So Cal Baseball Trip

Kim and Morgan were real troopers as we jaunted to southern California for three days of baseball with a visit to the beach sprinkled in as well. My good friend Rob Lindstrom has a brother Matt, who plays for the Florida Marlins. Matt lived with Rob for a time in Provo and that is where we got know him a little bit. Matt is a way nice guy who is playing in his rookie campaign for the Marlins.

We got to San Diego in the early afternoon on the 4th of July. We had a nice BBQ with our friends Danny and Erin Packard and then took off for the game. It was nice to get to visit with Matt before the game and probably would have seen him after the game had the catcher not dropped the ball that cost Matt and the Marlins the game.
Danny's aunt hooked us up with fabulous tickets for the game on the 5th of July as we sat 6 rows from the field. Of course that was the day I left my camera in the car, but we did get to see the Marlins pull out a victory over the Padres 3-2. Rob was able to get Danny & I down into the players waiting area after the game. It was fun to see all the players and get to meet a few of the them. I am proud to report that David Wells drives a white Bentley that may have some custom seats to fit his large, round derrière. After our visit with the players, we headed to the beach for a few minutes and I was surprised to see a guy running up and down the beach with a spear gun. I am not exactly sure what someone would expect to spear in the shallow part of the ocean, but to each his own I guess.


Friday, we found ourselves in Los Angeles to see the Marlins take on the Dodgers. Matt had been tapped by the group of his family members for tickets, so Kim and I found ourselves in literally the last row of the stadium. I was truly amazed to see the parking situation at Dodger Stadium. It was like Disney Land times 10. The have their own stop lights and all. As many a sports fan can relate, we all like to move down once the game has started to better seats if they go unused. Apparently the Dodger Stadium want to ensure you stay in your miserable seat the entire game as some sort of punishment for being cheap on your ticket purchase. Rob and the rest of the group were sitting in the lower deck and had a few open seats by them. I am glad we had Morgan with us, because she can charm anyone. With her charm and a few less than true statements, we were allowed to pass to the lower deck.



We were able to see a great game, as the Marlins pulled out a squeaker in the 11th inning. Kim was very excited to get some bonus baseball on her last night in California. It appears that since I am older than most of the group we traveled with, no one knew who Jason Bateman was when he walked past us twice. I pointed him out to another guy in the group who recognized him, but none of the younger ones (the wives) recognized him. Oh well, it is probably better they have never heard of Teen Wolf Too. We also got to go and visit with the players after the game, however the visiting team gets a raw deal as they have to come back into the stands to visit and then when they are ready to get on the bus, they have to go back onto the field and get on the bus just behind the center field wall. Oh well, I guess you can't expect a lot from a 50 year old stadium.

I had a great time and as mentioned eariler, Kim suffered through and didn't mutter a word of discontent. What a peach!

Alaska...Part II

Here is the greatly anticipated part II of the Alaska trip. I wish I would have gotten things posted sooner, as many are very anxious to see the great plethora of fish brought home by Kim and myself. We also did visit Hatcher's Pass and visited a lake where a baptism took place when I was a missionary. Overall, it was a wonderful time had by all. We are very grateful to the Child's for the great hospitality shown to us.
Last but not least was our trip down to the Kenai Peninsula. This was the highlight of the trip for Kim who could speak of nothing else other than catching an Alaskan Salmon. Dave, the aforementioned friend from our last post, took time off work to take us down to the "hot spot" for fishing. Everyone knows someone who has their "spot" for fishing. Whether or not this was truly his "spot", it didn't matter, the fishing was excellent.



Looking ready to catch some fish!







































Kim and her first Alaskan Salmon.





















These pictures below were taken just after midnight on June 21, the summer solstice. As we were leaving, it was amazing to Kim and I how many people were coming in to fish.






























It was a wonderful trip to say the least. How wonderful it is to have 2 aunts in town to take care of us when we decide to make the jaunt to the Land of the Midnight Sun.

Alaska...So Far

What a trip so far. We got here Saturday night and feel like we have squeezed about as much into the few days we have been here as possible. We caught up with Dave Wolfe, a great guy I taught as a missionary 9 years ago, and his family. Dave was recently baptized and we wanted to visit the old ward, my first area on Sunday. I was amazed as I visited the Chugiak Ward at how many of the same familiar faces there were. It was a great memory flooding experience. I was able to stand in the confirmation circle of the young lady Dave and Doniel have recently adopted. They are such a great example to all (Dave and Doniel have recently adopted two wonderful children to provide them with a great life in addition to the four children they already had).

Dave is the PA announcer for the Mat-Su Miners, a prep baseball league for college players. We were able to attend the Miners opening day and it was great to see Morgan taking after dad with her love of the game.



Yesterday and part of today, we were all over the map of Alaska. After many hours of driving (surprisingly Morgan was a gem, she slept most of the time) we ended up at the North Pole. It was a very surreal feeling to get out of the car at the North Pole and have it be 79 degrees. I know in the past, I may have had tendencies to exaggerate, but this is the entire truth. I never thought one could sweat in the North Pole. It was nice to visit Santa's House/Workshop. Unfortunately, Santa was done for the day, so I had to fill in.



Kim and Morgan making sure they are in the good graces of Santa and his helpers. I believe their names did appear on the jumbo list appearing in his hands.



After the North Pole, we ventured down to Denali National Park. The last visit we had there, we didn't run into much wildlife, except the seagull who we fed a McDonald's breakfast burrito to gather information about where the wildlife was hiding. This time around was not much different unfortunately. We didn't see a whole lot of anything, but to the park's credit, you really need to take the 8 hour bus tour deep into the park to be able to wrestle with the bears, caribou, etc. We figured that everyone on the bus would have hated us had we brought Morgan along for that long of a time. So we chose to drive the 15 miles you are allowed to drive without having to pay.




Here is the wildlife we saw in Denali National Park. Unfortunately, his pal ran away when the tour bus passed by.




This is the cabin we rented just south of the park. This is by far the best deal in town. I was very apprehensive to rent something that was so much cheaper than everything else. The last time we did that, when we got to our "camp spot", it was a gravel pit next to the outdoor restrooms. But I must say, I was very impressed with this establishment. They are called McKinley Creekside Cabins.



This is the view out in front of our cabin.




Here is a picture of Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain peak in North America. We were grateful that the rain from the night before had blown over so we were able to get a good picture of the mountain.



Well that is it for now. We are planning on doing Hatcher's Pass tomorrow and fishing later in the week. It has been a blast thus far and we are hoping that our following activities will provide for some good memories.

Where is Tim Allen when you need him?

As we are in the process of finishing our basement, I have decided to do most all of the work myself to save a little coin. It is nice to have a brother to take the blame when something goes wrong down there. Currently, we have the whole basement framed and the electrical is run to each room. So the next step is to get the HVAC work done. It appeared to be a simple process of cutting a few holes and attaching a few elbows to the duct work, however after 5 hours, it was a much different story.

I tried to be cheap by using tin snips to cut into the duct work and it was a major mistake. Finally, I broke down and went to the Home Depot to get a tool that cuts nice clean circles into the ducts. It appeared at that point that some progress would be made for the day. As it turned out, we were not experts at using the $60 tool and while it cut some nice holes in the ducts on the bottom side of the duct, the drill was too short to cut the desired hole on the top of the duct to attach the necessary elbows. So after another trip to Home Depot and another $50 spent on drill attachments, we did manage to make some progress.

So for those of you who have the desire to finish your entire basement, my advise would be to let professionals do their jobs, no matter the cost.

Memorial Weekend

The Memorial Weekend is a weekend that all of us look forward to. We spent our weekend with our friends Drew and Ashley Whiting at the Sucher Family cabin in Heber, Utah. We were lucky enough to take 6 children 12 and younger with us as well. I lost count on how many times we asked the running in the house to stop, in addition to the repeated request of "stop throwing things at each other". Perhaps one child will suffice this Sucher household :) Ok, maybe not, but we there is definitely a growing into parenthood period that we need to experience before managing a large amount of children again.

We were lucky enough to have the use of Jason Sucher's ATV's. A great time was had by all, even by Kim who got the heavy duties of managing the kids most of the time. She did get a chance to ride the ATV's and although she comes to near complete stop to turn, she had a great time. I was simply amazed on how beautiful the Almighty's creations are. We took some time to get way back into the mountains and take in some of the beauty of the earth.



We enjoyed the experience of introducing the Nintendo Wii to Drew and Ashley. For those not familiar with the Wii, it is an interactive video game system with such games as bowling, tennis, baseball, boxing and golf. Drew and Ashley took an immediate interest in the boxing game. Ashley even went so far as to show Tae-Bo moves as she boxed. I wish that my camera was near by to catch the moves, but I did get grab a few pics that show the enthusiasm of the Whitings.

Today, Monday, we got together with the Wirig side of the family for a family breakfast. After a few hours on indecision the idea of home run derby at a local baseball field was agreed upon. Being a huge baseball fan and a 2 time Orem City softball champion, I figured I would be putting on a show for the 12+ family men that participated. It was evident rather quickly why I have turned my attention to softball and left the playing of baseball to the young folks of the world. As I sit here writing, my legs, back and arms ache, mostly due to a lot of swinging and missing. That is the beauty of softball, it allows me the time to get the 35 lbs I have added since college, in motion and still have a chance to hit the ball. I did manage to get one over the fence and a long way over the fence I might add. Still, my brother Stewart has yet to ever really beat me in anything athletic. Today, I found myself in an unfamiliar situation, that being a loser to Stew in the home run derby. I have come to accept the fact I am young and nimble as I once was, but at least I still have my rugged good looks.

Finally, the Time Has Come

There is not any question that last Tuesday was a very emotional day for the Sucher household and the neighborhood girls Kim has made friends with. The Gilmore Girls has finally come to an end. As I am sure you can imagine, I was very broken up and emotional about the series coming to a close. No longer will I have to reserve my Tuesday nights at 7 pm. Kim invited the girls next door to come on over and partake of the fast talking, sarcasm that is known as the Gilmore Girls. Maybe all the time I have spent in Utah has made my hearing/comprehending abilities slow a great deal, because I find myself not being able to understand a word between Loralie and Rory and digging deep to catch the humor in their sarcastic dialog.

Only a time or two have I found myself with a tear in my eye at the end of a television series and that was at the end of Growing Pains (a marvelous work and wonder) and the recently departed The King of Queens. The girls that Kim invited over cried during random parts of the show. Perhaps they felt their biggest love being torn from their grasp. We can only hope they an find a way to fill the void in their life.

I feel bad that Kim has lost a valued treasure in her life, but at least she has Baseball Tonight and the NBA playoffs to keep her busy.

Support Cosmo

Well it appears that someone at CBS Sportsline has a bit too much time, not to mention strange deep thoughts about college mascots. They have been promoting their own tournament of sorts in regards to college mascots to determine which mascot reigns supreme in Division I athletics. Each region has been broken down into one of four categories: Predators (where Cosmo has landed), Land Animals, Humans, and Inanimates/Mythological.

Cosmo has made it to the Elite Eight and now face the New Mexico Lobo mascot. Although Cosmo looks more like Cosmo the housecat after his makeover in 1999, he still falls into the category of a predator. Honestly, would you rather be protected by an Aggie from Utah State or a Cougar from BYU? When you think about it, it really is a simple question, a baby could answer it. We all (or should) have some love for Cosmo. Please take the time to ensure Cosmo gets the credit he really deserves and cast your vote.