Erik, Jenn, Tyler & Mason

Grandpa said today (or rather wrote on a piece of paper) that he feels better than ever. That's hard to imagine since he is on a ventilator and a feeding tube, but he was holding Grandma's hand this morning and conveyed to her that they will have many more happy years together on this earth. I am so thankful for the blessings of prayer and fasting and for the knowledge that Grandpa will be ok. Heavenly Father is so good to us. Grandpa still has plenty of work to do on this earth and is not ready to leave just yet. I can't wait to go see him for Christmas!

I listened to the nurses reminding my grandpa to breathe and yelling his name and saying "Stay with us!" all night last night and now he has made it through the night and it looks like the internal bleeding has stopped--for now. There are 20 ulcers to worry about and they can't be operated on because he is too weak to handle surgery. Thanks for your prayers, keep them up, they are working. We were going to go to Utah this morning but since Grandpa is still conscious and the bleeding has stopped we are hopeful that he will recover and we can see him for Christmas instead of in the ICU.

I've been sitting here listening through the phone to the nurses trying to revive my grandpa. His oxygen is as low as it can be, so is his blood pressure. It sounds like he may not make it through the night. He is bleeding internally and is currently having a blood transfusion. He also has pneumonia. It is really hard for me to listen to the sounds of them reviving my grandpa and I feel awful knowing what he has to go through. I love him more than words can say, and dare I say no one has ever been as close to their grandpa as I am with mine.

My friend and co-worker Gloria's husband is serving in the Army in Iraq. She sent me this email today. If you can help, please give me dollar store items or a couple bucks to purchase dollar store items by Nov 30. Thanks. Hello all, A few of you have expressed interest in this so I wanted to extend the invitation to all of you. The children in Iraq are not nearly as fortunate as we are. A friend of mine said he gave out a handful of pencils and kids went crazy over them! Nathan said if we were to send items such as coloring books, crayons, school supplies, markers (apparently they really like things that make color!)…it would be very appreciated. Don’t feel obligated to contribute, I know the world has lots of opportunities for doing good, this is just an option for you. If you’d like to help out, I’ll take anything you are happy to give; maybe your kids have old toys you can’t use for anything else, you can buy coloring books for $1 (they don’t need to be fancy), or just give m...

"I'm a pterodactyl comin' in for a landing! Caw Caw!" "You should see me play hoops after doing a few months of Plyo -- it's UNBELIEVABLE!" "Let me show you perfection. Not THIS (gesturing towards his own face) -- THIS (gesturing towards his shoulders)." "She has the skin of a FIVE YEAR OLD -- SO LUCKY!" "Tip of the day: DON'T SMASH YOUR FACE!" "If you don't have a stool, grab your dog, cat, brother, sister, uncle... that's a short uncle!" "Pam's an undercover agent being chased by some guys with a hand gun." I think I have too much time on my hands, or I do too much P90X.

Click Here to See Something So Stupid I think it is so racist for Career Builder to make a job site just for black people. How about instead of segregating us more and defining ethnic jobs, why don't we do the opposite and embrace difference and continue to provide a normal Career Builder job site for EVERYONE? This worsens racism in every way. Not to mention if there was a white people job site the proprietors would be locked up-- as well they should! This is not right. Not right at all. The point of this site is clearly to help employers meet Affirmative Action requirements. Affirmative Action is racist and it also prolongs racism and segregation. Through Affirmative Action, minorities are given a subliminal message of inferiority. Employers should not be forced to hire people of any specific skin color. They should hire based on SKILL. Some employers don't of course, and that is on them. But don't make it worse by forcing non-racist employers to hire people just based o...

I lost a pound. Yay.

So as many of you have heard me complain, I have been stuck at 148 for 7 weeks now. It's ridiculous. I work out all the time, I work out hard, and I eat right. I've tried eating more, eating less, working out more, working out less, changing my workouts entirely. (Though Suzanne has a point, I just changed my workout last week, I need to give it more time). Anyway I decided last night that I will let NOTHING get in my way. I am going to be at least in the 130's by the end of the year. So starting today this is my new diet (though I may have to swap out breakfast a few days a week for Fiber one cereal because I don't want to eat too many eggs): Breakfast - 2 eggs, 1 piece of low cal toast, 1 glass of skim milk - 275 cals Snack - 1 apple - 50 cals Lunch - 3 homemade low cal low fat egg rolls - 250 cals Snack - Veggies and fat free ranch dip - 150 cals Dinner - Low fat with vegetables will vary - 600 - 700 cals Workout - Burn 400 cals Snack - Glass of skim milk - 90 cals...

Grandpa is doing very well after having 5 bypasses this morning. He was supposed to have 6 and ended up only needing 5. He is still in the hospital but doing very well. Thank you to all of your prayers and thank you very much also to those of you who fasted with our family!

My Grandpa is the most incredible man I have ever known. He is steadfast in his faith, always serving the Lord. He holds two leadership callings in the church simultaneously and spends almost all his time serving in the church. He eats fruit salad every day for lunch and has for 30 years. He runs 2 miles every morning except on Sundays, even in the snow. He can bench press more than I can. He has always been a father to me--the only father I ever knew until I got married and inherited a father-in-law. He and my grandma raised me in their home when no one else could or would and has given up much for me and because of me. Always sacrificing and never asking for anything in return. He is honest, hard-working, intelligent and brave. I look up to him and pray each day that my son will grow up to be just like him. Three days ago my grandpa was in perfect health. We just found out his heart isn't in good shape. On Wednesday he is having open-heart surgery. He's having six by...