after year in this tournament. However, I think SDSU is peaking at the right time, and will end any hope of an at-large NCAA bid for the Rebels.

Winner... SDSU 65-61

#6 Wyoming vs #3 New Mexico: This is a tough first round match-up for the Lobos because Wyoming has the ability to make a team work really hard for a win. The Cowboys have a god back court with first team all conference Brandon Ewing. They have some talented forwards, but are a little weak at the center. New Mexico has played great as of late beating Utah and Wyoming to grab a share of the league. This game will be close, but New Mexico needs this to possibly get the attention of the tournament commitee. Wyoming will play in the NIT.

Winner: New Mexico 78-75

#7 TCU vs #2 Utah: Utah has played well even in their two losses they suffered the last week of the season. They led BYU at the half in Provo before going ice cold, and were homered a little against New Mexico. TCU has no answer for Utah's Luke Nevill. They are far to undersized. Kevin Langford can pull Nevill away from the basket a little, but not enough to make a difference. Nevill really effects a lot of shots under the basker. TCU other than Air Force is one of the coldest teams in the conference right now. They started the conference year with a 4-1 record, and closed out 1-10.

Winner: Utah 70-53

Second Round...

#4 San Diego State vs #1 BYU: BYU swepted the season series with the Aztecs which is the reason they got the number 1 seed over Utah and New Mexico. BYU beat SDSU in San Diego just a couple weeks ago behind an incredible come from behind win. They trailed by as many as 14 in the second half. SDSU was playing without starting center which made a difference. This is the game that is tough. It is hard to beat any team three times in one year, especially when they are as talented as SDSU. BYU has played 6 or 7 straight games they could have lost because of their poor first half performance. They will need a 100% great game to beat SDSU. But they won't get it.

Winner: SDSU 66-55

#3 New Mexico vs #2 Utah: Had Utah rebounded and protected the ball a little better in the Pit last week, Utah would have closed out the MWC outrught title. Because they didn't, the had to settle for a share. Nevill disappeared in the second half against the Lobos last game. He will make up for it and Utah will rebound from their previous loss. New Mexico is playing well, but these two teams always play close no matter the location. This will be another close one with Utah improving their NCAA seed stock with a win.

Winner: Utah 68-66

MWC Championship

#4 San Diego State vs #2 Utah

These two seem to play each other well. Both teams won their home game this year by 10 points. A neuteal floor should bring a highly competative game with an outcome going to the wire. Utah will need to play mistake free ball to knock off a hot SDSU team that is trying to lock an NCAA birth. SDSU is strong defensively and has a fast little point gaurd in Richie Williams that Utah struggles to keep in front of them. Again, SDSU is peaking at the right time in the MWC.

Winner: SDSU 62-59

NCAA's

Utah will get a 7 seed
BYU will get an 8 seed
New Mexico will be an 11
SDSU will be a 12

GO UTES

Carlon Brown's dunk of the year
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeO83WvClWI

The BCS Scheme

Seriously, what would a person rather do, go to that meeting for "Quickstar" with that friend that gets dooped into every multilevel business, or listen to ignorant BCS league executive back the BCS like it's some sort of proven system?

I would personally rather not do either. Lets not throw in the timeshare presentations either because I would like to punch the sales people in the mouth when sitting through to "earn" the Home Depot gift card.

In the history of the BCS, I can only think of one year that the system got it right. That would be the 2006 Rose Bowl and the BCS national "title" game between the University of Texas and the USC Trojans. But even then it was a fluke that both teams made it through their schedule unbeaten while no other team in America did. So in the ten years or so the BCS has been around, the right decision fell into their laps one time. In the Bible, I think 1 tenth is revered to as a "Tithe." So in essence the BCS has officially been tithed! When I hear the phrase Bowl Championship Series, I think of a series or playoff such as the World Series.

So who is number 1 this year when the final poll was released? Obviously it was Florida who won the lottery of computers for the "title". Are they the best team in America? I don't know, especially after their uninspired win over Oklahoma. Didn't OU give that game away by the way?

Why not this? I keep hearing that a "plus 1" should be added. WHY? The BCS could work but it chooses not to. A playoff is not fully necessary although there must be one inside the BCS system. 5 BCS games is to many. I am the first to admit that year in and year out, teams like Utah, Boise State, BYU, and TCU cannot compete in the big leagues. But there are years where their teams are special.

Why not go back to the original 4 games; the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl. An 8 team playoff. Change the requirement for a non-BCS league team once again only this time to be in the top 8 to have a shot. In this system, Utah is the only team that would have gotten in if this were the system from day 1.

Once you take the top 8 or the 6 BCS league champs, there is room for 2 at large teams. 1 non-BCS league school, and one other such as Texas this year. If you took the league champs this is how the playoff would have looked and the seedings.

1. Oklahoma v. 20 Virginia Tech
2. Florida v. 15 Cincinnati
3. Texas v. 7 Penn State
5. USC v. 6 Utah

Does that not look better to anyone else. It does to me although I would never want garbage in the system such as Cinci and a 4-loss Virginia Tech team. But they were both the conference champs of their leagues. In this playoff, OU defeats Va Tech, Florida defeats Cinci, Texas defeats Penn State, and I believe USC probably beats Utah. But anything can happen and thats the beauty of a playoff. See NY Giants over New England in 2008 Superbowl.

Re-seeding the teams you get

1. Oklahoma v. 5 USC
2. Florida v. 3 Texas

My opinion tells me that USC defeats OU, and Florida hammers Texas. But again, anything can happen!

We then have an actual title game with USC v. Florida and everyone has their chance to prove what they need. This system will never happen but it would sure be nice. What is an extra three games to the eventual champion and runner-up? I don't think any player or coach would argue this. And for the record, I think Florida would beat USC but we'll never know so I am not agreeing with the BCS computers.

Changes need to be made so America can have a TRUE college football champ!!!! But since they don't, the only undefeated team in America, the University of Utah should be the national champions.

Get a clue you BCS morons! The writing is on the wall! How many corporations would allow their system to fail regularly without making changes to improve the system? I can't think of any that would!!!!!!!

2008 Deer Hunt

This year I was lucky enough to go down to the La Salle's with a couple friends from work on the archery hunt. I wasn't hunting, but rather showing them some area that they hadn't been to in the La Salles. They were the ones I originally began going there with.

This was more or less a scouting trip for me. The trip was priceless as they all are with Brandon. The first trip down there was the "cactus incident" and the Mason Draw mistake. This time Brandon locked his car keys in his car. Brandon has no patience and takes things immediately to the extreme to fix his current problems. To make a long story short, Brent and I talked Brandon out of smashing in his window to wait until the morning to find some loose fence wire to try to jimmy his door open. It worked and we were able to get in his car without smashing in his window.

While there, I learned some new area that was fruitful during the blackpowder hunt not to mention I saw some deer worthing hiking after.

The muzzle load hunt came and we went down a couple days before the opener. We go early to scout, fish, and play on the ATV's. We scouted nearly two full days before the opener and saw a grand total of 8 deer. Every last one was a doe. I was discouraged and was considering not going to the clearing where I saw a big one on the archery. I decided to go there anyways and I am glad I did. I began seeing bucks right off the bat that morning when there began to be daylight. I am picky so the two 3-points I saw were not even worth looking at. I was slowly making my way over to the base of the upper clearing when I began to see movement in a clearing just below the base of the upper meadow. I saw there was another 3-point buck in there. I watched him for a moment hoping to see more. Some does stepped out and I decided to move them along and pushed them into the upper meadow. Through the tree's I could see there were other deer I was missing so I began a pretty swift hike up to the meadow. As I was about to get into the upper meadow I saw a big buck. I glassed him, and was surprised to find a non-typical heavy horned 3-point frame with a lot of "SH&T" kicking out. Not really wide about 25-26" but very tall and heavy. This was my deer!!! I began a fast pursuit. I had at one point about a 200 yard shot but didn't feel comfortable with it. I decided I would stalk him even though he was moving away. While I was catching my breath, I heard my dads friend on the radio state "theres the big one." I thought they were talking about the freak buck that just went up the mountain. After this thought I looked back to where the deer had been moving and saw a massive 4-point. Looked from where I was to be about 27-29"wide. I was tired and remembered something I heard on a hunting video. If you have time to calm down and relax then do it because it improves your chances of getting the big one. The shot was between 125 and 150 yards. Not a terrible shot, but I have a 1 power scope so not great either. With my trusty shooting stick I aimed at him but couldn't get still. The deer had stopped and was watching me. After probably 5 minutes, the deer was up and looking to move into the trees. I was now calm and smooth. I put the crosshairs on his heart and squoze the trigger. The impact was devastating. It looked as if the deer was knocked out standing. I later found I hit the deer just below the backbone just above his guts. He just stood there for what seemed to be an eternity. Then I went to chamber another round and remembered I had to cram another damn slug in my Thompson. I hit him one more time at a short distance in the heart.

He is a 28.5" 4X5 buck. He isn't real tall, but he is wide, and heavy. I wasn't able to do a full shoulder mount right away so I had a Europian done. I will probably have a shoulder mount done in a couple years. I will just need another cape to do so. This was a fun experience. Come to find out, there was about 11 hunters watching this the whole time but were all to far to take a crack at him.

On a side note, I saw only 8 doe on Monday and Tuesday before the hunt. I saw 26 buck opening day. What a day it was. All of us in our group filled our tags that hunt. Great hunt, 4 for 4....

Photo's of the La Salle Mountains

Here are some photos of the La Salle Mountains. Pictures include some of Miners Basin which was on fire last September. It's a shame to because Miners Basin is really pretty... Others are of the area including the Castle Valley area with Round Mountain.

2007 Deer Hunt

We hunt down in southeastern Utah near Moab up in the La Salle Mountains. I think the La Salle Mountains are some of the prettiest mountains I have ever seen in my life. They are very tall as well. I really need a better camera to catch the beauty of them a little better. That is something I would like to purchase this year. Not anything to special, but something that will grab a great picture.

Two years ago, my dad, brothers Andy, Matt, and Mike along my dads work friend called Worker Boy took our annual trip on the deer hunt. We used to hunt up in the northern region of Utah but since there is a rediculous number of hunter, few deer, little public land and a bunch of idiot DWR officers, I simply quit hunting until a friend introduced me to the area 4 years ago. Since then, I have filled my tag every year. The best part is, the deer have been bigger and bigger every year and I keep seeing bigger and bigger deer every year.

It has taken some time, but we have learned some pretty good area in and around the La Salle's. After a couple days hunting last year and passing a couple bucks (two mediocre 3-points), we decided to move camp to another location. Right off the bat we noticed a difference. We were seeing deer off our ATV's right away. On the first night in our new location, got three shots at a nice 26" 4-point buck. I saw him tucked at the base of a clearing. When I jumped off the 4 wheeler, I left my trusty monopod on the bike which I haven't done since. From 100 yards with my Thompson blackpowder I missed three times. Still the deer didn't move. He didn't see us. Byt this time my brothers were trying to hit them as well with no luck. Still the deer didn't seem to care we were trying to kill them Then a loud pop!!! Dad sounded like he was shooting a .22 pistol at them. When his cap went off, the deer spooked. Dads gun which he neglected to clean as thorough as needed misfired making it sound like a .22 pistol.

I went back and cleaned my rifle and shot it a few more times because I felt like I was still fairly steady. I found when using a dead rest, my gun was about 4 inches low and 4 inches to the right. I don't know how that happened. I fixed it for the following morning. In the morning I decided to head up the mountain where we'd been shooting at those deer. No deer to be found! I decided to keep going up and up and up and up and up. Sometimes when I get hiking, I just need to see whats over the next ridge or mountain. Kind of like the song playing in the background of the diner on Dumb and Dumber. "The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see, the other side of the mountain was all that he could see." This is usually what happens. So I hiked to the top of this huge rock slide. I don't know what I was expecting to see, maybe this sweet watering hole with a 32 inch 5X5 waiting for me. When I got to the top of the slide, naturally it began to blizzard on me. Keep in mind this is in September. But, the top of that rock slide according to my GPS is 11,000 feet in elevation. Since it was snowing, I thought I should start heading down. I was not prepared for snow. I saw a large clearing on the way up and thought I would drop into it. As I was coming into the clearing, I was talking on our Motorolla two way radios with dad. Being the pro hunter that I am, I didn't notice the 5 deer 70 yards walking into the clearing right away until it was to late. Leading the herd was what I estimate to be that 32 inch 5X5 followed by about a 28 inch 4-point. Then there was a pretty nice 4-point looking about 24 inches, then a doe (weird I know) then this dinky 2-point. I thought of my 2-point killing friend Brandon when I saw it.

Since the deer busted me, the two really big ones in a mad dash busted over the top of the mountain 700 feet above me. The other 4-point was interested in the walking tree though. So naturally I set my shooting stick down and got ready to shoot. Thats when the previous day came to mind and I picked up my shooting stick and rested my gun on it. Boom..... Then the cloud of smoke disipated. The deer stood there still looking at me. I thought I missed, cussed at myself and began to re-load. While re-loading, the deer tumbled 12 feet down the mountain. After a short trail I found him in some pines and tagged him. Man I wish I were paying attention when I came into the clearing.