Wrigley Had A Birthday!

Little Wrigley turned 3 last week. How could we not have a celebration?!?! I made him a special cake that looks just like his new frisbee. We sang Happy Birthday to him and let him open his birthday presents. He wasn't so good at the opening part, but his pal, Maisy helped him out. He loved his new sweater and new chew toy. He had a good day...

"Today was a good day..."

...those were Katie's immortal words as we sat on the couch at 9 o'clock last night. We spent the day golfing in the morning and fishing in the afternoon. We were successful at both playing pretty good golf and catching some good sized trout out of the new Murray pond. I've got to quit teaching Katie the "rules of golf" as she insists on assessing me a 2 shot penalty for knocking in a putt without taking the flagstick out of the hole first. Yeah, right!!!

Can you identify this golf hole?

Those of us who frequent the Bountiful Ridge Golf Course in North Salt Lake will have no trouble identifying this hole. It is #17, the infamous "Fred's Tree" hole at Bountiful Ridge.
All seasoned golfers will know to not flirt with putting your drive too close to the tree on the right side of the fairway, and to avoid being left of the tree line on the left side of the fairway. A good drive will put you in position for an uphill approach to the green. Be sure to club-up to get to the green and avoid the bunkers on the right of the green. Par is a good score on this hole.
(Can you tell I'm a little bored today and am grasping for something to do?? Hopefully our golf game won't get rained out this afternoon...but it's sure looking dark and ominous outside.
***Six hours later and an update on the golf game. Tee time was 3:40. At 3:00 it was raining, we arrived at the golf course at 3:30 to no rain but super wet conditions. The weather cooperated...until the 6th hole when it began to rain softly, then steadily, then seriously. We had agreed to play on regardless, so in the downpour we completed the round in style....and were soaking wet because of it! All in all it was a good day...as is any day on the golf course.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.....

Does that mean 2 pictures are worth 2000 words?? Needless to say, it was a good day at the golf course yesterday.

A Beautiful Day at Silver Lake

I told Katie we could leave after we got 5 interesting pictures from around the lake. The first picture she took was of my behind...She giggled, but I let her know that was not an "interesting" picture. We had so many to choose from but this, the last picture we took from the west side of the lake was the most beautiful. Don't you agree?

Sideways Golfing

If you have the right head tilt you can see me hit this 9 iron to the green on #2 at Nibley. I'd like to say I stuck it 6 inches from the hold and had a kick in birdie...and maybe I did. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Thanks Katie for the video clip!!

Aside from the fact that it was nearly 100 degrees, we had a great time golfing at Nibley. The kids are getting pretty good and it won't be long until they are kicking my trash on the course! I'll be pretty happy when that day comes.

Flashback to July 13, 1930

It occurred to me today as I was golfing, and writing the date on the score card, that it was my dad's birthday. (and it occurrs to me right at this minute that it is also my grandfather's birthday as they were both born on the same day.)
I thought that he'd be happy that I was golfing, and would probably be proud of the way I play...at least I hope so. He was an avid golfer, playing every chance he got--usually three times a week, every weekend and also in his Monday night league. For as long as I can remember he did that like clockwork...never deviating from his routine, unless it was to fit in an extra game on a holiday. I have the impression that he was a scratch golfer. (for those of you who are unfamiliar with that term, it means he usually shot par or better every time he played.) There are so many things I'd like to sit with him and pick his brain about. Like his high school and college sports career. We found old newspapers when we cleaned out my parents house from 1948 when he was named to the All-State Football team as the quarterback. He then went on to play football for Westminster College, and rumor has it that he had a stint as a minor league baseball player. I have proof, I've seen pictures.
I had to do quick math in my head and figured out that he has been gone 29 years. I still have to pinch myself when I think of it because sometimes it feels like he has been gone forever, and sometimes it feels like just yesterday. I think of all the events that have happened that he missed: my mission, Steve's wedding and birth of his daughter, Amanda and her growing up, Kori's wedding, Janet's college graduation and the birth of her boys, Steve's "issues", Kori's girls. It's crazy, but it is what it is. I have a hope that sometime down the road things will be made right and we'll have time to talk about lots of things that we've both missed out on. But for now, well, Happy Birthday Dad...By the way, I shot a 42.