Football Note

Hi,
Just a quick update on the football. I'm sorry I haven't posted at all. I gave the job to Samuel to mark the plays he wanted highlighted, and he hasn't done it, so....

Last week (9/20) we played Dripping Springs and won, although I don't remember the score. Yesterday (9/27) we played against Marble Falls at Marble Falls. They scored a touchdown, and it wasn't until the 4th quarter that we matched their score. Thus it was that we went into 2 overtimes (NCAA rules, start from the 10 yd line and get 4downs, each team). No one scored during the first overtime. On the opposing team's first down of the 2nd overtime, they fumbled and we recovered. We went on to make a touchdown...WIN!

I do have plans to get you some video...the ball's kinda in Samuel's court and kinda in mine. Now I'm going to go over and update the score/schedules document.

~m~

Football Game 2

Well, I come to you (although much tardy) to report a solid win.

The final score was 19-0, and Dad commented after the game that it was the best he'd ever seen Samuel play. Now that's better than the win!

Below you'll find a video of Samuel's main highlights. The first is an excellent sack of the opposing quarterback. Look closely - he caused a fumble (that he also recovered)! The second is his catch in the end zone for the extra point. Sorry for the video quality on that one...I wasn't expecting him to get it (I don't know much about football, in case you haven't noticed.). No touchdown this time, but a great game over all!



(The song you hear is one of Samuel's favorites, "It's Time" by Christian artist The Cross Movement. It is a Christian song, for those of you worried about what he hears. While we're on the subject of Christian rap, I'll let you know that rap is not my type of music - rock 'n' roll! - but Christian rap is, as Dad mentioned the other day, "the best lyrics of all Christian music out there right now." That is, of course, a paraphrase. So, all you Christian music lovers, I encourage you to go out on a limb and check out Grits, The Cross Movement, or Flame. Toby Mac is rock/rap and too well-known (although I love his music); he doesn't count.)

Sorry it took me so long to post. School's back in full swing, and English Comp 2 begins next week. Aaaah!

TOUCHDOWN!

We had our first football game yesterday. And although we lost (14-34), our family was as excited as you've seen us for a long time.
It was 3rd and 14 yds. Mat (same Mat from baseball), our quarterback, dropped back to pass. It was a perfect pass, and it landed securely in Samuel's hands. He upped his speed and ran! Touchdown!!! Approx 65 yds!

If you watch again, you can see him hitching up the pad in his pants that had come loose. We've gotten a big laugh out of that.

This was Samuel's first touchdown in tackle football (he had about seven in flag, we think). We are all very excited. So is he. :)

~m~

USANA Convention Pictures

I pretty much summarized the week for you yesterday. However, there's still some more pictures, so I'll post those with little captions.
This (above) is Dad. In Salt Lake City, if you want to cross the street at night, there are neon orange flags that you take from one side to the other. On each side are buckets full of flags for your use. It's quite an interesting way to stay visible to oncoming traffic...

And here's Dad, again. Self-explanatory.

Again, I'll close with a picture of team. Do you see Dad and Mom at the back? (Dad is back row, 2nd from left; Mom is back row, 3rd from left.) That man in the middle, in the suit and tie, is Dr. Myron Wentz. He founded Gull laboratories, invented the test kit for the Epstein Bar virus (mono), and then he took his knowledge of curing disease and put it to the test preventing disease with his foundation of USANA Health Sciences.

Time for school!

~m~

USANA Convention

So you haven't heard from us for awhile. Wondering where we were?

Samuel and I were in Austin, TX with Memaw (Dad's mom).

Raymond and Suzy were somewhere much more exciting, the 2008 USANA International Convention!!! There were 8000 people there, representing 14 different countries. Now there are actually 15 countries - big news is the addition of

the Philippines!

Where should I start? It's kind of hard to rehash their trip for you, since I wasn't there, but I will do my best. *grins* I'm not going to give you a day-by-day like I did when they went to Cozumel. That would take too long, and their days kind of blended together in a whirl of intense training, exciting product launches (Rev3!), crazy pajama parties (well, 1), manufacturing plant tours, sushi, and much more! Where do I start?

As for training, they got to hear from Robert Kiyosaki. He is the author of the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad, which is supplemented by Cashflow Quadrant and Retire Young, Retire Rich, among others. (If you haven't read these books, we highly encourage you to do so. They are unconventional, yes, but that is desirable when the rat race has become conventional.)

They also heard from network marketing guru Tim Sales and others whose names are not coming to me quickly. Derrick Parra, Olympic gold medalist in speed skating, and Jennifer Azzi, Olympic gold medalist in women's basketball, were among the athletes who champion USANA and got up to speak.

As for pajama parties, they didn't wear any pajamas, but they did have a good time. I don't have any pictures of them at the party (yet), so you'll just have to imagine it. *grins* As for the sushi, it's becoming a Convention tradition for my parents to go, with the Sosa family, to eat sushi one of their nights there.

Here's a picture (below) of the manufacturing plant tour. (This picture was taken from stairs, so it is actually above floor level.) This is the warehouse.

And now you're just dying to know about the new product launches, aren't you? I've half a mind to keep you in aggravated suspense, but that wouldn't be nice, now, would it? *more grins* Well, USANA Health Sciences has introduced their answer to the Red Bull (and other energy drinks). If you didn't know, Red Bulls, and other energy drinks, are drinks packed full of sugars, caffeine, and other things that give you a high amount of energy...just before you crash to where you are lower than you were before. It's not healthy for your blood sugar to undergo that kind of fluctuation. The highlight of this convention was the introduction of Rev3, USANA's new healthy energy drink that contains NO artificial colors, NO artificial sweeteners, NO artificial preservatives, and NO artificial flavors. It has a slower incline, but it won't bring you down below normal levels - you won't crash and burn. The caffeine it uses is strictly from a blend of teas that also provide you with antioxidants. And it's low-glycemic. Beat that!

Another highlight was the introduction of a NutriMeal shake without soy. This one is made with whey.

And here is the team, because, in USANA, you're in business for yourself, but not by yourself!

As for the Valadez family, we are on a mission to start CHANGING LIVES!

~m~