Macy and I have spent 3 weeks teaching our Sunbeams that each of our bodies have a spirit and that is what makes us alive.  The Lord has better ways to teach us than just mere words.  It is often the littlest and most imperfect bodies that teach me that it is not the body that makes a person live.  

The strongest of spirits can be housed in the littlest body, and without ever saying a word, I was taught courage, strength, perseverance, and humility.  It takes just one lesson for me to see that bodies will yield to spirits, not just spirits yielding to the body.  It takes one brave example to help us glimpse heaven in ways we haven't seen before.  

After all it is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.  

Isn't that right?  Haven't I heard that before?  I just didn't expect the smallest to teach me such great lessons.  I am so thankful that it is our spirit that makes us alive and not our bodies.  

Big spirits can be housed in tiny imperfect bodies. 

First official half season ticket holders

Up until this season Macy and I have been able to attend most of the sporting events we wanted to go to courtesy of someone else (A.K.A. Dad) or we got in for free (A.K.A. University of Utah sporting events).  This season however we have become something else entirely, season ticket holders.  Ok we are not real true season ticket holders because we are splitting the season with another guy, but we own half of the games to the Utah Jazz this season.  41 games is a lot of games to make, but 20?  20 is perfect for Mac and I this season.  Our seats are actually some of the best in the house in my opinion.  We have a wall behind us so we both can stand the whole game and stand we do.  We have already made some "fan friends" that cheer with us, and yell loud so the players might have a chance to hear us from where we are.  It pretty much is heaven, and so far it has been one of the greatest seasons to be at the games.  Remember this?

We were there. 

We actually have been at all of their home wins, which is nice.  Vegas has us at 26 wins again and I think we will beat that...but just barely.  More importantly the Jazz are so much fun to watch this season.  We have been having so much fun. 

Go Jazz!

This was against the Phoenix Suns and Jeff Hornecek

This is the view from our seats.

This is how you get to our seats...and no I wasn't meaning to high step it's just kind of how it looks because of my long legs. 

It has been a lot of fun.  It a great stadium, great company, and a great team.  Such a good time, and as always GO JAZZ GO!

 

This was after the Cavs game

Spiderman plays Soccer

Mace and I went to Easton's soccer game yesterday and we were both pretty excited about it.  Easton is a good little soccer player, and he love's to do it.  Most of the time when we are together at my parents house Easton and I will always end up playing one on one soccer or football.  We have done soccer many times and so I know he is good.

Yesterday at his soccer game I was watching him and he was doing so good.  He runs hard, and plays hard and does a good job.  And when he was on defense the other team did not score a goal on him.  I was super proud of him.  I noticed something else that Easton was really good at while I was at the soccer game. 

Flash back to our backyard soccer games... whenever East and I play soccer I am always pushing him when he has the ball.  Not hard shoves but I just get close and bump him and make it hard for him to dribble and score.  Whenever I have the ball I am always bumping him and moving him because other wise he steals the ball from me so fast which I don't want to happen either.

Now Fast Forward to yesterday's soccer game, I noticed that Easton is especially adept at bumping, small body shoves, and staying close to his man on defense.  This is part of the reason he is so good on defense.  He may be small but he is not afraid to get in there and mix it up with the other bigger kids.  Who would have known that he learned those things from me.  As soon as I saw them though I knew exactly where he got them.  Needless to say I was one proud uncle.

Easton is definitely mine and Mace's little buddy and we love our Easton time.  He is quite the Utah Utes, and Utah Jazz fan too.  In fact the Utes and Jazz have never lost when I was watching the game with him somewhere.  He came this year to a Home Utes game which they won, last year to a home Utes game which they won, and we took him to a Utah Jazz home game last year which they won.  We also watched the UCLA vs. Utah game on conference weekend, and Easton stayed up for the whole thing...and the Utes won!  I call him my little good luck charm. 

SCL

I have been watching some baseball lately.  Or at least paying more attention to baseball lately.  And I know exactly what that means...it's almost football season. 

I have pinned my hopes of winning a fantasy football league for the past 10 years of my life on one team, which is the Denver Broncos.  For the past 10 years I have not won a fantasy football league.  For that matter I have never won a fantasy football league.  I think one year I got like 3rd or 4th.  But that is besides the point.  For the past 2 maybe 3 season I have not even made the playoffs. 

So here is my dilemma.  I am not sure where to set my goal, and therefore I have no idea how to form my strategy for the team that I will be picking in less than a months time!  See the things is 2 years ago I only won, 1 measly game.  A single game.  It was atrocious.  See but last year I won 4!  Same strategy it's just that the Broncos got a lot better.  And that is my problem.  It was a lot more fun to win 4 games than just 1.  So my problem is do I keep on with my same strategy and think i'll make the playoffs this year because I think the Broncos will be better?  Or do I go out on a total limb and choose a bunch of players that I have little to no interest in and hope that they get me to the playoffs...

It is a little like should I abandon the ship that i'm on, after they almost got me to the shore last time, and go with a new boat?  I am not worried about making it to the top of the mountain.  I just want to ride out the storm, and make it to the shore.  I'll leave the top of the mountain to someone else.  Another part of me thinks wouldn't it be so much better to make it to the shore with a team that I can route for every week anyway?  But the worst part is, what if my boat sinks again.  Which could possibly happen, it has happened the last two years. 

My last dilemma is this, if it get's to my turn to draft and Peyton Manning is still there do I take him?  Last year, is the only time he was not there and it actually made my life so much easier.  For some obscure reason that I can not pin point, I have this incredible complex that I feel like I have to draft Peyton Manning.  Even when he played for the Colts I just could not pass him up.  Then he get's traded to the Broncos and the clouds opened, I finally could draft Peyton Manning guilt free.  But now the question is do I?  I'll let you in on a little secret, one of my greatest fears is having the first pick of the draft because I know for a fact that Peyton will be there, and he has about .000001% chance of being there when the pick gets back around to me at 20.  So do I take him with the first pick of the draft?  The pressure is already mounting.

This year we have a new league.  We have elected new officials, with a new name, and a new people.  It's a true new beginning.  But does that mean I have to have a new beginning with my team?  Is this the year that I finally make it to the shore?  Only time will tell. 

A Jazz Fan..

Fan (noun): an enthusiastic follower or admirer
Fanatic (noun): marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion

Today as I was listening to Locked on Jazz with David Locke (My favorite way to get my daily fill of the Jazz) David Locke said something that I wanted to highlight that I think it is so true.  The link is here and it starts at 23:05 if you would like to listen for yourself. 

Utah Jazz fans for a long time around the NBA world have been known as the loudest fans.  Even the Jazz Bear holds up a sign at the games saying "Prove we are the loudest fans" during timeouts in the fourth quarter.   The ESA can get up on any given night for any given game making it one of the most intimidating places to play for opposing teams.  You know it is official when Wikipedia devotes a paragraph to our noise on it's Energy Solution Arena page.

From Wikipedia--
"The EnergySolutions Arena is well known for being one of the hardest places to play for visiting teams in the NBA. According to an NBA Players Poll taken by Sports Illustrated on February 11, 2008, the ESA is considered "the most intimidating arena in the NBA" with 20% of the vote made up of 240 current NBA players.^[15] Many commentators referred to the arena as the "Decibel Center", a play on the name "Delta Center". During Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, a decibel meter installed at floor level had readings of over 110 decibels, close to the noise generated by a jet takeoff. Also, during the 1997 NBA Finals, Hannah Storm of NBC called the then-named Delta Center "one of the loudest places in sports"<sup>[16]"

Another point we ought to hit on is the fact that players love to play here because we as fans route for them on and off the court.  Over the years we have had to many mentions to count of players expressing appreciation and gratitude for the fans here in Salt Lake.  So many times we have been called the "best fans in the NBA".  When we truly love our players simply because they are "ours" it makes Salt Lake a truly special place to play.  

Now to my point.  Over the years of my being a Jazz fan I have noticed a shift in us as fans.  We have stepped away from our true role as fans and become analytic's, and crytic's of the team and players we love.  One characteristic of the Jazz organization is that everyone works hard and does their own job.  Coach's coach, players play, and the fans cheer.  

It seems that recently every Jazz "fan" has a better idea of what to do with the team than the people who are actually running the team.  We tend to hear a lot of this player needs to play more, the reason we are losing is because of this coach, our star player needs to carry more of the load.  We have gotten away from being true Jazz fans.  We feel like if the team is playing poorly it entitles us to care less.</sup> 

^{Being the best fans in the NBA comes with a price, and the price is being actual fans.}

<sup>Any player that dawns a Utah Jazz uniform ought to be cheered for with gusto.  It should not matter if that players name is John Stockton, Jeff Hornacek, Karl Malone, Mehmet Okur, Raul Lopez, Gordon Giricek, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Deron Williams, Gordon Hayward, or Trey Burke.  As a fan we should have our players backs on and off the court.  It is us as fans that make the ESA a "great and terrible" place to play.  Great for us and terrible for other teams.  The team that the Jazz put on the court should make no difference to how we act as fans.  

A Jazz fan boos loudly as the other team is introduced.  A Jazz fan yells and cheers for every point we score.  A Jazz fan dances crazy during the timeouts.  A Jazz Fan boos the refs for a call against us whether it was right or not.  A Jazz fan thinks the Jazz Bear is the best mascot in the NBA.  Those are the things that make us Jazz fans.  It is not the players that are put on the court or the win loss record at the end of the season.  We are Jazz fans because we love the Utah Jazz.  

I feel like it is way past time for Jazz fans to get back to doing what we do best and that is being Jazz fans.  Listen to the analysis, the pre and post game interviews.  Research the statistics, and the details of the game.  But love the Jazz.  Find a way to get into all of that without losing sight of what our job is.  We as fans can make this a place that players want to come and stay.  We as fans can make the ESA the best place to play in the NBA.</sup>  

^{We are Utah Jazz.}   

Local Bank teller thwart's check fraud: Hero of the day

Salt Lake City, Ut--On Wednesday March 27 at approximately 9:43 AM 2 individuals pulled into the Zions Bank on 1300 S and Foothill Drive and were caught attempting to cash fraudulent checks. 

Check fraud has been increasing over the past century as a result of improvements in technology, and an increased amount of greed among people.  Check Fraud falls under a larger umbrella category of money scams according to the United States Government.  Checks are printed, or forged by these criminals with various different business account numbers for any amount of different sums of money.  These checks are then taken and cashed at a local bank or convenience store while the business foots the bill.

The Zions bank employees were alerted to a potential stolen business account just minutes before one of these stolen business checks appeared in the drawer at the drive up. 

"It was scary!" one Zions bank teller said of the incident.  However she kept her cool alerted her boss, who informed the authorities of the situation on hand.

"I tried to stall them until the police came, but there is only so much you can do before they start to wonder what is going on."  the bank teller said.  

The individuals in question left the bank drive up before the police arrived.  The businesses however, I am sure, are very grateful for one bank teller who was simply doing her job, as she puts it. 

Check fraud costs businesses and consumers lot's of money every year.

Evolution

Humbly began here,

Moved  here,

Graduated from High School here,

Started college here,

Transferred here,

Grew here,

Am so excited to go here.

Grad school here we come.  June, 2014