Going, going......gone.

Ethan left this morning for the Mission Field. He flew out of St. George at 6:20am for SLC, SLC to Denver, and finally Denver to Omaha, Nebraska. Good luck Ethan and most important, Have Fun !!!!

Ethan's going to Omaha, Nebraska

For those of you who don't know tghe story behind this, let ms explain.

Ethan originally was called to the Marshall Islands, Majuro Mission last year. He reported to the MTC on Jan. 1, 2009 and left for the mission field on January 20, 2009. While his was out in the mission field, he had some problems with his back that put down twice, for a week each time. The Area doctor looked at him and told him he had to come home for medical treatment, because there is practically no medical facilities in the Marshall Islands, remember this is a Third World country.

So, on April 20, 2009, exactly 3 months after he left for the mission field, Ethan arrived in Las Vegas to get the medical attention he needed.

They went to the doctor to find out that he had a bulging disc and was prescribed 2 steroid shots, 4 weeks apart. He got the shots and was feeling a lot better. He then had to get letters from the doctor, his Stake President, his Bishop, and one from him to send to Church Headquarters stating that he was ready, willing and able to return to the mission field. They got all those letters and sent them in and the waiting began. After not hearing back for about 5-6 weeks, Tana called the Stake President and found out that the doctor's letter had been lost, so they had to get another one and the Stake President faxed it in to Church Headquarters. And the waiting began again....

Well, today I get a text from Ethan asking if I was at work, I told him "no", I was in class (school started today). I was just leaving class when I get another text. Anyway to make a long story short, I call him and ask him 'what's up?', and he say's 'I got my call today.' and he said that he was called to the Omaha, Nebraska Mission. I thought that that was really cool and told him that they have good steaks (the meat, not the buildings. But I'm sure the buildings are good too.)out there in that part of the country. We all had a feeling that they would keep him State-side because of his medical condition.

So congrats again Ethan on the mission call. I don't think that most missionaries get 2 different calls. Probably pretty rare. Have fun in Nebraska. Go Cornhuskers !!!

The Temple pic is the Winter Quarters Temple in Omaha, Nebraska.

Well it's done...Let the healing begin

Well here it is folks!! I got to the Dr's office at 8am and was leaving 2 hours later with my new and improved knee. The surgery took about 40 minutes. I remember 2 things about the surgery, going to sleep and waking up. I have a follow appointment on July 8th and will get some pics then, so please be patient. I got some good pain meds so I'm feeling very little pain. Ah, the wonders of modern chemistry, you gotta love it!!!

Later
Lym

Hack and Slash

Well the big day is finally here...tomorrow I go under the knife and get my knee operated on. I've been waiting for this day to get here. Well it's finally here and now I'm a little anxious. I asked Dad, Scott and Ethan to give me a priesthood blessing and that has helped to calm my nerves. I'm going to be off of work for 4 days to recuperate. Truthfully, I'm just looking forward to a day off. I have to be there at 8 a.m. in the morning, so hopefully I'll be one of the first ones. I just want to get it over with so I can get back to my life. I'm going to see if the Dr. will give me pics of the operation, I want to see what the injury looks like, so hopefully I'll be posting some pics in the next few days. As soon as I get feeling better tomorrow or the next day, I'll post a note about the procedure and let everyone know how I'm doing. Until then, take care and I love you all.

Lym

Happy Fathers Day

I just want to wish all the Fathers out there a very Happy Fathers Day. Not just my Father, Eldon, but all of my brothers and brothers-in-law, but also my friends I grew up with who now have families of their own.

You have all been a big influence in my life and for that I am eternally grateful.

I truly believe that one of the biggest problems that we have in this great country is the lack of responsible Fathers who teach and guide their children in the ways of being a responsible citizen. So many times we hear about children who get into trouble chronically, don't have the leadership and guidance of a responsible father in the home.

I am truly grateful to my Father and also my Grandfathers for what they taught me... No matter how much I didn't like it at the time.

Life is Short....Tell them you love 'em

I got a call last Friday from Brad. I could tell by the tone of his voice that it was not good news. My fears were confirmed when he said "I have some bad news". In an instant my mind started racing through a thousand different scenarios. Then he told me what I never expected to hear—our friend of so many years, David Sullivan, had died that morning. His older brother Lonnie had gone to check on him and see how he was doing and found him. He had suffered a massive heart attack and passed very quickly. His big, kind heart had finally given out on him. I just sat there for a few seconds trying to take in and understand all that I had just heard...Dave was gone. It took almost a full day for it to sink in. Even now it doesn't seem real, but it is.

I haven't seen or spoken to Dave in quite a long time—probably a couple of years at least. I'm sorry about that Dave. I should have made time to come and seen how you were doing. Life has a funny way of getting in the way of things sometimes.

I want to send out my condolences to the Sullivan Family and to let them know that we are all praying for your family.

Remember that we can always turn to the Lord in our times of sorrow and grief and He will always be there for us, all we have to do is ask.

Note—June 15, 2009 9:30pm: Thanks Brad for the comment. I want to remember the Dave we all knew growing up too. Going on scout camps, playing in Bear Cave Fort up on the hill, and especially out hunting. We had some really fun times together. That's the Dave I remember. Goodbye for now Dave, I'll see you on the other side. I'm gonna miss you.

Lym

The Verdict is in

I went to the Dr today to get the diagnosis for my cartilage tear. He told me that the meniscus was tore. Click here to see an illustration of a meniscus tear.

I've taken that image and did a little work to try and explain what happened and what needs to be done to fix it.



The meniscus is kind of like the cushion between the femur and the tibia. On my knee, I tore the meniscus on the back left hand side. The doctor said it was a pretty good sized tear and it would not heal on it's own, that it would require arthroscopic surgery to repair it. The meniscus needs a good supply of blood to heal properly and it doesn't get enough blood if it's torn, so I have to get it repaired through surgery.

This is what they do in the surgery:



Now for the bad news, the soonest that the Doc can do the surgery is—you guessed it, June 26th—the day I was going up to Salt Lake for my Family Reunion. The next available time is a week later on July 3rd. I had them put me for the 26th, but I can change it if I let them know in the next few days. I hate making these kind of decisions....

My Life changed at 11:11am today.....

I got a call from my Dr's office this morning. The nurse gave me the news that I didn't want to hear...

I tore the cartilage in my left knee.


NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know those days when you just feel like crying because things just aren't going your way. That's how I feel right this very minute.

Sometimes life can really suck.

Stay tuned for more info.

My Website

I'm in the process of finally getting my website up and running...for good this time. No really I am. I took the summer off from school to rest and let my brain cool down. I've been taking in so much new info lately from school, I feel like my brain is about to implode in on itself and shoot out my arse!!!

I figured I would take all my new found knowledge and put it to good use on my own webby!!

I have a lot of stuff I'm going to put on it, so keep checking back.




Check it out

Happy Birthday Dale

Today is Dale Earnhardt's birthday. He would have been 58 years young today and I believe, still tearing up the track like he always did. I miss watching him race, especially at Daytona and Talladega, my two favorite tracks.
Happy Birthday Dale, where ever you are.

Talladega...Carl Edward's Wild Ride

HOLY SCHNIKES....WHAT A FINISH!!!!!

A True Hero

I received this in an email and had to share it with everybody. It's people like Navy Petty Officer Mike Monsoor that make me proud to be an American.

This is the story about this brave American.

PO2 (EOD2) (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Mike Monsoor, a Navy EOD Technician, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, posthumously for jumping on a grenade in Iraq, giving his life to save his fellow SEALS. (Notice: Mike was not a Navy SEAL, he was EOD. He gave his life to save a group of Navy SEALS).

During Mike Monsoor's funeral in San Diego, as his coffin was being moved from the hearse to the grave site at Ft Rosecrans National Cemetery; were SEALS lined up on both sides of the pallbearers route forming a column of twos, with the coffin moving up the center. As Mike's coffin passed, each SEAL, having removed his gold Trident from his uniform, slapped it down embedding the Trident in the wooden coffin.



The slaps were audible from across the cemetery; by the time the coffin arrived at grave side; it looked as though it had a gold inlay from all the Tridents pinned to it.

This was a fitting send-off for a warrior hero . . . .

This should be front-page news instead of the crap we see every day..

Since the media won't make this news, I choose to make it news by forwarding it to you, and hope that you will be proud and forward it to your friends, and so on, and so on.

I am very proud of our military. If you are proud too, please pass this on. If not then rest assured that these fine men and women of our military will continue to serve and protect you, me, our families and our great country without the acknowledgement and praise, but DON'T YOU THINK THEY DESERVE FRONT PAGE NEWS ON EVERY NEWSPAPER IN OUR GREAT NATION? I DO, THAT IS WHY I SENT THIS ON THROUGH THE NEXT BEST THING, EMAIL, WHICH CAN ALSO REACH THOUSANDS WITH YOUR HELP~!

PLEASE REMEMBER THESE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN IN YOUR PRAYERS EVERY NIGHT---WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE, WE ARE SURE TO SUCCEED.

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS AND OUR NATION!

Holy Moley--January is almost over!!!!!

Today I realized that January was almost in the history books and I hadn't even looked at my blog...I know, you don't have to say it, I'm a slacker. But as you can see I have gotten better at it...slacking that is.

It has just been a very busy 3 weeks. In my last entry, Ethan had just left for the MTC. He is know in the mission field, he arrived there on Jan. 22, 2009 after what seemed like forever on a plane. He actually left the MTC on Tuesday Jan. 20th, had a layover at LAX, from LA flew to Honolulu, Hawaii and had an overnight layover there. They flew out of Honolulu Wednesday the 21st for the Marshall Islands, which is like an 18 hour flight and he was scheduled to arrive there on Thursday, Jan. 22th!! Hell, just all those flights and layovers is enough to test anyone's faith!! About 3 days into the MTC experience, Ethan was having a little homesickness and wanted to come home, but he made it through that and after a few more days was doing a lot better. Tana showed me his 2nd letter to them from the MTC, the entire letter consisted of 5 words; "I want to come home". But now he realizes what he is doing and has to do and he's ready to do it. I'm really proud of him for the example he is setting to his younger brothers. Ethan, you are going to be a great missionary.

I started back to school for Spring 2009 semester on Jan. 5th and it's going to be a busy one! I am taking 2 classes; IT 2400-Intro to Networking and VT3000-Internet Publishing and Design. I keep posting updates as time permits.

On Jan 16th, I was in Bountiful attending my nephew's wedding in the Bountiful Temple. What a beautiful edifice! It was also a beautiful Sealing ceremony, to hear the promises that are made if we do what we are supposed is very exciting and reassuring to me.