More on the Door

Since I re-stained the front door, the rest of the house needed some serious help.  So I just got finished painting the front windows white and the cement pieces below them black.  I also painted the thing (I really don't know what to call it) above the front door black.  Then I decided that I should try to strip the old paint off of the door frame and stain it the same color as the door.  But..it...just...wouldn't...come...off.  The original yellow paint that was under layers and layers of other colors would not lift off the wood, so I decided to paint it white to match the windows.  I think it looks all right and it makes the door stand out.  On to the next project!

 The front porch.

 The front windows.

The above the door thing. If anyone knows the correct term for this, let me know!

I still need to get the upstairs windows but I am in need of a very long ladder.  For some reason I am able to get more projects done now that the boys are in school.

Little League Tackle Football

Jacob has started his tackle football season.  It's pretty fun to watch.  He chose to have number 80.  That makes it easy for me to find him since it is Mark's number also.  He played on the line most of the game and then when one of our guys had to come out of the game he played center.  I think he liked doing that position.  Here he is getting in on a tackle. These photos were taken by Brad Roper.  Thanks for sharing.  This is a lot to look at but it is fun to watch Jacob finish out this tackle in their backfield.  Jacob has number 26 on his helmet and number 80 on his shirt.

  It surely was a long game.  there were four twelve minute quarters on a very hot day.  These little guys will be playing during a couple of home high school football games this fall.  Jacob is enjoying learning the game.  The only way to go is up!

Bulldogs beat the Buffaloes!

The bulldogs pull off another victory against a tough Mountain View team.  The Bulldogs were ahead 14 to zero at the half.   We let the Mountain View Buffaloes into the game early in the third quarter with a touchdown.  Dino Collins was injured with a sprained ankle.  We scored again but our defense buckled a little and let them score twice in the fourth.  Thank goodness we had Cody Savage kicking our extra points.  He nailed all three to give the Bulldogs a 21 to nineteen victory.  Mark played very well, I thought.  He had to pick up some extra coverage after our inside linebacker was ejected from the game for an unsportsmanlike call. (Okay, this is going to sound unsportsmanlike too, but the Ref's could have called the unsportmanlike stuff both ways.  Dylan was finally fed up with the cheap shots and late hits that we were getting.  I think he finally had enough when they threw Collin down and stepped on him after the play was dead.  This happened all game.)  I do appreciate our coaches taking the high road and encouraging our kids to do the same.  They are teaching our boys life lessons and teaching them to be men.... good men.

Mark got the first touchdown of the game running up the middle.  It was awesome to watch the blocking that AJ Montanez gave him and also Nathan Ballard helped guide him through the MV line. 

This picture is of Mark getting a reception.

Overall the day was a good one.  Jan Asay and I showed up at the Collins home where Amanda and Glynn joined us.  Amanda is a sweet girl and we had lots to talk about since the trip took about six and half hours to get there and then six and a half back.  I drove down and then Glynn drove home, mostly in the dark.  Thanks for the great company everyone!  The boys had to stay overnight in Lander because of our rule that the buses should not be on the road after 1 in the morning.

This is the video of Mark's touchdown.

Homecoming Victory!

The multi-talented Lovell Bulldogs were victorious over the Lyman eagles in a hard fought homecoming victory!  Just as Spike predicted it was 21 to 0 at the half.  The Bulldogs gave the Eagles hope in the third quarter by letting them score their lone touchdown.  The bulldogs played a smart defensive game to win 21 to 7.

 This is the only frame off the video of Mark's interception that was any good.  Whew!  I wish I just knew when something good was going to happen and I would be ready!

Everyone on the team hit hard, ran hard and tackled hard.  This was the first game that the first string played the whole game.  Mark came out for a breather for  a series of downs on defense in the third quarter but other than that was in the whole game.  I got lots of video clips.  A few of them were definitely bloopers and we looked a little rough around the edges but overall played a great game.  This video is of Mark's touchdown run up the middle.

  Of course I missed his awesome sack of the quarterback late in the fourth quarter....and I missed the interception that he got.  I did get the clips of potential 'pick 6es'.  He had two pass breakups that were almost interceptions and the field was clear to the goal line.  Now that he has a full game under his belt for the year, I am sure things will start to smooth out.

Spike says his blocking for Dino was fantastic.  Quote from Spike..."I love it when he can grab his guy and run him into another one, taking out two at once."

Fifth Grade Camp Out

" This was a group activity that involved teamwork and you had to trust the person in front of you to guide you around obstacles" -- Jacob

 That is called Alaskan Skiing.  You have to use ropes to lift one side and put it forward and then do the other board.  We learned to have teamwork.

 This was when you had to get the rope first without going across a line.  We used a branch to reach it.

 We had to swing on the rope over to a board without touching the ground, if you did, then everyone that was on the board had to go back.

This is a balancing act. We had to balance the board then one person from one side and a person from the other had to switch places without losing balance.

Jacob liked the entire thing.  They spent their time at the NWC field camp up in Sunlight basin.  Spike got to go and be a chaperone which is why we got some good pictures to share.

Homecoming Mohawk?

Um....It's okay to smile for the camera :)

So...Mark texted me last night during the Pep Assembly.  "Mom, I need a hair cut, I'll be home in a few minutes."  I thought he needed to get spruced up a bit but No.  The team gave him a Mohawk during the Pep Assembly and I needed to straighten it.  I wish I had been there and I would have gotten way better pictures. Pretty much the whole team has Mohawks now.  Mark was a little reluctant since we don't have Senior pictures done yet.... his hair will grow.

The Bulldogs play the Lyman Eagles tonight.  It should be a great game.  Both teams are undefeated.  We shall see.  My resident guru on football says that Lyman will not score and we will post at least three touchdowns.

President Monson's thoughts on 9/11

9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild

By Thomas S. Monson

Badge from fire helmet discovered in the debris post 9/11/01. (Ira Block) The calamity of September 11th, 2001 has cast a long shadow. Ten years later, many of us are still haunted by its terrible tragedy of lost lives and broken hearts. It is an episode of anguish that has become a defining moment in the history of the American nation and the world. This week, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with Tom Brokaw, will pay its own homage to the unforgettable events of September 11, 2001.
There was, as many have noted, a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy. People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding. Comfortable times were shattered. We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven. And, as ever, we found it. Americans of all faiths came together in a remarkable way.
Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well.
Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change.
But we are less faithful than He is. By nature we are vain, frail, and foolish. We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep the commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. Sometimes we forget to succor the poor and the downtrodden who are also His children. And our forgetfulness is very much to our detriment.
If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.
The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day. We truly “need Him every hour,” not just in hours of devastation. We must speak to Him, listen to Him, and serve Him. If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men. We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.
It is constancy that God would have from us. Tragedies are not merely opportunities to give Him a fleeting thought, or for momentary insight to His plan for our happiness. Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior. We may not only find faith in God in our sorrow. We may also become faithful to Him in times of calm.

Mark's Back! Lovell VS Pinedale

This run is the first play of the game.  Mark caught the ball on the 10 yard line and then 80 yards to set up a nice Bulldog touchdown!  In this picture Pinedale number 45 just sort of fell down before Mark even got to him.  Sparky told me he gave him a fake and the guy tripped over himself.  Cool.  Mark is doing much better since the concussion.  He had no problems.  He did say that he got the snot knocked out of him.  Actually he got a really nice hard hit and his sinuses cleared all at once.  He said it wasn't pretty, mostly just gross, but he breathed much better after that.

The Bulldogs traveled to Pinedale Friday night to play the Wranglers on their nice astro turf field.  Mark got two touchdowns while playing a new position for him on offense.  He got to play full back and did a nice job.  He is getting lots of experience playing lots of different places so far this year.  Dino "The Beast" Collins ran the ball in for three touchdowns.  Collin Mcarthur got a lovely pass and ran a touchdown into the end zone. Steven ran one in from the full back position and Dimas Patina ran the ball on a quarterback bootleg.  The score was 47 to 0 at the half.  The clock keeps running as long as the spread of the score is more than 45 points.  The clock didn't stop in the second half and the second string played the entire second half and scored one more touchdown to make the final score 54 to 0.

Nice job Bulldogs!  We are proud of you!  This video is of the 80 yard run Mark had on the first kickoff.

I have to say that I love to travel with the Sports Moms.  We have such good conversations on these trips and we pretty much solve the world problems.  If you need the answers, just ask us. ;)

New Look for an Old Door!

 This is the front door to our home that was built in 1929.  I don't think it has been re-finished in all that time till now. We just kept putting off this project because we needed to do it when the weather was warm, and when we had five days in a row to work on it.  The door is massive.  It is solid mahogany and very heavy.  Spike and I were going to take it off the hinges but decided to just do it with it hanging.  First we sanded it down and got all the old varnish off and the stain.  This was a difficult process because of all the molding so we used to spray on stripper to get in all the cracks.  The top picture is of the door after we sprayed the chemical on it.

 Here I am putting the stain on.  We used a dark walnut to try to match the stain that is on the inside.  I found that is it a little different but you don't look at both sides of the door at the same time so it didn't really matter.  We put on six coats of varnish. Each coat took four hours to dry. This should be protected from the rain, snow, sun and wind that we experience here in Wyoming.

This wooden door is quite lovely.  Now that the outside is done I feel like I should re-do the inside but then I would need to re-do all the wood in the front hallway and that would lead to more that needs to be done.  Whew!  That makes me tired just thinking about it.  We do need to get the living room floor re-done and the hallway.  I hope we can do it before the snow flies.

Now when people come to knock on the door they won't get slivers in their knuckles.  Yea!!!

Lovell VS Wright

Mark performed very well before the game.  The swing choir sang the National Anthem.  That's the only action he was involved in for this game.  Frustration really set in for him during the game.  He loves to play football and to be stuck on the sidelines was really hard.

The Bulldogs pulled off an impressive win in their first game of the season against the Wright Panthers.  Last year the game against Wright was a pretty close game but this year was not.  Wright only brought about 25 players, so I am not sure if they just didn't have the numbers this year or we just got that much better.  I know they lost some pretty impressive seniors from last year but so did we.  Hmmmm.

Lovell scored on their very first play of the game.  Dino ran the ball off a handoff to score the first six points of the game.  The Bulldogs moved the ball well mostly on the ground because of the horrendous wind storm that was going on.  The score at the half was thirty three to zero.  Pretty much the second string players played the second half.  They let Wright score a touchdown and they also ran in two extra points.  Dimas was pretty darn amazing too.  It was a fun game to watch and I predict that it will be a fun season.

Spike sat by a Lyman coach that came up to watch the game.  He left at half-time, I think he had seen enough by then.  He kept saying the people that they would have to double team.  I think that they won't have enough players to double team all the threats they will have. ;)  He did have a nice visit with the guy.  We play Lyman in two weeks for our homecoming game.

Mark will have a follow up appointment for the concussion on Tuesday.  He is really hoping that he will get to play in the Pinedale game but I am sure he will get to be in the Lyman game. He is doing much better and has followed the Doctors orders pretty well.