Pacer Game

My sister RS got cheap tickets to the Pacers game on Friday, so JP and I, as well as my brother-in-law, went to the Pacers-Bobcat game. On our way into the field house, we also saw Indy's Lighting of the Circle, their big Christmas lighting ceremony.

It was JP's first NBA game. I realized how little I have paid attention to the NBA since leaving Jazz land when I didn't recognize a single player on either team.

It was an exciting game, with the Pacers falling way behind early, catching up in third quarter, then missing the final shot with the scored tied 99-99 in regulation to go into overtime. The Pacers missed about 15 layups in the 4th quarter and overtime and lost the game in the end.

One of the most exciting incidents during the game wasn't the game itself, but the t-shirt cannon. You can imagine that cheap NBA tickets are way up in the rafters and during one of the time-outs the mascot for the Pacers (which I swear is a blue mouse) was walking around on the court with a t-shirt cannon. The guy in the seat directly in front of me was standing up and waving for a shirt, the only person in the whole area doing so. I told JP the guy was crazy as there was no way the mouse could shoot it all the way up to where we were. Apparently the blue mouse noticed this loyal t-shirt lover and took careful aim and fired, the t-shirt flew in a direct line, just out of his reach of his fingertips, and unfortunately, also just out of mine, and into the arms of the man two seats back of me. The man in front turned around and said, "You know he was shooting that for me!" and I said "Yes, he was, I can't believe it got all the way up here!"

Got To Love Fall

EM and JA

EM trying to jump on the file of leaves

Future Olympian for High Jump

JA and EM helped me (AM) raked the leaves. I promised the girls that they can jump over them after they both help me rake the leaves. They sure had fun jumping, so I tried to capture the best picture of their high jump attempts. We sure love leaves falling but don't like cleaning them.

Troop Backpacking Trip

(jp) This Friday/Saturday our troop went on our first backpacking trip as a group. We went to Monkey Bell Park. Because of the Park's rules on hiking we had to split into two patrols, leaving an hour apart. Because it's fall/winter it was dark by the time we started. Since it was fairly cold I wore six layers, jeans, 2 pairs of socks, a wool cap, a scarf, and gloves. We had a fairly uneventful hike (on the same trail me and my dad went on) and got to our campsite on time. We built a nice little fire and talked about past campouts then hit the sleeping bags (only after busting out the hand warmers). I don't know for sure, but I think it was below at least 20 degrees. My toes could feel the chill, as well as my nose. We all slept restlessly. An owl kept hooting and we heard an angry bark right next to our shelter! But morning finally came and we cooked sausage patties with roasting sticks ( they were awesome). After packing up we started on the trail. We met up with the other patrol and a split and hiked together. We took a shortcut ( using our expansive knowledge of the park from past experiences) and got to the parking lot feeling great. After a delicious lunch of chili dogs and water we drove back home.

BCS busters...part two

UTAHUTES.......WIN48-24!!
CHAMPION......MTNWEST
..FIESTA..............BOWL
..ORANGE............BOWL
..SUGAR...............BOWL
..ORROSE............BOWL
..WHICH...............WILL
...WEGO..............TO??
.....2TAKEONUSCOR
........BAMAORTEX
...........TECHPSU


They may not be as unstoppable as BCS busters 1.0, but version 2.0 did win in style in the game that matters most!

If I was in town, I could have watch the game on cable as we have a friend who bought the Mountain cable package just so he could watch games of that school down South, but unfortunately I had to go off to INDY to my science conference. I got to listen to the first part of the game online at KALL910, but had to go to our awards banquet dinner with the score 17-17. I asked AMD to call me when the game finished, but our dinner finished without a call. I hurried back to my room in time to hear the end.

A TRUE UTAH UTES FAN!!!

New Clarinet (jd)

As I have started to take private lessons on clarinet my lesson teacher said I was ready to upgrade to a wooden clarinet from my plastic one. For those who don't know the difference, a wooden clarinet has a much richer and fuller sound. But, it takes a little longer to warm up and can crack if it is left out in the cold. And it is much more expensive. But we (as in my parents) decided to get it. The instrument they bought was a used Yamaha YCl-34 model. It is much nicer and I sound better already. Here's a picture of the instrument.

County Honor Band (jd)

On Thursday/Friday I had a chance to participate in a countywide honor band. All the middle schools in the county submitted a list of students who wanted to participate. Myself and a few other band members from my school were invited. On Friday we went to a nearby high school to audition for chairs. For the Bb Clarinet try out we played our chromatic scale and an excerpt from one of the songs previously given to us. When it was my turn I was a little nervous. My chromatic was good until I took a breath and messed up a note. But I settled down and nailed the excerpt piece. So I thought, I had a pretty solid try-out. And so did the judges, because I was 1st chair. I was so excited. After all the chairs were announced, we met our guest conductor, Mr. Jones. He talked about himself a little and then we had 2 hour rehearsal. The next day we had an all day rehearsal with a short break for a pizza lunch. That evening was our concert. We played the march American Excultent, the Halo (video game) Theme, Shaker Varients, T.W.A. (Trumpets With Attitude), and another march Liberty For All. The performance was decent with a few mistakes but still good. But the experience was great and I had a lot of fun.

Wood Blocks or Leggo Blocks

JA and EM many different shapes

JP made a wooden robot

JP, JA, and EM decided to have a building time with wooden blocks and Leggos. They are sure very creative in using the pieces.