Hard to believe, but Christmas is a mere 30 days away. And tomorrow we will be stuffing ourselves with turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, homemade dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. It’s a wonderful time of year and a great time for family, friends and football.

I know, the fall sports season has ended, but we would be remiss if we didn’t take the time to say thank you to all Tooele County athletes in all sports this fall. You have occupied our lives for the last four months and we are grateful and will miss you.

I have been wrestling with the feelings of finality this season represents. My son Austin has finished up his high school football career leaving our family with pending lifestyle adjustments. He had a great season and we are really proud of him. We have been watching a Gumucio boy play Cowboy football for a decade now. It will be another decade before Landon will be old enough to play for the Cowboys, so it will be different for us for a while.

You love to see them grow up but you hate to see them leave. I sure loved watching my Cowboy sons Aaron, Logan and Austin play over the years. I enjoyed watching your children as well. It was an incredible journey in which they all represented themselves, their teams, schools and communities with honor. I cherish their memories.

And therein lays the secret I think. Yeah, I know we are busy and on the run all the time, but we must slow down a little. What happened yesterday is concrete and what will happen tomorrow — well — no one really knows. What we do have is today and I encourage everyone to start living it to its fullest and make some memories with your family, friends and loved ones you will always remember.

Those memories are priceless. While the Cowboys didn’t achieve all the goals they set out to achieve at the season’s beginning, in the end, they showed some real character and heart. I was impressed with their never-say-die determination. I was impressed with their leadership, and their struggle to do better. I appreciated their willingness to work hard and stay the course, even when everything made it easy for them to quit. I appreciated their second effort, winning the play-in game and making the state playoffs. This team could have folded up their tent early and gone home — but they didn’t. I’m real proud of these boys and I am so thankful I could watch them grow and become fine young men and players. And don’t forget, there are still region and state honors to be determined and the team year-end football banquet. It will be a good time.

For all you colligate football lovers, you have a lot to be thankful for as well. The NCAA bowl games are coming at you fast and in full swing. I’m already thinking about my family bowl pool that is a time-honored tradition. The Utes are in the BCS and as for the BYU Cougars are concerned; well they have an inside track for the Las Vegas Bowl. BYU’s disintegration in the Utah game was a surprise, yet I think financially the Cougars came out ahead. I’ll leave that thought for all you conspiracy theorists. I think TCU may get a BCS bowl game as well — call it a hunch. And don’t forget the Snow College Badgers are the No.1 junior college team in the country playing against Butler for the national title right here in Sandy at Rio Tinto Stadium on Dec. 6.

There is plenty more to talk about but I have some cooking to do. So until next time, enjoy the family, light a fire in the fireplace, stay in your pajamas all day and play some games with the kids.

I’d also pull out a Christmas movie to get in the mood and when everyone is taking a nap, find one or more of the traditional NFL Thanksgiving Day football games on the big screen. This year’s Turkey Bowl games start with the Tennessee Titans playing the Detroit Lions. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. on CBS. The Seattle Seahawks and the Dallas Cowboys will follow at 2:15 p.m. on Fox and the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles will wrap it up at 6:15 p.m. on NFL Channel. Remember to not let the Holidays get you down — there is lots of football, family and fun to be thankful for — so enjoy the journey. I’ll see you from the sideline.