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.

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