A CELEBRATION FOR THE AGES.

Fall has begun in the Northeast. As the leaves change so do the attitudes. The craving for hot soup on a weekend afternoon with football on in the background. Or maybe a hike on one of the endless leaf covered trails. The reds, yellows, oranges mixed in with a little green is truly a joy to see and icing on the cake for any trip back to the good ol' O-H.....I-O!
I wonderful thing was about to happen. A man with so much drive and his beautiful bride to be. A flight across the continental U.S. was a small price to pay for the seat I had. In the end, many hugs, renewed love for family, those families coming together to make a boy and a girls day as memorable as possible, and "the kiss" to seal the deal. Above, a brother, who has matured above all expectation. A world away fighting for his country, David, displayed his love and appreciation for his family and showed off that wonderful smile as well.

Below, mother and daughter, Vickie and Claire.Matron of Honor Ashley, bride to be Emily, Cheryl, Dad, Me and DavidMy always beautiful sister, Emily.Mom and I.
Below, the Robinsons.

Bryan and I engaging in one of a million conversations over the years. So many memories with this guy!
A pride of Lyons. Aunt Annie, Aunt MaryBeth, Grandpa, Grandma Bonnie, Dad, Cheryl.
Before the wedding.
Me hugging "the silver fox"...mom.
Reception.
Emily's art was on display on all the tables.



The other side. Jeremy, Kristen, Groom Aaron, Emily of course, David, me and my bride, Katie.
Enjoying some dessert.

A good lookin' bunch. Kristen, Dan, Mom, Emmy K, Dave and I.


Mom doing what she does best...serving others. Thanks mom for always being so selfless. It doesn't go unnoticed.
Mother and son, Ashley and ladies man, Owen.

Father daughter dance.
Below, I don't know why but I think this is a fantastic picture!
Kid brother giving a toast to the newly weds. Great job Dave! Memorable!

Cousin Nick showing off his moves.
Dan, Kristen and Katie. No longer the newlyweds!
Allan and Joan. Allan is my dads good friend.


Sunday everyone made there way over to my dads house where we enjoyed brunch and then lunch. I know, I know, but we did have brunch and then lunch.
Mom and grandma
Cheryl and I taking care of the cheesy potatoes.






Aaron and Emily opened gifts after lunch.Dad and Aunt Mary Beth.Ashley and MarkGreat time with family. Can't wait to visit in July!

It's her world. We're just trying to live in it.

There are many strays in Southern California but none as beautiful as this. Leila (Lay-la) approached a friend of mine in her front yard two months ago. The next couple weeks were filled with printed signs on trees and telephone poles, door to door lobbying and questions.
During my internship at Redlands Community Hospital I ran into Amber, who was housing the puppy at the time. She was overwhelmed so I offered to take it for a day. Within a week she was kenneled at the Lyon's home with more play toys and sticks than she could handle.That wasn't before a trip to the animal shelter for one last ditch, half hearted, effort to find the worried owner. The vet scanned her head and neck for a micro chip which the computer read "no owner/match found." I was actually happy. The vet said in broken English with a mix of excitement and sarcasm, "No one. She's yours. Your a daddy." Ok, let's go a head and get the shots.What is she already, you say?! Mostly doberman, some german shepard. I say she's mainly genius considering those are two of the smartest breeds in the world. Also two of the most fierce as I will not worry about Katie home alone anymore. Doby's get a bad wrap. Originally bred for protection for German tax collectors they were view as teeth, muscle and aggression. I've done lots of research and those that own dobermans have nothing but good things to say about them. I've heard all dogs are shaped on how their owners treat them or...how the owners let the dogs treat them is probably a better way to say it.In our home, Kate and I are the Alphas. Leila is learning her role and quite well I might add. At six weeks she knew how to sit and lay. Week seven she notified us for the first time it was outside potty time. She is half way to "fetch." (she gets the stick but leaves it). She dares not beg while we eat but knows it's "on your bed" time. At night "in your house" means a long nights rest with no 3 am potty breaks. In she goes. We are still working on the jumping, over excited bladder issues with guests (I guess it's kind of a compliment when someone is so excited to see you they pee their pants.) and the problem every puppy owner faces...play biting.

Leila on Ambers couch. Not good...she has learned she has the ability to jump up on our couch. We don't let her and must untrain her.

Leila with a buddy, Floyd, a giant basset hound.


Can we afford a dog? Could we handle a dog? Do we want a dog? Who will watch it? What damage will it do? (none by the way!) Who will watch it when we are gone? So many questions. The thought of her wondering down the freeway with no food and dehydrated didn't sit well with us. No takers on such a beautiful dog. She is fearless and protective but wanting to be pet by everyone possible.

Ladies and Gentleman... Leila.

Scott's brain thinks like this...

Hi family. Hi friends. If I don't know you and you read this, I don't understand you. You probably need to spend less time on the computer. I'm not trying to get a million followers or become famous from blogging. In fact, if I ever did become famous from blogging (which won't happen) I wouldn't quit blogging, I would just make it a private blog. Which I would like to do but blogger makes it extremely inconvenient for friends and family to view their loved ones private blog.

Right now my chest is quivering. I just went to the Drayson Center and lifted a lot of weight (not all at the same time cause i'm wimpy) in a short time. You see, I don't do this as much as I used to. My wife, choosing her words ever so carefully, mentioned to me my "wimpyness." That's a shot to the balls. So of course the first thing I do is go straight to the gym; wimpy arms and all.

The thing is, I don't care for the Drayson Center. It's boring to me. It doesn't make me want to exercise. In fact, I want to quit exercising when I get there and go home and watch football and eat ice cream. What I really want is someone to throw the frisbee with or golf, run, or bike with. Let's go to the ocean and take on a wave or two. That will make you sore!

If you want to find some bright people go to any ICU. That's where the smart people are. I've yet to work with someone stupid in the ICU. I kinda question where I rank on the smart scale there, you know, being a student and all.

The other day a nurse asked me to reposition a patient that was completely comatose. Well, they just hadn't waken up yet from a heart attack or stroke or something. While we were rolling them to one side she noticed they had poopooed all over the bed. She changed them and cleaned them up. Then when all was said and done I farted. She looked at me and whispered..."I think he went the bathroom again." I looked back, hesitated a bit and said..."I think you're right."

I found twenty dollars on the ground today. I saw a bill and though... Be a big bill! I looked around and pocketed it. Seriously though, if someone comes by and says, "oh that's mine." what do you do? "Well sir, could you describe what it looks like?" If you find cash you find cash. Hopefully it wasn't a family member of someone in the ICU.

At the autistic center last Thursday I was working with a boy who doesn't speak. He will never speak. He isn't autistic but something else that will take me too long to explain in typing. But he won't ever talk. Well, guess what room I was put in that week? Speech. Yep me and him in the speech room. We played games. At one point he was sitting and I stood in front of him. I looked away and he poked me right in the penis. It was horrible timing (as if there is ever a good time to get poked in the penis.) cause I blurted out "What the hell, ouch?!" His mom was standing behind me. It was Spanish night so instead of talking to me she just gave me the "He poked you in the penis look didn't he?" look. Oh yeah, that's the funny thing. Even if he could have the ability to speak he doesn't speak English. That's our government for you. Government run program- white Anglo-Saxon European decent male paired in speech education room with non English speaking disabled Hispanic boy. Hey California- you're setting this kid up for failure. I'll try my hardest though. But only if I don't collect my self respect and quit first.

Fact: In the past 3 months i've gotten hit on or my butt slapped more by 80 year old women than my own wife. It's not that Kate doesn't do those things it's just that's how much it happens. I guess I am in a healing profession and older women find that kinda sexy.

I would love for my friends to visit. Right now I am thinking Jeremy and Jason. Nothing against everyone else. They just mentioned they are considering it and this is to get them to commit. I could use some brotherhood. Loma Linda and I did not succeed in the brotherhood area. Good classmates and study partners but no brothers. It's awfully disappointing.

I want to move. I am becoming bitter and angry. It's everything I don't like about this place. Not everyone, but many people don't smile or are rude on a regular basis. Sometime, if you want to be mean to someone, smile at them. That will make them mad cause they will realize what a jerk they are. Then they will call you a jerk for making them feel like a jerk. Then you think they are a jerk and don't smile at anyone anymore. The day my dog takes it's first potty on Washington soil will be a good day.

Kate's at Bible Study. I love that women. I've grown so close to her in the last three years since we've been down here. She cusses more though using words like, "freakin', stupid, and crap." She used to never say stuff like that. I'm worried about her.

The other night, when Kate was in Washington and I was home alone my neighbor came over around 11pm. She is in her 60's and she was completely drunk. She though her grandson ran away but in fact I was just talking to him in our backyards. She was complaining about CPS taking him away if he gets in trouble. I think she should be taken away from him!

More thoughts to come I guess but there are other things occupying my mind at the moment.

Baby Shower

No, we are not having a baby boy... but our friend Jody is! Her second :) So Raelene and I (Katie)... put together a small baby shower for Jody and a few friends. Raelene is the artist in this duo and the brilliant brains behind this operation. I supplied support, food, staying up late to try and save the cupcake pops, and a few rustic items from home to complete the ambiance we were trying to create (cast iron skillet, mason jars, outdoor lanterns, twine, etc...)


The shower started off with brunch: caprese salad, fritatta, potatoes, fruit and yummy bread with homemade jams...

Later after we showered Jody (and Luke) with gifts, we enjoyed virgin sangria and a few sweet treats while we each got a 30 minute massage. oh, and just for fun, we designed our own new-born onesies for baby Logan.

EAT SLEEP BIKE.