Congratulations!!

I have to post how proud I am of Tristan. He just got the results back from taking his boards and he "nailed" them. (You may all tell me how funny and witty that was.) ;)
After months of studying and late nights and hard work, finally it is over and he did so well! I am so proud of all the hard work he does for us. Congrats to you, Honey!

Boy, Oh Boy!

That's right, it's a BOY!

After months of secrets, we finally surprised our friends and family in Utah that we are expecting! They couldn't believe my little tummy, even though I feel that at 5 months there is nothing little about it, or will be for quite a while.

We had a lot of friends keeping the secret with us, and I don't think I want to keep it that long again. It is SO hard to watch what you post and what you let others post. :) But thanks to everyone who shared with us...it was WELL worth the look on all their faces.

Here are some tummy pictures that have been held back over the months. I'll get up some ultrasound pictures too.

The day we found out and I surprised Tristan with the little hat....it says "Future Cougar".

About 8 weeks....the before pictures. (note: I cropped my goofy expressions out...I hope you didn't want to see my face.) :)

About 15 weeks.
About 18 weeks.
Our Halloween costumes! No, we weren't Chef Boyardee and his stove, as was the popular guess.
My surprised mom in the middle of a grocery store. It was priceless!!

The day we found out it was a boy we bought some little blue outfits.

We call our little one Snoopy until we have a name. I happened to see this car in Utah. It looks EXACTLY like my car!

How I look today at 20 weeks and the shirt I surprised my family with.

Tis the Season

Since I will be gone early for Christmas Tristan and I have tried to do as many things as possible to get into the Christmas spirit. 

 

We went with our friends Chris and Bri to Chickasha to see the lights display there.  It was sooo much fun.  They did a really good job with it.

 

 

We also went with Beau and Paola to a place called Dry Gultch.  

It is a recreated old timey western town north of Tulsa.

  

They have an old steam 

train that you get to take a ride on and have many neat shops and things. 

 

O' Christmas Tree

We have almost completed putting up our Christmas tree. Being newlyweds and not having any traditions or money for anything, we decided that for Christmas decorations we would get a pine cone from everywhere we visit together.  We have gathered pine cones from Mississippi to Austria and from Croatia to the Grand Canyon.  Every year the number of places and pine cones increase a little.  We love our little Christmas tree, simple and beautiful but with so much meaning behind it.

Trip to Missouri

I spent the last week in Missouri while Tristan studied for the boards. On the drive I ate lunch at the world's largest McDonald's in Vinita, OK. :) It sits right over the freeway. (Yes, those are trucks driving underneath.)My brother, Jake and his wife Jen at Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia. We had so much fun, but I have to say that I'm glad that this whole test is over with!! Tristan studied so hard ad has put so much effort into doing well. I am so proud of him!

Thanksgiving Dinner

My darling wife is so sweet. I came home from school today to find a wonderful surprise. The house was all clean and the decorations were up and the smell of roasting turkey, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls was in the air. She had made me a special early Thanksgiving dinner. She has allowed me to send her away for the holiday while I study for my dreaded board exams. I love you sweet heart. Thank you for all that you do to make my life easier and our marriage great

Love Tristan

OU Game

We finally got a chance to go check out an OU game. Thanks again to Josh and Topher.  It was all it was advertised to be.  It was very loud and the fans never sat down.  I wish I could say that the game was awesome but in reality we killed nebraska.  It was over when we were already up 28-0 half way through the first quarter.  Any way here are some pics from the game.  

I (heart) OK

Another reason why we love Oklahoma.

Halloween

Sorry it's taken so long for us to put this up.  Halloween was really fun this year.  I must admit it didn't really feel like Halloween because it was SO hot.  Our pumpkins only lasted 3 days before they caved...literally.   I did carve a mummy that turned out horrible, so I turned the pumpkin and carved the traditional smiley face. Tristan carved an amazing owl!We had our friends Beau and Paola over to carve pumpkins.

On Halloween night we wet to our friends, the Barnett's, and had dinner and went trick or treating with all the kids! The dinner was GREAT! I made the rolls that are supposed to look like bones. :) (The picture is not loading and for the sake of the computer's safety I am going to just stop trying to get it to work.)

Home Again, Home Again

A deceiving title since we didn't go anywhere, but my brother, Jake, and his wife and kids came to visit us recently. We had so much fun with them here. They were our very first visitors so we gave them the rundown of what to do in Oklahoma.

The Zoo.

The National Memorial.

The Landrun Monument.

Of course, some of our favorites were the samplings of several BBQ places. If you ever have the chance, try Countyline for their brisket and smoked turkey.

Leo's, (recently on Diners, Drive-in's and Dives), try them for their ribs, and for a great steak and AMAZING house salad dressing go to Cattleman's. And if you want fried chicken...Eischens.

We miss you Jake, Jen, Jackson, Sydney and Kate!

"Blood, Sweat and Tears"

Tristan=Red

Tricia=Blue

We just took the color code test and you can read about your relationship compatibility with other colors.  The title of a blue/red relationship was "Blood, Sweat and Tears." Though our relationship is doing far better than the title suggests I had to write one of the conversation examples because it is totally us.

Blue: The speed limit is 55 mph. and that is what I intend to go.

Red: Rules were made for people. People weren't made for rules.

Blue: People made the rules and people should follow the rules set up by people they elect. Besides, it saves lives.

Red: Your driving will never save lives. I have an important meeting to get to on time.

Blue: If no one obeyed the law, think of the chaos we would have.

Red: If people would just use their brains and think a little when they drive we wouldn't need these ridiculous laws. I don't need them because I'm a thinking driver.

Of course all our conversations are more loving than this. We say things like, "Don't be stupid, Pumpkin." And we always say I love you...and we are ALWAYS holding hands...and we are dancing the waltz meanwhile. 

Hurricane Norbert

So, I hope that no one out there knows a Norbert.  We were watching the Weather Channel and noticed that there was a hurricane Norbert coming up on the West coast.  Tristan started joking, "Wow I can understand telling people that Katrina or Ike destroyed my house, but Norbert?  The poor people will probably go outside and instead of hearing the wind howling they will just hear 'DER DA DER.' "

My foot

Alright this is mostly for my parents who asked for pics of how my ankle is healing up.  So mom and dad here you go.  Trish and I are a little disappointed because the pictures don't really show the overall dark color of it.  With the flash the only parts that show up are the REALLY purple parts

Tricia wants me to put a disclaimer out but they really aren't that terrible looking.

Saturday is a Special Day

It's the day to check out your local hospitals.
Tristan and I decided that we have no idea what kind of medical expertise the good people of Oklahoma have, so we needed a first hand look. Tristan successfully fractured his ankle while playing football and had the chance to check out the emergency room at Mercy Hospital. I decided I'd like to go the kidney infection route and had the chance to visit urgent care at the Health Sciences Center. I'd like to report that all is well in the medical department.

Our State Fair is the Best State Fair

Don't miss it, don't even delay.
Can you name the movie?
State Fair equals great food.
We took a ride to the top of a wind turbine. I think I could see Canada the land is so flat.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Jen. The Rules: Answer the questions using only ONE WORD. Then tag four others. I'm going to tag Abby, Courtney, Catherine and Clayton's mom. :)

1. Where is your cell phone? couch
2. Your significant other? Tristan
3. Your hair? humidified
4. Your mother? hard-working
5. Your father? hard-working
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? mansion
8 Your favorite drink? milk
9. Your dream/goal? happy
10. The room you’re in? Front 
11. Your hobby? uhhhhh.....
12. Your fear? spiders
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? home
14. What you’re not? boy
15. Muffins? blueberry
16. One of your wish list items? carpet
17. Where you grew up? Utah
18. The last thing you did? bike
19. What are you wearing? scrubs
20. Favorite gadget? camera 
21. Your pets? cactus
22. Your computer? off
23.Your mood? tired
24. Missing someone? family
25.Your car? clean!
26. Something you’re not wearing? spurs
27. Favorite store? Shopko
28. Like someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? 7:00pm
31. Last time you cried? Sunday

Birthdays!

Last week we celebrated both our birthdays. Tristan surprised me with flowers and he did a load of laundry...AND he made me a cheesecake. He wrote on top of it with pudding what you can see in the picture. What you can't see is what he wanted to write yet ran out of room. "25: Quarter to Death." Funny guy...funny funny guy. We'll see who's laughing when he turns half to death 2 years before me!!

Last year we celebrated at Cattleman's restaurant. SO good! We ate there again this year and want to make it a tradition for as long as we are here. It seems to rain every time we eat there. Well, 2 for 2. I'll update you on the ratings next year.
On Tristan's birthday I surprised him with a football. He likes to carry it around concerned with the thought that at anytime he might miss his chance to throw it to someone. Ahhh, what school does to someone with limited free time.

Utah Trip

It's amazing how fast two weeks can pass by.  It was great to see family again.  (Thanks Ben and Brit for staying to see us).  We once again had our luggage lost.   We were able to do some really fun things as soon as Tricia got her clean clothes back to change into.  We went shooting with my family and Tricia took to it really well.  She even got a bulls-eye. We also went up with Tricia's family to their cabin at Bear Lake.  It was really fun! We had several big storms come through that were wonderful to watch.  It also gave us some great lighting for pictures.  On our last day we decided to go out to Kennecott Copper Mine.  I had never been there and so we went.  It proved true of its advertising to be a gigantically huge hole.  However,  it's a gigantically huge hole that yields 3 billion dollars ever year. It is amazing how big the trucks are. You can see me standing next to one of the tires and then compare it to the trucks in the picture of the hole.  Thanks to everybody that helped us while we were out there. We miss you all so much!

Tristan

Congrats Brent!

We just wanted to say congratulations to our good friend Brent Kutlesa.  He just finished competing in the NPC National body building competition.  He did great!  He entered in the welterweight division and came in 7th.   It was a national event and there is no all natural division (meaning some use "products" to help them build muscle).  However, he still competed against all the "not natural" athletes and did well.  Congrats Brent we are proud of ya!

Check out his pics: http://contest.bodybuilding.com/gallery/contestant/67352/jim/

Cute Backgrounds

I used to think I was computer savvy...and I'm totally not. But changing your blog background is a cinch. At the top left of my page there is a blue box saying something about cutestblogontheblock.com or something. If you click on it you can easily change your background to the season (or your mood) and not lose any of the layout, etc.
They have a reminder in their directions to change your layout in blogger to minima...I'll just tell you now...this is VERY important. I almost lost my computer, my mind and a large glass window in our house over this step. Just FYI. :)

Bee Happy!!

Right now Tristan is waiting for me in the gym at school while I "check my email" on the computers just outside the door, but it's Saturday and suddenly I'm finding excuses to not have to go workout...so here is the new summer blog!! Yes, it is amateurish looking and I hardly did any work (just clicked a few buttons) but it's cute, isn't it?!

Grandpa

At about 12:20 pm I got a call from my mom.  She told me that Grandpa had died around 12:00 pm there in the hospital.  It was only a 2 min conversation........ I had been expecting it, but its still hard to find words when you hear the news.  I was with a friend at the time and I told him what happened.  He tried to relay his condolences but I said that actually it was a good thing. He had been suffering for a long time had gone through several extreme surgeries including having plates and screws put into is back and having a kidney removed.  He had been told several times that he probably wouldn't make it through this surgery or that one.  Even towards the end when the doctors had no idea what was happening and said he wouldn't live through the weekend he found a way to get better and to leave the doctors scratching their heads.  We all new why he kept getting better.  It's because Grandpa was a tough old country boy who was as stubborn as a mule.  There is a line from the movie Cowboys that always reminded me of my Grandad: "I am thirty years older than you are, I had my back broke once, my hip twice, and even on my worst day I could still beat you." This is really quite funny because many people, including myself, think that he looked an awful lot like John Wayne. I have often said that when I die I don't want people to mourn my passing but instead remember and celebrate the good times.  I hope to do that now for him.

Herman Shoemake was born on Oct 6 1925 in Mississippi.  The eldest of three brothers he was often left to take care of the family farm.  He would tell stories of when as a young boy he would carry 3 100lb bags of fertilizer across a plowed field.  This might not seem like such a feat of strength to some..... however, one should know that he only weighed about 140lb and he carried them all at once.  He would also tell us stories of how we would terrorize the local pastors.  He would get to laughing so hard that tears would start rolling down his cheeks.  Even with being 140 lbs he was 6'2.  The family was poor and to put it into perspective when he went off to basic training where most people lose weight he gained 40 lbs because of all the food. 

   

When WWII broke out he enlisted in the Navy and served in the Pacific theater.  This was a part of grandpa that he didn't share until much later in life.  He would tell of which ships he served on and all the trouble that he and his shipmates would get into.  When I was on my mission, the zone would get together and they would ask me to tell stories about my Grandpa to help pass the time.   He came back from the war and got his education and got married.   My grandma was 9 years older than him and they had 3 children.  They eventually got divorced and he would then remarry and become a quality inspector.  This job took him all over the world, after which he would move back to the family farm.   We always looked forward to when grandpa would come to visit.  It was a time of stories and of great barbecue, something he became famous for among my friends.  (They always seemed to make their visits coincide with dinner time while he was in town.)  Later during the summer we would get to go stay with Grandpa on the farm.  After helping with chores me and my brother would go down to the pond and fish or hunt for snakes.  Grandpa was always quick with a joke and could usually strike up a conversation with just about anyone and make them feel comfortable.  He had a very teasing sense of humor and a quick wit.  Not much got passed him if there was a joke to be made. (Now Tricia should know where I got that trait from) As he got older his health began to fail.  He couldn't do many of the things he used to.  He fought until the very end.  However, I am sure he would not want to be remembered as the man in a hospital bed but as a man who loved his family, worked hard, served his country and loved to laugh and make others laugh.

Grandpa I love you and miss you.  

Tristan 

7/17/2008   

Europe

Tristan has a friend whose mother is Croatian. They invited us to tour some cities in Europe with them. Conveniently stimulus checks and tax rebates arrived about that time. Is it even a decision?

Here is the condensed version of our vacation...I hope you like pictures. :)

We happened to arrive during the Eurocup, Europe's soccer version of the Superbowl. The only difference is the WHOLE country celebrates. I'm wearing a Croatia bandana...how supportive am I?!

Overlooking Zagrab, Croatia. This is just after we arrived...such a LONG flight.

This is how they tow cars in Europe because the roads are to thin to do it as we do in America. Everyone calls it the spider. I guess you can't tell what is really going on...they wrapped chains around the tires adn picked the car up from the side to lift it on the bed of the truck.

In Vienna we saw everything from the homes of Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss, to masterpieces of Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh. This picture above was in a museum that housed actual mummies. Tristan is next to a sarcophagus. There were also actual statues from Rome, etc. The items in these buildings are so neat that you often forget to look at the building that houses them which are in themselves amazing.

One thing I'll never forget about Vienna was the ice cream.....SO good.

This is Schonbrun Palace. I'm sure I just slaughtered the name, but it is HUGE!! The picture below shows the palace from the other side and the gardens and land around. Yes, hidden in the trees is a zoo...and tropical gardens, etc. etc.

In the background at the very right you see a tall cathedral. It is Stephansplatz. The tower is 445 ft. tall!!! When you stand next to it, it is dizzying.

Venice is just as beautiful as I ever imagined. Some surprises were that sitting was not allowed unless you were at a cafe...and you had to order something to sit there. Just to get money out of tourists...speaking of tourists...there were SO many here. It wasn't as quaint as I'd thought....too many people...and pigeons. Only walking on the island...no bikes or cars...mostly because they couldn't fit down some of the streets that were no more than 20 inches wide. The gondolas were awesome! We didn't go on one, but spent alot of time on the bridges watching them going on underneath. 

We stayed in Maribor, Slovenia and used it as a hub as we travelled from city to city.

Here is the Parliament building on the Pest side of Budapest. Below is a crown used by the kings for centuries. It is over 1000 years old. Next to it is the King's orb, scepter and sword.

We had a chance to see Hungarian dancers in their cultural clothes. They danced traditional dances and sang traditional tunes, which I didn't care for. They sounded so sad...like a sad chant, but the rest was neat.

This is Loseijn, a city on an island just off Croatia. I took a picture of the trail we had to walk (hike) to get to the beach. It reminded me of all the fairy tales I had ever read or heard that took place near the woods.
Anyways, the whole island was rocky....you can see that in the picture of the beach. Everywhere were rock walls. People had to clear land for buildings and homes so they built walls and more walls. Having no sand made the water SO clear...you could easily see over 40 feet deep in the water.
We had to be careful with the pictures we took because on Europen beaches, clothing is optional.

We ended our trip here. We had so much fun but made a lot of realizations that really let us know how blessed we are to live in America and to have the gospel. The world is such a neat place...we both love learning about the history of cultures and to actually see the works of those we've always read about in books. We actually saw originals...and truly old buildings of the kind that are non-existent in America. In the end, there's no place like home.