Land of the Free, Home of the Brave

The Finish Line for the Boston Marathon

I was stunned today by the news of the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.  The news was so awful that it really didn't seem real.  It was almost too much to believe.  I thought of the runners and their families the spectators who were there to cheer on these amazing athletes and the unselfish volunteers who just wanted to provide a safe, fun experience for the runners and their guests.

One of the participants in the marathon was from my triathlon club.  She briefly shared some of her thoughts with us via Facebook.  These are her words of the moments from just before the tragedy:

"My husband was just about to post a picture of us at the finish... It was to read 'one of the happiest days of our lives'...Then the bomb went off...."

I have tried to ignore the news reports on the tragedy throughout the day, but they are tough to avoid.  It just didn't seem like watching the sadness over and over was a very productive thing--at least for me.  But I will tell you one thing that I noticed.

Volunteers Aiding the Victims

In the seconds after that first explosion, I realized that police officers, race volunteers (including doctors) wearing their fluorescent yellow bibs, National Guardsmen, spectators and runners started running toward the blast.  Within minutes, they had stripped away the barriers and fences to make room for ambulances and emergency responders to get to the victims on the sidewalk.  These courageous men and women weren't trying to get away.  They were literally running to aid the victims.  They exhibited little care or concern for their own safety or for whether there might be further danger.  They went to aid the injured because they simply wanted to help.

NYC's Bravest

It reminded me of the bravery of the NYC firefighters on 9/11 who selflessly raced up the stairs of the Twin Towers at the same time that the survivors were coming down the stairs to get out and as the buildings were collapsing.  That type of courage is remarkable to me and it seems fitting that moments of tragedy can reveal the true greatness of our nation's character.

I'm grateful for these examples of nobility and sacrifice that temper our nation's tragedies.  The selflessness, bravery, and courage of those volunteers today and the heroes of 9/11 are what makes this country great and what makes me proud to be an American.  I will try and focus on that bravery, that spirit of bravery and courage--rather than dwell on the unimaginable sadness, loss, and grief that too many are still enduring.

There are people around the world who apparently hate this country and what it stands for enough to try and harm the innocent.  But I'm grateful that there are so many good Americans out there--like those police officers, race volunteers, spectators, and runners at the finish line in Boston today--that can inspire us.

Weekend Update

S. and R. with their  bikes and new helmets on our street today

Well, it's Sunday evening.  I hope that everyone has had a great weekend.  It was fairly relaxing for me, despite having a full day of baseball (2 games) and basketball closing social and potluck yesterday.  It was so busy that I didn't get to my workout until I did 6.2 miles last night (this morning) at 2 a.m.  Yes, I am crazy, but I really needed to get that run in.  And I was happy with my time, so maybe my preparations for Oceanside are coming along.

So without further ado, here is an update on some of the items that I've been blogging about lately:

The Parable of the Bicycle:
Remember this post?  Well, S. has loved his bicycle.  He got it on Monday night and I wasn't able to take him out for his bike riding lesson until yesterday (Saturday).  As I suspected, it took S. about 2 minutes to learn how to ride his bike.  He did great!  (And I feel a lot less guilt!)

He ran out today by himself and was doing laps on our street on his bike.  He will get more confident and faster as he gets more experience, but he is on his way.

After our lesson, I took S. and R. to our local Walmart to get them some new helmets (see above).  Mom, per your instructions, I used the birthday money you sent for S.'s new helmet.!  He didn't have one and he had a lot more confidence today now that he has a new helmet.  He was also really excited to get it last night!

I even took the rest of the kids out to go riding as well since the weather was so beautiful this afternoon:

M. really enjoyed his ride

E. was begging for me to keep doing lap after lap through the neighborhood

My brother even made a surprise visit and wanted to test out S.'s cool new bike

Baseball As Life:
R. had a game yesterday.  He was pretty nervous during batting practice beforehand, but we worked on it together and he actually put the ball in play both times he came to the plate yesterday.  I know that sounds kind of lame, but he didn't strike out and it was definitely an improvement.  I don't care whether he is the world's best baseball player or the world's worst, but I want him to learn to not give up and to keep practicing.  I'm so grateful that he made tangible progress yesterday.

I *Heart* Tyler Haws:
I've been getting my basketball fix with the March Madness tourney.  BYU (and Tyler Haws) will be playing tomorrow night at the Marriott Center.  Too bad I'm not in town.  That would have been a fun game to take the boys to watch.

The BYU women's team is also in the NIT tourney.  They advanced to the third round by beating SDSU on Saturday at the Marriott Center.  They play WCC conference opponent St. Mary's (a team that they played twice this season--beating St. Mary's at home and losing to them on the road) on Wednesday night at the Marriott Center.  Go Cougs!

10 Things I Love About You (Baby M Edition)

February 1, 2013

M. and I got to spend some quality time at R.'s baseball game yesterday.  He is such a cute little guy to hold and I'm trying to enjoy him as much as possible.  He is almost 10 months old and I know that he won't be little forever.

M., here are 10 Things I Love About You over the past 2-3 months:

Holding M. at the game yesterday

10.  I love that he is our biggest baby.  He is chubby which is unusual in our extended family.  At his last check-up, he was in the 90th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight.  The height thing is normal in our family.  The weight thing is not.  I hope he keeps growing!

Holding M. on my shoulders at Little League Picture Day - 02-23-2013

9.  I love that he loves to sit up on my shoulders.  He does really well up there--I think he appreciates the view!

M. on the swings - 01-24-2013

8.  I love his smile.  He usually gets a big grin on his face when he sees me in the mornings.  I like to call him "Smiley."

M. relaxing at the elementary school's Open House - 02-21-2013

7.  I love how he grabs at the hair on my arms or my shirt when I'm holding him.

M. at play - 01-10-2013

6. I love the way he gurgles and babbles since he's too young to talk.

M. chases down a mini basketball in church - 01-13-2013

5.  I love that M. loves to play ball.  It must be genetic.  :-)

4.  I love the fact that he goes right down at night after I feed him a bottle.

02-01-2013

3.  I love that he is the most snuggly of all our kids.

01-26-2013

2.  I love when he crawls over to me when I'm standing at the sink in my bathroom and stands up while holding onto my leg because he wants me to hold him.

01-26-2013

1.  I love that I'm blessed to be your dad!

02-09-2013

Spring Cleaning

Yesterday was officially the first day of Spring and today was our firm's annual March Madness party.  I decided it was time to do some extensive cleaning of my office.  I figured that I should take some pictures to document the result.  It may never be this clean again!

I'm proud of the door to my office!

It's been a while since this much floor space and desk space was visible

I also got a couple of thing hung on the wall (finally)

The Prayer at Valley Forge - Arnold Friberg

I'm really excited about the Arnold Friberg painting of George Washington kneeling in the snow at Valley Forge.  It was a very generous gift from my sister T.  T., I want you to know that I saw at least one person at our party today going into my office to get a closer look at the painting.

My first trophy in many, many years!

The other major event last night was that I played in the Coaches Game from the Boys and Girls' Club basketball league that R. and S. played in this season.  They just did a schoolyard pick of teams, but there was a referee, a clock, and a scoreboard.  We won 96-90.  I probably had one of the best scoring games of my life.  The basket looked huge and I probably had at least half of our team's points.

I also had a ton of assists and made some really fun passes to my teammates where I threaded the needle just past the outstretched fingertips of the defender.  After the game, they awarded an MVP trophy (which was a huge surprise).  It was pretty fun.  In the parking lot, one of my teammates asked me where I'd played my college ball.  Ummmm....I didn't.  But it was still cool that he thought that I had.  It was just one of those nights where everything seemed to go down and I played way better than I deserved to.  It's just too bad that none of my family was there to see it.

I *Heart* Tyler Haws

Tyler Haws dribbles up the court

March Madness is in full swing now.  For the first time in 6 years, my team--the BYU Cougars--are not going to the Big Dance.  But they did make the NIT tournament, at least.  So their season isn't over...yet!

They played Washington Tuesday night and got only their second post season win in the past 11 years when they didn't have someone named "Jimmer" on their team.  But BYU appears to have a new superstar in the making--Tyler Haws.

Teams have to resort to faceguarding to stop him.

Tyler's line last night:

• 37 points
• 15-24 (.625 FG%) from the field
• 6-6 from the charity stripe
• 6 rebounds
• 3 assists

Yes, he is a big-time player and he's only a sophomore.  So far this season, Tyler (who is among the nation's leaders in scoring (21.4 ppg) and free throw percentage (.872)) has scored 706 points.  He is only one of 5 players in the history of BYU basketball to do so.  The others?  Only Jimmer Fredette (twice--1,068 in 2011 and 751 in 2010), Devin Durrant (866), Danny Ainge (782), and Michael Smith (765).

Not only is Tyler a great player, but he's also a great person.  He hung up his sneakers to serve a two-year mission to the Philippines where he learned Tagalog.  It makes you wonder what he can do in the next two years  now that he has "shaken off" the mission rust from his game.

I love this video about how he and his dad would go practice at their local church.  If your kids love basketball, sports, BYU, or any of the above you need to have them watch this short video (I need to have my kids watch it with me again!):

I got a chance to meet Tyler Haws last summer up at BYU basketball camp and he was so gracious and kind to all the campers.  He is the type of player that you want to root for and that you want your kids to look up to.

I still remember watching Tyler's dad, Marty Haws, play on some pretty good basketball teams at BYU in the 1980s.  I'm looking forward to seeing Tyler continue to lead BYU basketball over the next couple of years!  Go Cougs!

Baseball as Life

R. Playing 3rd Base After His At-Bat

Baseball has never been my favorite sport. I generally prefer a faster pace to a game. But some people love baseball (it didn't become the national pastime by accident) and see it as a metaphor for life.

If you read my last post on Little League and some of my recent posts, you know I've been spending a fair amount if time lately thinking about kids, life, and fatherhood.

Tonight as I pulled up to the field to watch R.'s game, I think I maybe I understand why baseball can be like life. And why it has brought fathers and sons across America bond for generations.

As I got out of the car, my heart sank as I saw R. walking back to the dugout with his bat slung across his shoulder while his teammates hustled and bustled to get out into the field to play defense.

It was immediately clear what had happened. R. had struck out to end the inning. I braced myself for a repeat of last game.

But that's why baseball and life are so great. As in life, we are not bound to failure in baseball. Every day is a new day. Every game is a new game. Every at bat is a new at bat. We can change, get better, and improve. We can hope that the next time we will see positive change. Even if that change is incremental.

R. was smiling when I saw him in the dugout. He excitedly told me that he hadn't been as afraid of the ball. And then he hustled off to go play third base on defense.

Then I walked over to where the parents were sitting. Several of them were kind enough to come up to me--all on their own--and tell me what a great at bat R. had had. He had fouled the ball off a couple of times and had gone down swinging. It may not have been much--but it was progress!

Later one of the coaches spontaneously told me what a great job R. had done.

As I sat to watch the rest of the game, I noticed that tonight's game felt so much different than the last game. Gone were the dark, dank mists and fog. It was clear and palpably warmer. Everything felt...better.

So I will appreciate the sense of newfound optimism that I feel tonight. And I'm looking forward to R.'s next at bat. He's hitting next inning and I'm excited to see him continue to improve. In baseball and in life. :-)

Be a Joyrider

Earlier this week, we were at a friend's house for a get-together with a bunch of people from our ward.  The kids were running crazy upstairs and outside while the adults visited downstairs.  I left my iPhone unattended for a few minutes while I went to get some food.  When I came back, it was gone!

Apparently, my iPhone had gotten lost sprouted legs and walked off been taken for a little joyride.  I looked all over for it.  I called it.  I even tried to track it.  Nada.  Then I went upstairs, where, by a stroke of providence, I "found" my iPhone and ended the joyride.

It wasn't until a day or two later, that I noticed that my iPhone had some interesting pictures that told their own story of the joyride.  So if you ever wonder what your kids are doing upstairs with their friends while you're busy downstairs with your friends, this photo essay may give you some idea.

It's chaos in the kids' bedrooms...

...Thunder dome in the kids' bathrooms...

...and the culprits may leave behind some incriminating evidence...

...but you really can't stay too mad when they flash their cute pearly whites!