02/24/07

What’s up Doogie?

It’s 11:28 PM on Friday night and the first I could get to your letter. I have been studying my brains out, taking mock tests like crazy, working my butt off, and having all kinds of family fun. Last night, after being at work for 10 hours, I went to my class by 6:00, then was out of there by 9:00. Came home at 9:30, got some dinner, said good night to the girls, then watched a couple of shows on TraVo with Suzanne. By 11:00 I came back upstairs thoroughly spent and ready for bed. Then Brinlee started coughing and it woke her up. She didn’t stop coughing, in fact, it was so bad that it started to make her throw up. Then her airway began to restrict and soon she couldn’t breathe. She is a little drama queen, so we didn’t know if she was just being overly dramatic, so we kept telling her to breathe normal but she kept saying she couldn’t. She was gasping for breath like crazy. So I sat with her and tried to get her to relax because she was in full freak out mode. She was screaming that her hands hurt and I noticed that her fingers were turning blue and her lips were too. So we rushed her to the ER at Cottonwood. They gave her a nebulizer with some epinephrine and some oxygen. They wanted to keep her there for observation for a while, so we were up till 4:00 AM by the time we were all home and settled down. So after a little after 4:00 AM bed time and a 7:00 AM wake up time to get ready for work and get in there, I am a bit hammered today and it’s already 11:33 PM and I am just getting done with my daily routine. I think I’m beyond tired and running on pure adrenaline right now. So we are still sans letters from you and I got nothing to go off of since it’s already been a while since I have received a letter with some sustenance. So I think this one might be a little short. I haven’t had much time to have any experiences to share. We were going to go ice fishing as you know last weekend, but ended up not going because there were a bunch of slide offs at Parley’s summit with the big storm that rolled through that night before. We could only imagine what Daniels summit was going to look like which is always worse then Parleys. So I was bummed that we didn’t get to go and I hope we can still make it work before the thaw. We’ll see what happens. All of my gear is still sitting right here by me in my office just waiting to go brave the elements with me.

I have my old goggles up on eBay right now because I picked up a brand new pair of Smiths Fuse Goggles that are WAY sweet on that SteepandCheap.com site. I got them for $20 bucks when they normally go for $90. My old goggles are going for 23.99 right now and still a day to go. They close tomorrow sometime and I have 12 watchers right now. So there will be a nice bidding war going on tomorrow. Yeah! I will probably make twice the amount I paid for these ones and I’m getting a big upgrade. I love that site, in case I haven’t mentioned that lately. John bought a pair too, just like mine even after I warned him to get the other color. So now he has my red Columbia ballistic Titanium jacket and the same goggles. We will be the wonder twins up ice fishing or on the slopes. I’m bugged to say the least.

What else can I tell you about here? Aynslee is so cute, she has been smiling and giggling more lately. She’s getting easier to get to laugh now too. Oh, I went to my first Elder’s Quorum Presidency meeting Wednesday night. It was almost 2 ½ hours long. Suzanne had to go visiting teaching that night for a while, so Mom and Dad came over to watch the girls. I don’t know why it took so long to do that meeting. We got a lot done and discussed though, it was cool. But I don’t think it will last that long going forward. We’ll see.

So what happened last Monday? No e-mail access? Would you rather I send letters via snail mail or continue e-mailing? I just need to know your new set up and preferences. I’m good either way. I prefer the e-mail just to save me the overly spendy stamps. But whatever. I’m good with whatever is most convenient for you. I’m excited to get your new photo card and info on your new comp. for the blog. I need to update that soon. I have been waiting for more info since your transfer, but everyone is sans info still. I can do another missionary profile of a family member though.

I guess you have probably heard by now about Donald J. Hein and family coming to SLC. They accepted the job and I couldn’t be more happy about it. I know he’s probably taking a little cut in the standard of living, but come on. He’s closer to family, he’s back in Utah and now I have a Tennis/Racquetball/snowboarding/etc. buddy again. When you get home, we are going to warm up the tennis game and work Don and Ron in a doubles rematch. We won’t go down in flames and humility like we did last time at the Canyon Racquet Club. That was just embarrassing. I think I remember my rotator cuff acting up and giving me fits, so I couldn’t blast them with my rocket serve or any overhead slams when I was at the net. That will all change in a little over a year though. Those two will face the agonizing sting of defeat to their younger, more handsome, and more athletic nephews. K, it’s midnight and I am starting to get drunk from tiredness. I’ll go catch one show on TraVo and hit the sack. I’ll catch you tomorrow.

Ahhhight, I’m back. Just got home from a party at Jeremy Cox’s house. Remember him from our ward in the BarnJarnies house? That was kind of fun, but it’s already 10:25 PM. While we were there, we were there, we played our Scene It TV edition. One of the questions was a clue to guess Doogie Howser MD. I got it of course since I cleaned up in that game, but I had to tell everyone that I just addressed your letter to Doogie. Kind of ironic.

So get this, earlier today, my goggles sold, you know my green Oakley goggles? They sold for $65 bills. Ha ha ha ha ha, I’m laughing all the way to the bank on that. I got those free from Snowbird over 4 or 5 years ago for helping set up an employee sale in the room next to the cliff spa Yoga room. They tossed me a free pair of goggles and that’s how I got them free. It was only an hour of work too. Not a bad deal at all. Well, then I bought these Smiths that come with a nice blue sensor mirror lens, a spare Amber lens for flat light days, and they fit even better than the Oakleys. They came with a Smith Sticker, a new silk bag to carry them in and they look super stylie. To get those for 20 bucks and sell my 5 year old, warn out GREEN Oakleys is a major coups. Oh, I got your letter today too. That was good. Even though it was another promise to write more later. But to be fair you didn’t get my e-mail yet to go off of for the interview and stuff. So when you get to some e-mail, you will have two longish letters waiting for you to reply to. Gonna have to show the love fo sho this week, eh??!!

Nice Superman stamp on the envelope. The post office must have liked it a bunch too because they didn’t stamp over it or cancel it out with those lines or whatever. I could peel it off and use it over again. Thanks for throwing in the bidniss card and the explanation of Superman’s upbringing and source of moral fiber. You are going to have to so some serious marathons to get caught up on the Smallville seasons you are missing. You will be like Mom and her Star Gate marathons.

K, well, I’m going to go read for a while and then go watch some TraVo. I need to do our taxes sometime this weekend too. Well, off to watch a show and go to bed. I’ll finish this and send it off tomorrow. OUT

K, back. So now it’s 8:00 PM Sunday night, I’m getting sick as a dog. I have what Brinlee had I think. Bad croup and it’s given me bad body aches, chills, etc. so probably a touch of the flu too or something. Miserable sickness! I hate being sick.

Church was good today. I got set apart and it was a nice blessing. We are blessing Aynslee next week, so all of the family will converge on our ward. Should be good times. Heard reports on Chad and Elder Yancey today in Quorum. Sounds like Chad is doing well and seeing some early success. That’s great. Yancy Pants is also apparently. Sort of catching fire from what we hear now. Have you heard the story of his Jewish buy baptism? You should ask around and find out about that. Cool story for sure! If you can’t get the scoop, let me know and I’ll throw it in your next letter. It’s just a lot to type and you can probably get an accurate story out there. So let me know.

Here is the quote of the week for you…

“The Lord has no better place to get acquainted with you than when you serve Him in the mission field. When you are serving your mission, He will send you on errands to act in His name. He will give you experience with the power of the Holy Ghost. He will authorize you to teach, to convert, and then to perform the sacred ordinances of salvation in his name. He will come to know you. He will come to know that He can trust you and can rely on you.

- M. Russell Ballard

How true is that? Not only will the Lord get more acquainted with you and who you really are and what you can become, but you get so much more acquainted with Him than you ever will. He has plans for you, he tests you on your mission with small and simple tests that you may not even realize, but it’s how you act in these situations whether publicly or privately that shows what you are prepared for. Prove Him in all things and in all places that you are worth wearing that tag that sets you apart from nearly everyone else in this world. You hold such a sacred responsibility that no one who wears the title of Elder should take for granted. Get more acquainted with the Lord. Take every opportunity to commune with Him. Give him every opportunity to see who you are and what you can do. Where others may trip, fail, drop the ball, whatever, make sure you pick up where they leave off and let the Lord know he can rely on you and trust you. What better way to give back for all that you have been blessed with. Then of course you will be blessed even more abundantly for doing it so that you can never break even, but hey, who couldn’t use a few more blessings is what I always say.

I’m proud of you Mike, like I say every week. I couldn’t find a better investment of my time to write every week, or my money I pitch in every month than to support you in your challenge for this short span of time. I love you and miss you on a daily basis. Do good!

Love,

Trav