Christmas and Last Week

On Christmas morning we usually go to Sheri's grandmother's home and have breakfast and gift exchange. From there we go to Papa Rick's (Sheri's dad) and have a big family lunch/gift exchange there. From there we try to fit in as many of my family as possible, go to my dad's and usually end the day at Sheri's mom's.

The day before Christmas Triton had thrown up and had a fever. We hoped that it was just a 24 hour thing and that he would feel better by Christmas morning. It didn't happen. I worked Christmas Eve night and returned home from work at 9:00 in the morning and we roused the little man to open presents and head to Grandma's. He wasn't feeling well, had a small fever and in the middle of our presents he threw up again. So, Sheri took Quinn and did her side of the family. Yes, Sheri cried because we had to spend the morning apart. I figured it best that she get to see her side of the family since a couple of them have to drive from Utah.

Triton started feeling a bit better around noon or so, but I didn't want to drag him out yet. I figured he might be okay to do the late afternoon stuff that was just in town. Sheri's family lives about 15 minutes outside of town, not that far, but I didn't want to have Triton throw up in the car either. I made the little man take a nap with me since he was sick and I was dead tired. The gift that Santa brought him that morning (which he loved and wanted to play with) didn't work. Dang Santa bringing a gift that doesn't work. Good thing he left a Toys R Us receipt to take it back and exchange. It was a race car track. You have to shake the cars in order for them to rev up and then they race around the track once or twice. Well the cars act like they rev up and you put them down but they just sit there! So his luck is turning out to be like mine. He loves the gift but can't play with it on a day that he is mega sick.

My cousin Brandon who is in the Marines was due to arrive in Idaho Falls so I was going to probably drag Triton out no matter what in the afternoon. We woke up around 4:30 from a 3 hour nap or so and headed to Sheri's mom's. Sheri was already there and had stopped by our home to get us but left us asleep and we woke up about ten minutes after she left. More great luck. So we take Triton over to Papa crazy's (Sheri's step-dad) and he is feeling a little better but won't eat much still. He was of course running around and I knew that it would catch up to him since it obviously wasn't just a 24 hour bug. Brandon got into town a little early and I was mad because I wanted to be over at my dad's when he arrived but we weren't able to be there. We ran back home to get my dad and stepmom's gifts (which I of course forgot). Then headed to my dad's. It was so good to see Brandon. He was the first brother (I think of my cousins as brothers) that I had. He and I are basically the same age and we saw each other for the first maybe 4 years of our life and everything after that was sporadic. He was an army brat so he obviously moved a lot. From my dad's house Brandon, his wife and I went to my grandma's on my dad's side of the family. Brandon wanted to surprise her on Christmas without her knowing that he was coming. Sheri took Triton and Quinn home. I guess my grandma had shingles and I didn't want her to give my kids chicken pox. We get there and find out that she had gotten rid of them like two weeks before. More great luck.

She was very happy to see Brandon. He and her have always been very close. It was nice to see her so happy. She didn't like the fact that I didn't tell her that he was coming, but Brandon didn't want me to tell anyone. We stay there for a little while and Brandon was going to go back to my dad's, but I had him take me home so I could see how my little boy was holding up. I figured that the past 5 hours had caught up to him and that he would be sick as a dog again when I walked in the house. He was running around playing with his new toys when I came in. We settled things down a bit and I hugged him as he was sitting on the couch and I noticed (even though he was acting a ton better) that he had a fever. I took his temperature and found that he was at 102.5. I gave him some children's Tylenol and made him go to bed. He was great the next day (thank goodness). Papa Rick and his wife Betty stopped by to watch Triton open their gifts for him. Triton and I saved their gifts for the next day since we weren't able to visit them on the norm. It was a good Christmas for the fact that Brandon came to town, but wicked sad that Triton was too sick to go out. I feel bad that I took him out and maybe made him worse that night. I needed to see my Brandon though.

I tried to get work off while he was here, but I wasn't able to. So for the week that he was here I got to have three days off. It wasn't bad but I would have wanted all days off.


Here is Brandon with Triton. They played Mariokart and Triton won more races than Brandon did on the first day they played. Brandon had never played before so it wasn't too much of an upset since Triton plays a lot.

The next day though Brandon won 9 of the 12 races that we setup, so he got his revenge on the 3 year old.

Here is Brandon and his wife Toni holding my precious Quinn. I am hoping that they get on the move of starting a family of their own.

Brandon is getting out of the Marines in September and hopefully then they will get on the making babies train. I think they would be great parents and make beautiful babies. So hurry up, Triton and Quinn need more cousins.

It was sad when Brandon and Toni left. I didn't want them to go and wish they would move here someday, but that isn't going to happen. They both grew up in Hawaii and wouldn't hack it in the cold weather. It sucks not being able to see them all the time like most of our family, but such is life I guess.

So this last week Triton started school. He is in preschool and it was his first day to go on his own. He was going to a one day a week class for a few months before but I went with him and it was only an hour. For this class he is by himself the whole time for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I dropped him off 4 days, they don't go on Wednesdays and everyday he cried when I dropped him off. When I pick him up he is fine and says that he likes school. That is of course until the next day I guess. So, I noticed that the other kids had a backpack when I dropped him off that first day. So I took him to Walmart and got him a backpack of his choice. He chose Ironman. He has never watched Ironman, but he knows who he is and that is what he wanted. Of course for that whole night he wore the backpack where ever he was. He had it all the whole time. It was cute and I am glad that he is in a class that enables him to interact with other children. We didn't want him to go to daycare, but it is obvious with his speech being behind that it is my fault because I am not a person who talks a whole lot. He will catch up now and hopefully be ready to tackle kindergarten when the time comes.

Week Before Christmas

Here are a few quick pictures that we took this weekend at Sheri's father's house. Rick (Sheri's dad) and Betty (Sheri's step-mom) had the day all planned out. It was very organized, which of course when it comes to a bunch of kids is a good thing. First we arrived, ate lunch, then grandpa pulled the kids around in sled with his 4-wheeler. After that the little heathans frosted cookies where you will see Triton is a bit more interested in eating the frosting instead of applying it to his cookie. Afterwards they all watched a kiddie movie about Santa and puppies? Santa Paws? I think it was called? Anyway we didn't get to stick around for that because Quinn decided on a busy day such as that that she didn't need to nap. She was mega fussy and thus we had to depart. Triton of course didn't want to leave. He and the two youngest boys of course weren't sitting and watching the movie, they were running around making a mess with the million toys of which they had access.



Quinn and Mommy, my two beauties.

Papa Rick, that is what all the grandkids call their grandpa Rick, and Quinn.

Triton is in the middle between his two cousins Drake in front and Bailey in back. In the far sled are his other two cousins Keaton and Jackson.

Triton, Drake and Jackson all frosting their cookies.

Well, It Turns Out

So, I guess my last blog wasn't that funny. There was only one person "besides Sheri" who thought it was funny. I didn't give any warning to any of you who read it before hand so as to get an honest reaction. Sheri of course knew it never happened so that is why she thought it was funny. My cousin Brandon is a bit sick like me and he thought it was funny too.
The most amazing thing that I discovered from you all is that you pretty much believed it. I wonder if it was because of the way it was written or you all think that I could in fact do something that horrific? My own mom cried as she read it and tried to call me before finishing it. I guess she let the phone ring twice before hanging up when she got to the bottom and read the part about it being a practical joke. One person out of my family and friends doubted it from the very beginning. My cousin Josh and I are so alike that I am sure that is why he never for even the slightest second thought that it could or did happen! Thanks Josh for being the only one that knows and believes I am and always will be a decent enough guy to not hit his wife! I love you and always will.

So yeah my mom was in town and stayed with us "at her house" the whole time she was here from the 16th of October and left the 26th. It was so great to see her, it had almost been a year. She has hair again after all the chemo. It grew back all curly though. I guess that can sometimes happen after being exposed to chemo! Last time she stayed in town she stayed here at her house and also her mother's. I was glad that she didn't leave us this time because I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. I felt bad that I did go golfing two or three times while she was here, but I did take off work all the days that she was here. Her and I went to a few movies while she was here.
We saw "Devil", it was really good. We also saw "Hereafter", it was really good until the end. It kind of ended abruptly and didn't really have a conclusion at all. Devil was a classic M. Knight movie. I have mentioned in past blogs that I love his movies. All of them except for "The Happening" for some reason that movie just didn't float my boat. Sure he did Avatar (The Last Airbender), but it is kind of a kids movie. I liked it and it was better than I thought it was going to be, but I think that he had to follow what has already been written to a certain extent. I don't think that my mom too much cared for "Devil" she would say it was okay. That is where I get my thing with 99% of movies just being okay. A movie really has to stick out for us (my mom and I) to say that a movie is good. I think that I would say I like more movies that her in the sense that I would say they are good, but I think she looks simply at the story and the acting. I love to watch how a movie is filmed from different angles and originality is great too. So a movie that is okay to her can be good to me simply because of the directing.
So, I also got my mom to play Mariokart for the Wii. I figured I could talk her into that because it is a simple game. You basically push one button and steer with the controller as if you were driving a real car. She competed with Triton and beat him probably 65% of the time. He drives better than her on the game and knows the courses better, but he loses interest and goes in circles half of the time. It was crazy that she played though because she doesn't like games like that at all. She has never like Nintendo crap all that much except one game way back in the day, I think I was in 4th grade when I awoke to my mom playing this one game in my room on my small black and white television at 3:00am or so. It was a game called The Battle of Olympus, it is kind of like Mario except it is about mythology. Most everything else was the same though as far as challenges and control. The greatest story within that story about my mom playing mariokart is that I was able to trick her into being on camera. We have a flip video that is wicked easy and fast to operate. Without her knowing I setup the camera while we played. My mom has always hated cameras and having her picture taken, so when she didn't notice me setting it up I was grateful. One reason was she was able to act natural and another was the fact that it captured her doing something with Triton and myself. It was funny watching her steer because she would over-correct much like a new student in drivers ed. Triton and I play mariokart all the time and we hardly move our hands and arms while driving. My mother on the other hand was all over the room. She had me laughing so hard watching her on the screen that I was crying. My stomach hurt so bad because I was relating her driving on screen to a new boy or girl trying to get their license. She obviously has known how to drive a real vehicle for so long that you would think that she would know to make small easy corrections? I guess the fact that it is a game changed her way of thinking because she was on one side of the road/screen in one second and the next instant she was on the opposite side wheeling her way back to the other. Whether or not she will say she liked playing it I am sure that she did.

You never think

Well, I know it has been awhile since I have blogged and for that I am sorry. Sorry that I haven't been doing it and maybe if I had blogged I wouldn't be in the predicament that I am in at the moment.
It is embarrassing to think that I am faced with criminal charges. I have a lawyer that is super confident that I won't be facing any jail/prison time so that is good! It would serve me right though and this might be my last blog for sometime since I won't have access to a computer when serving community service. I am just seeing myself along the highway with the other people who have let these tough times bring them down as well. All of us freezing, picking up the litter that those inconsiderate pigs throw out of there car while driving carefree in their expensive automobiles. Okay not only the rich litter, I am just sour I guess about those who don't care about this planet.
So here it is, since I am imagining that you are wondering why I have a lawyer and everything else. One night about a month and a half ago Sheri and I were stressed about the kids screaming and Quinn was being a terd and wouldn't let us sleep for more than 20 minutes. I guess it took our toll on us and one night it all came tumbling down the mountain. Sheri usually always gets up and takes care of Quinn because I hate getting up because I don't sleep that well anyway. Well after working 4 of my long nights and taking care of the kids in the daytime while Sheri worked I was excited to get some much needed sleep. I remember falling asleep and waking up like 3 times to Sheri getting up and catering to our little (scream every minute) daughter. It was probably 3 in the morning and I wasn't happy at all. The 4th time that Quinn woke up Sheri let her cry and cry (which she usually doesn't) and it was pissing me off like no other. I nudge Sheri to go get her and she yells at me to go and do it myself. I am wicked pissed and go to get up to try to tend to little miss crying angel Quinn. Now when I have to get out of bed I have to crawl over Sheri because our bed is on a corner. I remember this whole moment like it was yesterday and the moment will forever be etched in my brain. Thank goodness it was dark so I don't have to see it in my mind over and over, but then again maybe it should be something that should haunt me. I was in a rage yes, but I never imagined that this situation could ever happen. I am kind of rushing to get out of bed and I must have been a little groggy too but I tried to miss Sheri's body parts while hopping out of bed. I kind of mount over her and ease passed her and not touch her when usually getting out of bed. When in a hurry this didn't work too well and I accidentally slipped and fell on her abdomen with all of my weight on my elbow. In an instant and what feels like an eternity in my head now as it replays over and over, Sheri probably in a reaction to being pummeled from my elbow kneed me in the crotch.
This next part is very hard to write and I can't believe that I am able to write all of this as tears are streaming down my face. I probably won't even hit submit when posting this blog as it is a shame to me, but in case I do have to go to jail I want everyone to know that I am so sorry.
There is no excuse for what happened even though it was maybe a simple reaction from all the stress and having my jewels crushed from a knee, but in no time flat I thought maybe Sheri did it on purpose and retaliated by hitting her. I hit her in the face! Being so tired I don't know how a fist could have had so much velocity. I obviously made contact and must have landed this rage adrenaline filled punch to Sheri's nose and eye socket area. Her nose broke and her eye was hurt pretty bad, but I have heard that she is healing well. She even had three broken ribs from my fat ass crushing her from the initial fall to her mid section. Blood instantly covered her face and pillow. I felt panic rush over me and I tried to hug her and tell her I was so sorry. She raced out of the room spilling red everywhere on her way out of the room and down the stairs. She called the police and I don't know if she even grabbed toilet paper before calling them. You know how in the movies or in an accident the police take forever to show up! Well on this night it seemed as though they were here in an instant. I didn't have time to grab Quinn and follow Sheri down the stairs and see how badly she was hurt (since I discovered that there was a river of blood after getting Quinn and turning on the light) before there was a knock at the door. I could see cop car lights and couldn't believe that I was going to jail. I am sure that I would have done the same thing if I was Sheri. I don't blame her at all. And since this story is all fiction and never happened I can forgive her and I hope that you all can forgive me. It isn't even April Fool's.

****Warning three people have called and didn't understand that this is an actual joke (it didn't really happen)*******


Here are a couple of updated pictures of the kids. Triton is in preschool now, only one day a week. In January he is going to be going 4 times a week and will be having lunch at school. When talking it over with the ladies at the school I almost started crying because I knew that my boy is growing up. I will explain more about that and how my mom was in town to visit this last month as well in my next blog.

Quinn and Cousin Parker

Quinn in her bouncer.

Happy Girl.

Quinn visiting with her cousin Parker whom is a day younger than her.

Move over please, paparazzi is here taking pictures of me Parker.

A Quick Cutie

I have no clue why we haven't thought of getting a picture of big brother holding his sister? I was inspired the other day I guess. I was upstairs trying to get little Quinn to stop crying. She hates to be in the same place for an extended period. She also can't stand being alone, most of the time. So, I get her upstairs and she finally quits fussing. Triton follows because he likes to get into stuff upstairs. I decided to see how good Triton would be if Quinn was in his lap and I told him to hold onto her. I set him down, then sat Quinn in front of him and they were fine. I told him to stay there so I could run downstairs and get the camera. I run as fast as I could in hopes that he didn't let her tip over and get the camera. I run back up and the camera battery is dead of course. So, I run back downstairs and get the flip video. That is why the quality of the picture isn't that great, but I think that it is way cute nonetheless. I took like 20 seconds of video and was happy as could be that I was able to get a still shot with the both of them looking at the camera. Triton is smiling of course because he loves to be in front of the camera, and Quinn isn't fussing and is not drooling. So, I won't be too upset that I didn't get a smile from her as well. She is for sure a drooler! Triton never really did drool at all even when teething, but little Quinn is bound and determined to be unattractive. She holds her tongue in the front of her gums and just drools and has spit bubbles in the front of her mouth 90% of the time. This was another reason that reinforced my opinion of her not being that cute of a baby. I see her in her cute moments with no spit and a huge smile and I know that she is getting cuter day by day.

200? Scroll to see pics of Quinn if you don't want to read the novel

So, I have always told myself that I would never weigh 200 pounds or over! All my life I have ate what I wanted and for the most part I was able to keep the weight off. Senior year of high school I remember the year that I was losing muscle and definition. I never worked out other than P.E. classes in junior high and high school, but I seemed to have a nice flat stomach and yes I had a six pack back in the day. I never had large arms, but I could beat 99% of people in high school at arm wrestling.
A quick funny story about that is there was this kid in high school same grade as I and he knew that I was good at arm wrestling. At the end of junior year he said that he would bet me that he could beat me by the end of our senior year. He was a football player and I wasn't. He was popular and I wasn't, not that that has anything to do with the story, but he was the kind of kid who didn't talk to you because you weren't in the same social crowd as he. Thus he was a nice kid, and we ended up having the same class I believe throughout our senior year. I know we did for at least half our senior year. He and a small group of us trouble makers sat in the back. It seemed once every couple of weeks he would challenge me to arm wrestle. He was determined to win this bet. Well it turns out that he never could beat me and I hate to say that he never really put up that much of a fight either. I never really had to struggle to win a single match against him. You might think that just because he was a football player doesn't mean that he was that muscular. Well this is where the story turns in my favor and therefore I will always have something to brag about. You know at the end of the year when they have those dumb sayings about certain classmates like he or she is the most likely to become an astronaut, or he or she is most likely to become a serial killer. I remember some classmates had titles of what they already were in high school. Like maybe they had nicest personality or prettiest smile. This young man who will remain nameless for his sake was voted the biggest guns in school. Guns meaning his arms! He was huge and his arms were probably twice the size of mine. Arm wrestling is probably 60% techinique and 40% muscle. This is how and why I was able to win. The bet was a measly $5 and at the end of the year I told him that he better pay up. He didn't ever pay me! He mustn't have had the money. Some years later I was working at a bowling alley and he and his friends came in to bowl. I asked him if he had my money and he kind of smiled and laughed it off as he walked away and went to bowl. When none of his friends were watching he came up and gave me 5 one dollar bills! I thought it funny at the time. It is just a little notch on my I am better than the best belt.
Enough bragging and on to that notch in the belt remark. I have been gaining the pant sizes these past few years. I am not fat by any means, but for me I feel like I am obese. It is hard to think of yourself fat in this day and age if you are my weight when you can simply look at 80% of the people and know that they are fatter than you. Dang this country is fat! This does not mean that I am out of the clear when it comes to having good health though. Nor is an excuse to keep letting myself go.
I found out a little over a year ago that I am insulin resistant, which is a really nice way of saying that you are lazy and fat. A person can do minimal exercise and eat proper and never be insulin resistant or have diabetes. Of course there are the few cases in which a person that both exercises and eats correctly can become both. They are few and far between those lazy fat people like me. So, this last year after finding out that I was indeed insulin resistant my doctor asked what I wanted to do (eat better or get on pills)? I didn't want to take pills, but he suggested that we do it and see how it goes for awhile. I was on pills for 6 months and I went back in again. He found out that my numbers were extremely better and that I was almost out of the clear of any fright of becoming diabetic. A couple of numbers where a bit high still, but the overall average had me in the average safe realm. So, I haven't been back in almost a year (I have to go in sometime next month and it will be a year) and the first six months I still wasn't eating right. I was gaining weight and my excuse was the pills. I knew that they were helping keep my numbers down so why eat right? That is partially the excuse that I had for not caring what I was eating. The other is the fact that food is yummy! I love food and it loves me. Well, my pills ran out, they didn't run out exactly they just are going to cost a ton more than they have because of the yearly discount thing. So, out of nowhere (knowing that my pills aren't worth spending that much money) about a month and a half ago I decided to start eating better. When I had my insulin resistant test a gentleman there told me to get a book about dieting when being insulin resistant. I bought the book, but didn't really ever open it up. I kept it nearby so I knew where it was, but I never really cared (again because I knew that the pills were helping).
Six or seven months ago I was working out a bit and weighing myself here and there. I was at 198 the last time I weighed myself. I stopped working out and kept eating whatever there was to eat. I might imagine I got over 200? Who knows? If I didn't weigh msyelf how was I to know if I was over 200 or not? So, after eating a ton better this past month and a half I decided to weigh myself. I was wicked scared because I was afraid it would say 200 or more.
I weighed myself on our scale at home first because I know that it is a bit off. It said that I weighed 185.5, it was such a relief you don't even know! I weighed myself the next day on the same scale of course and it said 183. I knew that I had probably lost about 10 pounds even though I knew that the scale was off. I weighed myself at work (where I knew that it would tell me the truth and I was hoping it said that I was under 190) and it says I weigh about 187.5 pounds. It is way nice to be going the other way for a change. I opened that book and found some info and ideas on how to balance meals. The weirdest discovery in all of this is that I don't go to the fridge and see nothing. I don't go to the cupboards and see nothing. The same food is in there now, there is just so much of it. Before it was "there is nothing to eat" and I drive to McDonald's or Burger King. I go to the fridge now and see so much more food! Haha it isn't because I had already eaten it all in the past! With this diet book there are even certain types of food it doesn't matter how much you eat you can just keep eating it. This is the much larger side dish now that goes with my much smaller regular dish. I eat probably about a can and a half of vegetables a day with my meals.
Sheri's birthday was August 6th and we went to Olive Garden. I had a Caesar salad before my meal. My meal consisted of Chicken, Broccoli and Asparagus! Sheri looked at my meal when it arrived, saw me eating and she said "you are doing way good on your diet". I told her it really wasn't a diet now and that I eat more now then when I was just eating whatever. I really did surprise myself with that meal because the noodles looked so good on the menu. I did have a slice of her and Triton's pizza, but I didn't eat one bread stick! You know how good bread sticks are there too, all warm and tasty! So, I am doing good with eating better, but really haven't had that much extra energy yet. That will obviously come from working out, which is the next step/goal. I first want to see how my numbers are from the visit to the doctor. Plus the more weight I lose before then the less I will have to carry while on the treadmill.

Okay enough about me, take a look at my cute little baby girl. She is such a cutie (NOW)! Okay so those of you who don't know Triton was an oddity. He came out of his mom with no gross goop on him, he wasn't all purple and wrinkly like you see on the television when a mother gives birth to a baby. This actually scared me the first time I saw him because I was expecting to see a wrinkly, purple, gross goop all over him alien. Instead he comes out looking like he is ready to golf 18 holes with his daddy. It was the weirdest thing.
Quinn on the other hand was the exact opposite of Triton, she did in fact come out all gross and wrinkly! I for sure didn't expect her to come out like Triton, but I did expect a cuter baby! It is the meanest thing to say and I know a ton of you are going to think I am a horrible father, but I did not think that she was cute at all. I knew she wasn't a troll like some babies but she wasn't very cute right out of the wome. Not even for at least a month or two after either. I am not one of the parents who thinks that there baby is cute no matter what (obviously). Some parents you see their baby and they are like isn't he or she so cute? You are nodding, but in your head you are saying no, please keep this alien baby away. He or she might win the ugliest dog contest! Okay that was overboard and I didn't think Quinn was near that extreme. Look at her now though with her cute little smile. I hope my eyes haven't glazed over and all of you are thinking "keep that alien baby away from me"! I am imagining Quinn reading this when she gets older and just hating me for it! Oh well, I can tell her that I was an ugly baby. I know this from pictures and a few uncles have even told me that I wasn't a cute baby, and I am not heart broken about it! Anyway, blog over here is my baby girl at almost 4 months old.