Ants in his pants

Ian is getting a bit restless with the lack of back to back physical activities he normally has lined up this time of year with football alone. Now with snow on the ground, he is just chomping at the bit to hit the slopes and is getting by with skateboarding in the cold until Snowbird opens their doors in a couple weeks.

Another Rugby Win, sort of...

The teams were reshuffled a bit after last weeks matches and Ian was moved to the White team. The coaches are trying to keep the teams evenly matched. I'm not sure how well it worked, but the new Lowland White won 62 to 5 this weekend. Red won as well, 17 - 5 and seemed to have a tougher match.

Ian played a great game and had one of the 9 try's. He plays an aggressive game and is really enjoying the sport. I love watching the matches and have maybe found a sport I can get into. I'm not much of a sports fanatic, but the fast paced intensity of rugby is pretty addicting.

Saturday's game was windy and cold but there were quite a few brave fans out to cheer including Grandma and Grandpa Sutliff. Next weekend they head down to St. George for some tournament play and warmer weather.

(Ian's try in Saturday's match. You can hear the cows cheering in the background ;)

TRY! from aaron smith on Vimeo.


(click the pic to see the full gallery)

First Rugby Match

Ian played in his first rugby match this afternoon and didn't fare too badly. He scored to two of the tries to help his team toward their 43 - 5 victory.

It has been a steep learning curve for him and us with this being his first year playing. The rules and terminology take a bit of getting used to, but we are all liking the game the more he plays and learns. It is much more of a coordinated team effort than football and definitely more fast paced and action packed.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Ian in spite of the last minute time schedule changes. He loves having fans, and all the more because it's family. He's spoiled with support and we love you all for it :)

Ian's Championship Kickoff Return

Well Played

The Huskies lost their championship game against Skyline today. Ian played a great game, but it wasn't enough to pull Hillcrest through. The defense gave a solid performance, but our offense was plagued by penalties and turnovers.

Thanks again to everyone who supported Ian this year. He likes giving out hugs after the game and enjoys performing on the field for his fans :)

Millcreek Canyon Photos

We snapped a couple photos as we hiked along. Sadly my memory card was filled before we headed down and had some really good light, but my poor little compact Fuji did ok for the last couple shots of the day. Click any of the pix to head to the slideshow.

Millcreek Hike - video for Aimee

Just putting up a quick video of part of our hike this afternoon with the kids and Liza. Aimee is off for a geek getaway while I'm home entertaining the kids. Ian and Avyrlie know how to pick footwear, so I love to take them up for short hikes up the local canyons when we have the chance.

Today we drove up Millcreek and headed up the Terraces Elbow Fork trail. It seemed less popular and less populated. In fact, we didn't see a single other person the entire time. Liza did great the whole hike. She stayed within sight and had a blast chasing squirrels and bombing down the hillsides. Avyrlie hiked up the entire way (2 miles) and then hitched a ride on my shoulders on the way down. Not a single complaint or whine the entire time, except from Ian when we turned around to head back. Next time we'll have to do an over-nighter :)

Kearns Touchdown

Ian started the game against Hillcrest by returning their opening kick-off for the first touchdown of the game. I'm not sure what TD this video is, but the whole game was about this easy. It was just a sad day for Kearns.

Kearns TD - Too Easy from aaron smith on Vimeo.

So Close

Ian was held scoreless against West. He had plenty of yards and caught a couple sweet passes, but was stopped just short of the goal line each time.

One Inch Short

Battle for Yards

Hillcrest was definitely outsized against West and had to fight for every yard. They really together played as a team, fighting for each other on the field.

Disliked For All The Right Reasons

Ian was greatly disliked by West on Saturday. I've never have much problem with him irritating the opposing team, but when the opposing, dirty deed teaching coaches decide to target him, I do get a bit concerned.
It was a tough battle. West played a dirty game. The refs must have had little brothers on the the team and I can't post any of the opposing parents' comments and still call this a family website. In the end, we just outplayed, outclassed, and outscored them.

(West coaches had the same expressions every time we ran past them ;)

War Machine

Hillcrest had a great game Saturday against Cyprus. Ian had 3 or 4 touchdowns and some great runs. The kids are in great shape and were hitting hard this game. Defense struggled a little bit because of the size difference but made up for it in skill and speed.

I stuck together a couple pix of one of Ian's touchdown runs from the Cyprus game and put it in a video. Music is AC/DC's War Machine ;)

Cuddly Cute Couple

Ian smiling for the camera is rare. Ian cuddling with his dog is not.

Shooting Skate

Every so often I manage to snag a pic that doesn't suck too bad. Ian agreed to let me take some pix of him in return for him trying to land on my head with his skateboard. Ian and I were both pretty happy with how the shot below turned out.

You can see the rest of the gallery here.

(click the pic for the rest of the pix)


We took a quick zoo trip Saturday after Ian's football weigh-ins at the Steiner center. Ian starved himself the day before and all morning so he managed to sneak in just under the 135 lb limit. He was VERY nervous about making weight especially considering that fact that he would have lost one-fifth of his official identity which currently reads as:

Babysitter Extraordinaire

Struggling Student

Parent Antagonizer

Dog Lover

Running Back

We started out in a light rain which I believe is the perfect weather for a zoo trip. It's just enough to keep the crowds away, but not so much that the animals mind. I had to drag everyone along to get them inside and excited, but once Aimee declared her desire to pet the fruit bats, everyone was in a good mood (and slightly disturbed).

By the time we were leaving the snow was coming down pretty heavily, but no spirits were dampened. Avyrlie enjoyed catching snowflakes, Aimee was on her phone safely under the umbrella, and Ian was still a little goofy from his day of starvation.

I'll add more commentary in the Flickr gallery

No more sense of humor

It used to be that our favorite thing about family vacations was having Ian fly us around. Pilots generally like kids and Ian had more than his share of invites to sit in the captains seat. I loved hearing him make announcements over the intercom like, "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not great at landing yet, but the water looks really soft today. Hi mom!"

Ian's budgeting idea

Ian: "Dad, I need a haircut."

Me: "Then go get one. You have a bike."

Ian: "I need money. Oh, I have an idea! How about you just leave a bunch of twenties on the fridge and then if I, I mean if you, need something I can just grab a twenty and go get it."

Me: "What is a bunch?"

Ian: "Like seven or ten. Whatever is easier."

Me: "I have a better idea. Lets keep the twenties in your wallet and just use the ones you earn."

Ian: "I like my idea better..."

Brawling Around the State

While Ian was wrestling with his team down south in Richfield, Liza had a wrestling date of her own with Sora.


We reintroduced Sora to the doggie door which she is slowly getting the hang of and also introduced Kim to the best rice pudding in town which she promptly wrestled the raisins out of.

Ian arrived home excited to see the four legged freak dog and very happy about placing third in the tournament. He's a little bashed and bruised and from the smell I'm assuming Richfield hotels have no showers.

Is that really a teenager?

teens, originally uploaded by eouio.

We spent some time with the Wolseys yesterday who we haven't seen for some time. Ian was a bit moody, which is pretty much par for him, and was grumpy at everyone while we were shopping at Gateway. After a while Tif asked, "Is this what Kepler might start acting like? Is that really how teenagers are?"

Hillcrest Champions!

Not my shot, but this is right after they won the championship: