Attitude

Keeping Busy...

I love reading everybody's blog...you all have such cute things to show and stories to tell! I stay pretty busy most of the time with a life full of teenagers -- so most of the time there isn't much to blog about... However, the other day Highland's Football team won the Region #6 championship and it was such a big deal to my kids, I couldn't pass up praising them! I spend so much time with these kids and get to work with some phenomonal young people!
It's hard to believe that soon these kids will be off in the real world and considered adults. They can sometimes be so much trouble and other times so entertaining! (picture below l-r: Derek, Ono Tafisi, Toi Taufa, Sonny Heimuli and Fihi Kaufusi sitting on the ground)

Some of these kids have such tough lives and teaching and working with these kids serves to remind me of my blessings like a loving family, a peaceful home, good friends, financial stability, the chance to further my education, my health, my faith in Heavenly Father and my knowledge about the gospel. I feel like sometimes my students have to remind me what is really important.

So, what this all comes down to is that the other night when Highland won the state championship, I saw pure joy. Sometimes as adults, I think we forget the feeling of pure joy. But that night I saw the look in those boys eyes (like #11 Andre Coleman or #3 Toi Taufa) and remembered that being happy is a crutial thing in life. It is so important to be happy in what what we do and who we are regardless of what challenges we are facing. I have a quote on my classroom that I love: "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (Viktor Frankl)

San Diego Trip
Sept 19-21, 2009

So, I'd been planning this trip to San Diego for almost two months. It was going to be just perfect...I'd be at Highland's Homecoming Football game (against Tooele) Friday night and fly out Saturday morning. But it didn't work out as perfectly as I had hoped! On Friday night at about 6:45pm (the game was scheduled to begin at 7:00pm) the power went out at the school (as well as several blocks around). This meant that the scoreboard, timers, stadium lights, microphones, etc. all no longer worked! A few minutes later we heard the word that the power would perhaps not come on until 2am. Well, the refs wouldn't start the game because the dark would prevent them from finishing it and the coaches and the players wanted to wait as long as possible for the lights to come back on (before they had to cancel it). Anyway...the lights never came on and about 8pm the refs called the game and it was rescheduled for Saturday at 1:00pm...and my flight left for San Diego at 11:00am. So my problem was that as AD (Athletic Director) I wouldn't be there...but my second problem is that my travelling companion (who would also be missing the game) is the Head Athletic Trainer. So, long story short (too late) we worked things out for people to cover for both of us and we went to San Diego!

The original purpose of the trip was to see one of my old students, Haloti Ngata (of the Baltimore Ravens), play against the San Diego Chargers. But with being a Masters student, AD, teaching AP and reading (for kids that read below a third grade reading level), a new IB (International Baccalaureate) teacher and everything else it was just an awesome chance to get away.

On Saturday Derek and I flew into San Diego and got there about 5pm. Our condo was in Oceanside (about 40 minutes north of San Diego). On the drive up we passed the San Diego Temple. It is stunningly beautiful!! We came around a corner and it just appears from the green hillside.

We got to Oceanside and checked into the condo...unknown to us, it was Harbor Days. The area was crowded but our condo was in the perfect place--just a short walk to the beach. The view was beautiful from our patio. We could both see and hear the ocean--which was incredibly relaxing. Smelling and hearing the ocean, we couldn't resist and immediately changed and headed down to the beach.
We had a great time swimming and body surfing in the waves and spent more than three hours in the ocean. Finally, our fingers were so pruned and we were so exhausted and hungry we headed back to the condo. We had a great dinner that night at a local place called Anita's. Kalani's (Derek's best friend) mom is from Oceanside and she had all the best recommendations for us! Anita's was a cute little house that had been turned into a Mexican restaurant--it was delicious! Relaxing days like this are just amazing!

The next day (Sunday) we slept in a little and then called my friend Sam (who plays football as SDSU) and asked him for his advice about where to park for the game. He suggested that we park in Old Town and ride the train to the stadium. This turned out to be a GREAT idea. As the train pulled into the station, the lot was packed!! Derek and I got the the game a couple hours early so we could look around, eat and soak it all in. We found out seats...8th row on the 50 yard line--WOW!! We loved watching warm ups and the other football games that were being shown on the jumbo-tron. The weather said it was supposed to be 75 degrees..but it definitely was not!! It was soooo hot!!

It was so fun to be at the game! Haloti (#92) had a great game and so did Derek's friend Eric Weddle (#32 for the Chargers). It was the perfect game to be at because it was a real game clear to the end. The game ended with the Ravens beating the Chargers 31-28. The whole experience of being at an NFL game was so fun. There is nothing like a pro game! At the beginning the Air Force flew over in the missing man formation. The stadium was so loud at time we couldn't hear each other (we were right next to each other and yelling)! Every time there was a score by the Chargers a huge group of fireworks went off and the crowd around us was awesome -- both Chargers and Ravens fans. There is a weird sense of camaraderie among fans in the stands!

After the game we headed back to the condo. We were both so sunburned! But we headed to the ocean anyway...we couldn't resist! We ended up staying at the beach until long after dark. We were only less than a mile from Camp Pendleton and they were doing some kind of night exercises. It was very interesting to watch.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we had to go go home. We woke up and headed to the airport about 8am after one last walk on the beach.

It was a great and very relaxing trip. But, as always, time away is way too short!

WOW! My trip to the east coast!

It has been almost a year since my last post...and I have been harshly chastised about it. Sorry, all! I keep telling people that I have nothing to post. With a life of teaching high school, being an athletic director and going to graduate school, my life is pretty boring and doesn't have much to take pictures of or blog about. Well, at least that is my excuse!

Anyway, after being teased by both "out-of-towners" and "in-towners", here is my newest and greatest blog entry!

I just returned from a two week trip (7/22/09-8/5/09) to Virginia and North Carolina. The trip to the Outer Banks (North Carolina) is my annual trip with my aunt and uncle (Cherry & Mel Bryson) and their kids. Then I added on three days before and three days after to spend time in Virginia with Ben, Betsy, Michael, Emma and Sarah.

The first three days in Virginia were awesome! I miss the BVTs sooo much! The day I arrived it was Ben's birthday and, of course, we opened presents (including his tent).

On Friday, July 24, Heather, Jared and their kids Hannah and Sophie drove down from Christiansburg to Richmond. Betsy and Ben's house is about half way to the Outer Banks from their house so they came down and spent the night and then took me with them to OBX the next day.

We spent a week in an amazing house on the Outer Banks. Cherry & Mel are so generous and kind to invite us all down there to have so much fun!

I spent the week riding jet skis on the ocean and sound, swimming, riding bikes, playing on the beach, visting with the family and just having a great and relaxing time!

After a week at the beach I headed back to Betsy and Ben's. We spent another three great days partying. This included a trip to Monticello and my favorite activity -- fishing on the pond!

It was a great two week summer vacation. Michael, Emma and Sarah are the sweetest kids ever!

Trip to Stanford

November 15-17, 2008

I haven't blogged for a while but I had some requests for these pictures so I thought I'd share them. I should be better at blogging but my new job as AD and teaching along with going to graduate school myself really eats up my time!

Anyway...I spent this past weekend in the Bay Area. Some of my awesome, sweet and generous former students helped arrange for me to go see the Stanford v. USC game. It has become a kind of tradition to get out there to at least one game a year. Even though Stanford lost (45-23), it was a great first half and, considering USC's current ranking, not a bad score!

Two of my former students play football (both on athletic scholarship) for Stanford: Bo McNally, Safety, #22 (graduated in 05) and Liam McNally, FB, #30 (graduated in 08). A third former student, Sam Olawana, also graduated from Highland in 08 (and played football for Highland)and goes to school at Stanford on a full-ride academic scholarship.

The game was on Saturday afternoon (4pm) and then we spent Sunday in San Francisco and Monday were back in Palo Alto to have lunch with Sam..

San Francisco was beautiful on Sunday. It was great! However, the trip was also a little melancholy because I had spent so much time in San Fran with Betsy, Ben and the Kids! Made me miss those Ba-giniaians!

San Francisco was busy on Sunday but we had hot fudge sundaes at Giradelli Square, walked along the piers, saw the sea lions at Pier 39, lunched at the Sea Lion Cafe, shopped on Fisherman's Wharf, listened the Stanford marching band that performed on one of the piers...and just had a great day!


View from the pedestrian bridge on the wharf at night.

Alcatraz with a San Francisco Fire Department boat.

Another view at sunset at the piers.

This guy didn't move all day!

The cable car turn-around.

The infamous Wyland Wall--for Betsy...

Old Pictures

I was looking through my phone and realized that I had a lot of old pictures which I absolutely love and thought I'd share. So, here is a bunch of misc. pictures...

Jonah Lawerence Mailei (September 14, 2008) -- Barbie and I visited Jonah and his parents (Marcus and Kristen Mailei) on Sunday morning, only about nine hours after he was born. He is such a beautiful baby!

This pic is from my brief stay in Ba-ginia on my trip home from North Carolina. The kids loved Ben & Betsy's empty house...

This sweet pic is of the girls (Emma & Sarah) at Bear Lake in their favorite snack spot -- on the stairs. The picture was taken at the end of July 2008 on Ben & Betsy's last trip before they moved to Virginia.

Sarah Bear is such a cute little girl. When she lived in SLC, she had to come upstairs everyday and feed and hug her bishies (fishies). She is big on hugs for everything she loves, including the horsey that Grandma Nona and Grandpa Mike got her for Christmas.

The boys (Tyler and Patrick) really miss the kids. When the VTs lived in SLC, they loved to come over and hang out with the kids.

The Tree House

Labor Day Weekend 2008

Friday, August 29, 2008 - Monday, September 1, 2008

On Saturday, we took down the treehouse. It was a meloncholy project for those of us who grew up at the Lake playing at that tree. It was amazing how quickly the tree came down...

The Beach

July 24, 2008 - August 4, 2008

I was lucky enough to spend more than a week with the Brysons at thier beach house on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was wonderful, as always... It was nice to have such a fun group there: Cherry & Mel, Robin & Lynn, Jonathan & Nicole (with Michael and Jax), and Heather & Jared (with Hannah & Sophie).

Most days were spent on the beach, playing in the ocean or just digging in the sand with the kids. The house ("Olde Salt") was right on the beach on the ocean side of Duck, North Carolina. These first two pictures are looking toward Duck and the Sound from the porch of the house at sunset.

We spent quite a few evenings on the beach as well. This picture is looking up from the beach toward the house we satyed in. The house was fun and cozy...just a perfect spot. It had a pool and was a nice break during the day for the kids.

One night we went down to the beach looking for ghost crabs. We had a great time!