Reno Tahoe Open

Luckily, last Friday I was able to go for half a day to the Reno Tahoe Open.  I love going to golf tournaments. They are the best professional sporting event you can attend. Tickets are not horribly expensive and you can get so close to some of the best golfers in the world.  For example, here I am standing right next to Padraig Harrington as he is getting ready to hit a shot.

That is John Daly down there in the bunker wearing his crazy pants.

And as I was leaving, I saw Mike Weir practicing his putting before he teed off.

I walked a ton following Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink around for several holes. Professional golfers walk really fast. And at one hole Harrington hit it on the sidewalk, so it was quite amusing to see him get out of that pickle.  And I heart his Irish accent.

The Pro-Am

Last week Rinar was able to do something really cool. He participated in the Pro-Am golf tournament for the Reno Tahoe Open.  He was pretty darn excited.  The tournament was on Wednesday, so we went Tuesday night to a casino downtown for a special dinner where they matched the participants up with a professional golfer. Rinar and his group got matched up with Tom Pernice, Jr.

Tee time was at 1:30pm.  I was able to go and watch him for a little bit. This is Rinar on the first tee shot. He missed it pretty bad in the sagebrush to the left. I think he was quite nervous.  Luckily, they played best ball so he was able to hit his second shot from a much better position.

Rinar and his caddy, Ryan, from work.  Not a bad way to spend a Wednesday, caddying on the golf course instead of sitting behind a desk.

Here is his group.  Tom Pernice is the guy in the middle. Rinar was a last minute addition, so he didn't know anyone from his group. But it is golf, and it sure was a lot of fun, regardless.

Tom Pernice is taking a shot on hole 13.

In the end, his group took 4th overall. Not too shabby, huh?  I am really quite amazed at the incredible opportunities we have both been able to have in our lives together.  It was pretty darn cool.

The New Mrs. Stops By

Remember how my brother got married back in March?  Well, they ended up staying in Oregon through the summer. They have now emerged from marriage hibernation and headed back to Utah to get on with life this past weekend.  Yep, the irony...they have no kids, but no time.  I have no time because I have kids. You know what I am saying here?

Anyways, I digress. 

Reno is actually on the way to Utah from Oregon.  So they stopped by for the weekend.  They put on their Uncle and Aunt hats and really did a bang up job being cool Uncle Jamie and charming Aunt Leah.  The kids had a lot of fun with them.

I actually got a babysitter for Friday night and we went out to a nice dinner together at the Lodge and then followed it up with a mean game of miniature golf.  On the first hole, Leah got a hole-in-one.  I am sorry to say that it kind of fell apart after that, but she did have moments of brilliance. I suck at miniature golf, but I did my best.  Of course, Rinar won {yawn!}.

On Saturday, after some fun girl shopping in the morning, we took everyone to King's Beach on Lake Tahoe.

The kids really had a fun time. It was a bit crowded, but not horribly so.  Leah took this picture of Julia chill-axing on a raft.  We stayed for a few hours and then headed home. It was quite a lot of fun.

Stop by again sometime, you two lovebirds.

Boys Excursion to St. George

Rinar went to St. George with the kids last week so that he could play golf with his brothers and watch Nordel's football game. Nordel is on a semi-pro team called the St. George Blitz. The team has been doing really well and so has Nordel. It doesn't hurt that he is 6'7" tall and is a big guy. I think Rinar said he plays tight end. They won the game and the whole family came out to watch them.

Nordel is the tallest guy in the middle of this picture. I think he is #63,


The kids played with their cousins all day on Friday while they had their golfing excursion. I think Rinar said they golfed 27 holes and it took about 7 hours. I bet Rinar was really glad I stayed in Las Vegas. 7 hours of golfing? Are you kidding me???

On Saturday, Rinar and Nordel took Raef and Zach fishing. They were catching bass at a golf course pond. It was catch-and-release. Look at what the kids pulled in by themselves...

Zach's fish weighed 1 pound.

Raef scored a two-pounder. Impressive, huh?


CAUTION: THIS NEXT PICTURE MIGHT BE DISTURBING TO SOME OF YOU



They also went shooting with Uncle Lyf. Yes, that really is a real gun. It is a .22 pistol. I am sure some of you are probably going to freak out when you see this picture. Rinar and his brothers would do this with their Dad at this age, a long time ago. I guess it is a rite of passage for boys. Rinar and Lyf do a great job of explaining gun safety to the kids. They go far out into the middle of nowhere.

There are a lot of "middle-of-nowheres" in the west.

When I saw this picture, I was a little freaked-out too. It is my motherly instinct. But I have complete faith in my husband. I know that I can trust him implicitly.

By the way, I don't think that Zach hit the target.