Thursday, August 20, 2009

Moose is Home!

Michael returned home from a 2 year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Montevideo, Uruguay on Friday August 14. Bryan and I made the 7 hour drive up to Tulsa, Oklahoma late Thursday night to greet Michael at the airport Friday afternoon and spend the weekend with him. He had a wonderful time and loved the way the Lord directed him to the people needing the gospel in their lives at that time. Bryan's dad also went to Uruguay on his mission 40+ years ago and at the time, there were only 7 mission areas in South American. I don't know how many there are now, but I do know there are alot more than 7. Anyways, it was good to see Moose! Now he needs to go back to BYU and look for a "smokin' hot wife" as Michael would put it.

Stratton, Rebekah, Bryan, Michael, Robert and Debbie

Saving Money


Bryan has been on this kick to save more money over the summer. I am pleased with the goals he has set, plus the funny stories that make for better memories. He wanted me to write this one down for the books.


1) We needed to get our truck inspected, but the left blinker was not working, thus it wouldn't pass. So Bryan and Ryan (Whipple) decide it will be fun to take apart the steering column and fix it using some program they found online through the army portal system (ako). They rented some tools from Advanced Auto Parts and got to "fixing" it. After putting the column back together Bryan started the truck and the left blinker worked... but the steering and horn were not working at all!

So... 3 days later Bryan went back to "fixing" the steering column, turned the truck back on...

the steering worked (Yeah!), but everytime he turned the wheel the horn honked. Haha.

Bryan apparently broke a small piece while putting the column back together that could only be purchased at a Chevy dealership. Once the part was delivered, he finally fixed the truck. Now the blinker, horn, and steering work just great. It only took him about a week in a half and cost us $82. If we had taken it to a mechanics shop the truck was estimated to be around $160 and would have taken 1/2 a day. Good job honey!

2) Yesterday Bryan rotated both cars tires. It was a fun project for him to complete before school begins next week. While rotating my Subaru, the car jack bent and nearly smashed poor Bryan beneath and sliced a good portion of his finger!! He came running into the house with a bloody hand and I nearly fainted...which is ironic because I see blood every day at work. Haha. Don't worry Katie, he didn't get any blood in the house and we cleaned up the mess in the garage (which was everywhere!). No trip to the ER was needed and the cars now have rotated wheels!
3) Bryan also changed the oil on all of our vehicles. He spilt oil all over the cement and it took him nearly 8 hours. But it saved us at least $80! It's a good thing Bryan's time isn't worth anything.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Stupid Teenagers!

We woke up Saturday morning to this:

4 other cars were hit as well.  At first we thought it was the lightening that literally struck our house Friday night and fried the security system, the cable, the internet, and the electricity... but then I saw a giant rock in the bed of the truck and glass shattered all over the dashboard and thought otherwise.  Thank you teenage vandalizing idiots for making me stimulate the economy by purchasing a $200 window!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Jury Duty Summons

Monday, July 6, 2009 at 8:45 AM
as Juror No. 369

I have only been in Texas for about 15 months and already I have jury duty summons! This is crazy. It turned out to be not so bad, but still! The selection process took ALL day and I ended up being skipped over- the 2 people before and after me were picked. I must look biased or racists or maybe its because I'm LDS. Haha. Anyway, it was a criminal case and would have been interesting to watch, but by 3:30 p.m. I was glad to not be selected. Plus, get this. You receive $6 per day for reporting as prospective juror, $10 the day you are selected, and $40 per day thereafter. Crazy! I guess it really doesn't matter for me because I get paid by the Army no matter what. It was a good learning experience and definitely a different atmosphere than I am use to.

July 4th Weekend

Because we couldn't get enough of Bryan's parents in Mexico, we decided to take a trip to Oklahoma over the holiday weekend. We also killed to birds with one stone as we hauled Stratton's "new" Toyota Tacoma from Waco and visited with Bryan's brother, Adam, whom we haven't seen in over 2 years! We also figured Bryan's parents would pay for all the festivities during our visit :)

On Thursday, we went water skiing and tubing on Grand Lake with Stratton, Adam, Leslie and Debbie. I have never water skied before. It took me 3 tries to get up and then when I fell, it was like getting an enema from a nurse. Not fun! Bryan did awesome, but he is pretty much awesome at everything he does. Love you babe!
Here is the crew.
Bryan showed off during his turn.
The drive to Grand Lake.
The rest of the weekend isn't really captured in pictures. We played racquetball and swam at the YMCA, watched fireworks, picked blackberries, and ate really good food. It was a fun and relaxing visit. Thanks Robert and Debbie!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Puerto Vallarta

Bryan's parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with all their children and spouses (who could make it). There were a total of 12 of us that were able to make it (Debbie/Robert, Stephanie/Kent, Renae/Harold, Becky/Varden, Bryan/Rebekah, Amy, and Stratton). We sure missed those who were unable to come play. We had a blast kayaking in the ocean, zip-lining through the jungle, body surfing, repelling down waterfalls, parasailing, snorkeling, and just hanging out with each other on the beach or at the resort. Those 8 days sure seemed to fly by quickly.

More pictures if you click here.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Honduras

Bryan had a great experience in Honduras. He went with a bunch of girls from him class that flirted with him the whole time. He didn't even miss me one bit. Just messing. It was mostly girls who signed up and he really missed me lots and lots. He was able to use all the skills he was taught during his first year of optometry and practice them. He also got practice in speaking Spanish too. There were also medical students that came along, so he got to see/help out with medical needs as well. The most common problem eye problems he noted was pterigium (sun damage) and hyperopia (far sightedness). He had fun and hopefully next year he will be able to go somewhere else and take me along! I posted some pictures from his trip. Mostly they are pictures of him...enjoy!



















To view more photos of Bryan click here.