Tumor Update

In the past all of these "Tumor Updates" have been good news but unfortunately that is not the case this time.
Lariann had an appointment at the Huntsman Cancer Institute yesterday where they did another MRI. This time the news wasn't as good.
There is more tumor growing again so she is going to be going back on chemotherapy. The doctor hopes that the lower dose chemo that she had before will work again. For now she'll be taking the pills for five days each month and having an MRI every month to see if it is working.
Lariann's disappointed to be back on chemotherapy again. She had been off it for only a few months and was really starting to feel good again. But as she put it, "Feeling sick each month sure beats dieing.
I guess we've spoiled having things go so well for us for so long. Every thing that she's been doing has been working. And we expected it to continue to be that way so we were a little blindsided by this as was her doctor. We both new this could and probably would happen, we just both assumed that it would be farther into the future and that we could kind of live normal lives again for a little while.
That isn't the case this time and we just need to have faith that these treatments will work again for her.

Desert Island DVD's

So guess what I found out. You remember that desert island I was on with my 10 favorite CD's. Well it turns out there is also a TV and DVD player. Must run on some kind of solar power.
Now we have my desert Island DVDs and just like the CD's there are a few rules to try to follow.
• Only one movie from a series
• Only one movie from a given director
• Limit the list to 10

I've grouped mine into categories in no particular order. As you may have noticed from my CD's I don't really care what people think, I like what I like. Here we go.


*ACTION*

10- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
I needed to have an Indiana Jones flick in here and this one is my favorite. I think the Chinese kid is hilarious and the lady screaming all the time making Indy's life miserable is great. I like the mine car scene a lot and the bridge scene at the end is pretty cool. Maybe a little on the dark side but still my favorite.

9- Top Gun
I think this is one of the defining movies of the 80's. I really liked this movie as a kid. Mostly the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes. I didn't really understand all about "Taking My Breath Away" and why all the guys needed to play volley ball with out their shirts on until later in life. I think it's the only movie to have the entire score preformed on a synthesiser and electric guitar. I do own the soundtrack for this movie. Who doesn't like to hear "Highway to the Danger Zone" when they're driving and then pretend that they are in a jet and try to shoot down the other cars on the freeway? I mean I don't do that. But others might.
As Maverick said to Goose, "I feel the need, the need for SPEED!"

8- Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl
I loved this movie when I first saw it. Johny Depp was great. It had action, sword fighting, canons, eye patches, parrots and a midget. It's a great swashbuckling (first time that word has been used on my blog) flick. To bad the sequels couldn't compare to the original.

*SCIENCE FICTION*

7- Back to the Future III
All of these were great movies so it was hard to pick one. I went with this one because of the cowboy factor. I just love a good western. This one also features Christopher Lloyds first on screen kiss. Not that that's a reason why I like it just a little fun fact.
Doc Brown does compliment me over and over in these movies when he says, "Great Scott"

6- The Empire Strikes Back
Anyone who knows me knows that I have an obsession with Star Wars movies. I've always like Empire the most. It's the first time Yoda appears to Luke, Darth Vadar is Luke's father, Han and Leigh fall in love, Han gets captured by the bad guys. A lot of twists and turns and nothing seems to right for the good guys in this. A lot for them to overcome in the next movie.
This movie has the infamous line of Darth Vader "Luke, I am your father."

*SPORTS*
5- A League of Their Own
I wanted to have a sports movie in here. The problem is a lot of them have the same plot. Underdog who nobody believes in is able to overcome all the odds and win. Now don't get me wrong I like to watch flicks like Rudy and Hoosiers. This movie seems a little more original. It's more about these women trying to make it as baseball players and get society to accept them as such. Even though it does have Rosie O'Donnell and Madonna I'm willing to over look that.
It has one of my favorite movie lines when Tom Hanks says "There's no crying in baseball"

*FANTASY*
4- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I've read all the "Harry Potter" books and scene all the movies that are out. I enjoy them a lot I think they are a lot of fun. I love the whole modern world of magic that's hidden from the rest of us. I went with this one because The characters are no longer kids but teen-agers so they are a little more complex but things haven't gotten as serious as it will in the later movies.

3- The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring
I had never read any of the books when this movies came out and really had know idea what all the fuss was about. After seeing this movie I was hooked. I couldn't wait for the others to come out. I went out and got the books just so I could find out and I couldn't put them down. Sword fights, magic, good versus evil. I was totally drawn in by this magical world.

*COMEDY*

2- Blazing Saddles
If you've never scene a Mel Brooks film then you really should. This is one of his classics. Of the wall humor that obeys no rules. This movie just gets wilder and funnier as it goes on. The story of black sheriff trying to make it in white town sounds more like a drama but it's not. They tackle the issue of racism in this movie but in such a funny way in a way that only Brooks could pull off.

*WESTERN*

1- The Man From Snowy River
Maybe not as well known film as some of my other flicks but this is one that I have watched since I was a kid and continue to watch today. Maybe not a true "western" since it is set in Australia but all the elements are there cattle drives, horse riding. It's the struggle of the poor boy from the small mountain town to win the heart of the rich ranchers daughter and then get Daddy to let him have her. Some great horse back riding scenes in this movie that are very visual and action packed.

There you have it. Now who wouldn't mind being stuck on a desert island with me and my DVDs? I would like to see what some of you would have on your island so I'm going to tag a few of you.

Amy-your always good about doing these and always looking for a new idea for a post.

Marc and Hali I'd like to see what each of you think.

Lyndsay

Liz

John

SUGAR BOWL!

How SWEET it is!

Pour some sugar on me! Another song reference, this one should be easier to figure out.

Like many of you who watched the Utah play in the sugar bowl last night I was shocked and amazed at what I saw. I, like 89.7% of America according to ESPN.com, was expecting The Alabama Crimson Tide to come out and rock the Utes.

Funny thing though, just the opposite happened. The Utes dominated this thing from start to finish. Making the tide look silly. "Roll Tide Roll"? I think not, the tide got rolled in this one. I enjoyed the shots of Alabama coach Nick Saban trying to figure out what was going on. I mean his team is Alabama from the mighty SEC, all they had to do was show up for this one and they should win. I guess some one forgot to tell the Utes.

I met up with my wife and daughter at my in-laws, after work, who were having a party for the event. I thought I would go over and get some free food, hang out and visit while Utah got beat down by Alabama. Little did I know I would end up watching one of the greatest college football games I've ever seen.

Sugar is so sweet, isn't it.

Christmas 2008

Well it was a great Christmas for us. We moved in about 5 days before Christmas. So we were trying to set up Christmas while we were still trying to get unpacked and put our house together. The weather wasn't very co-operative for us, it snowed and was than bitter cold. On top of that I had been fighting bronchitis for a couple of weeks and being outside for 3 days didn't help that, my bronchitis came back with a vengeance thanks to all my time out in the cold. But we made it in. I want to thank everyone who came and helped with cleaning and moving. Especially those who spent several days helping like my Dad and Mom, Larianns parents and her brother John. We had more who helped but those that I have named really went above and beyond.

Lariann took Lucy over to the Kaysville Fire station to meet Santa. It went about as well as it did last year. She cried and didn't want to sit on his lap. She did enjoy the candy he gave her and she told him "Thanks for chocolate", and "Bye bye Santa".

Christmas was a lot of fun. We got Lucy up and tried to get her to open parents. She was confused about the whole thing. We had to really urge her to open presents. Her favorites were her riding fire engine and her blocks.

We had a lot of family come over and Lucy got to play with some of her cousins. She and her cousin Alex went outside and played in the snow. And her cousin Britian came over to play with the toys.

New House

We're movin on up, to the east side. We finally got a piece of the pie. Lets see if any one knows where that came from.
Well we bought a house this week. Its in South Layton about a quarter mile from the Kaysville border. I had to stay close enough to Kaysville so I could keep my job on the fire department.
It's a five bedroom, two bathroom, multi-level home. It's about 1800sq feet and sits on about .15 acers.
Now we get to move. I didn't realize how much stuff we had until I tried boxing it all up. I keep having to go find more boxes. We are going to do some cleaning in it and then we will move in Friday and Saturday. So if any one is free and wants to come help we could use your help. Especially if you have a truck.
It'll be nice to be out of our cramped two bedroom apartment that we've been in for the last 5 and a half years. We're sure Lucy will love having a yard to play in.

Temple Square Lights

This last week we made the trek from Davis County down to Temple Square to see the lights. It's actually something I haven't done in about seven or eight years. I work down there every night but the problem is they turn the lights off between 10:00pm and 10:30pm, other wise people would never leave. So when I start my shift at 11:00pm it's lights out for the square. It was nice to finally see what it looks like all lit up. Of course Lucy being only 20 months old had never seen it.
My brother Tyler his wife Brooke and their son Britian were in town from Kansas and came with us. My other brother Greg and his wife Stacy were down from Logan and we talked them into coming with us. Since all of us were going to be there my parents and sister Alison decided to come as well.
It was actually a pretty warm night. Gotta love the global warming. The little kids were mildly impressed with the lights and very impressed with the fountains even though the fountains had nothing to do with Christmas. The rest of had a good time walking the square and plaza. Wasn't to crowded either so we all enjoyed ourselves. We stayed just long enough for the kids to get tired and cranky. Lucy fell asleep on the car ride home, I however was driving and didn't have that luxury and I was not that tired.
Lucy and Britian riding on their Daddies shoulders.


Alison, Mom and Dad.

Stacy and Greg

Brooke, Tyler and Britian.

Lucy, myself and Lariann.

Football Season

I've been pursuading my wife and daughter to support my teams. I belive that it is important to teach your children to make good choices that way they don't end up making bad choices like the raiders, cheifs or cougers. Our favorite teams are the Denver Broncos, Weber State University Wildcats and the University of Utah Runni'n Utes. I have some friends and family who are currently or have attended Utah State. We aren't necesarily Aggie fans but we do feel bad for them since they suck so much.

So far it has been a great football season at our house. The Utes are undefeted, beat byu and heading to their second BCS bowl game. Lariann and I went to a couple of games up at Rice Eccles Stadium. We were there to watch the Utes score 11 points in two minutes to beat Oregon State. We also went to the Colorado State game where Utah routed the Rams.

Weber State won the Big Sky Confrence and are heading to the playoffs for the first time since 1991. Why the Wildcats couldn't have this kind of succes while I was in the marching band for 5 years I don't know.

The Denver Broncos are leading the AFC West division which isn't really saying much since the division is pretty bad. They're only 6-5 so even if they make the play-offs I don't see them going to far.

No More Tumor

Lariann went to the Doctors this last week and had another MRI. They decided that the body of the tumor is gone and that Lariann is done with chemotherapy for now. They will now just keep an eye it she will still go in for an MRI every 3 or 4 months to make sure it doesn't come back.

This is the best news we could have hoped for. When this happened 2 years ago we were told that 50% of the people with her type of tumor lived 5 years the other 50% didn't. So we were really looking at a 5 year window. Now it appears that the sky is the limit.

I've gotta say that Lariann is the bravest person I know, in spite of the fact that she won't watch horror movies. She hasn't hardly complained at all during her treatments except for when she started to loose her hair. I've never heard her ask,"Why me?" she's just shouldered her load and pushed ahead.

We feel so blessed to have these results. We are blessed to live in a time when the Lord has provided us with doctors, hospitals, medications and treatments to fight this disease. We are very grateful for all the prayers that everyone has made in Larianns behalf I know that they really do help. Finally I am grateful the the Lord has blessed her and made her well so that Lucy and I can have her in our lives for years to come.