Goooooooo Cougars

College Football begins Saturday and after a trip to the BYU Bookstore the Emmetts are ready. How 'bout you? Be warned Northern Iowa Tech State Community University.

Yes it's true that Lily's onesie is pink and yes I realize that pink is a shade of red. Whoever in merchandising or marketing thought it was OK to create BYU paraphernalia that had anything to do with red probably made a lot of money but it's blood money. And I feel bad contributing. But as much as I don't like it I also don't like answering the questions "What's his name?" "How old is he?" "Well isn't he just the cutest?" "Hey buddy, you gonna be a linebacker, huh?"

Century Fever

Team Norda's Central Utah Chapter (currently accepting applications) hooked up Saturday morning for our own private century. With LOTOJA coming up in three weeks we figured it was a good idea to get in at least one triple digit training ride. We wanted to not only do 100 miles, but also not hit a single stop light. Not an easy task but possible in this neck of the woods. Here's how we did it, sort of.
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2171181
That's actually how we planned to do it but had a couple minor changes. At mile 75 the security guard at Glenwild community turned us away. "oh this is a private road? No I didn't see the nine signs at the bottom of the hill." It just meant we had to do a couple laps around the neighborhood to make sure somebody's computer read 100.00. I had a brief panic attack at mile 90 when coming down the hill from Park City. I completely forgot about the light at the intersection of Highway 40 and River Road. We were going to make it 92 miles and then fail. I quickly ran through our options and really the only way to get back into Heber Valley without going off road was to turn around and head back to Park City, Kamas, Francis, Woodland, and over Wolf Creek the same way we got out of the valley. Which wasn't an option at that point, nor is it ever really option with the 15% grades on that side of the mountain. Then I thought to myself, as long as we are turning right that stop light is really more of a suggestion than a hard and fast rule. A guideline of sorts. You don't even really have to look at, it's for other people. So we squinted our eyes, turned right, and forgot about it.



In other news from the weekend . . .
Jack and I had a good time at Fathers and Sons Friday night. It was up Little Hobble Creek Canyon above Wallsburg. A very pretty setting. It was good food and good company. Unfortunately the people we loaned our tent to haven't returned it. I was really bummed too because I totally would have stayed and camped. It was just what I wanted to do, not get any sleep on a hard ground next to a restless 22-month-old.
Oh and Lily still inspires us to say "she is so stinkin cute" at least a dozen times a day.Brian and Jackie hung out Saturday night to attend the Sorensen Family Bluegrass Concert in Oakley. Our friend and neighbor does this once a year with his family. I've never been much into cowboy music but something about a good banjo makes me smile.

Baby Blessing

Lily is a very lucky girl. She had Great Grandparents come from Oxnard, Palos Verdes, and Logan to be there for her blessing. Her Grandma McEuen sewed her beautiful little dress which was a very big hit. She's wearing it in the video below. Which is one of the cutest things ever captured on film. Once she starts cooing she really gets going.

Emmett Family Reunion

As hard as it is to tear myself away from watching Misty May and Kerri Walsh dominate the beach in Beijing I need to get a couple posts up. Last weekend the Extended Emmett Doggies gathered in Logan to celebrate my Grandparents 60th anniversary. The festivities actually started at Lagoon on Thursday but worked called and we were not able to make it for that. It had nothing to do with the disappointment I experienced as a 12-year-old when I first and last visited Lagoon. Apparently it is still hot there but there are several more fun coasters to ride.
The weekend was a blast and as always it is good to get together with family. Lots of good food and company. Friday was spent at Bear Lake and most of Saturday was spent at Twin Pine Ranch. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a fun weekend and for starting a great family.
Here's Jack setting foot on land again. He braved the tube with his mom and aunts Kristin and Jackie. He thought it was particularly hilarious when water swamped the tube. I also like this picture because it actually proves I was there that day. You can see people in the background at a shift change. We pulled the boat from Midway and once we put it in the water I didn't get off it again until we pulled it out 5 hours later. Judging by the screams heard that day people were either having fun or really really hated it. Special thanks to the in-laws for letting us take the boat. Bear Lake is such a pretty lake. The water is totally different than most of the mountain lakes we frequent. Really blue and crystal clear.
Lily mostly enjoyed sleeping on grandpa in the shade.Here's the Irvine Emmetts with Grandma and Grandpa. Saturday morning everyone gathered to pick special heirlooms and other "junk" as described by Grandma. Everyone got a pick based on when they joined the family and we rotated for 7 or 8 rounds before it turned into a grab what you want free for all. My dad picked second and grabbed the eye chart I wanted. It's no ordinary eye chart, the letters spell out "KEEP AMERICA BEAUTIFUL CLEAN UP YOUR ROOM". I remember as a young child when I first realized it actually said something. My mom picked seventh and grabbed a hand knitted sweater, originally made by Grandma for Uncle Bill. It is over 55 years old but looks great. Fits Lily perfectly. Since my parents used their picks for us we let them have our first couple picks. We got to pick for both Jack and Lily so our picks really added up fast. Beth was in her element. She is such a natural forager that this type of thing is better than a kid in a candy shop. She cleaned up, especially at the end when nobody else seemed to want all of my Great Grandma's things. The women out there probably want more details but I don't know how to describe it other than "stuff". There was a really old table cloth, baby bonnet, fabrics, silver stuff, and other related things that probably came from pioneer times. I was stoked with my eye chart and couple Hi-C mugs.
It worked out that my mom's family had a reunion that afternoon in Logan as well. Before heading to that we worked up a sweat playing backyard soccer. For the second time in as many days I really missed Elder Mikey. He'll be home in time for next summer's festivities. I didn't appreciate my cousin Samantha making me look bad.
There were a few slackers but just about everyone made it for the photo.