The Football Uniform

My sister, Karleen, shared this poem with me that she received after her son, Zach's last football game. Even though I'm the "meanest mom" and make my boys wash their own clothes, it still brought a tear to my eye.

The Football Uniform

For four long years I’ve washed this “suit” and goodness, what a chore!
I’ve seen the grass, the blood and dirt, the stains and grime galore.

I’ve held it very gingerly, then dropped it in the wash.
While thinking, “Next week, wash again, o gee, o gosh!”

I’ve opened all the windows as I’ve squirted on the “Shout”;
I’ve breathed the fumes that clogged my lungs, of that I have no doubt.

The fortune on detergent, the time I’ve spent – I shudder;
For four long years I’ve washed this “suit”; you now can call me “Mudder.”

But today I washed this uniform perhaps the final time;
After all those years of drudgery, I failed to the grime.

I saw the boy who wore it with such pride and dignity,
And suddenly, that football “suit” looked beautiful to me.

I saw the dedication of my young man to the team;
His pride to wear the uniform, to play the game and dream.

I felt the tingling of the game, the tumult at the end,
The heart, the spunk, the cheer and pat of every loyal friend.

The character and goodness that this uniform help to grow,
And the precious boy who wore it is so special I can glow.

If I had one wish for certain, the one I would adore-
Would be to wash this uniform for four long years or more!

Wanda Wychek

The Last Game

2nd Round of State Football Playoffs at Weiser Nov 7, 2009

We got up early Saturday morning and made the six hour drive to Weiser to watch South Fremont play Weiser. It was a beautiful day. It must have been 60 degrees with no wind. You couldn't have asked for better weather. But you could have asked for a better outcome. The first half went well. We were ahead 12-7. But the second half we just fell apart. They scored two touchdowns and we had four interceptions for the whole game. Our quarterback, Spencer Goulding, is a sophomore and has done a great job for the team. He has only had 6 interceptions the entire season. So this was a tough loss to take. We really had the skills to beat this team, so it makes it that much harder to swallow.

But they had a great year and this team went farther than any other team from the history of the high school. I think the coaches even realized they won't see a team like this for awhile. They were emotional in the locker room too.

This is one of the last plays of the game, and of Zak's high school career. He usually just plays center on the offensive line. But in the end they brought him in on defense as well to try and hold the line.

The start of the second half the boys came out and circled up for the jumping jacks while they shout C-O-U-G-A-R-S

The final long walk back to the bus. You have never seen such low hanging heads on such big strong boys. On the way home they stopped in Boise and the athletic director, Chris Tucker, bought them dinner at Sizzler. By the time they got home their spirits had improved and they are already getting psyched for wrestling. We definitely have some contenders for state in wrestling. So it is good to be able to move on and move up.

Hunting...or camping with a lot of walking?

Zak, Tanner & Layne with Zak's doe

"Grizzly Layne"

Tanner and Layne made it back from their week long hunting trip to Salmon. Tanner got a small buck on one of the first days there. Then for a majority of the week their biggest kill was the mice that crawled all over them during the night. On the day before they came home, Layne's brother, Daren, shot a spike elk. He shot it at about 6:30 at night, down in the canyon. So there was no way they could get it out that night. So they strung it up in a tree and luckily it was still there the next day. They cut the hind quarter off and started dragging it out. Even with five of them they soon realized that this was going to take forever. So they gathered all the rope they had and about 300 feet of it later they hooked it onto the four wheeler and pulled the elk out. Even with that it took over four hours.

It was sure good to get them home. And I have to say that we must still be in the honeymoon phase because I got two calls during the week and the other wives didn't hear a thing. I'm sure checking in on Zak's football had nothing to do with the phone calls. Even Tanner said that after a few days he was missing me. I told him he must have started feeling too good about himself and needed someone to berate him. Although I think Uncle Kade took over that calling pretty well. Even though they didn't come home with a bear, wolf, elk or mountain lion they had a good time. It was good for Tanner to have some one-on-one with his dad. But they both were thrilled to come home and jump in the shower and into their mice free beds that night.

Halloween

Karlee the Hippie

Savanna, Karlee & Easton

Even though we had a traumatic week with dogs dying, we also had some fun for Halloween. We joined the Sargent and Jackson clan at Ruth and Kent's to decorate sugar cookies. Karlee always has fun playing with the cousins. And I especially enjoyed catching up with everyone. From my informal poll that night it sounded like the recession has taken its toll on the costumes. Everyone I talked to had recycled old costumes. We were lucky that Grandma Jeannette cleaned out her closet and we have lots of Jana's old dance costumes to choose from. This year Karlee dressed up like a hippie. We have trunk or treat at our ward. The kids make the rounds of the parking lot about 8 times and always leave with their bags overflowing. I don't think it's as much fun as the old way. But as a parent it is actually a lot easier.

Jack & Jill...ran in the road...Bad trick no treat

What a bad week for the animals. Saturday just before we left for trunk or treat my mother-in-law, Verla, came in the house shaking her head and telling me to come outside. I thought, "No way?" Yes, as they were coming back from town they saw our dog, Jack, dead in the road. It has only been four days since Jill got hit in the exact same place. I have decided that he was so lonely for her that he committed suicide so he could be with her.

Once again I called on Zak to pick up the pieces. He hadn't had a chance to bury Jill yet, so I guess fittingly they were buried together. I'm sure glad he was home to deal with this. I would have had to call on my father-in-law, Laren, to do it otherwise. I just don't do dead animals. I remember when I was about 12 my dog, Buffy, followed me on my bike to Kelly's,the local convenience store. I had to cross Sunnyside, a fairly busy street to get there. As I was coming home I heard the screech of tires and looked back and saw Buffy dead on the road. I couldn't deal with it. So I just rode home bawling all the way and my mom and to go back and pick him up.

I waited to tell Karlee until after trunk or treat. When I told her she gave me this look of unbelief and told me to quit joking. I told her that I would never joke about this. When we got home she ran to her room to change. I followed her to make sure she was okay. The door was locked and she was sobbing, saying to herself, "They were always there to play with me when I came home from school." What a heartbreak! After she came out I hugged her and let her cry it out for a few more minutes. Then she decided that Jack missed Jill and he knew his way to heaven. By the next day she was begging for a new dog. I asked her how she could be so cruel to want to put another dog through that, since we have now had three dogs and one cat killed on that road. I'm sure Layne will give in eventually. But I have made him promise we won't do it until we get a fence.

Even though I never gave these dogs as much attention as they deserved I have to admit they were pretty good dogs. I was their favorite because I am the one that fed them every morning. They would dance around my legs hoping for some attention. I would tell Jack to get down and he would roll over on his back and expect me to rub his belly with my foot. If I stopped he would jump up on me again until I got back to work. Layne's parents loved these dogs too. The dogs always seemed to know when they were outside and would run over to visit them. Jack would sit up on the bench with Laren and just keep him company. Jack would never miss an opportunity to go somewhere. If we went out on the four wheeler he was on the back in a flash. He even rode on the back of the motorbikes sometimes. I think he was part kangaroo, because he could jump up into the truck with the tailgate up. Jack and Jill were quite a pair and will be missed at the Terry house.

A Real Nail Biter

South Freemont made it to the State Football playoffs this year and got to play in the Holt arena for the first time in school history. They have had a great season, losing only to Snake River and Shelley. Most of their other games have all been blowouts. Their first game and first loss was to Snake River. So all season they have been chomping at the bit to redeem themselves. They ended up playing Snake River for the opening game of the playoffs.

Layne and Tanner were still in Salmon hunting. So I was there with Frank, Jeannette, Tera, Brandon and Tenlee. Brandi was also there but it was such a big crowd that we never saw her.
Layne called me from North Fork right at the opening kick off. I had to leave the stadium since it was so loud. Within a minute I heard a big cheer and went back in to see that we had already scored. What a way to start the game! The first half was just phenomenal. It was a totally different game than when we played them the first time. I think Snake River was a little surprised. I think they figured since they beat us once that this game would be a cake walk too.

At half time the score was 31-14 in our favor. And we almost got another touchdown in the last second of the half, but they brought us down at the one yard line. I would have felt much better to have had that extra cushion. It would have saved me a lot of anxiety in the second half. Because we didn't score at all in the second half. They got two more touchdowns and had possession again in the last 1:30 of the game. They were only three points down. I was just sick to think we might lose it after doing so well in the first half. They kept making first downs and were down to the 20 yard line. There were only 9 seconds left on the clock when the quarterback went to throw a pass and one of our boys sacked him. I was so busy screaming about the sack that I didn't realize that the clock had run out and we had won the game!

Jeannette and I were screaming and hugging each other. We were all so proud of them. My favorite part after they win a game is when the team gets together in front of the student body and sings the school song. Pretty amazing for a bunch of boys you probably couldn't pay to sing otherwise. It always chokes me up.

It is a good thing they won because now Layne and Tanner will be able to see them play next week. We will play the winner of the Buhl/Weiser game. Buhl is favored to win so that is probably where we will be next week. GO COUGARS!!

Sad day at the Terry house

Well, the inevitable day has finally come. As I was going out to bring in the trash can from the road I saw our wiener dog, Jill had been hit in the middle of the road. We have had a dozen people tell us that they have almost hit her. So I guess she got more than nine lives. Luckily Zak was home so I made him go pick her up. I had to tell Karlee what happened. It took a minute for it to register but then she sobbed for about ten minutes. She spent the most time with Jill and loved cuddling with her on the couch. Most of the time Jill would growl at her every time she shifted but Karlee loved her anyway.

I'm not sure if our other dog Jack has figured out what has happened yet. They were so cute together. She would lay on top of him while they slept. They took good care of each other. Even though I haven't been that attached to these dogs I feel bad that my kids will miss them. I'm sure when Tanner gets home from hunting he will be very upset. That is the problem with living on a busy street. It is not a matter of if they get hit, but when.