Family Reunion Time!

So it is family reunion time. This year our family is traveling to Detroit, Michigan. We decided to leave a little earlier, Sunday morning rather than Monday night. We wanted to take our time coming as we knew that it would be much quicker going home. We stopped in Nauvoo and Carthage Jail on Tuesday and Wednesday. That was really great. The last time I was there I was 13, and Jess has never been (needless to say neither have the kids). We saw the brick yard, blacksmith shop, Brigham Young's home and a few other places. We also got to see the Nauvoo Pageant, that was really well done. The Temple is up the hill behind the stage, and they have all the lights on the temple turned off. At the end of the show, they light up the Temple while playing audio of Pres. Hinkley speaking of the Nauvoo Temple. It was a really great experience. I hope that our kids will remember a little of it at least.

At Carthage Jail.

We then drove the rest of the way to my Brother's place in Detroit, we got here really late, but then we were done driving...at least until Sunday morning. We will be driving back in hopefully 2 days...maybe 3. We will see how far we make it Sunday night. I would like to be through Iowa...but that is a lot of miles!

Independence Day Ride

There is some sweet single-track at Kelly's

We started off our Independence day early with a ride at Kelly Canyon. It was a great ride! Kyle even pulled his 5-year-old son on a trail-a-bike. We had a lot of fun...until we got home. We were later getting back, and Jess was quite mad. It seems that we never have good a good July 4th. Looking back it seems that we have always had a rough time that day. I guess I should just work on all holidays...maybe not....anyway it was a great ride.

Tyson at the end of Hauly's Gulch

After getting back we took the kids to Jessica's aunt's in Blackfoot for a get-together there with her family. That was fun. They had a pool and slip-n-slide for the kids, and lots of Jessica's cousins for Toph & Cree to play with. We got to visit with her aunts & uncles & Grandpa. It is always fun to see them and catch up. I like Jessica's family.

Some of Jessica's cousins: Sadie, Grace, McCade & Austin

We also went to the fireworks... not really my favorite, I hate being around that many people (things like that really seem to bring out the rednecks too!). But it wasn't too bad, the kids had a lot of fun, and we got out just as they ended, so the traffic wasn't too bad.

Two temples in one day

Tuesday was pretty cool. In the morning, Jason and I were at the Idaho Falls Temple installing art glass in the top of the Celestial Room. You see they are raising the ceiling of the celestial room 30-40 feet from where it was, which is where it was before...like a long time ago. In addition to raising the ceiling, they are adding windows on all four sides (which can barley be seen from the ground) and windows that will be back-lit above that. These upper ones shine into the Celestial Room...to add more light and beauty. Too bad there will be a big chandelier in the line of sight, and so these will be a little difficult to see from the ground. We were only there to install...the contractor would have guys to get the glass up to us...I don't really like that. Sure, it is less packing of heavy glass for me, but inexperienced guys carrying glass that is $150/square foot--not a good idea. So needless to say some of the pieces got broken. Long story short, it should all be none...eventually...by the time the Temple opens back up on Tuesday.

When we got to the point that we were waiting for them to get the big pieces up to the top of the scaffolding, we left to install a window in the Rexburg Temple. This window was very pricey. It is fire-rated glass, it creates a 2-hr fire wall in between the 3rd floor and the Celestial room. It was really heavy, and we were able to pull some strings and use the elevator (yeay!) to get it up to the 3rd floor. After getting it up there, it then took 30 minutes to determine exactly where in the opening it had to be set. Then Jason and I slapped it in...really fast. We had a BBQ to get to! It is great to have jobs pressing just before a holiday! It is also amazing how fast we worked, knowing that we had to get home to play. It was also really cool that in one day, we worked in two temples, installing glass in two celestial rooms!

That night we had a great time at our BBQ. Tyson & Suzanne; Rusty & Michelle; Milton & Liz; Kyle & Brandi; and Jason & Carol all came. We had 12 adults and 15 kids (7 and under) at our place. It was pretty crazy....but it was a blast. I did stakes with the lime and kosher salt...they turned out great! Yum Yum Yum!

Jess & TJ back from Utah

TJ was glad to be home too.

Wednesday night, Jessica and TJ drove to Salt Lake. TJ had a check up on Thursday morning at Shriner's, then Jess had a family reunion. They came home Friday night. I had the two older kids with me Wednesday, Thursday and Friday...and I gotta say I really missed Jess and TJ. Ok so my parents had Toph and Creedance Thursday and Friday...I had them each evening, which isn't difficult, but I missed my wife and baby boy. Here's a few more images in my ongoing photography project.

Tim, a wound care specialist at EIRMC, cleaning up TJ's stump...I love Jessica's expression in this photograph.

The trip was a bit frustfrating for Jessica. We were thinking that in 2-3 more weeks we would be back down there to start the prosthetic, then just a week later would have it and TJ would be learning to walk on it. But now we are looking closer to the end of July that we will be down to cast for the prosthetic, and another 2-3 weeks until we will have the foot. So it will be closer to mid to late August. TJ is so ready to walk...but he can't. He can't even step on the stump because it is so much shorter. It is tough for us...but it is also difficult to 'look a gift horse in the mouth.' Shriner's has been such a blessing for us, and they have been so wonderful to us with everything. Just kind of hard.

We have a very active little boy!

The last window...almost

The last window to install. 10' x 11'...quite big.

Friday we headed up early so that we could get the last window finished. Well so it is the last except for the storefront entryways. We have been holding off on this window because the general contractor needed to use the opening to get the lifts out of the building. Well, we were told that they would be flying them out first thing in the morning. We had at least 2 hours of preparing the frame to install it, and we wanted to use our lift to get the glass up to the second floor. We had to get the window closed up by the end of the day, because they did not want to temporary it closed again. Well, as construction projects go, things did not go according to plan. The crane that was going to be used to fly the lifts off the second floor, was not available until about 3:30. It would then take an hour or so to move the lifts, and another hour or two just to get our frame set...let alone the time to glaze it (install the glass in it). We were not about to stay that long on a FRIDAY! So as far as I know they had to put a temporary in. So Monday we will tackle it and get it all finished. Then we can focus on the entry ways, and Gary can finish caulking the exterior.

These insulated units were quite heavy to pass up through the window. That's me in the red hardhat.

Temple

So I finally remembered to take the camera up to the job site. This shows the big window in the front all done...except for one of the largest insulated units. Today we installed 6 window frames that will not have glass...they are in front of louvers and kinda silly to have but whatever. We are now down to just one more door frame with a couple of sidelights and the big window on the 2nd floor. It is really great to see it nearing completion. Everyone who can should go through the open house.

Almost There!

We are nearing completion on the Temple. Last week we installed the BIG frame on the front of the Temple--about 8' wide and 30' tall, and today we installed a tall narrow window that is on the northwest corner--about 3' wide and 40' tall. They were challenging.

We had a lot of difficulty setting the final insulated glass in the large front window. My boss, Gary, was on the lift with the window (4' square) and Jason and I were inside in a very precarious position poking our bodies out of little excess holes. The top section of this large frame is not in a room, more like a crawl-space that will be lit at night to shine out the stained glass window...anyway so only 18" from the inside plane of the window is a painted wall with two small cut-outs. We could not get the glass to the frame from the inside but all the glass sets into the frame from the inside. The plan was that Gary would lift the glass into us and we would take the balance, then get the glass inside on an angle, and set it from the inside. But Gary could not even get under the glass to lift it. So Jason and I just looked at each other and out the window I jumped onto the lift with Gary to get the glass up. Did I mention that this was at 6:30pm after starting at 6:00am. We were tired and had to get this frame closed up before we went home, and we wanted to get home.

The frame I am talking about is the large area of plywood in the center of this picture. That whole area is in one room (for the most part) that is 2 stories+ tall. Beautiful! I will post some pictures that show the glass soon.

We are now down to one more window, 2 entry-ways, and 6 frames (with no glass) left to install. The last window we have to wait on as that opening will be the exit for the lifts on the 2nd floor. We have started on entry ways, and we are also waiting on other junk to get done for the 6 frames. There are also other things here and there that have to be done there, but we have really gotten a lot done in the past months. It has been really amazing to see so much transpire there. It will be a beautiful building.

One more cool thing I was told today... Gary told us that we will be able to get tickets for the Dedication! We can get one for ourselves and a companion. So Jess and I will be in the temple for the Dedication. What an opportunity!

TJ is home!

I stayed at the hospital with TJ again last night, I wanted Jess to at least have the chance to sleep through the night. He did quite well, he was a bit grumpy, but slept for most the night. His fever did not spike once, and so our family doctor released us this morning. It took a while to actually get out because they had to arrange an in-home IV, but we were able to get home before 2pm. It is nice to be home with him and not confined in the hospital.

The in-home care nurse came to get us set up with the IV stuff and so for the next week or so we will be giving TJ his medicine ourselves. We also will be going into the wound care specialists to have his dressings re-done each day. It looks so much better than it just 2 days ago. The wound care doctor removed all the excess skin and got it all cleaned up today. We may be back to doing the wrappings ourselves soon.

This has been an anxious few days, but we never felt really scared. The doctors and especially the nurses made us feel such at ease. One nurse in particular, Mickey, was just so wonderful to us. I havecometo really respect nurses and all they do...they are the ones that make the difference! The doctors are great, but the nurses are the ones there right when you need them.

TJ Update

This last week Jessica was worried about how his leg looked and so took him into the doctor to have it checked out. Well, it has gotten infected. Our doctor prescribed an antibiotic, but he couldn't keep it down. So Thursday night, after a wound specialist in our ward took a look at it, we took him into the ER. They put him on an IV to get the antibiotics into him, and we have the wound care specialists working on it topically. It is looking so much better, and TJ is in much less pain. He is doing much better and we may be able to bring him home Monday--unless we go to Shriner's then. We have a check-up scheduled for Thrusday, but that may be moved up...we will have to play that by ear. Everyone has been so wonderful to help us through this...our family and friends near and far...Thank you for your prayers.

Here are some more photos:

Our little TJ is such a good sport

Sometimes it is difficult to wrap, because of TJ's "help."

"Hand, Foot & Leg"

Wow!

Hello, my name is Tyler Hopkins...(Hi Tyler...) and I love the Simpsons. I don't think there is a 12-step program for me...but the movie coming out this summer is for me.

Stealing Homer's Popcorn

Jess and I went to Shrek the Third tonight (wow a date without the kids!) and there was a life-size+ Simpsons family at Edwards Theatre. This picture was Jess' idea, I thought it was kind of fun.

TJ at 6 Months

On a completly different note, TJ is doing very well. We were a bit converned with his stump continuing to bleed, but it has slowed and still looks ok. We go back in about 2 weeks for a check-up, then a little after for a prostetic to be made. He just wants to go go go, and I think if frustfrates him that he can't. Thank you for the touching comments and support.

I have been photographing him playing and moving around. I think I would like put together a body of work of this experience. Along with prints of the x-rays. I don't know if it would amount to an exibit of sorts, but that might make an interesting project. Any suggestions for images or presentation (NOT A SCRAP-BOOK!) would be appreciated. I would like to see some of the images in simple black frames (like the ones I built for my BFA show)...I don't know. I am not sure about where to exhibit--if I would exhibit. I would also like to have images of us taking care of him...it's a bit different than before the symes amputation, wraping his stump...how he holds up that leg when he stands...other ways he is learning to adapt to it. What do you think?

TJ at Shriner's

We made the trip to Salt Lake for TJ's surgery this week. Monday was very nerve wracking simply because of the anticipation of the whole thing. We got checked in and into his room, then they checked his vitals...and all that stuff. Then we just had to wait. The doctor came to visit him a little. Tuesday morning he went in at 8:00, and we got him out of the recovery room about 10:30...so quick!

TJ is such a happy boy. He did so well through the whole thing. He was grumpy when he came out of the anesthesia...waking up in a strange room, with strange stuff around, and strange people. We were able to get him fed and calmed down quickly, then he was really good...restless but good. He wanted to go play as much as he could. He didn't realize that his leg should hurt and kept trying to stand on it, so we had to slow him down a bit and limit what he could play on out in the big play room.

He does not like having his arms held down or being confined. He did not like having his blood pressure taken (on his arm) or the IV. It just made it too hard to get around! But we were still able to let him play a little, just had to adapt.

We discovered that TJ can throw balls very well. He soon got tired of throwing them into the little tub and started throwing them at us and across the room. Not much slows him down.

I am not sure if he has completly realized what has happened. When we change the bandage he has started to look at his stump a little funny, but I don't think he as caught on completly yet. At this point he may just think that it is a sock that we won't let him pull off...he loves to pull his socks off. He has pulled the wraping off once already.

We are very proud of our little boy. It is amazing how this has strenghened us as a family and our faith. I know it was our family and friends' prayers that got us through it all. During and after the surgery we were at such peace and I know it is because of all the prayers...THANK YOU!

Temple Progress

I was about 40' below Moroni's feet

We have been making a lot of progress on the Rexburg Temple. I counted today and we only have 15 more window openings to do...never mind that some of them are 35-35' tall. It truly has been an incredible experience to work on it.

This is looking down on to the roof of the front entry...the lift is fully extended

Monday, we set the highest frame. It is right below Moroni, the 105' lift just reaches it. That was really cool, I was up inside the spire. Highest place in Rexburg.

Matchbox cars!

While glazing the glass in that high frame (glazing is when you put the glass into the frame), I snapped this last shot with my camera phone. I thought that the shadow of the Temple looked really cool...and that you can see the window opening in the foreground.

So we are getting close to being complete...there is much more to do yet, but the road behind is longer than the road ahead. There is a lot of caulking and some interior stuff as well as entry doors. We have made a lot of progress in the past month.

My new "Westy"

Milton at the 2005 Oktoberfest with his (now my Westy)

So some may know that I am a VW junkie. For those who don't...I'm a VW Junkie! I did have a '72 Bus for a while...that was an adventure. She was a red & white beauty! But we had to sell her to buy our minivan when we had TJ. I have always loved the Bus, plenty of room, you can always turn heads (usually away), and they are a blast to drive (when they run). For a little change, I have been toying with the idea of getting a Beetle or a Ghia to satisfy my VW craving, but haven't came accrost one yet. Well about a month ago the opportunity found me. My friend, Milton, has had this great '79 Westfalia (Westy--a camper) but has decided that it needed another home. After much much negotiation (me telling him that he could not just give it to me)we settled on a trade: his Westy (that didn't run) for my 79 Honda Trail 90 (that likewise did not run). As of yet it has not left his garage...I haven't had time to start working on it, but I just could not pass it up! My kids are excited...can't say the same for Jessica.

Toph is very excited for the Westy--he can't wait to go camping in it.

As for now the plan of action is to first get a battery to check compression. If that shows bad valve heads (as I am told main the problem is), then it will be a trip to Gate City Repair for engine work. Then I will focus on cleaning up the inside (not too bad), removing the 5 gal propane tank on the back and spare tire mount on front, installing a gas heater (Eberspacher BA6), then patch and paint. I think I'd like to do a two tone like my '72 with a dark green and white...then there's the idea of rhino lining. Any ideas? As cool as it is, I think the mural has to go...not quite my personality.

Who's ready to go camping?!

Rexburg Temple, Shoshone Falls & Sand Dunes

The last few weeks have been pretty wild....like always. It has been a huge blessing to be working on the Temple again. First off it is wonderful to be home in the evenings, and then...it's the Temple! It is really enjoyable to work there. I enjoy it-dispite the little setbacks that you encounter (all jobs have setbacks). This week we finished all the windows on the south elevation. This photo is the south elevation...but you can't really see the windows that well. Next week we will either start on the east-or front, or the west-back. These windows will be quite the adventure, very tall.

Rexburg Idaho Temple. 27 April 2007

On the 21st, my dad's brother passed away, so we had a funeral to go to in Boise on Thursday. We drove there on Wednesday, after work then back Thursday. We stopped and saw Shoshone Falls. We needed a break, Jess and the kids had never been there, and the last time I was there it was just a little trickle. It was very nice. Nothing like when Timothy O'Sullivan was there, but nontheless I took a few pictures. Likewise those are nothing like Timothy O'Sullivan's or Mark Klett. That would be a nice place to fisit and photograph more.

The Family at Shoshone Falls April 25, 2007

Friday it was back to work...but afterwards I got to go photograph is Theo and Darren. We went to the Saint Anthony sand dunes. I had never been there to photograph, but I am sure I will go there again. I really liked it. The sun was a bit too intense when we got there, but as the evening progressed, it got much better. I was very happy with the results, I will be making some small prints soon...I think they will even be worthy of the Museo Silver Rag paper I got for my birthday.

Dunes & Motorcycle Tracks April 2007

Island of trees at St. Anthony. April 2007

Rexburg Temple

So the last week we have been working on the "U" windows. Nothing special about the letter, just how each window opening is designated. There are 4 "U" windows. Tomorrow we will finish the last one. They only 20 inches wide...but just over 26 feet tall (devided into 4 sections). This first image was taken Wednesday (with my camera phone--sorry for the nasty color), looking south into the freaking cold wind from the top of one of the "U" windows.

Just before we finished for the day, Jason and I started the last frame. I had to run the lift up to the top to get a measurement of the opening and determine if the opening is out of square and if so how much. While there I made a couple snaps with my camera phone. So my lift is at the level of the basement...then the bottom of this 26' window is at chest level on the second floor...so how high off the ground am I??? I'm on an 80' lift...but I don't know if it is completly extended. On Tuesday I was on the 105' lift, and did have that extended all the way out...any gust of wind or a sudden movement of the lift was a bit freaky.

Work on the Temple

Just when I thought Jessica was about to kill me, we had a great suprise. I got to work on the Temple this week instead of the Visitor Center in Jackson. It has been a great to be able to be home at night. And working on the Temple has been fun too. Yes there are still problems and it is hard work, but I do enjoy it...and the atmosphere is much better too. Today was interesting working in the snow, rain & wind.

It was also a blessing to be in town this week because on Monday, TJ went to a ear-nose-throat doctor. He advised us to have his tonsils and adenoids removed to help him breathe clear and not be so stuffy all the time. They were removed this morning, and Jess and TJ are staying at the hospital all day today and tonight for observation. The sergon said that his tonsils were "HUGE!" Is that a compliment? "Holy cow! You've got huge tonsils!" So he's been miserable all day today, I just hope he can sleep tonight...so that Jessica can too. I also hope this will clear him up so that he won't be so gunky before we go to Shriners...that's less than a month away.

I have a few snapshots of the Temple on my phone...but no way to download them right now. I'll have to remember to take my 10D tomarrow and Friday. Were making some good progress.

Like I said it has been so much better for our little family to be home this week...such a blessing, and the Lord does hear our prayers.

Back to Moose

This week at the visitor center was an adventure. On Wednesday we had strong winds and the tenting started to come down. We were trying to brace it from the inside but the wind was too strong, and the braces that were in were 'exploding.' No, I mean it, they just exploded in the middle. So we took the two gradall lifts out and tied the tent to them and pulled it out a bit while we re-braced the inside. It was kind of scary. This picture shows one lift still tied there the next day.

I have said before that this will be a beautiful building. Even the ceiling is beautiful.

The most exciting thing is that we finally set the first bit of glass in the big curtain wall. The glass is also big. The typical size (the glass that is not in corners or on the top row) glass is 64" x 109". In other words BIG. This is the first one we set. Next week we should have a lot more set. It will be really cool when it is done.

Two Thumbs Up!

So here's the damage, 10 Stitches in one inch. It looks pretty bad 'eh? It has been quite painfull the last two days. I am getting a bit more movement now that the swelling is going down some. I hope that It is more usefull on monday. There is just way too much work to be done to be taking time off right now.

Careful for what you wish for

This week in Jackson was rough. We worked 12 hr days, which isn’t too bad, but a day and a half of that Steve and I were having a hard time making this one particular elevation work. After getting all the aluminum in, set and started bolted into plane, we realized that the plane was determined (for us ) just a little off…3/4 of an inch in 40 feet. It will work…but it will still work.

This is the elevation Steve and I fought for so long

The week was really hard for Jessica here in IF too. The kids were difficult, and that got her to the end of her rope. We were both thinking that I could be home Thursday night (with me working 12 hour days), but with what needs to be done on the Visitor’s Center and by when, I would need to work Friday too (I think Cory and Gary will be staying through Saturday too).

Our glass will set on these stones...and will have to be cut to follow them too (see the jump?)

I did still come home on Thursday. However because of why I had to come home…I would have rather stayed. Around 4:00 Steve and I were cutting a few custom pieces to go on the north elevation. I was cutting a piece on the table saw, and it got away from me, the blade caught my thumb and just made hamburger out of it! OUCH!!! After 15 minutes I finally got it to stop bleeding through paper towels, and at that point I had to decide if I would be any help the rest of the day…let alone another day.

Cory suggested I go into Jackson and get some gauze and super glue and make a “cast.” I didn’t like that idea too much. It didn’t hurt too much yet, and I thought maybe I could help the rest of the day a little. But as I thought about it more, I realized I wouldn’t be much assistance…plus I needed to get it cleaned out and looked at—what if I got the tendon?

So Gary had Steve drive me home, and I went to the family emergency center. They cleaned it up (that hurt so bad I was levitating off the bed) and numbed it (that hurt far more than cutting it did!). I didn’t get the tendon, thankfully, but it did make a mess. The doctor cleaned it out (there was a lot of aluminum shavings in it) and sewed it up. I should be OK, I am hurting quite a bit now, but should be able to work next week. It obviously didn’t effect my typing ability…how much do you use your thumb when typing??? OK so both your thumbs?

I did take a few pictures before going to the doctor...but I'm not posting those. They are far nastier than the ones I posted in november, the last time I got cut bad.

Busy Week

I tried to publish this post Sunday, but Blogger wasn't working quite right...so here it is a few days late:

So I was lucky enough to work closer to home this week. I worked on the Rexburg Temple Tuesday & Wednesday and got a whole 9 windows installed on the 3rd floor (This is a stitched photo of our progress). They take a bit of time, and I don't want to rush it anyway...It's got to be done perfect. I did mess up on one piece of glass...I installed it upside down! But as soon as I get a suction cup up there we can re-set it...oops! This picture shows it. Can you find the oops?

It was great to work on the Temple, and it was also really nice to be so close to home so I could be home each night.

Thursday Jess and I went down to Salt Lake with TJ for a clinic at Shriner's Hospital. We had a some more questions before his surgery in May, and wanted a few more x-rays of his foot. The x-rays showed a lot more and just what we wanted to see than those before and helped out a lot...they look really cool, I want to make some images of them...Cyanotypes or POP prints would be interesting.

We also did a little shopping and walked around Temple Square. I got some new photo paper to print some images on…I tried it out on Saturday…looks like a silver print!
On the drive home, TJ slept for some of the trip. But as those with children know, that never lasts. We were able to keep him entertained with licorice. Yes he was a mess when we got home...but that way we got home without exploding!

We also spent much of this weekend looking into a home loan and looking for a home. That has been a bit overwhelming for me. It is hard to find a home that will meet our needs...that won't completely break us.