Wrinkled Thoughts

What a CRAZY soccer season that was!

We had BEAUTIFUL weather the whole fall season (September - October) EXCEPT on Saturdays. 5 Saturdays in a row, we had to deal with wind, rain, freezing cold and even SNOW. Every other day of the week had GREAT weather. We started to wonder if we were being punished. Anyway, the crap weather made it hard to take photos, but I did get a few gems as you can see below.

This year is going to be special because I have been chosen to coach our league's under12 boys "summer select" team in HAWAII next July! I've never been to Hawaii… but now that I can live vicariously through my children, I'll get to go EVERYWHERE!

I was able to take these with my new spiffy Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera. Taking pictures will never be the same… Love the Michael Jordan tongues.

… All of my sister-in-law's friends and sisters have all posted a glamorous shot of her…

here's another.

Okay, so I think it has been about a month and a half since I updated my blog with anything interesting. That's what happens when you are so busy you can't see straight. Here's a few photos of Maya to catch you up-to-date. Back in August, we went to visit Grandma Cogdill, who immediately snatched Maya and held her the entire visit. Grandma loves those babies.

Maya has this nifty (goofy) chair that allows her to sit up and see the world by giving her support where her head-bobbly self doesn't have any yet. She loves to watch TV… don't know if she likes the shows, or just the pretty lights and sounds.

The next few posts will all be "catch-up"posts as well…

Since the Salt Lake Tribune newspaper only posts the obituary for 30 days, I decided I would duplicate it here… forever.

Hollis N. Service "Holly" 11/23/1908 ~ 8/21/2007 Beloved father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Holly Service, passed away peacefully August 21, 2007 surrounded by his family. Holly was born November 23, 1908 to William Service and Bertha West. He was born and raised on the Avenues of Salt Lake City where he witnessed early Salt Lake history and captivated family with his stories. Married Myrtle Ruth Harvey June 24, 1931. Later solemnized in the Logan Temple. They were a loving, devoted couple for 67 years. Grandpa has been an avid Uteman since 1918 when he sold Eskimo Pies in the old Deseret Gym. Holly and Myrtle spent many hours supporting their Utah teams. He was honored to be chosen as a Utah Super Fan. A natural athlete, he started golfing at age 65 and that same year won the Granite School District Golf Tournament. He went on to score two holes-in-one in his lifetime, playing his last game three weeks before his death. Holly was a loving father who always supported his boys in whatever endeavor they wanted to pursue. He had an infectious laugh and sense of humor that he passed on to his posterity. He developed friendships with everyone he met. Holly was preceded in death by his loving wife, Myrtle, and brother, Jack. Survived by sons, Gary (Linda), Craig (Diane), eight grandchildren and 15 great-grand-children. A viewing will be held Saturday, August 25, 10:30 to 11:40 a.m. at Larkin Sunset Gardens, 1950 E. 10600 S. followed by a graveside service at 12 noon. Online condolences can be made at www.larkinmortuary.com WE WILL MISS YOU GRANDPA! 

Yesterday was one of the saddest days in my life. 

My 98 year old grandfather passed away suddenly. I spent most of the day in the emergency hospital room at St. Marks hospital with my uncle Gary, aunt Linda, cousins Mindy and Chris and my cousin-in-law Allison. We all watched as my grandfather passed peacefully. 

He went the way he wanted to go. Even at the ripe old age of 98, he was still living independently, driving and even golfing with me this summer. Last Wednesday, during our last lunch together, he was even a little worried because his driver's license was going to expire this year and he was afraid they wouldn't give him another. We all know he would have passed the test with flying colors.

There aren't enough words in the English language (that I know of) to explain what a father, grandfather and GREAT grandfather he was - emphasis on GREAT. I already miss him dearly. It is going to take a long time for me to get a new Wednesday lunch routine that comes remotely close to the good times I was able to share with him over the last two years. I cherish every moment I spent with him and consider myself the luckiest of his grandchildren to have that time.

I will continue to post stories and "Hollyisms" as they come to mind. Speaking of "Hollyisms" my cousin-in-law Allison remembered another one while we were sharing time in the emergency room. I've added it here .

My grandfather was a man who will be talked about, quoted, and admired for many generations to come. The State of Utah and the city of Salt Lake will never be the same again.

In loving memory of my grandpa Holly, who to the great joy of my beloved grandma Myrtle returned to his Heavenly Father yesterday. 

It has been SIX years since my knee surgery that replaced the ACL in my right knee with the center piece of my patellar tendon. Here's a picture of my knee about a week after surgery (at the same time my twins were born). Thought I'd throw that in here just for kicks.

… And since I blew my knee playing the game I love so much, it has also been 6 years since I stepped on a soccer field with cleats and shin guards in a REAL attempt at playing in a REAL soccer game.

The wait is officially OVER. Last night I was invited to fill in for "Ben Beasley" on an "Over 30" mens competition league. I mention Ben because I looked most like him and had to use his player card (illegally?) to check in so I could play.

How did it go you ask? Let's just say they've invited me back to play full time. We were down 2-0 at half time. Shortly after the restart, I found myself on the left wing all alone. I took a beautiful cross and found nobody to beat but the goalie. Course, my superior goal mongering skills kicked in and I cut the deficit in half with a well placed shot into the right corner. A few minutes later I took a volley at the top of the box and sent a rocket 6 inches over the cross bar… it would have been a sweet goal.

We did manage to tie the game and send it into a SHOOT OUT. Yeah, I thought it was strange too, but in this league they don't do any overtime periods. They took us straight to a shoot out. I was a little surprised when they asked me to take a shot in the 4th position out of the first five since this was the first time I met the team… I guess they figured I could handle it after seeing me play.

Course, none of them knew I was the PK specialist on my college team at South Mountain. The guy on the other team who went before me missed wide left so the pressure was on me to make it. No problem. I hit my ball hard into the ride side netting (not back net) about chest high. No goalie in the world could have stopped it, even if they guessed correctly and dove that direction.

Anyway, our keeper Hunter (who invited me to play) ended up saving the next kick and sealed the deal. We won on PKs 3-2. All in all, I was surprised my legs and feet still remembered how to play, and I didn't hurt myself or suffer a heart attack in the process. Course, I'm not moving too swiftly today… 

Yes, this is another post with photos of the new love of our life, Maya! Ethan wasn't around for her birth, so this first photo is of him holding his new baby sister.

Wednesday, we took Maya on her first trip to see Great Grandpa Service. I think he was tickled pink. The twins think grandpa is a crackpot.

And one last shot of Maya AWAKE and wearing her new hair bows and favorite outfit. Do you REALLY think daddy does her hair?

Okay, so it took me 14 months to finish what I started. Yes, my twins have had Batman and Spider-man "sketched" on their bare white walls with pencil for over a year. It only took me 5 days to finish the job and put a little color to the action - and even add a third hero to boot. The twins are excited to have a "cool" room now. Here's a few photos of the coolness. Now, I only have one more room to paint in the house - mine. Transformers anyone?

Yup… I'm going to be another proud papa sometime in the middle of July. Sage and I are adopting a little girl! Since we seem to only produce boys and started producing them as pairs at the end, we decided a long time ago that the only way we were going to get our little girl was if we adopted her.

We can't believe it… it is the most surreal experience we have ever had… and it hasn't even happened yet! We always thought open adoption would be scary and a pain in the butt. However, this experience is proving otherwise. We have met the birth mom and she loves us - and we love her. Everything is moving a long so smoothly we know without a doubt our Heavenly Father is making it all possible. She was meant to be with our family… and is the entire reason we moved to Utah.

So what are we going to name her? That is the most asked question we get… mostly because all of our boy's names start with a vowel… and are in alphabetical order. Avery, Ethan, Isaac and Owen. So the obvious thing to do would be to have a U name. We tried that already. Our dog Ubu didn't last… so should we try again with U? We thought not, but the birth mother (Devonne) changed our mind. … kind of.

We picked the name Maya. Devonne was trying to devise a name created from the first letters of our boy's names… that didn't work out so well, but when she found out they were all vowels, she insisted we came up with a U name (at least for the middle name) for our daughter… Drum roll please… Maya Unique Service. It fits. She'll be unique for sure. Here are her first "photos" -  a 3D ultrasound taken today.

So I like to play soccer. Okay, I LIKED to play soccer. Now I'm the coach. This year, I coached 3 teams (Avery, Ethan and Isaac and Owen). At the moment, I am coaching a "competition" AYSO Summer Select team that gets to play in tournaments all over the state. I've enjoyed it so much, that I'm even thinking about getting my fat butt back in shape this summer so I can play Adult League soccer next fall… we'll see how that goes. Playing Adult League is what ended my career when my knees couldn't take the pounding I was giving them by adding an extra 50 lbs to my frame. I ended up blowing my right ACL and that was that.

Avery's Under 10 boys team went undefeated this year… it was great. I had a bunch of kids who really knew how to play. Avery was the best goalie in the league and can drop-kick the ball farther than anyone else his age. He's also faster than I thought. It's funny, because he doesn't have a real powerful pass/shot yet. I keep telling him it's because he needs to concentrate on the ball and make sure he strikes it correctly. Hopefully, it will come. His speed and ball skills make him a great mid-fielder though. I've plopped in a few videos on this page for your enjoyment.

The dribbler and post magnet

Ethan is fast and fiesty. And I can't believe the difference 2 years can make between age divisions. 8 year olds are just plain brain dead. They have an attention span of about 30 seconds and would rather pick daisies and dink around than actually play soccer. The 10 year olds are on it… the 8 year olds are not. Except for Ethan. For a kid who has made a living out of being a space cadet, he was the only one on his team who paid attention enough to play like he meant it. He routinely scored 3 or 4 goals per game and was usually the ONLY kid on his team scoring goals. He's built a lot like me when I was that age. I'm anxious to see how he does in the older divisions.

Notice the use of the left foot? Nice…

Isaac and Owen… they played. They had fun… but I can't really call Under 5 soccer REAL soccer. They did show promise though. They aren't afraid to get in a mix it up and the usually knew which way to actually kick the ball, which is a MAJOR achievement for kids their age.

Avery's camera skills aren't much… Look for #13 and#14 (I and O)