Meet Miss Matthews

I spent the majority of the day today, backing up my work laptop to DVD and then fdisking. I had it dual booted with Windows XP and Novell Linux Desktop 9 (NLD9). I decided it was finally time to ditch Micrsoft and single boot with NLD9. I'm still in the process of getting everything configured, but am making progress. Since I still support products on Windows, I will probably create a Windows XP VMware image.

I left work around 2:15pm today to go with Deni, Sydney and Ryan to meet Ryan's first grade teacher. Her name is Miss Matthews. She really didn't talk to us much, but she showed Ryan around the room and where his name was, where he would put his backpack,etc. I guess the meet the parents night is later on. It looks like there are 20 kids in Ryan's Kindergarten class. I figured there would be more kids, so it is good that there are only 20. However twenty 5 yr olds can be very overwhelming, I'm sure. As we walked through the school, the teachers had their pictures on the doors. Most of them looked like High Schoolers, but I guess they are at least 21, to have a 4 yr degree. Kinda odd that the teachers are quite a bit younger than Deni and I.

After meeting Ryan's teacher, Ryan and I went to drop off some boxes at a friends, to my parents to pick up a few things, then to the dump to take some large trash. We werer going to go fishing, till I remember the back of the truck was loaded with trash. After going to the dump, Ryan and I drove up to Spanish Oaks reservoir. That is a nice place. We are planning on going swimming and fishing up there tomorrow. It is only 10 minutes from the house.

Tonight for FHE, we talked to Ryan about our fire alarms. I pushed the button on one, so he knew what they sounded like. Apparently, all our fire alarms are connected, as when I set one off, the rest of them went off too. It was good. We showed him how to feel the door to see if it was hot, and if it was, to go to his window, open it, climb out and then start yelling for help. Obviously we hope we never have to have a fire, but thought it would be smart to walk through what we would do if it happened.

Finally tonight, I downloaded DVD Shrink, which is a free utility that allows you to back up your own DVD's. I'm going to back up all my DVD's, and keep the orginals out of the kids hands. That way if they get scratched or cracked, then we will burn another one. It takes about an hour a DVD, so I will do it slowly, since we have lots of DVD's.

Found my book...

Before we moved, I had bought a book called "Leadership" by Rudolph W. Giuliani and started reading it. Well it got lost in the move in April. But I'm glad to say that I just found it. Since it has been so long, I decided to start at the beginning again. It is a good book. In the Preface, there is a pretty cool quote. Giuliani is talking about the principles he uses.

Surround yourself with great people. Have beliefs and communicate them. See things for yourself. Set an example. Stand up to bullies. Deal with first things first. Loyality is the vital virtue. Prepare relentlessly. Underpromise and overdeliever. Don't assume a damn thing.

The book covers the events of 911. Having lived in NYC and been on top of the World Trade Center towers in 1995, the book is very interesting to me.

Ryan's Birthday Party

We were a little late planning Ryan's birthday party, so we decided to postpone his party till today. Ryan was so excited writing his name on the invatations that were sent out last week. He invited 2 old friends and 2 new friends (from our new neighborhood). Only one of his old friends could come, which was Nick. Nick spent the night as his family is also in the process of moving and they were at our house last night for games.

This year, Ryan wanted a "The Incredibles" birthday party. Deni went to town making that dream come true. Deni sewed them capes as well as bought them "identity masks". The kids really seemed to love it. Deni even made gift bags for all the kids that came. Ryan has been so excited about the gift bags that Deni made to give to his attendees. He even made me promise not to tell any of his friends what was in them. Since they have been given out, I think it is ok to say now. The had candy, a slinky, a ball, and a toy bug. This picture is of Austin, Ryan, Braden and Nick.



Deni made an Incredibles birthday cake too. Not a bad looking cake if you ask me. Can't wait to see what they look like when Ryan is 14, we might have to start a bakery.

Over all, Ryan had a great birthday party. The kids had fun and I think Deni did too.

Click here, to see the rest of Ryan's Birthday Pics.

Ever feel like this?

Today was a hard day to be at work. At noon, I wanted to leave and go fishing. But ended up staying at work till 3:30pm. Tonight we had some friends from our old neighborhood come over. We played games while the kids played in the playroom. It was fun.

"Smell my armpit"

Read an interesting article about Start on your first $1 million at age 16 - Well worth the read at MSN Money web site , espically those that have kids.

So our new house was wired for Surround Sound. Guess the guy didn't want to take his speakers, so he left the 5 speakers and a subwoofer. Problem is, I need a receiver. So I borrowed one from a co-worker. It is fun to make the floor shake. Up till today, I had just listened to some old music of mine with the new surround sound speakers. However today I decided to watch Star Wars IV with the kids, since Deni was gone to Enrichment this evening. Kids seemed to like it. I had to call Chewbaca a monkey to keep Sydney in the room a few times.

While we were watching Star Wars. Ryan looks at me and says "Smell my armpit", so without hesitation, I smelled his armpit. I said, "Hmmm, smells good." Ryan said, "I put on Deodorant." Must have found mine today and put it on.

Joys of having kids

This is a conversation I had with Deni today during work:

Deni says:
It's my lucky day - I can get a $1500 gift card for K Mart
Brett says:
sweet
Deni says:
All I have to do is give all of my information, plus a small fee and it's mine
Brett says:
do it, awesome, do they want a 2 yr old too....
Deni says:
Ahh, if they would've wanted her a little earlier before her nap - she would have been THEIRS!
Brett says:
ha
Deni says:
I lost her today. Couldn't find her anywhere. Finally decided to look in the cold storage and what do ya know, she was there - biting open unfrozen popsicles. Ahh, the juices were all over the carpet and everything
Deni says:
She has also learned that she can get eggs out of the refrigerator and one small - OOPS and they crack all over the floor
Deni says:
oh, and what else, she managed to take all of the spools of thread off of my serger and tangle them, then put them back on their holders
Deni says:
I need a tether and chain
Deni says:
I will be grey before my time with Sydney
Brett says:
the joys of having kids... right?

Tonight we went to the Park. Ryan met a little girl there and she asked where his dad was. Ryan's reply was - "He's right there and he's 50." I immediately corrected him and told him I was 21.

Severe Weather in Spanish Fork

Tonight about 6:30PM a terrible rain/hail/wind storm hit Spanish Fork. The hail was almost dime size. The streets immediately filled, even though it only rained/hailed for about 15 minutes. It was gone as fast as it came.

First day back at work after 7 days off

Learned a new word/phrase today. Mea culpa

The expression "mea culpa" has acquired a more direct meaning, in which, by doing or performing a "mea culpa", someone admits to have made a mistake by one's own fault (meaning that it could have been avoided if that person had been more diligent). It may be used even in trivial situations: if a football player, for instance, admits that his team lost a match because he missed a penalty kick, this may be called a "mea culpa", meaning that he admited his mistake, which he could have avoided (at least in theory), and that resulted in a subsequent evil.

Work was work. Had about 130 emails to catch up on for being gone for the last 7 business days, with moving and going on the Uinta trip, it has been a while since I have seen my office.

I returned Ryan's birthday gift (the fishing pole) as the tip was broken. Wal-wart returned it and I got a different pole. It was a little bigger than I had wanted but I wanted to have it so we could go fishing this week.

Ryan and I did the dishes tonight after dinner. It was the first time that he stood by me and helped me wash dishes. Maybe it is because he is tall enough now.

I brought another load of things from Mom and Dad's house to our house. We almost have all our stuff xfered to our house. I got Ryan's sandbox turtle, his digger toy, his computer and other misc stuff.

I guess we are having friends from our old ward over on Friday evening for games.

We found out who will be Ryan's Kindergarten teacher will be. He will have morning Kindergarten too. He offically starts on Aug 31st, but has testing before that.

Happy 5th Birthday Ryan

It is amazing that I have a 5 yr old. Lots of things have happened in Ryan's five years, lots more than most have in a lifetime. Ryan is a very special child to me. He has overcome much more than a 5 yr old should have to. Here are a few thoughts about Ryan.

I can remember when Ryan was born wondering if I would be a good father and if I could provide everything that he needed. I remember changing his diaper and being so scared that I would hurt him. They are so tiny when they come out. Luckily, he has a great mom and she filled in where I fell short.

Ryan appeared to be a cranky baby, however being new parents, we didn't know any different. Knowing what we know now, he was trying to tell us something. At 3 months of age, Ryan developed very large sores in his mouth and throat. Deni took him to the Dr, the Dr gave some medicine and when the medicine didn't work, Deni took him back the next week. This went on for about 6 weeks and finally the Dr decided to do a blood test, as he was stumped. Despite Ryan's sores/etc he was thriving and gaining weight. When the results were in, the Dr called to have us come in again, as the results were not normal. We eventually were referred to a specialist in SLC, UT. This Dr. did the same tests and told us that Ryan had a disease called SCIDS, or Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. To be honest, we didn't care what it was called, we just wanted the medicine that fixed it so we could be on our way. We didn't quite understand. The Dr. told us that Ryan needed a Bone Marrow Transplant, again, we thought "Great, we will get him a transplant and then take him home." Little did we know, what it took to find a donor and then get a transplant. Once we knew what he had, we isolated Ryan and didn't allow anyone to be around him, other than Deni and my parents (for babysitting).

After waiting for the Dr's to find a donor (we waited about 2 months) we got a call one day stating that Deni was going to be the donor and that we could travel to Los Angeles, CA or Durham, NC. We choose LA, since it was closer. As we drove to the Hospital, we were quite uneasy. The route we took to the hospital was quite scary, even during the middle of the day.

Once in LA, we put Ryan in his room, where he stayed for 3 months straight. Night and day. Of course, we had to wear complete protective gear, including gloves, gowns, and masks when we entered his room, and we were unable to sleep in his room. For 3 months, we never were able to feel the touch of his skin. It is amazing how different it is to wear gloves, gowns and masks and touch your child vs touching with out those on. During this time, Ryan endured about 2 weeks of Chemo and finally a bone marrow transplant from his loving mother.

Deni gave about 36 oz of Bone Marrow. After giving the marrow, late that night, I remember the Dr's coming in and telling us that it appeared that her marrow was not going to be enough and that most likely I would have to go through the same procedure to donate my marrow the following day. Since Ryan had been given chemo, he had a very small window of opportunity to receive a BMT. That night, with Deni laying in her bed in pain, I knelt beside her bed and she offered a prayer that a miracle might happen and that our son would be cured and that the marrow would be sufficient. A few hours later, the Dr came back in to tell us that there would be plenty of marrow to give Ryan.

Deni was in so much pain from giving her marrow, she was only able to be wheeled into the front of Ryan's room for a few minutes while he was actually being infused with the mighty bone marrow cells that would cure him. A few months of recovery in the hospital and we were able to bring Ryan home.

Ryan was still in isolation for about a year to a year and a half. During this time, Ryan received monthly IV's to boost his immune system (b-cells). Going to SLC was probably the only time he left the house. My poor little child had to be poked each month, however we knew it was to help him, however it was still hard when we held him while the nurses and Dr's poked his little arm each month. During this isolation time, his only interaction with others, outside of Deni and I and my parents was through a sliding glass window. Friends and family would come and see him through the window. He was always happy to see someone on the otherside of the glass.



After Ryan's 2nd Birthday, he was given a clean bill of health and could be around others, including kids his age. He wasn't sure what to do. For the first 2 years of his life, he always had a glass window between him and any one else his size.

Ryan has a tender heart. He is a also a very loving child. He loves his Mom and sister (and Dad when Mom's not around). Ryan has grown from a small baby without an immune system, to an great 5 yr old that has no fears. Ryan also loves the word "actually" and uses it quite frequently in conversation.

Last year Ryan attended Pre-school and loved it. He learned his letters and how to count to 100 and in just a few weeks, he will be starting kindergarten.

I am truly blessed to have Ryan as my son. Over the years he has become my lawn mowing buddy, bike riding buddy, and even my canoe and fishing buddy now. I hope that I can continue to be a good father to Ryan and that we will remain close throughout his life. He is a wonderful child and I love him.

Happy 5th Birthday Ryan.

Home at last....

It is nice to be at home with my family, as well as take a bath and sleep in a real bed. It had been 5 nights of sleeping in a tent without a single shower. I am so glad I am home. I think the kids missed me a little bit too.

We celebrated Ryan's birthday today, even though it is tomorrow. It was easier to celebrate it on a Saturday than a Sunday.Ryan wanted his presents, so we wrapped them and gave them to him. He got a new shirt and a car transformer.

He appeared to love both of them.

Grandma and Grandpa Berger gave him some money, which we bought Ryan his "very own tackle box (Spongebob) and fishing pole." Ryan went with me to run some errands, one of which was to buy him the fishing pole. Anyway, we were at the mall and I gave him a penny to throw into the wishing pond. I told him to make a wish, then throw the penny into the pond and he might have his wish come true. He thought about it for a second and said, "hmmm, A bannana?" I looked at him and said "You want to wish for a bananna?, no why don't you wish for something else." Of course, his next wish was for an apple. He must have been hungry. I told him an apple wasn't a good choice either, but he should wish for something he really wanted. Finally he said, "Ohhhh, a fishing pole." then threw in his penny. Funny kid.

Grandma and Grandpa Bigler came last week and gave Ryan his birthday present - 2 teenage mutant ninja turtles. It is funny that I played with both Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.