Some Random Notes Before Our Trip

So has anyone been watching the Winter Olympics? I've caught bits and pieces of it here and there. Shaun White was ridiculous last night in the Men's Snowboard Half Pipe. I do not see how anyone can top his dominance. I also caught a bit of the men's speed skating, but in reality, here in Canada, is there any other sport that matters more than the Men's Hockey? No, not even close. That is the one sport I will not be missing! This year Team Canada has the looks of the most complete hockey team ever assembled. Our selections this year were so deep, that you could make an equally strong second team. So now our nation waits, with it's collective breath held as we hope our boys can bring back the Gold to Canada on home soil. Our first test cam up against Norway, and it was an absolute walk. My man Jerome Iginla Lit things up with a hat trick (3 goals in one game, for those not familiar with the sport), and was absolutely dominant. He was teamed up with Rick "Nasty" Nash, and Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby. This formed an absolutely lethal first line for the Canadians that i think we'll see a lot more of as the tournament wears on. I love it! I can't wait to see how this tournament wears on, it's going to be the most exciting hockey since the '72 Summit Series. And I have a feeling Jerome is going to be the major force behind Canada's road to victory.

Ok, enough hockey for now. On to other things, a little later today me and the fam are hopping a plane to go visit Jody's family out east. I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to the plane ride. Over the last few years I've been flying a ton, and at first it was all neat and exciting, but now, I just dread it. The cramped seating, the boring entertainment, people climbing over one another, turbulence. I really don't enjoy flying anymore. But it will be good to get back to see friends and family in Ontario. I'm dying to visit Guelph again (where we lived before moving to Calgary). I miss that little town, and the people there. If we end up back in Ontario again, that's the only place I think I'm willing to go. Out of all the towns we lived in when we were out there, Guelph was the one place I actually felt "at home" in. It was a wonderful little place that holds a special spot in my heart. Another cool thing though was that you were never too far away from anyone or anything in Ontario, because of the highway system there. While we lived in Guelph, we were never more than 45 minutes away from family and friends. So needless to say, it will be nice to visit the old stomping grounds again.

Well, I will be offline until I get back home on Monday, so have a good weekend everyone. Keep your sticks on the ice, and GO Canada GO!

Colton's Rough Family Day

We family day has come and gone. Did anyone else out there have fun? For us we got together with my family to go to Fort Calgary. It's a historical site, the starting point of Calgary. It was a bit of a disappointment I'd have to say. There used to be a large military fort there, now there are only a couple log sheds remaining. I'm not sure what happened to the fort. We went into the visitors center and looked at the few exhibits they had set up, kind of a let down.
So after that the girls went into the souvenir shop to get some candy, and we boys took off outside to go check out where we thought the fort was going to be. After we were disappointed to find the fort gone, my brother Stephen picked up Colton to go for a walk. Allan and I got into making snowballs and throwing them at each other. We then decided to head back to see everyone else, but before that I had a snowball still to throw at Allan. instead of taking the snowball like a man, he decided to run behind Stephen and Coton to use them as a shield. Before I even threw the snowball, Stephen picked up Colton, and tried to run away. After only taking a couple strides, he slipped in the snow and he and Colton came crashing down. The unfortunate part was Colton made a face plant onto the ground. He lifted his head up and then the pain set in. I rushed over, and Uncle Steve picked him up right away. As soon as I came over to the poor crying boy, I could see the damage. Almost immediately a large goose egg formed, and his poor little face was scratched up from the ice. The worst part for him was all the slushy ice up his nose. Mommy showed up shortly after, and we took him to the car to get cleaned up. The rest of the day he would see himself in the mirror and would say "Ow, broke." I think he's feeling better now, as he hasn't missed a step. For the record, this was not Uncle Stephen's fault, it was daddy and Uncle Al being stupid. He forgave us pretty quick though. So I felt I'd share the picture with you, it looks a ton better after he got all cleaned up.
















On another note, I just want to give a shout out to my wonderful wife. This last weekend, Jody got the opportunity to sing at the halftime of the Calgary Roughnecks game (Professional Lacrosse team). The theme of the game was Love Spurned, and Jody chose to sing Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". She did a wonderful job, and it was a great experience. Although she didn't win, I was so greatly impressed by her courage. She sang in front of 10, 800 people, and did a great job of it too. I'm very glad to have a wife with a wonderful talent of signing. It's a very nice blessing to our home. Way to go honey!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a very big announcement! I'm not going to draw it out any. Without further delay, Colton would like to tell you all something.....

Well, hopefully you got the message. Yes, it's true, we are expecting a new little addition to our family. We only found out this week, so it's still very early. We are estimating our due date to be October 5 or 6. We are very excited, but nervous as well. I think I may be more excited to see Cole in action as a big brother.
So there you have it. We are excited to share this news with all of you. Have a great night!

A Sad Day in Flames Town

Folks, it's days like this that I hate about being a die hard fan. I am a massive Dion Phaneuf fan. Aside from Jarome Iginla, he was the other favorite player I had on the team. With the Flames mired in a slump that ended last night, our G.M. Darryl Sutter decided to shake things up and he traded away Dion Phaneuf! I'm not angry about the trade, but I am not happy about it in the least. I understand that changes need to happen, but I don't feel we made a good trade here. Not only did we trade Dion to the Maple Leafs (one of my most hated teams), but they only got a bunch of middle of the road players. I don't feel that this trade really addressed our need for more improved offence! Secondly, I can't help but feel that this could be a repeat of the worst trade in in Flames history, Doug Gilmour for Gary Leeman. That ended up being disastrous for the Flames, and wonderful for the leafs. We just traded away the most feared, and statistically, the #1 defenseman since the lockout, for very little in return. I know, I know, it free's up salary in the salary cap era, but there were other options, and much better options in my opinion.

Now I just saw on the sports ticker, that the Flames are expected to announce the trade of Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the New York Rangers, for Chris Higgens and Ales Kotalik! I wanted Jokinen gone for sure, because he has been a bust for $5 million, but again, we're getting back mediochre players. What the heck? I thought that Darryl wanted to compete for the cup this year! Now at a very critical time in the season, he is purging the team. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You are revamping half the team in the middle of a very tight playoff race. One or two players is understandable, but 6 in one day? These are players coming from different systems, that now have to learn a new system (style of play), and establish chemistry with the remaining team members. It doesn't seem like a very smart move to me. If by some miracle, this bold move works out, Sutter will look like a genius. But if it blows up in his face, and believe me, in the sporting world it is very likely; the fans will be calling for his head.

This kind of anxiety makes it hard to be a fan some days. However, regardless; I will always support my team. But I am going to really, really miss my boy Dion Phaneuf. I hope he does well, in Toronto, and makes Sutter sorry for trading such a dominant talent away.