All Is Well

Everything went very well with Brett's surgeries on Wednesday! They got all of the necessary repairs made, and he is well on his way to a healthy body......any bets on how long that will last? =)
Before they took him into the operating room they made him right 'YES' on the parts that needed to be fixed, I guess doctors get confused easily and don't want a lawsuit:


Here he is anxiously awaiting the Anesthesiologist's arrival:

Since he's been home he has actually been following the rules surprisingly well (for Brett anyway) He is using a wheelchair that we borrowed from my grandparents to get around the house, and stays laying down with both legs elevated most of the time. Belle is really good at keeping him company:



Here is a funny picture we took of Belle! This is the kind of idea you get when you are on heavy pain killers, she's a good sport:

Thanks to everyone for all of your support, and a special thanks to Mom, Gwen, and Lloyd for being at the hospital with me to keep me sane.....I don't know how many more of these surgeries I can wait through. So hopefully Brett will have learned his lesson this time......but really, who am I kidding?

Big Day Tomorrow

Remember This? Well, tomorrow Brett is having it fixed! =)


He is going in tomorrow for surgery on his Right Ankle to fix the tendons and clean up all of the scar tissue from when he sprained his ankle a few months ago playing Basketball, but that's not all. He is also having surgery on his Left Knee to fix the jumpers knee that he has had for a while, too! Fun, right? His Right Ankle and Left Knee both on the same day, bet you're jealous!


So if you were one of the 6 people who guessed 'Knee' or 'Ankle' on our poll (see side bar) then you were right! Good Job. For the 4 of you who guessed 'Brain', better luck next time.

I'll be posting updates soon, so check back to see how things go tomorrow. I'm positive that we will have some fun pictures. It's going to be an adventure, I'm sure, but with Brett it always is!

Bobsled / 'I' Street

This is my nephew CJ and I. We went to the bobsled and 'I' Street and got some videos with my home made helmet cam. This was my last ride before my surgeries coming up on Wednesday.

The Dark Knight

We went to see The Dark Knight with Chaz and Shay on Saturday night, and it was AWESOME!! It starts with this amazing opening scene that sets the tone for the rest of the movie. It was good from beginning to end, and there were so many unexpected things throughout the whole show. There was so much action, and you were in suspense pretty much the whole time waiting to see what would happen next, I didn't feel like it was predictable at all. I loved not knowing what was coming.



Christian Bale continues to be a great Batman, I think he's the best one yet! The Joker was such an amazing character, and I really think that Heath Ledger did a great job playing him! If you didn't know that it was him under the makeup, you'd never guess it! He did a really great job of masking his accent, there wasn't a hint of Aussie at all, and I thought that was awesome. It's gotta be hard to hide your accent when it's that thick. Now I see what all the buzz has been about, even though I think that too many people thought it was great just because he died. It was a great performance, and that's all that should matter, even if he was still alive it deserves the attention it's getting now.

Great adventure, great action, great love story, great gadgets, great villains, great acting, great plot, great comedy, great movie! If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you go tonight! It's fantastic.



The only things that I didn't like were the lady with the baby behind me (don't take a baby to a movie unless it's a kids movie, and even then, try not to do it!), the lady in front of me laughing way too loud (even when nothing funny was happening), and the fact that we could hear the music from MAMMA MIA! in the next theater. None of which really had anything to do with the movie!

Go see it!

Whose Idea Was This?

I know that they haven't even released Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yet, and maybe I'm a little bit ahead of myself here, but I'm really annoyed right now! So just let me vent, okay?

I have always hated the fact that that there is a year between the release of the new Harry Potter films, but lets face it, it's understandable for so many reasons:

1. They obviously use it as a huge marketing scheme to get people more hyped up about it since they have to wait so long for the new movie to come out.
2. I get that it takes a long time to film a movie.
3. The actors probably need a break in between filming to spend time with their families and their Friends.
4. They have to brainstorm new and exciting ways to draw in the crowd with fabulous special effects.
5. They have to take time, and make sure all of the important plot points are included.
6. etc., etc., etc.

so for these reason it makes sense to me that we really do have a reason for waiting in agony for the next films release, but let me share something with you that I just discovered today....

When they release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in November of 2010, it's only going to be part 1.....no you didn't read it wrong, I said part 1. Then we have to wait until May of 2011 to see the 2nd half! Yeah, this is why I'm so mad right now! After the sixth movie, we wait one full year to see just HALF of the seventh movie, then we have to wait six more months to see the rest.

Am I the only one who thinks that this is the most terrible idea ever?

Whose idea was this anyway? Because if it was J.K. Rowling, and this is all just a ploy to make more money, then I would like to remind her that she is a BILLIONAIRE!! This is unnecessary.

I would much rather sit through five hours of wondrous Harry Potter all at one time than see two and a half hours of it now, then see the other two and a half hours six months later......maybe I should start a petition to Warner Brothers, would you sign it?

10 books to read before you die

I saw a link on AOL the other day that said '10 books to read before you die'. This intrigued me! I have such a strong opinion for the books I like or don't like, that I decided it would be fun to compare my list to theirs.


Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell*
Lord of the Rings (1-3) - J.R.R. Tolkien*
Harry Potter (1-7) - J.K. Rowling
The Stand - Stephen King*
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee*
Angels & Demons - Dan Brown*
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand*
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger*
The Holy Bible**

Here is my list. It is definitely different, but some are the same:



The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
Harry Potter (1-7) - J.K. Rowling
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Twilight (1-3) - Stephenie Meyer
The Lottery Rose - Irene Hunt
Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Reilly Giff
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards

I think everyone should read these books! I won't go into detail about why I love them, but if you are curious, feel free to ask. Leave a comment to tell me what your top 10 list is, or even just your favorite book. I would love to know what books are good so that I can read them if I haven't already. =)
*I have not read these books yet, but I want to!
**I might not ever get around to this one......we'll see.

What a great table.....

Brett and I were at TJ Maxx on Sunday with our friend Shay and I saw this table. Isn't it great?

I told Brett that I want him to build me one......wouldn't it be a little bit cuter if it was black, and the legs were just straight rather than so intricate? I'm definitely going to have to get one of these someday! Doesn't it look like it would go perfectly as a side table in my library? (no, I don't have a library yet....but I will someday, so shut up)

Tuvalu Island

Sunday June, 29th 2008 was the first annual Scothern Family Reunion! My mother-in-law, Gwen, came up with the idea to start an annual family reunion, but she wanted to find a way to make it more interesting than just going to a park and having a pot luck. So her and our niece McKayl spend a whole week planning a Survivor Party. It was SO much fun! They planned the whole thing out in such great detail, and it turned out really good.

Tuvalu Island (Gwen and Lloyd's house) was the setting for all of the challenges. It started off with choosing our tribe members, and once we did that, each tribe had to come up with a tribe name and make a flag.......

The YLIMAF Tribe (their name is Family spelled backwards):

Kristi, Ryan, Lloyd, Bridger, Scott, McKayl, Melissa, Brett, Malia, and Aimee.

The BATL JACK Tribe (our name was the closest we could get to spelling real words with the first letter from every ones names):

Curtis, Tanya, Jerry, Aric, Kaylyn, Joeli, C.J., Laura, Aly, and Bethany.

After the tribes had been chosen it was time for the fun and games to begin. We started off with a Tug-of-war, and our first injury of the night. The rope that we were using wasn't a very strong one, and right after we started pulling it snapped in half sending everyone to the ground, and hitting the people in the front on each side. Two other people also ended up with some nice rope burn! Too bad there wasn't any pictures of that challenge!

Bocce ball is always a favorite for us, and as you can see, there is no messing around. If there is ever any doubt about whose ball came the closest......get out the measuring tape!






Lasso Golf:





We had a water balloon toss, and there were PLENTY of water balloons on each side of the yard for us to have another after we had determined a winner for the first game. As we were getting lined up to play a second round, someone yelled 'WATER FIGHT' and everyone started scrambling to grab balloons and throw them across the yard in the other tribes direction. After a minute I don't think people were even concerned with who's tribe they were on and it was every man for himself.....which is where the second injury of the night comes in. Kristi wasn't paying much attention to what was going on around her and she got hit with a water balloon right between the eyes. She hit the ground so hard! It was the only knock out of the night.







Croquet was another fun one, but it was takes too long and some of the kids lost interest.


Other challenges included Farkle, Basketball, and an eating contest! Everyone had such a good time, and were such good sports. After the games were over we discovered that there were 6 people (three from each tribe) that had been pre-selected to be jury members, and they held the tribal council to determine the winners. There were prizes awarded for good sportsmanship, helping with the little kids, following the rules, etc. Then an overall winner was chosen. I was one of the jury members, and it was really hard to make a decision, but in the end Ryan ended up being the Million Dollar Survivor Winner!





This was the hidden idol. There were clues hidden all over the yard to help you find it, and everyone was trying so hard. The competitive side really came out in everybody. Our niece Aly ended up being the one to crack the code and find the hidden idol, and the adults were so frustrated with her. (she's only four years old)






We FINALLY got to meet our new nephew Ian!! Isn't he a cutie? He's such a chubby baby, I was so surprised when I saw him because he was born early and he was so tiny at first. So I was expecting to see a little baby, but when I lifted the blanket off his car seat.....these were the cheeks I saw!

I had a BLAST, and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next year! Thanks Gwen and Lloyd for hosting such a fun reunion! You guys are the best!