Its Time to Celebrate!

Christmas at the Bukey's was crazy, fun as usual. We jump started the festivities last week with Alyssa and Briggs before they took off for Canada with a weekend of presents, performing at church, last minute shopping, and loads of movies and games.

Cole and I spent Christmas Eve at the parentals and enjoyed the time we had with them, Ben, Bryan and Annie. Christmas morning was full of fun presents (wii for Cole and Dyson for me), yummy muffins, the traditional "Lansford" sausage, egg and cheese casserole, and lastly the ever-important honey-baked ham. (Nicole and Scott met up with us after a busy morning with his folks.)

As you can see above, Cole spent a good portion of the afternoon teaching Dad and Ben the wonders of Madden 09. How successful he was is still up for discussion. But when it comes to Wii bowling, watch out! These parents have some serious skills.

Regardless of the gifts, fun and family time, it is always a blessing to have a few days to pause and reflect on the gift of our Savior and His life.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Our Night in Bethlehem

Over the past few months Cole and I had the opportunity to help plan the ward "Night in Bethlehem" Christmas party. While it was a ton of work and a little overwhelming, things went off without a hitch and I think everyone had a great time.

Mom and dad drove down to "support" us. Don't you love that sweet backdrop?

Everyone needed to be "counted."

Amazing drop ceiling installed by Brother Rowe

The town storyteller

Forgot your biblical attire? No worries!

"Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel..."

Cute carpenters passing out wooden ornaments

They ate,

Drank,

And were properly respectful.

Thanks to everyone who helped! We could have never done it all without you, you and you. Ok, and everyone else who needs to get a blog. :)

*Thanks for the photos, Committee Chair Extrodinar Tiffany Runyon.

Its Bowlin' Time

Maura might not like this but there are certain times of the year when our blog will be infiltrated and turned into the sports page. The first time is December/January(football), and then again in March/April (March Madness).

After their rout of the Cougs on November 22nd (48-24, just had to proclaim it again) the Utes completed an undefeated 12-0 regular season and is undeniably the front runner for an at large bid into the BCS (second time in 4 years). BCS projections are now flying and changing day to day. Where is the Utes destiny? The following are projections from 5 highly respected Analysts.

Finally, this post isn't long enough for me to tear apart the BCS system , and I think everyone agrees with me when I say its broken and needs a serious overhaul. This much I will say, it is better to loose earlier rather then later in the season. Not only does the BCS need an official review, but conference rules also need to be looked at.

You probably could have guessed that yes, I am referring to the B12. Texas gets hosed by a rule that states in the event of a 3-way tie, the team with the highest BCS ranking get the bid to the conference championship game. Texas, who has been ranked above OK since their 35-45 victory in the cotton bowl in mid October was jumped by the Sooners in the latest BCS polls by .0124. Because of the identical records of OK, Tex, and TT, the Sooners will play for the Big 12 championship and inevitably, barring a miracle from the heavens will advance to the National championship game. Why is OK more deserving then the Horns? They're not! I do agree that there is no hotter team in college football right now save Florida then the Sooners. However, the Horns beat the Sooners. The SEC tiebreaker rules state that the team with the highest BCS ranking advances to the conference championship unless the second team is within 5 spots. Then the tiebreaker goes head-to-head. If the Big 12 had the same rule as the SEC, Texas would have the tiebreaker, win the Big 12 and play for the national title.

Because of this I am placed in a very interesting spot. The committee of the Fiesta bowl gets the first selection on Dec. 7th. We know they will take Texas, but its their second pick that could be interesting. The committee could elect the Buckeye's of Ohio State, or The Utes. Honestly, I think the second pick will be the Utes. Where does that put me? Being from Texas, my whole life I have supported the Horns and know as an alum from the U (in a month), I am torn on who to back for the game. Some say it doesn't matter because I will be happy no matter who wins. It's the exact opposite. One team still has to loose and that's the hard part. The mountain West deserves respect and winning another BCS game will hopefully pound the respect they deserve into pollsters. The MWC finished the season with 3 ranked teams, and 2 in the top 15, a very impressive feat for a non BCS conference. unfortunately, I am not sure the Utes have what it takes to knock off a team like Texas. Therefore it would be better for Utah to get a sugar bowl bid and play a team like Alabama. Alabama has sat at the top of the rankings for most of the year, but I am still not sold. 'Bama to me seems a bit over-ratted with a mediocre offense that the Utes defense could tear apart. If Brian Johnson comes out and plays like he did against Michigan, Oregon State, SDSU, and BYU, the Runnin' Utes could stun the BCS by topping an SEC giant. Needless to say, I think the Utes will not get the chance and will fight hard against Texas. If it turns out, Maura and I will be in AZ on January 5th.

the following are my Bowl projections and winners for the 5 BCS games.

Orange - Boston College vs Cincinnati - Cincinnati

Rose - USC vs Penn St. - USC

Sugar - Ohio State vs Alabama - Alabama

Fiesta - UTAH vs TEXAS - Congrats to the Utes for a great season, Texas wins

BCS National Title Game - Florida vs Oklahoma - Its tough but Urban Meyer and the Gators get business done

And that's me...Any thoughts football fans?

Daily Updates and projections on all 34 bowl games, click here