Another life lesson learned

This morning I learned another great lesson from my 4 year old C.C..  As I was leaving for work I noticed he was reading some books with his sister Kayli.  I wanted to make a point of this to him so 

I tell him, "Good to see you reading books son.  You know they will make you smarter." 

He doesn't even look up and replies, "Ya, I know Dad.  It erases all the brainwashing from the T.V.."

I don't know where he gets this infinite wisdom from but I couldn't be prouder.

Happy Valentines Day.

Ok so I'm a little late, but take what ya get. C.C. wanted to share the Valentine he gave out at school with all of you. We Love You All!

Oh, the THINKS you can think up if only you try!

I have come to the conclusion that my best thinking days perhaps might be behind me. As we age, the neurons in our brains begin to lose connection and quit firing properly. So as you get older you do in fact lose your mind. I am convinced that kids speed up this process tremendously. 

In my not so humble opinion my kids have always been a little advanced so I'm sure they are making me lose my mind at a quicker rate than normal, therefore my glory days of thinking may be gone. I am also convinced my kids are not kids at all but instead Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

I will save the great adventures and deeds of Thing 1 (C.C.) and Thing 2 (Kayli) for later.  

Back to losing my mind. Its worse now than when I even started this post.. As we go through life we are faced with many learning opportunities and hopefully we do just that, and learn. The past few days while feeling overwhelmed with life and the feeling of "losing it" I was blessed with several learning moments that I want to pass along. 

No arrows stuck in the wall this time, but C.C. once again has taught me a few things. Several weeks ago while Liz was at work C.C. helped me put Kayli to bed which she was very unhappy about. We then we went into C.C.'s room to get him down. He was his usual self and I had to time getting his legs into his pajamas between his bounces on the bed. The whole time he is getting ready Kayli is crying and now the dog is barking at C.C. jumping on the bed. It didn't feel like bedtime at all as my patience was being tested to the limit. After a little wrestle with superman on his bed I got C.C. ready and we knelt so he could say his night prayer. C.C. loves to say the prayers and takes great pride in doing so. He started his prayer and I was distracted somewhat because Kayli was still crying.  He prayed for the missionaries, mom at work, family, and then he humbly asked Heavenly Father to help Kayli be quiet so he could sleep. I kinda laughed inside as I could tell he too was distracted by her. After the prayer he climbed in bed and I got up saying something to the effect that I was going to go calm his sister down. He stopped me by saying, "No dad. I already asked Heavenly Father to do that." I started to explain that sometimes we ask for things, and then just like that Kayli stopped. C.C. just smiled at me with that little look of told ya so, and I walked out humbled once again by my four year old. If only I had his faith.

A couple of days ago while attempting to do some homework on my computer Kayli came running in screaming with her brother chasing close behind. I yelled at C.C. to stop teasing her and making her scream and she climbed up onto my lap.  I clicked on the internet browser as Kayli began to tell me everything C.C. was doing in her own language. My homepage which is set to google with a daily scripture next to a picture of Christ opened up and Kayli stopped mid jabber and said, "Oh, hi Jesus."  It got me thinking a lot about my relationship with the Savior and if I am on a personal level like she was. 

The last one for this post came just last night, once again from C.C.. We had a terrible moment in our home last night as C.C. had lost his new Indiana Jones guy he just got that day. Right as he was going to bed the family had to stop and search everywhere for him. This included a flashlight search of the front yard as well as the neighbors. We searched the car and every room. We finally got him to go to bed by convincing him that we would stay up and search for the lost Dr. Jones. C.C. again said the prayer and prayed that we find Indiana Jones and he would be safe. After the prayer we talked a little and Liz turned his light off as we walked out of his room. We were both tired and ready to call it a night as well when C.C. stopped us and informed us we could start looking for his guy in two minutes. This caught us both off gaurd and we just stared at him. He then told us, "cause thats when Heavenly Father starts working, in two minutes."  We both laughed and said that is very good information to know.  

So when life is getting hard and your losing your mind just know you only have to hang on two more minutes. 

Family fun!

As I was pondering what my topic would be for this post I opened a fortune cookie and this is what I read.  I've never had a fortune cookie more applicable.

Over the past few months we have been lucky to spend some time with some of the family.  

I know I'm not including everything or everyone, but this is what I have together right now.  We wish all of us could get together more often. 

A few of the fun times include when we went to Wendy & Jeff's where C.C. and Austin made gingerbread houses.  Kayli probably had more candy in her gut than on the houses. She is the biggest sugar freak I know. We went to the car show with Bret's family and chased kids in and out of cars all day.  Thanks for the tickets Guy!  After the car show we had dinner at the Mayan and watched the divers.  C.C. and Kayli thought that was pretty cool. Last night the brothers in town and Dad went to the Utah vs. BYU game up at the U. We had burgers at Hires before the game and everyone seemed to have a great time even if we were a house divided on who to cheer for.  It was a great overtime game that was a lot of fun. 

The best part of all this is just spending time with family.  We look forward to future fun and more family to join us next time.    

Below are a few pictures from our fun times. Scroll over images to enlarge.

Quit staring at my...

Quick what color are my eyes?  

If you can't tell me maybe you should look up when your talking to me. 

As you all may know I have the lucky opportunity to talk to people all day at work.  I used to really enjoy this and actually looked forward to it.  Lately things have changed a bit. 

The first time I really noticed it, was the first time I went out to a public event after my surgery.  I went to a Utah basketball game and slipped into the concessions line as I always do upon arrival. The game just isn't as good without a tub of butter with popcorn and something refreshing to drink. While in line I occasionally make small talk about the team or game with someone else in line.  I find it amusing sometimes by how many people get uncomfortable if you talk to them. Then there are others I'd wished I'd kept my mouth shut.  

This particular day I found myself in line with someone I actually knew.  We were talking and catching up on things when I noticed his eyes wondering southward.  At first it was no big deal but as his eyes stuck lower than my gaze for the remainder of the conversation. I wanted to slap him and tell him I have a personality too.

Since that day I have returned to work and returned to my boring life before my medical enhancements. I have returned to talking to the same people I used to, but its not the same at all. Now people just stare!  I'm up here people! I have more to offer.  Is it really that hard to make eye contact while carrying on a converstion? Ok, maybe it is sometimes.  

I remember once just after Liz and I got married we were driving across the country in our move to Florida.  Along the way we were stopping at historical sites. One such stop was at Winter Quarters in Nebraska.  We were the only guests at the visitors center and so we got a private tour.  I noticed throughout the entire tour, the young innocent sister missionary guiding us around kept staring down at me. This was a bit odd, but I thought maybe she's looking down to remember what she is supposed to say.  Some look up and off to the side to recall something, perhaps she looks down.  When we got outside I told Liz what was happening and asked if she'd noticed. She took one glance at me and said, "Well maybe if you did up your fly after using the restroom it wouldn't be a distraction to her."  We got in the car and sped away.

Sometimes it takes a honest spouse or friend to remind us that maybe it is us with the problem. Perhaps its not that people are rude, but its the wonderment of a slit throat that draws their attention.  Better that than my fly I suppose. 

A Real Pain in the Neck!

I had a little reality check today.  I walked into the Dr.'s office feeling OK about myself and walked out knocked down a peg or two.  I am nearing a month now since I  had c-spine surgery and was feeling somewhat good about myself and what I thought I could do.  

It has been said that everyone thinks they are better than they actually are, and this morning was no different for me.  I was somewhat proud of what I could do already.  I sat confidently in the little office playing with model spines and nerve cords while I  waited for the Dr. to see me.  

This is something I can't stand.  I really think they have hidden cameras in these rooms and they all sit out there watching you while you get more and more impatient and/or bored.  After I played with all the model spines, read all the anatomy posters on the walls, looked through the drawers that weren't locked, I started looking at the old magazines left in the room.  As I got half way through a women's fashion magazine he walked in.  It happens every time.

I don't know if anyone else has noticed but neurosurgeons may be brilliant, but they are lacking a bit in the people skills department.  He walks in looking like he was just out camping and his polar fleece was covered with long blonde hair.  I didn't even want to know.  I couldn't think much about it as the smell of fritos kept my attention.  I was starving and this guy is a walking frito.  

He begins by showing me my x-ray and tells me my bone grafts haven't made any progress at all.  In fact as he said, "they haven't even started to fuse."  Great.  Just what I wanted to hear.  I didn't even want to ask what was next if they didn't fuse but the words were out of my mouth before my brain could say no.  He said the bone grafts would die and that's where my feeble mind drifted off.  All I could hear over and over in my mind was die..die...die... d  i  e.  .  .        .

DIE!

I came back to reality just as he was saying, "Take it easy."  Cool, my mind is thinking die and take it easy.  

I'm sure everything is going to be fine in a few months.  I just have to grasp the fact that I am not superman and can't do everything right away.  So for the next couple of months until my next appointment with Dr. Die and his mystery affair with a hairy frito I'm just going to be taking it easy.  

For anyone interested this is my new hardware upgrade.  Those screws and plate run about $12,000 if your in the market.  Not your basic Lowe's stuff I hope.

Utahk about a team!

Ok, I know I already made a post about the Utes thumping Alabama and finishing 13-0 but I thought this was worthy of a good read.  I found this link on the frontpage of ESPN.com

Can U handle the Truth?  -click to read story

An excellent read indeed.  Might I mention the Utes basketball team just put a whooping on another SEC team LSU last night, beating them by 30 points.  Yes I said THIRTY points  91-61.  And LSU came into the game with a 12-1 record.  Not bad.

And more here to read from the rest of the nation.