Just a Night in the Hospital

So we had an adventuresome little Thursday night. Brett started having a little stomach ache while at work on Thursday. After a couple hours he ended up going home to see if he could sleep it off. It just kept getting worse and by 4:00 his parents called the family practice. The practice is closed on Thursdays but the PA, or Dr. Darin as everyone calls him, met Brett and his mom at the clinic. His best diagnosis without blood or CT scan was appendicitis. Since Dy was working at IMED, Brett got a shot for nausea and headed to Salt Lake. It was nice to head to the same hospital Dyana was working at and eventually ended up on her floor with a few recommendations. While sitting in the ER for several hours Brett's temperature was 103 with uncontrollable shaking....even with 7 warm blankets heavily resting on him there was nothing that could make him comfortable. Thanks to Morphine Brett was resting comfortably before entering the operating room. After receiving a blessing from Uncle Bruce and Andrew, by about 11:00 Brett was in surgery and had his appendix removed. While not technically his nurse, Dyana pretty much did all of those duties. After a long night with many interuptions and little sleep we checked out of the hospital by about 10:00 on Friday morning.

Great timing as the Holidays approach, wrestling tournament, a busy week at work, and not to mention an upcoming move. We are still blessed that everything went so smoothly and there were no complications with the procedure. Brett is doing pretty well and is anxious to get out of the house and attend a few Christmas parties.

That brings up another point, we can especially use a few more hands now that lifting is limited for Brett. As things look right now, we hope to move into our new home next Friday and Saturday (Dec 19-20) with most of the big things on Saturday. Our walk through is scheduled for Tuesday and we hope to close Thursday or Friday. It all depends on how fast the appraisal and insurance stuff will be finished. Regardless, Castle Creek said they would work with us so we can move in next weekend.

Happy 1 year!

So I just had to write a post letting my wife...and all of you...know how much I love her.

At the risk of sounding too sappy and gushy for a blog, I will leave out most of the details for in person. But she is my everything and makes life so mush easier and enjoyable to live each day. Thanks for making me feel so special and loved.

You are the best and I love you.

Temple Square

This weekend we celebrated our first anniversary. It seems hard to believe it has been a year since we got married, but at the same time neither of us can imagine life without each other. It seems like we have been married for years.

To celebrate we went back to Little America were we stayed to start our honeymoon before heading off to Cali. Brett was able to get off work early so we checked in around 4:00. Just a relaxing evening of vegging in our rooms, checking our the temple square lights, and a great dinner at Olive Garden. Nothing too fancy, but we had both been dying to go there for months. It was also the place we went to eat the afternoon we got engaged. For our good deed we even gave our tasty leftovers to a couple guys on the street.

We loved this new feature in the middle of the reflection pool.

The camera on Brett's new phone actually takes pretty decent photos.
(We still should probably find the battery charger for our camera.)

Gas for $1.51!

That is right, we paid $1.51 for gas. So we had some actual proof, we figured we had to take a picture blog about it. Plus it has been over a month since the last post and were desperate for a new entry.

Even though we love the house, we didn't want to put another entry about the house. It seems like that has pretty much been all we have done for the past while. For a quick update, we hope to move in the week of December 15. I am sure there will be a separate blog soon with an update.

House Update - Video walk through

Here is a walk through of our home. As you can see, virtually all of the framing is done besides a few touch ups. Other than playing around at the apartment, this was also the first real use of our new camera.

There were a few problems with editing this video since the camera saves files in a pretty new and not popular video file. Thanks, Cody, for helping us out. It is really coming along and is fun to actually envision where things are going. We should be pretty close to moving into the house in just over a month. CRAZY!

Do you really know who you are voting for?

We got this link from a friend (thanks Mark) and find it pretty interesting. A man asks people on the street who contest they support Obama if they agree with his political views...but they are actually McCain's.

This is only a small sample, but I bet many people would answer this very similarly...for both candidates. Check it out.

Link: Obama or McCain

If you are tired of these posts, we are working on a video walk through of our house that we hope to post soon. We are getting pretty close.

Vote for Righteousness

Many of you may have seen this, but we watched it at Dyana's family's place tonight and thought it was definitely worth watching. We also received this email about the same sex marriage issue in California. It is imperative we all vote for righteousness. It is a little scary to see where the country is headed if we don't take a stand and draw the line somewhere. 50 years ago some of these issues wouldn't have stood a chance. The line keeps getting pushed back. If we don't stand up for it now, who knows where we will be in another 50 years.

Vote for Righteousness

Proposition 8

Sorry for the political posts. We should have some more pictures of the house soon. :)

Our Freedom To Vote

I thought I would venture out and create a post with a little different twist. As Dy and I were watching the presidential debate the other night, we both expressed general frustrations with the process. While it is great to have each side share their views, I get so frustrated with the 2nd grade name calling that goes on. Rarely do they actually answer the questions posed and it seems to be more about the bad the others are doing rather than the good ideas of their own. Having worked for a public policy think tank for a couple years, I definitely appreciate all of the time public servants put in...and most of their intentions. But I still have a hard time with antics that go along with politics.

While I tend to lean towards one candidate, I have not entirely made my decision yet. While Obama tends to be very polished as a speaker and presenter (which I agree is an important characteristic for a president), he seems to spend most of his efforts ripping on the current administration and trying to tie McCain to it all. However, last I checked most all of that legislation is voted on by congress controlled by Obama's party. In fact, many of his votes in the Senate are in support of the very pieces he rips apart. It sounds to me like he often is trying to just say what will best get him elected and not what we need. I do get leery about McCain's age and he definitely isn't as smooth an orator as his counterpart. Although their views are different, his personality is too much like Bush's...plus, what is the "Maverick" campaign about. Should we elect Mel Gibson instead? I also don't like his *health* plan as much as Obama's. However, I do like his experience and feel he and Palin would bring sincerity and integrity to the Whitehouse.

The point of the post is not to create a debate or argument about the candidates, rather to see what some of your thoughts are about the election/debate process in general. I am opposed to those who blindly vote straight party tickets. I get annoyed by people who are so polarized and irrational in their views they don't listen to a word you say (i.e. - environmentalists and PETA). To be honest, my vote is largely influenced by simple integrity and sincerity.

If you have any comments about the process I thought it would be fun to see your thoughts. Most importantly, though, I am grateful for the right to vote and for a country that really is a great place to live. Too often we forget the freedoms we are blessed with and such a positive overall quality of life we live. Be sure to get out there and exercise your right to vote on November 4.

House Update - Exterior Framing

So, here is the latest update. Almost all of the exterior framing is complete.





Back of House



Moving wall and window.




Kitchen from the family room.




Master Retreat

House Update - Framing Almost Done

Here are the latest pictures of the house. The framing is almost done. It sure is nice to be able to see some shape to the house. Notice in the first picture the microwave for lunch. Kind of funny.

House Update - Foundation Done

It appears things will start moving pretty quickly now. It doesn't hurt that we have really been on them when things weren't getting done, too. Since there isn't as much building going on, they expect us to be in possibly by Thanksgiving time. That would be great.

A "Colors"-ful Night

We enjoyed a date night with Colors on Saturday. They had their second reunion concert at the Sandy Amphitheater. Although Dy doesn't know them too well, Brett enjoyed a few of memories of the good ole days from college. As expected, we even saw a few people we knew from Utah State and Turnberry. Since the Dave Matthews concert was ultimately canceled, we figured this would satisfy our concert fix for the summer. Good times!

There's a hole!

So after nearly three months of paperwork and permits, we finally have a hole for our house. They dug the hole and are on there way to getting our house built. They still say they will meet a December 7 deadline. We hope to be able to be in and somewhat settled for Christmas. Exciting times!

Mexico

Dyana and her sisters took a trip down to Ensenada Mexico with an organization from Utah called Family To Family Humanitarian Expeditions. (www.ffhe.org) For 7 days she lived at an orphanage help build some very humble homes for a few very grateful families. It was a great experience that really helps you to be grateful for what you have. Some of the upgrades we badly want as we build our home seem less essential now. It was an experience of a life time to feel the spirits of those less fortunate than us, but see how happy they were. Material possessions don't bring happiness. Dyana learned that God, family and love are what make a happy people. She fell in love with one family in particular.


The Hernandez family consist of 3 children and the parents that lived in a humble 8x12 foot box built from plywood a roof built out of tarps and scrap metal and plywood floors covered in dirt. One light bulb and no running water. ( unless you count a hose coming out of the out house up the hill running water.) Our expedition felt somewhat like extreme home make over. Our group arrived at the house and started to unload the materials to double their house in size. The father and mother came out with tears filled in their eyes. They were not given any information prior to our arrival that they were selected to be a part of our project. The words the father said next were so moving. He said, I have prayed for months to God to know what I should do next for my family. You are angels sent from him to answer our prayers. Over the week the FFHE group grew to love the Hernandez family. We filled Backpacks with crayons, coloring books and stuffed animals. Everyday we arrived the two young boys filled with joy showed us what they had colored that day. The stuffed animals accompanied them to church and other social functions. Nevertheless tears were shed at the last day when the Brick walls were in place to double their house in size. Although we didn't speak the same language we shared our thoughts through broken language, smiles, tears, and hugs. They are children of God just like each of us.

Dyana loved to play with the children. She sang songs, played soccer, painted fingernails and toes and even let an orphan Jose paint her toes. Everyday was filled with hard work and labor, but in the end was so rewarding. We left 2 families with new additions, an elderly lady with a retaining wall to prevent water and mud from flooding her house and several orphans with smiles on their faces.




One night during our Points to ponder moment- a group member made a very interesting thought. He said it's easy to serve the people in Mexico because their needs are so obvious. You can see that they need a better home, better blankets, more food and clothes. It's easy to meet these needs because they are so easy to recognize. But, we have people around us who have needs-that aren't as obvious-yet they still need that love and attentions. I have made it my goal to find those who are silently suffering and be an angel and answer their prayers here in my home town.



Although the week flew by, Dyana was happy to put her feet on US soil and be grateful for the freedoms we enjoy living in this great land.

Where's Dyana?

Well, my wife left me for 10 days to spend time in Cali with her brother before heading down to Ensenada, Mexico to live at an orphanage for a week. She is going down with some of her sister in a group. Part of the time they will spend building a home, playing with kids and other stuff. Since I really don't know the details, I will just let Dy blog about it when she gets back.

We haven't been apart for this long before since before we started dating. I think this morning it hit both of us that we are going to miss each other more than we thought. It will be fun to see the pictures and hear the stories when they get back.

Meanwhile, I feel like I am a bachelor again. If I can work out the work schedule, I may head up to the Uintas with a friend, do a little golf, study for my fantasy football draft next weekend, get a few things done around the house (ok, apartment - but not for long), and watch a bunch of Olympics.

Kind of a lame blog, but it had been a while so I figured we would get an update on here so people know we are still alive.

Mack's Inn....er.....Island Park

So our crazy month of July ended with a week long trip to Island Park. Brett's family typically has a little vacation up here every other year, but due to work and less lodging than in the past, we had the whole condo to ourselves. Even though the idea of just the two of us was tempting, we figured a few friends would be nice to help keep us company. It worked out pretty nice because we ended up having the place to ourselves for a few days before everyone else came up. We did some nice off roading, hiked to a few geocaches, went golfing, enjoyed a little swimming, played a little ping pong, and did a lot of nothing.

Our Tooele friends, Scott and Brianna, were able to come with their two kids. We also had Dy's sister, Michelle, and old roommate, Shan, with their husbands, Andrew and Jed. It was a great mix. We enjoyed a few nice ATV rides, spent a day in Yellowstone, floated the river, fed some BIG fish, did some more golfing, and stopped by Mesa Falls. We even have the pictures to prove it.

Brett & Dy excited about their geocache finds. If you haven't done it before, you should try it out. It is a fun way to hike and explore some different scenery. It is basically high-tech treasure hunting.

Playing around on the golf course.

Enjoying a nice ATV ride into Montana with Scott and Brianna.

What a view from the top of Two Top looking into Montana near West Yellowstone! We were suppose to remind Brianna it was pretty cold up there (see the snow in the background) even in the middle of July.

We got a little dirty from the ride back especially. The trail we planned to take across Elk Meadows was closed. Rather than backtracking over the top of the mountain again, we had the brilliant idea to look for a trail off of the highway. After 9+ miles of riding down the semi-busy highway with kids crying, wives cursing, and the boys looking out for the "Twig Pigs," we finally were off the highway. Although not the safest route, it was quite funny, much faster, and does give a pretty good story to tell. (I am sure the future grandkids will get tired of it)

Yellowstone

Some nice falls just outside of Mammoth.

What is it Dy and Grant see?

Oh, that.

We all made quite the hike down 324 stairs for this beautiful view of Lower Falls. Even though it was worth the hike, it isn't something we recommend doing daily.

Of course we did Old Faithful, especially since we had a few Yellowstone virgins with us.

Some of us took one more trip back into the park for the evening with the hopes of seeing more wildlife. We saw about five wolves, several elk (even within about 20 yards), the buffalo crossing the road, eagles, deer, pelicans, geese, but no bears. However, Scott & Brianna stuck around for one more day to see some grizzlies in Lamar Valley at the northeast corner of the park.

The bison are everywhere in Hayden Valley.

On the way home we stopped by Mesa Falls near Ashton.

Overall, it was a great trip. We still have to share pictures from some of the others and maybe post a few more pics as well. Can't wait for another two years to return.

Wet n' Wild

July is our crazy month. After spending a busy fourth weekend with both families, Dy headed up on Monday to Bear Lake with the Woolley clan for the annual family reunion/party. With work, Brett wasn't able to make the trip until Wednesday evening. After several days of golf, beach, wave runners, floating tramps, and plenty of games, there were definitely some red skin being flashed around. And if that wasn't enough, Friday and Saturday was spent on the Snake River soakin' up some more rays.

This week was a great week to relax...almost. Since we have Island Park on Saturday, this week is crammed with work, errands, packing, and cooking to prepare for next week. We were actually able to fit in a Temple session in Tuesday night which was very nice.

We will work on getting some more pictures, but for now, this will have to suffice.

Wrigley Field

So Brett took a trip to Chicago for work a couple weeks ago and was able to see his second favorite baseball field. It wasn't quite the same as Fenway was a year ago, but still a great ballpark.

Enjoying Wrigley

The view from the seat

The Chicago River

La Cucaracha

Okay, after playing around with JibJab again, I figured I should make another post...this time with my parents. Enjoy.

Don't send a lame eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

The Dancin' Halls

We found this amazing video of Dy's sister an just had to post it. Nice moves, Jill!

Relay 4 Life

This past weekend, we had our walk for Relay For Life to help raise money for the America Cancer Society. First off, thank you to all of those who helped with any kind of donation. It was pretty fun. A lot of the teams sleeps overnight, but since our time was from 10:00 to 11:00 we just stayed at Brett's parents' house.

We almost feel a little guilty, too. They have a Luminaria Lighting Ceremony at 10:00. By the time that was over, we only ended up walking about 25 minutes. All in all, we enjoyed the evening and it was for a great cause.

Disturbing Pictures

Warning!!!

Disturbing Pictures Below?

Below is an example of what you get when you combine a weekend of camping, two weeks of laziness, a razor, and an afternoon with two people who have a little time to kill.

We created this post a couple weeks ago but never posted it since there were several other posts at the same time. But after informing a few people the pictures existed, we finally succumbed to peer pressure and figured we could embarrass ourselves...or at least Brett. And don't say we didn't warn you!

What Brett and Dy might look like if they lived in a trailer in Alabama.