Touchdown!

I would say we scored a touchdown on Saturday with our football event. I should be able to post some pictures soon. My dad was there and snapped a few shots of the boys.

It is fun to see them learn this crazy American game - to learn a bit about what it means to score a touchdown, play as a team, throw a spiral, etc.

The Elder who will later play college ball for BYU had four BYU hats, a shirt, and two nerf footballs, some magnets, and stickers shipped over by his family. Now the problem was how to divide out the gifts or prizes evenly among the seven boys.

Elder P. and his companion Elder E. decided on a mini "training camp" for the boys. The training camp consisted of the following three competitions.

Running: Run from to the other end of the field, pick up the football, and run back.
prize: all participants got a fridge magnet

Throwing: who can throw the farthest.
prize: 4 best got a hat

Kicking: who can kick (field goal style) the farthest.
prize: ??? - a dilemma - ???

There were only three prizes left and the same four boys who won the hats in the throwing competition kicked the ball the furthest in the kicking competition.

So, Elders P. & E. decided to give the boy with the shortest kick the shirt and the two boys with the next shortest kicks the nerf footballs. It was a wise move.

I sat on the sidelines during most of the kicking competition while I tended to Hannah after her "kicking the ground instead of the ball" injury. As the boys came over to the sidelines after the competition one of the boys who threw 4th farthest in the throwing competition and kicked 3rd farthest in the kicking competition said. "If I had known that!" Implying he would have kicked much shorter if he knew the shortest kicks would get the prizes. It was funny. But at least everyone got a prize.

It was a fun day and we had perfect fall weather. Sunny, cool, the smell of fallen leaves in the air. Perfect fall weather. That was a huge blessing as it doesn't happen very often here in Düsseldorf.

We are planning an American baking evening for the girls in Spencer and Shantal's class in November. We'll probably do chocolate chip cookies. Grandpa and Grandma brought over some chocolate chips, so that should work out nicely.

Playin a Little Football

Well, I have to say. I have been busy these last four months - like crazy. Work is crazy. Home life is always crazy - lots of juggling. Church has kept me very busy. The occasional personal moments have been short and not long enough to write.

One positive note. I did get released from my calling as a primary teacher. I served as primary teacher to our two oldest children, but even so that was an extra burden - preparing a lesson every week and trying to motivate 8-11 year olds to be motivated to follow the Lord is a lot of work.

We've had some great days recently. By great I mean brisk, sunny, fall days, where it warms up in the afternoon. I love that type of fall weather. The last two years I missed football whenever the weather was like this. I told Tamara the other day that I like the weather even though there is no football.

Well, next weekend I hope to get a little bit of both. I hope the weather holds and is pleasant and that we'll have a big turnout for our football event. See the picture of our flier below (translation to follow):



Flag Football in our Town (for boys)
location and time are given

This time we have a player, who will play for the BYU cougars after his time in Germany.

*In flag football the defense stops the ball carrier by pulling a flag from his belt.

--Fathers should also feel free to attend. Come along and learn a little about the game. Fathers who attend, please bring something to eat. So we can spend a little bit of time after the game with the boys.

Definitely looking forward to playin' a little football.

Thoughts on Driving in Germany

>>>>to a friend who calculated our drive time to a certain location

I've never gotten to 120 m.p.h.. We have hit 100 m.p.h., maybe 105 m.p.h. It is extremely cool to drive 75 - 80 m.p.h with no concerns about cops. It seems so normal. I love Deutschland.

Cheers,
Gardner

Funny German Phrase about Going to the Dentist

>>>>sent to my father, a dentist. I learned the phrase from some colleagues after going to the dentist for the first time in Germany.

German Phrase:
Mama, Mama, Mama! Der Zahnarzt hat gar nicht gebohrt!!! Der hat gleich gezogen.

English Translation:
Mom, Mom, Mom! The dentist didn't do any drilling, he just pulled the tooth instead.

BYU vs. Utah Follow-up

Yeah, that was an awesome ending. I could hardly believe it. I was totally wishing we were together for a huge party. A party at Bishop Nelson's would have been even better! ;- )

Well it's rainy and cold, or just cold here. When it stops raining, I'm so happy and don't care how cold it is though. Life is good here, pretty normal, which is the craziest part. Spencer got in a fight at school today. Two kids jumped him and he held his own. I guess that's good (that it took two kids). Then he had a Christmas party this afternoon. Work is crazy busy getting ready for testing that is supposed to begin tomorrow and I'm talking in German various forms of English (Swedish, German) all day. Shantal hates school and homework and fights with Tamara everyday about it. Tamara is stressed out about kids, household, cooking, etc. Hannah and Emma are sick. Ian has some reflux thing, so he spits up pretty much all the time, but he smiles all the time too. It's pretty much the standard day to day problems, but they seem a bit more overwhelming here.

I'll try to write more later. I have to run to choir. I was just setting up the internet here at home.

If you have a cheap calling method like Skype or something, Tamara would love to hear from your wives of course and it would be cool to talk as well.

Cheers,
Gardner

BYU vs. Utah

Wow, I just watched the BYU - Utah game last night - my dad sent it over on DVD. That was awesome. I knew BYU was victorious and that it was a close game, but I didn't know the details, so it was still fun to watch.

I remember saying Harline is the rock after he made that acrobatic catch early in the 2nd half. Then he made that sweet grab to win the game . . . amazing. He was all alone over there and Beck got him the ball, and he caught it. I wondered what was going through his mind when the ball was in the air.

Who do they play in the Bowl Game and what are they ranked? We still don't have internet at home and work is pretty crazy - testing begins on tomorrow.

Take Care fellas,
Gardner