My latest favorite christmas song

In response to Jamie's post:

Family Pic 2008

Here is our Pic, thanks to Mike for the photography.

New Kids, Friends, Halloween, and RSL

Since we haven't posted for a while I added some pictures for you to see what's been happening with us other than Bryce's many surgeries.
You can make fun of me but last Saturday I went to the New Kids on the Block concert with a friend and I had so much fun. I used to love them when I was a teenager. I felt like I was 14 again! They are a lot older now but they've still got the right stuff.
My mission friend Monika Kaizenbauer from Austria came to visit and we had a little Temple Square reunion. It was a really fun night.

Ninja Turtle Sam at our ward Halloween Party

Sam trick or treating with the neighborhood kids.

Bryce and I weren't paying attention and Lucas found Sam's Halloween candy. As you can see from his face he had fun with it.


At Cornbelly's

For John's (a buddy of Bryce's from work) birthday we watched Real Salt Lake play at the new Rio Tinto stadium. It was a very important game for them, since it was the last home game of the season, and only the second game in the new stadium, and RSL needed to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. In the end they won 3-1 and it was an amazing night!

More Surgeries!

Doing my neck surgery wasn't enough pain and suffering this year, so I decided to operate again! This time it was a Subtalar Spacer implant in both feet. I'm still hobbling around in boots, but I'm on the mend. Here is more info on the surgery: http://www.orthoprollc.com/sts.html

Hopefully this surgery will fix the problems that have been plaguing me for most of my adult life. I'm very optimistic. It is still premature, but right now it looks like the surgery has really drastically improved my right foot, and noticeably corrected my left foot. :) We'll see!

2008 Temple Square Mission Reunion

Last Thursday I got to go to my mission reunion. It was fun to see so many old friends.
This year President and Sister Winwood came too. I'm so glad I got to see them.

Cervical Discectomy

Its been one week since my surgery and things are going very well. I can't do much still, lifting my head for more than a few minutes is taxing. But I'm not in too much pain anymore.

For those who don't know I was playing soccer, when I was tripped and landed hard, not even on my head. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and kept playing. The guy didn't get called for a foul and we lost the game.

After the game I noticed some pain which got worse until the next morning I couldn't move and I sheepishly told Marcia that I wanted a neck brace and a stretcher to go into the ER. So we called 911, and really felt like it was all overkill, but better safe than sorry.

The doc said it was a ruptured disc and I would need surgery immediately and if it had been much worse I'd be a quadriplegic.


The surgery went well and I spent 4 mostly miserable days and nights in the hospital.

We had lots of visitors (thank you guys a lot!) The Brazilians really know how to help a dude in the hospital.

Now I'm just at home and have to stay here for basically another week. I've been watching lots of movies and dvds of tv shows while feeling pretty useless, wishing I could help Marcia a little more, and get back to work.

Anyways, my neck is hurting from keeping it upright this long, and I've got to go lay down. Thanks again to all of you for your prayers and visits!

still in the hospital

i havent been released yet. the surgery went well, but im hurting a lot right now. thanks for the visits and the prayers.

BYU Football season starts

BYU started this season with a big win over Northern Iowa. I got some tickets from my boss, and we got to sit on the 5th row. It was amazing.Lucas really likes BYU football. You can tell from his face.

Brazilian Festival

A lady from our ward threw a large Brazilian party last Saturday. Marcia and the boys were some of the Indians in the parade.
I like how Sam wore his BYU shirt in the parade. Just goes to show you that he is more cougar than he is Brazilian.
Sam got a "shark"(read dolphin) painted on his cheek, while Marcia and I asked for a "Y" to show our BYU spirit at the game later that day.

Las Vegas

We also took Sergio and his family to Las Vegas for a quick tour. It was so nice to see my brother and his family. It was really sad to say goodbye.

Hogan Family Reunion & Sam's B-day

Bryce's mom planned a fabulous pirate birthday party for Sam, including a treasure hunt, swords, earrings, patches and everything. Thank you Tracy!!


Here is Sam fearlessly leading the ship-mates in search of the buried treasure:

Then getting the treasure:
We also had a wet and wild water fight:

My brother Sergio and his family visit

My (Marcia) brother Sergio whom I hadn't seen in 9 years came in from Japan with his family for a great visit. Since it was their first time to the United States we crammed a ton of activities into one very short week.
We saw a bunch of the sites on temple square. It was the first time we have seen the Joseph Smith movie. We were very impressed.

Here are the kids dressed up as Nephi's family, with the great and spacious building behind them.

Hide the Hamster

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/clips/dwights-olympics/519762/

By the way, I'm actually quite good at "Hide the Hamster."

Discovery Science Center

Disneyland

We took Sam to Disneyland. Sam is at a really fun age that he can understand and enjoy a lot of things.



We were a little worried that Sam would get scared when he saw Mickey since Mickey is a lot a bigger than what Sam is used to see, but he loved seeing him. He gave Mickey a big hug and was so excited to see him.

This is the new Toy Story ride at California Adventure. It was a really fun ride!