More Pics of Terel's State Championship Weekend

I must say that Terel is pretty studly. Perhaps some day he might be as studly as me, although, it will take a lot of hard work and dedication, BUT the kid does have potential! Too bad he is not more like Hayydn, now studliness just comes natural to that kid, must be genetic? Anyway, here are some more photos of Terel's State Championship wrestling weekend. Enjoy. (oh, and they are in no particular order).

News Story on Terel and Tyrel

02/17/2009

Snowflake's Terel Nichols joins late brother as state champion
By: Keith Morris , The Independent can be found at: http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20263259&BRD=2264&PAG=461&dept_id=505964&rfi=6

Snowflake's Terel Nichols has a good grip on Holbrook's Adrian Perkins during their 189-pound championship bout during the 3A individual state finals on Saturday. Nichols won 7-3 to join his late brother, Tyrel, as a state champion.
PRESCOTT VALLEY - Terel Nichols had a lot of family members on hand to cheer him on in his bid to win a state wrestling championship on Saturday.
"About 13," he figured.
There was one missing, however.
The Snowflake senior's older brother, Tyrel, did not occupy a seat at Tim's Toyota Center to witness the 3A individual state finals.
Sadly, the 2002 state champion recently took his own life.
"He got mentally ill," Terel Nichols said of his brother. "He wasn't all there."
Tyrel was a big part of his younger brother's life and was a key to his success on the wrestling mat.
And, although he wasn't physically there in the arena on Friday or Saturday, he certainly was there in spirit.
"Oh yeah," Terel said when asked if his brother was in his thoughts as he posted a 7-3 victory over Holbrook's Adrian Perkins to win the 189-pound championship and cap a 45-4 season. "It was hard but I wore this thing he took state in," Terel said, lifting his sweatshirt to revel the uniform with the block "S" his brother wore seven years ago in claiming the 171 3A title.
He wanted nothing more than to join his brother at the top of the medal stand.
"It feels good," he said. "My brother took his (title), now it's my turn...It was something I wanted to do."
He was hoping to win it all a year ago but had to settle for second place. Winning a championship took on greater significance for him when he lost his brother during his final season.
"I wrestled for six years before doing it," he said. "It's what me and my brother always wanted - to have two state champs in the family. So, I finally got it."
Terel is one of nine children. He has five sisters and one living brother. His oldest brother, Taj, died in 1987, nine years after falling into a pool and suffering brain damage as a 2-year-old. The large family offers him plenty of support in grieving for Tyrel.
"It means a lot (that) I could do it for them," said Terel, also a standout football player. "It kind of helps them too as long as it helps me. It means a lot. They're all supporting me and my brother's up there with me too, so it's good."
Tyrel was a big supporter of his younger brother on the mats.
"The last tournament I took was Moon Valley and he was there with me and I took first," Terel said. "I was named Most Outstanding Wrestler, had the most takedowns and most pins. After that he passed away and in my next tournament, I took fourth (at the Doc Wright Invitational). It was really hard for me."
But he was determined to succeed in his final tournament for both himself and his brother.
"I knew I could take state and I pulled it off," Terel said.

Valentine's Fun

Well Valentine's Day was a little bit different this year. My younger brother, Terel, had the opportunity to wrestle in the 3A Arizona State Championships Friday 13th and Saturday 14th. He won all four of his matches on his way to taking the championship. I was so proud of him. He has worked so hard at the sport of wrestling and he has got a lot of talent to boot. Terel is our second State Champion wrestler in the family. Ty was the State Champion wrestler a few years back in his weight class. He went on to Nationals and did very well. I will be honest, with Ty's recent passing, these State Championships were a little tough to handle. It was hard not to have him there with us. I found out that Terel actually wore Ty's State Championship singlet. So, that is a pretty neat story. I know Ty would have been (is) very proud of Terel.

It is kind of funny when I think about Terel being a State Champion. He is the baby of the family and for some reason even though he is as tall as me and much more musclular (ok, actually only a little bit. :) ), he is and will always be the baby. It is hard to believe that he is actually 18 years old. And I just have to say, while we are on the subject, he is the nicest kid. Honestly, I think he is the most tender hearted and caring one out of all of us. He definately has a lot of potential! Here is a pic of Terel holding his championship bracket -Anyway, the whole point of the story is that Lisa and I didn't get to do the traditional valentine's stuff (whatever that is). Unfortunately, we couldn't find a babysitter to watch our kids all day on Saturday (plus the girls had soccer). So, I had to go to the wrestling match alone. I did however write her a cheesy poem. She said I could post it on the blog. It was a a stream of consciousness poem and contains no edits and there are some "inside" references or spellings. :) Anyway, take it for what you will.

It has been eight years

Since I got down on one knee

And asked you, this beautiful, vibrant young woman

If you would marry me.

It was raining that night

Though I was not cold

My mind, heart, and soul were focused

I was striving with all my energy to be bold.

You see, you weren’t just some typical girl

At least not to me.

The Lord showed me your heart

Your immense capacity to show charity.

Sure, I was blown away

By your beautiful eyes, long brown hair, and curves galore

But inside, beneath your tough girl façade

The Lord revealed to me that there was much much more.

You are a beautiful daughter of God.

You are my Queen.

I am so grateful to the Lord

That with you I will spend all eternity.

Although you plucked me, a wildflower

From a world of seeming freedom

Where the sun constantly warmed my petals

A place I could call my own personal kingdom.

You took my rugged raggly roots and all from that domain

Without a moment’s hesitation

You knew we were meant to be,

You unabashedly declared this proclamation.

Over time, with great love,

Lots of patience and devotion

You opened my eyes and I was shown

A glimpse of heaven.

We have created a family

Three beautiful girls and one studly son.

What a great responsibility you and I have

I feel that my cup has over run.

When I look into your eyes,

Hold your hands – you pull me near.

I cannot hold you close enough

How can I show you how much I love you, how much I care.

I know, I know, “just take out the garbage.”

Perhaps, it is that simple, perhaps it is that clear.

Well, I know I am not perfect, in fact

Into perfection’s window I cannot even peer.

BUT, I know you love me anyway,

You see in me something better

Like I said, you have this amazing ability to love

And for “this” I am indebted to you forever.

You are my very best friend

It is with you I want to share

My every thought, feeling, and emotion

And although you don’t realize it – a friend like you is very rare!

Ok, so I rambled a bit – actually quite a lot

But you know this is nothing new.

I guess all I really want to say with this poem is;

My love, “My Enternal Sweetheart,” I love you.

Pretty cheesy - eh? What can I say, I am a cheesy guy :). I hope that it made up a little bit for Lisa having to stay home all day with all the kids, who, as it turned out, all got sick. Yeah, that went over well. :)

We got the girls these little doll necklaces and balloons. I am curious as to what age kids lose their attractions to balloons. My kids love-em to death. Seriously? I don't understand it but, I am definitely willing to embrace it (mostly because they are cheap! :) ).

Beautiful Moon-Rise

We came home the other day and Lisa brought to my attention the beautiful moon rise - and said 'You should photograph that." All I have to say is that I have trained her well. Anyway, it was quite a spectacular sight. Unfortunately, I don't think that I was able to capture the moment as I remembered it, but it still turned out pretty well. Here is the finished product.

My background is gay - okay

My wife made me put valentine-ish background junk on the blog so deal. It is only one month - I can survive.

Some Cell Phone Pics

I went to the park today with the kids to kill some time cuz it was beautiful. I am talking about 70 degrees with a light breeze - Nice! Anyway, I was playing with my cell phone camera and some pics came out pretty good, what do you think?

New Pets - Bugsy and Ellaphant (Ella)

Ok, so Hannah had her annual Kindergarten field trip the other day. We went to a dairy farm out in east Mesa. It was actually pretty interesting. I learned that they put these big magnets in the cows stomachs and because cows stomach and because cow's stomachs process from bottom to top the magnet just sits there. Then when the cow eats a screw or something (which is common because of where they get their food) that something which could possibly kill the cow sticks to the magnet and disintegrates in the cow's stomach acid - leaving the magnet to strike again. Anyway, they had a petting zoo with some cute rabbits, chickens and stuff. Check out a few photos and then we will refocus on the point of my story.
Ok, back to the point. Seing all these animals - if you didn't know Lisa and I are suckers for animals - made me want to get some rabbits. So, after I picked Hannah up from school we went to the AZ Humane Society. We didn't find any rabbits that we were particularly in love with but we did find two Guinea Pigs. They are sisters and were turned in because the owners didn't have enough time for them. Well I bartered a deal (2nd one half off) to keep'em together (sshhh we don't want the Cavies to find out one of them cost less than the other-could cause some issues-they are supposedely very emotional creatures). Anyway, Hannah and I became the proud owners of two sister Cavies. First is Bugsy (because she looks just like Bugsy on "Bedtime Stories"). Minus the CGI (Computer-generated imagery) huge eyes - ofcourse.

Then we have Ellaphant (Ella for short). I think we got that name from Little Bill unless it is just a coincidence that he also has a Cavy named Ellaphant. She isn't so ugly in real life (don't tell Hannah I said that - she thinks she is beautiful - only a mothers love!).Well, of course I couldn't just go buy some dumb cage!! I had to build one. So I crafted a two level cage with a removable tray lined with galvanized steel. The ramp up to the second story is not shown in the picture but I am sure you can imagine how awesome it is!

Put it all together and you have got two very happy Cavy Sisters enjoying some yummy timothy hay.

Oh, and just a note. Part of the Cavy deal was that Hannah and Hallie clean the cage . . . . . .uuhhhmmm . . . . . Yeah - that has worked out really well-NOT! But, at least they keep them well fed along with all the other rodents in their room!

Hayydn; What a Stud!

So, Hayydn can now eat food, or at least get it all over his face (as you can see below). Although, I have to say that when Daddy feeds Hayydn there is no food all over his face! But, I am not tyring to insinuate that anybody is a better feeder than anybody else, just different - right? :D
Ok, so we are pretty excited about Hayydn's introduction into the solid-ish food world (although it is weird that his favorite is prunes?? I can't say i understand that one). Anyway, it is ironic that he can now eat solid foods because he also learned how to hold his own bottle - consistantly (meaning for a whole bottle). So, what I am saying is that now that he can feed himself - uhhh he doesn't really get much solid food - which is labor intensive. :D (At least until Mom comes home).Oh, the pillows are because he is a roly-poly-oly! Whatever happened to that cartoon?? And by Roly-poly-oly I don't mean his luvable fat rolls. We have been working on those for a while with some push-ups. We try to do about 50 a day. See below.
Nice form, if you ask me.MAKE THE PAIN STOP! IT BURNS, IT BURNS! (at least that is what I think he is saying? :)

Blogs and Journals as Affected by OCD :)

A lot of people say their blog is their journal or that blogging is a lot like journal writing. Well, although their are some marked differences between blogs and journals (or there should be) I would definitely have to agree on at least one point, My journal entries all start with 'well I haven't written in a while . . . ' and all of my blog entries seem to be craving to follow that same theme. Of course, this is probably because I am inherently slothful, lazy, couch potato-y, or perhaps because I am addicted to tivo'ed episodes of just about every night-time drama on television. BUT, because this is my blog and I am writing it I would like to say that the recent void of any blogging entries on my blog is because of my uncontrollable OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

Unfortunately, I have OCD in many aspects of my life. But the one I want to bore you with today is what I call my 'Sylar OCD' (as in Sylar from Heroes) If you are not familiar with Sylar and Heroes here is a good link to learn a little about Sylar. Anyway, Sylar's ability is that he can understand how things work and then reproduce them (i.e. others' special powers). Now before you go off thinking that I think that I am a superhero with special powers (or to be more correct a super villain) remember this is just an example something analogous to my OCD, so cool it, I am not saying that I have super powers (at least not openly anyway). The point is that I feel like I understand how things work. Now, whether or not I really do understand how things work or not is unimportant, the compelling issue is that I feel like I do. Unfortunately, I feel like I understand what makes any particular thing perfect and I have an irresistible and insatiable desire to produce that perfection (at least as I envision it (after-all perfection is only relative - right?)). I know, I know, you are thinking 'but Torel, nothing you do is even close to perfection?' This is true, but let me explain. Here is a small window into what I would consider a perfect blog - daily entries including my own personal thoughts and feelings on most of my individual activities well documented by enlightening photos of what I am describing. In addition I wish i could include for each of my kids, pictures and entries of the many cute, special, and memorable things they do everyday. Plus, my blog would not be perfect without some type of spiritual reflection (after-all that is the why behind everything I do). I am sure there is much more I would want to include if I really thought about it. And, thus far this discussion has only been content driven. You see I wouldn't want to settle for these run of the mill Blog sites via blogspot.com. No way!, I would have to design my own individual and special website! (which I actually can do - just in case you were wondering) But that is a whole other laundry list of tasks and time consuming responsibilities. And i can't jus post any photos, they have to be fixed and cropped. So, I think that is enough to show what I am facing, now multiply that times everything i do (since you all know exactly how much I like to pretend to do :), if not just ask my wife :)). It is impossible! Half of the time i am just not skilled enough, or have the necessary skill sets, to pull off what I envision as perfection. But, even if I was skilled enough (and remember the other half of the time-if my math is correct-I do have the skills to achieve perfection), the time to do such tasks is non-existent - at least without cutting off everything else in my life. So, I agonizingly settle for mediocrity, sometimes less. I say agonizingly, because it is quite painful to never accomplish what your inner-self is screaming at you as totally obtainable. So why not just do less, or focus on fewer tasks with a higher level of accomplishment in each. Sorry, that is just as excruciating. The fact that I forget to take the garbage out every once in a while seems much more excusable now doesn't it? (rhetorical question - please don't answer-especially all you gals out there - guys, if you are on my side - go ahead).

So, close your eyes and picture the most outstanding and perfect blog - then open your eyes and pretend that is what you see and keep reading. Trust me, delusions, if you entertain them long enough can become reality! SIDE-NOTE: Perhaps that is the easiest way for me to achieve perfection - by causing everyone else to delusional-ly consider what I do perfect?? That is worth looking into but Hayydn is awake and he is just to darn cute to ignore.

Well it has een a long time since I have done any posting. I have been a stay at home Dad for the last couple of weeks, you would think that I would have plenty of time but it seems to have worked out in the opposite. Anyway, I will catch up but I wanted to post a link to a memorial site for My brother Ty.

Tyrel Nichols
(1983-2009)

Please feel free to visit and post any stories, memories or thoughts you might have of Ty.

MY FAM-

I had to give a talk in church about a week ago. I was assigned to speak on gratitude. I have to say that it was one of the more difficult speaking assignments I have undertaken. Not that the topic itself was overly complicated, it was just that every time I would begin to earnestly ponder upon gratitude, I would be overcome by thoughts of my family. I have such a beautiful family! For some reason even though I feel like I have definitely not lived up to my side of the bargain as of yet, the Lord saw fit to bless me with an outstanding wife. Her capacity to love and show love baffles me every day. Her potential is far beyond my own, I only hope she is capable of dragging me along towards the Celestial Kingdom. And my four children - we often talk about those who have been saved for these last of days - Well, I am humbled that the Lord would entrust me with four of those very elect. Anyway, this Thanksgiving I am more than Grateful for my many blessings - especially my family.

Some Pics from My Sisters House

He is practicing the hang your spit out over your sisters face and then suck it back in trick. I must say he is pretty good at it too. And, by know way do I know about this stunt from personal use or experience, I have just heard of it being used. :D
I am not sure what it is about Hayydn, and I mean no disrespect to my girls because I think the world of each of them, but I can't help but swell up with pride when I look at my son. He is just so freakin' cool! I know he is going to be a pretty studly guy. And, I don't mean that in the traditional sense of studly, I mean he is going to be an outsanding young man! I can't help getting excited about experiences to come. But alas, he is only 4 months old and perhaps I am projecting a bit much. We will have to wait and see. He is pretty cute though!

The Last Game

Kind of sad! This is a photo of my girls chearing at Terel's last football game. I guess we just have to wait for Hayydn. (Even though mom says he is not allowed to play football - Dad is going to have to put his foot down!) :) We are already training, i.e. he watches a lot of football with dad. At just under 4 months old, you can't underestimate the value of watching lots and lots of football. :)