just a few birthday wishes…

I waited to post about darin’s birthday weekend until I had pictures of this…

that’s right a POPASHOT! I was so excited he was getting this, yet it was hard to find it a home. It didn’t fit in our basement, like I originally planned, but I wasn’t giving up. We also didn’t know the backboard was an advertisement for one of Darin’s favorite snacks, bonus! Thanks Mom!

The birthday boy got to celebrate all weekend, since usually I throw a big bbq for him (but the weather wasn’t cooperating) we had to make it special in a different way! Friday night, Darin and I headed downtown together to enjoy one another’s company. Saturday he got to open presents and play with the chiclets. Sunday we grilled burgers and ate cake with the fam. (I forgot my SD card for that, but Aaron has a picture of the cake somewhere for me!)

He also got awesome new basketball shoes, an ironman watch, and cheeseballs.  Luke and Natalie were very excited about the cheeseballs as you can see above.  Luke also wanted to give him a present: his power ranger, extra lotion, and candy (which he would have to share with him!). And he has a bit of birthday money… just plotting and planning something good.

What birthday wouldn’t be complete without matching cards! haha…from who? Melanie and Gretchen of course! (So we know two things, it was probably a cheap card, and they definitely still have the same sense of humor! love it!) We all got a good laugh about that. Thanks everyone for sending him birthday love. I think he finally okay with his new age (if he can ever remember it!)

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Isn’t GREAT to be 28?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our BIG CHEESEBALL!

love you honey!

i think it’s time…

Darin and his buddies have been putting together a website for PT/OT students, current and future. and quite possibly for PT/OTs working too! so just go take a look at their hard work… www.rehabstudents.com …please. and let them know what you think… even if you aren’t going into PT/OT… at least read the great article about life as a PT student written by my fabulous husband. and if you feel so inclined, just add it as a link on your blog/site!

and can I just brag for a minute… he is 2/3 the way done, making pretty much all A’s, class president, often group leader on projects, working on this website, executive secretary at church, a huge help at home for me, a great Dad to his kids, and a wonderful participant in MANY a family outing… I love him. I am SO PROUD!

Summer has begun!

Darin finished his first year and we got to spend a few weeks with him! We took off to Kansas City for a week to visit the Evans and Grandpa and Grandma Payne. Landon graduated from high school…YAY! First nephew to graduate… so we had to celebrate! Of course being the great photographers that we are… I have zero pictures of most of the Evans’ …just Ethan, in a box, gotta love it!

Luke had a blast playing with everyone, getting treats from everyone, and trying to make everyone laugh! He especially loved walking the dog Diablo and trying to catch a glimpse of the meow-meow that hid very well throughout the house! Although I didn’t take a lot of pictures, I got some cute videos for you to check out here!
The next week, Darin was off on his own vacation with the boys to California to play some NICE golf courses…

From what I gathered, he LOVED it. They played 4 courses including Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, and The Santa Lucia Preserve (for those of you who might know these hot golfing spots)… not sure which one was his favorite. They were definitely tough and wore the boys out. They had to spend the evenings soaking at the gentleman’s club while JoJo brought them waters and towels! Although Dad took home the trophy, Darin felt like a winner just being out here! Thanks to Jeff for planning it all and Brent and Christy for letting them stay a few nights in their beautiful home and feed them delicious food!
The last week he got spend some time around the house. We worked on lots of projects, and had a lot of fun. Of course we went to the zoo…

While Luke liked watching the elephants, he loved playing in the water & playground area even better! Darin starts back to school tomorrow and Luke and I will miss having him all day to ourselves!
I also got a sunburn on Memorial Day and painted my toes… so summer is officially here!

Remember This Guy?

Yeah, it’s his birthday!

HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY DARIN!!!

Perfect Touch!

I thought I’d share a quick laugh. Darin had an intramural football game last week. He said afterschool, “Oh crap, I forgot to shave for my game tonight!” PAUSE, Wait, this isn’t BYU anymore!
Oh the memories, a few times he was shaving in the car with the electric razor! Not anymore, in fact, the guys in his class aren’t shaving at all this month in honor of National Beard Month, do you believe that?!
Bytheway, his team Perfect Touch (get it, his team is made of all PT classmates), won 28-0 despite the other team’s trash talk!

The Countdown Is On…

Well, what many of you may not know is that I will be leaving Utah for Tennessee in 10 days! I am going out a week before Nada does so I can work on establishing residency, register for classes, buy books, and figure out how in the heck to get around Nashville so I don’t get lost on my way to school on the first day! I am driving my car out, and am excited to be able to spend some time with the Evans’ in Kansas on the way out there. Nada will be teaching up till the 30th, and at 3:00 that afternoon she flies out as well. I have mixed feelings about leaving Utah. We will be very sad that we have to leave so many close friends and family members behind out here, but we are also excited to make new friends and be nearer to Nada’s family. I am grateful to be accepted to PT school and that I finally have the opportunity to do what I have wanted to do for some time now. SO…the moving truck gets here on the 22nd, and if anyone wants to come help load it up, you are more than welcome!

HOME ALONE!

No, this not another Macauly Kulkin movie…Nada has left me for Tennessee! We took her to the airport on Tuesday morning and she arrived safely there that afternoon. I will join her next week, but for now have to work this week! Hopefully nobody is scheming to rob me, otherwise I might have to think of clever ways to lay boobytraps all around the apartment complex. No worries though, the place is still standing, and I am not cranking up holiday music and running around, or jumping on the bed. I did leave a pair of pants on the floor though…

My New Clubs…and Hobby.

As you read, I did finally finish my new set of clubs a couple weeks ago. For those of you that care, here are some specs on them:

-High kick stainless steel shafts, designed to produce higher trajectory shots with added distance.
-1 1/4 inch longer shafts than standard, to allow me to stand taller and get better rotation in my spine.
-Integra forged iron heads. Softer feel, fairly forgiving.
–Golf Pride DD2 grips, oversized for my man-hands.
-Irons 5-9, 48 deg. wedge (PW), 52 deg. wedge, 56 deg. wedge, and a 4 hybrid.

I have played with them twice now, and I think tonight I finally started to get a feel for them. The first time, I dug out 75% of my shots because I wasn’t used to the longer clubs. I did lots better tonight, which made me happy inside.

The best part about these clubs though was the fact that I MADE THEM. I mean, I mined the metal out of the mountain and forged them in my kiln….just kidding, but I did put them together and had a blast. In fact, I got so excited about it that I went out and bought my own sander and burr saw so I can make them anytime, anywhere. Who wants a set? I’ll give you a great deal! Seriously!

Pictures coming soon.

Brains Anyone? Perhaps a Spinal Cord?

***WARNING*** This post is not for the faint hearted.

My EXSC 470 (functional neuroanatomy) class is probably the coolest class offered at BYU. So far we have scalped two cadavers, used a bone saw to remove the craniums, removed the brain, and even taken out the entire spinal cord (still attached to the brain.) Plus, the eyeballs are still attached to the brain via the optic nerve. Now we get to study them! Woo hoo. There is nothing quite like holding a brain with eyeballs and a spinal cord in your hands. The rest of the semester should be pretty fun.