What are you thankful for??

This year for Thanksgiving we had a smaller group and we went around and had everyone say what they were thankful for. This is what everyone had to say.

We had a wonderful time. Thank you Tasha and family for making this Thanksgiving special.

Sinus Surgery

Anyone who knows me knows that I have crappy sinuses. I get sinus infections at least every 2 months, often more than that. I had sinus surgery 10 years ago and went for a very long time without a sinus infection. But the last 5 years have been horrible. They have come back with a vengeance. I finally got to the point where I felt like I could not take another antibiotic. I met with an ENT, Dr. Riddle and he did a CT and said the infection was bad so they put me on a very strong antibiotic. After 4 weeks they did another CT and he said the infection was much worse. They wanted to get me scheduled for a sinus surgery right away. So I immediately had to stop taking Ibuprofen and Aspirin and could only take Tylenol. Tylenol is great for headaches and as far as I am concerned sucks for everything else. After a few additional weeks of pain (since I still had the infection) it was time for the surgery. So October 20, 2009 I had my final sinus surgery. I asked Dr. Riddle why I had to have it a second time. He said that some doctors open it up just enough. He is aggressive and said that most likely I will not have to have another one. So this is what they did.

I had an endoscopic procedure where they opened up the following sinuses:

Frontal sinuses (in the forehead)

Maxillary sinuses (behind the cheek bones)

Ethmoid sinuses (between the eyes)

Sphenoid sinuses (behind the eyes)

They also cleaned out some of the infection.

My nurse who got me all ready was awesome. She thought Dennis was pretty amusing. They gave me a ton of medication and an IV. The doctor was behind so we had to wait for quite some time. This is how I looked before the procedure.



The gown was really cool! There is a hookup in it where they can pump warm or cool air right into your gown...awesome. I remember the anesthesiologist giving me half a dose of some "calming medicine" (that is what he called it). Dennis was waiting for me to be weird but I was fine. Once they took me back for the surgery he gave me the other half and the rest was history. I don't remember anything after that except waking up. This is what I looked like AFTER the procedure. I was not even aware Dennis took this.



They want you to eat something so they can give you pain meds. So what do they give me....crackers! I don't know if you have ever slept with your mouth open but your mouth gets dry, very very dry. I nearly choked on the crackers. So I asked Dennis for pudding and he was very kind and fed it to me. Oh! And they gave me Diet Coke...yum. The doctor said the surgery went well although a little longer than expected. He said it was very good we did the surgery since the infection was pretty severe.

The next few days recovering were pretty miserable. Mostly because I could not breathe through my nose and my mouth was so dry that I could not eat solid food. I lived on soup and milkshakes. But honestly, who doesn't like a chocolate milkshake for breakfast?!

A week and half post surgery I am feeling much better. I am doing 4 sinus rinses a day. I have 2 nasal sprays, an antibiotic and am only taking Ibuprofen for pain. And in a week...I can blow my nose gently! Keep in mind I haven't blown my nose in almost 2 weeks. It is killing me! But I am grateful I was able to have the surgery, that I have an amazing husband who took care of me during recovery, a mom who got me milkshakes and anything else I needed, and a ward member who brought me amazing potato soup. I look forward to amazing, clear, infection free sinuses!

Fall is here

It's here. The time of year I look forward to most. The weather is getting cooler, the leaves are changing, school is in session, and pretty soon the leaves will start to fall. Although Autumn is my favorite time of year I do not love the snow that follows. Not only is it beautiful outside, but my favorite holidays are coming up...Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Dennis Birthday. This time of year I torture Dennis and make him go with me for a drive up the canyon. We typically do the Alpine Loop, since we have an annual pass. This year seems to be especially colorful perhaps because of all the moisture we got in the spring. Here are a few pics from our drive.

Getting back on track

After some time off I am getting back on track. I am going to do my best to make blogging my Sunday activity. Your life gets so busy it is hard to remember to write it down. But writing it down is so important. So this is me getting back on track. I will go back and blog about some of the fun things we have done this summer. But what are we up to now. Well, a lot actually!

Dennis is back at school and it still Assistant Scoutmaster extraordinaire! He is also still fishing his heart out but not nearly as much. BYU football is now in full swing. So I am officially a football widow.

I have a lot of things going on as well. I have been wanting to develop some of my own hobbies. I decided to finally take the Belly Dancing class I have always wanted to take. A friend of mine is the instructor so that made it a little easier to take the leap. And she is a wonderful teacher, I adore her. I also am going to be taking piano lessons. I always regretted not keeping up with it when I was younger. Those will not be starting for a few weeks. I hope I can remember some of the stuff that I learned. Last I have been wanting to learn how to knit. Another friend, Leah, had offered to teach me. Finally we were able to get together and she got me started. Although I am only knitting a scarf and I have much to learn...It was awesome! I am so lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful and talented people who are willing to share their talents with me. I can see myself continuing to build up a lot of these hobbies. My next one if photography. I do not want to become an expert photographer, but learning the basics would be awesome.

And finally...it is Fall! My favorite season. I love Halloween and Thanksgiving. I love seeing the leaves changing and falling from the trees. Tonight I will go for my first drive of the season on the Alpine Loop. The weather is getting cooler and I cannot wait for the next few months.

Hopefully you will be reading another blog very soon about our fun filled summer. 'Till then.

The Best Dam Bike Ride 2009

Every year my family participates in the MS Bike Tour. A close family friend suffers from MS and we have seen the devastating effects it can have on an individual. Last year Dennis rode 100 miles and I was the team photographer. When the registration began early in the year I said that I would do the ride. Honestly, I thought I would be able to get out of it somehow. So as the time got closer I started to get a little more worried. Then the rain came. As many of you know it rained pretty much from April until July. We had virtually no time to train for the ride. I thought maybe they wouldn't make me ride because I hadn't raised my money. But no, they raised it for me. So, I had to do it and was terrified. Dennis had some medical problems (if you want to know what they are, ask my dad, he is willing to tell anyone including reporters for KSL) so he said he would ride with me. This made me feel so much better because I knew I could do it with him pushing me along. So the morning came and we got up early and off we went. My mom, Kathleen, and Bryan were doing 100 miles. Lisa and my Dad did 75 miles. And Me, Dennis, and Hayley did 40 miles. It was surprisingly really awesome! Dennis was a great support system and definitely comic relief. This was our second stop.



We finished strong and were able to get pictures of Hayley finishing the ride.



The volunteer was kind enough to get a picture of the three of us.



Everyone finished and it was a great day. We will all be doing it again next year. Yes, you heard me...I will do it again next year. But next year I am doing 75 miles.

4th of July 2009

As long as I can remember my dad and neighbors would save spots on the parade route for the Freedom Festival Parade in Provo. Well, as we have gotten older the dad's have stopped saving spots and the awesome Carter sons have taken over. This year we were not sure if we would be able to find a spot. The Carter's were kind enough to save us a spot. They even stayed overnight in the rain. Dennis was the amazing husband he is and went to the parade route around 6 am to ensure our blankets did not get moved. My parents were in Arizona so we celebrated the 4th with Me, Dennis, Marlene, Lisa, Bryan, and Melissa. Dennis was critiquing the beauty queens and this is what Lisa thought about that These were a few of our favorite parts of the parade Later in the afternoon we had a BBQ just the 5 of us. It was not as exciting as we hoped. I think we were all a little tired. Later in the afternoon we went to Rob and Chanel's BBQ. It is always good to see some friends that we usually only see at this BBQ. And of course Roger was there. Roger is Dennis' BFF and of course they had to talk about fishing. Tyler had given us free tickets to the Stadium of Fire. I was going to go but opted out so Marlene could take her friend Moray. Moray is her closest friend whenever she comes. So lucky Dennis got to go see The Jonas Brothers. I went with Lisa and Bryan to their friends house and we walked down to the stadium and watched the fireworks from the outside. That is what I really wanted to see so it was awesome! We had a fun and busy holiday. And I am sure we will do it all over again next year. Bryan left early the next morning and we never did get to do his firework. Lisa and Bryan had a firework budget and this was the big ticket at $1.00. So we videoed it and were shocked by how big it was. I guess $1.00 goes further than we thought.

What a weekend!

So I am told by my better half that I do not blog enough so here goes.

A few weeks ago I heard a ad for the 5th annual Targhee Americana Fest at Grand Targhee Resort on the only radio station I listen to KRCL 90.9. The lineup included some of my favorite artists. I wanted to go, but the tickets were $130 a piece. We have already spent a buzzut load of $ on tics to shows this year. We both have a thing for live music. So I am driving up the canyon to go fishing and they were giving away a pair of tickets and I was lucky caller # 5! WOO-HOO!

So Thursday rolls around and I am packing the truck, and getting things together when I get called in to work. I was @ work until 1:00Am, and then got called back in at 2:30. Needless to say I was running around like a chicken with his head cut off Friday morning.
After a grueling 6 hour drive me and Marlene saw off in the distance something we both had never seen. The west side of the Tetons.

We both thought it looked alot like Expedition Everest at Dinsney World.

When we got up to the entrance to the resort we were told that it cost $25 a piece for camping. After some complaining by me (I am getting old!), we made our way to the parking lot for the camping area. It was seriously several football fields away. We lugged all the gear up to the area to find all the flat spots had been taken. So I decided to find a spot that at least had morning shade. We found a fairly clear spot for the tent, and set it up. Here is a shot of the morning sun just to the right of our tent.

Just as we were finished getting our stuff all laid out we could here the first band begin to play.We found a spot next to the sound booth and laid a blanket out. Here is the view from there.
The bands were just amazing! Grace Potter and the Nocturnals tore it up. Jackie Greene took it to a whole new level, but that was just the start. The last band was Gov't Mule, who I really had wanted to see. The only song I wanted to hear was Thorazine Shuffle. As the first chords were played it was it!. I was in loving it. they ripped thru the first set like they were on fire. The energy level was sky high. They came back for the second set even more smokin. After probably the second best drum solo I have ever experienced (Grateful Dead 1992 Vegas was the best), They played a reprise of the Shuffle. What a show! But they were not done yet. Warren brought out Grace Potter and they did Gorgeous Woman. Incredibile. Then during the encore he brought out Jackie Greene and they did a dueling guitars that blew my mind. Here is a picture, sorry for the blurr but all I had for the weekend was my crappy Blackberry to take pictures with. Left the digital camera on the desk at home.

I went back to the tent and tried to get some sleep. That was not gonna happen. The guy in the tent right next to us was sawing some seriuos timber. I got out of the tent at 7:00 and watched the sunrise over the mountains. Forgot my phone in the tent that morning so no good pictures.

We made eggs and bacon in the packing lot because there was no way I was going to haul the three burner Camp Chef stove and grill to the tent! I forgot to pack a spatula. Ever tried to flip eggs without one on a grill? It does not work to well. After breakfast we headed out to go either fishing or to Yellowstone. After realizing it would have taken at least 2 hours just to get to the Park entrance, we decided on fishing. We stopped at a small fly shop, Worldcast Anglers, in Victor Idaho. The guy there was really helpfull with pointing us in the right direction for a quick trip. We headed to Bitch Creek. As we were hiking down to the river a couple was leaving and was kind enough to tell me what the hatch was. For those of you who do not know, Many different insects live most of thier lives in water during their larval and pupa stages. When the temperature is right they hatch out of the water and fly away. This is when the fish are seen jumping out of the water. They are eating the insects as they are emerging and floating on the surface. Anyways enough Entomology, When we got to the creek the first good cast I made was taken by a 20-22 inch Cuttthroat Trout. He took off down stream into the strong current and got off. I hooked into a couple more, but the temperature was rising into the 90's. I had fun but Marlene not so much. She said she likes the Provo River better because it has less bugs, and more little snakes slithering around. Here is a picture of her in my Adult Large size waders

When we got back to the concert we found out that the music started at noon. I had missed James McMurtry. He was one of the bands I really wanted to see. Bummer. Sonny Landrette was real good. The Wallflowers were up next. Marlene was looking forward to this, as it was the only band of the weekend she had heard of. They have a song titled 3 Marlenes that she loves. They played a solid set and she kept saying to me between songs that they were not going to play it. I kept telling her that they would. I suggested we go up front to get a closer view and get that good speaker gut vibration. Just as we got to the front They played her song. She was thrilled. After putting her to bed I headed back for Jonny Lang. As I was abuot to go in the Wallflowers came out of thier tour bus and were talking with fans. I went up and thanked them for playing Marlene's song. They all shook my hand and asked what my name was. Way cool dudes! Jonny was simply amazing. He sings with so much emotion. Truly moving.

We got up early Sunday and took down camp. The drive was long, and she had woke up with a head cold. She was flying back to Colorado Springs. I hate goodbye's, and I really hate crying in public, but I could not help it. I was very upset to see her go. Anyone with kids and has had to see them leave knows that feeling. It sucks!! I am glad I got to spend this amazing weekend with her, and I am glad I have such a wonderfull wife who supports me 100%. Sorry you could not have been there babe. I really missed you.

There ya go babe. How's that for a blog?

Balloon Fest

I lived in the Provo/Orem metro area for most of my childhood. And I remember watching the balloons from our house, but I do not think we ever went to Balloon Fest. So this year my sister in law had mentioned that my nephew wanted to go. So I asked Karen if her and Constance would like to join us. Then my nephew couldn't come so we went anyway! I woke up at 5:30 am on July 3rd and got all showered and ready to go. Can I tell you how early that is? I haven't gotten up that early since I worked and commuted to SLC. So I went and picked up the girls and we walked over to Balloon Fest. Karen lives in the best location for Freedom Festival activites. You can park at her house and walk to a lot of the places. It's great. So Balloon Fest is where they fill up balloons, which is acutally very cool. They launch them, have contests, land, it's pretty cool!

When we first arrived they were already starting to fill up the balloons.


Filling the balloons up were probably my favorite part.







I don't know who this lady was but she was fully made up at 6 am and had a professional photographer.



So I had my professional photographer take my picture.



I took this picture for Lisa. This dog is actually quite big. He was really sweet.



This was my favorite balloon. Of course because it has the fall leaves.



I am so glad Karen and Constance came with me. I think Constance really liked the balloons.





These were two of my favorite pictures. I love my mountains.