Father's and Sons campout

Again, since this was technically Casey's activity, I convinced him to write about it! So another guest post from Casey!

I was excited to take Max on this campout since he kind of understands what it is this year. Here are some pictures of the tent setup and basically Max getting into mischief. He kept running away to all the scouts that were camping at the same site, but not with our group. He kept wanting to take their balls. Haha!

I was afraid that Max was going to be starved because he has been very picky lately with eating food. He loved the Chilli-cheese Brats that we ate so I was excited about that. I also, spoiled him by letting him have some Dr. Pepper. He really liked that and marshmallows and anything with sugar.

This is our little campsite and pictures of the cute baby boy. I love this boy! I'm gladly looking forward to taking him on many more of these events.

We took Cornhole with us and played it at night by lamplight, it was actually very awesome and fun. The kids that were still awake loved it. I love roasting marshmallows they are always so tasty.

So I have to tell a story, Max was a gem, he went to bed at like 830 and was just an angel. He fell asleep on my shoulder so I just put him to bed. At about 2 A.M I here a cry and he is standing up in his pack-and-play wanting to get out. I let him snuggle up to me on the ground for 30 minutes or so. He fell back to sleep for a few minutes than woke back up. He did this several times and I tried putting him back in his bed a couple times, but he kept just crying and was wide awake, he wanted to go outside. I thought in my head I am not dealing with this. So at like 3 in the morning I leave in the van and take him home. (20 minutes away so not a big deal). He went back to bed around 3:30. Me on the other hand, I was awake and could not fall asleep so I just stayed up for the rest of the morning because I knew I had to be back out at the camp ground at 8 A.M. for breakfast. It was a long morning, but still worth it. Max will get better and will learn to stay sleeping.

Jamaica- a dental mission trip

So I think I mentioned this before, but the week before Hawaii Casey had an opportunity to go down to Jamaica with a bunch of other students in his dental class through the Christian Dental Society to do free dental work on the people down there. From my non-dental view of the stories from Casey and his classmates, everyone enjoyed it so very much. Being able to do TONS of dental work in one day on people who were so very desperate for any work to be done gave them all a wonderful feeling. When you're in the service of others you're in the service f your God. I loved that it made Casey more confident as a student dentist going into his 3rd year, I think it's given him a huge advantage and improved his attitude. I'm so happy he had this experience! So now onto his blog post: (it's been a long time since he's blogged on here!)

I had to leave at midnight and get no sleep to arrive in Jamaica at noon, which was when all of us were supposed to arrive, but I ended up sitting around until like 4 o'clock and then we finally left for our lodging, which was 3 hours away. Lon met me in Michigan at our layover and we took the same flight to Jamaica.

This restaurant is called the Pork pit. It was actually very yummy and legit. I was always hesitant about getting sick until about 4 days in and I just figured whatever they were feeding us was ok for my belly. I made out ok.

We had a scenic outlook right from our balcony. It overlooked the ocean. We ended up staying in the treehouse as it was called so 5 of us guys shared a 2 bedroom home that had all the amenities that we needed to live and smell ok. It was quite beautiful. This beach was what we had to walk through everyday to get to the main house that we had morning devotionals in and ate all our meals when we were around. There were ravenous dogs that would attack and bark if you walked during the day unless you run crazy at them, which one of my friends tried out first hand. One of the girls got scratched and jumped on one morning. Sometimes I think wild dogs should just be shunned somewhere or maybe domesticated.

Another few pictures of our balcony and a little hammock area outside our house.

So many different fruits were in plentiful form, I loved their bananas so much better than ours in America, they have a mango taste to them it is amazing. I tried a lot of different types of fruit I hadn't tried before and trying to remember their names is killing me.

We got to spend a few days just relaxing one in the beginning and one at the end, We went to a secluded waterfall and just swimming area with ziplining through the jungle and over the falls. I bought Max a little souvenir of Jamaica.

 This is our little clinic in a backroom of a church, where for 4 days we did dental work from a time frame on average from 10:30 to at least 8 o'clock at night. I was exhausted by the end of each day as you can tell from the next photo set down. I ended up somehow dressing in the same clothes as Lon unlplanned.

This was our instrument table, wouldn't you be intimidated if you had to walk in and this is the first thing that you saw. These people were just so grateful that we were doing their dental work and literally I don' t think I heard one person complain about getting a shot and very rarely would someone complain about anything. Noone had a gag reflex, they are just a very humble people at least where we were at.

Me doing some work with my friend Katie and Lon, It was so nice to have people you know accompany you with the dental care. I enjoyed gaining more friendship experiences. We helped people feel a lot better about themselves because they would come in with black spots in their teeth and leave with white ones haha. The calculus in Jamaica was unprecedented, I called it like pulling off the layers of an onion, it would just fall off like a mountain. Kinda Gross

I ended up doing a lot of operative, which I kinda chose to do because I wanted to feel comfortable coming back to the states and being able to do bread and butter dentistry ( Drilling and Filling). I came back very comfortable giving injections, getting rid of cavities and pretty comfortable with extracting teeth. These are a few of the people I worked with. It was funny it would rain and everytime it did we would lose power and it would come back on in like 10 seconds. So lucky we had our lights so we could see or we wouldn't have been able to function.

Loved seeing kids getting help they needed. We just needed to educate them on what to do. A lot of people had never seen floss before. Pastor Roe is in the upper right picture. She would lead a singing devotional every morning before we started working on patients. So I would get a double dose of spiritual experiences every day. 

So I was told by a friend that I didn't need to bring any scrub tops, but that was a poor choice to follow haha. I ended up just using whatever Jessica (our lead Dentist) gave me. She let me wear her favorite Kitty cat scrub top that I got many weird looks from people while wearing it. We even had cool t-shirts to wear that I actually really like.

This was the biggest man I had seen in Jamaica, he couldn't speak English very well at all, but we pulled out a few of his teeth and he was happy. This is the wall of fame. Every school that comes has a space that they choose and they leave their hand print of memory from the trip that will last until the place is not used anymore. I had a great experience, I was happy to come back to the U.S though after my week was done. I missed just being able to drink water and not worry if I would be sick or not. I had a great time! It was well worth the money to bless others lives, but seeing the improvements in myself. Thanks Jamaica it was great!

picturas de iFono de casey

finally got casey's phone on the computer and pictures downloaded, here ye be.

a. teeth brushing
b. post bath
c. basketball time
d. balloon sword

a. back in utah months ago, lounging in the blow up tent
b. bike ride
c. lotion fun
d. casey's workout

a. emergency weekend doctor's appt for ear infection
b. puddle playing
c./d. pretend picture taking, didn't let him touch that for long ha

a. golfing in wyoming
b. messes
c. messes
d. finding happiness in the back seat

this next segment are pictures from casey's trip to wyoming for the wyoming dental conference (a glorified boy weekend if you ask me). he texted me a bunch of these pictures during the trip which was great for me.
a. taking a tiny plane to jackson, wy

a. dinner with josh and (graduated) adam

a. lon and casey tried running up this ginormous mountain in 20 min for $50. they didn't quite make it in 50 min but it was a great workout!
b. dirty fett from such an acitivy
c. the "mountain" they climbed 

a.-d. making the toddler bed with josh.
we still haven't stained/painted it but i'm excited to have it in our house!

a. churching it
b. sand box playing
c. churching it
d. church twins

Casey Post #15 Finals Week/ Graduation

Heighty Hoe Winslows!!! Classes are done! Finals begin Saturday at 7 am where I will try to figure some way to learn what Epidemiology really is. I will have to find time to take 5 finals in 4 days, and it is really difficult with having scheduled finals because I cant just knock out the easy ones first, but we will make do, I don't know where I am going to find all the time to study, but it will meander in there somehow. Pray that I pass my O-chem lab final though because that is going to be a beast! Lots of memorizing and learning how to rank Hydrogens ya who wants to really know about that crap. Just let us go to Dental school already hah! In other news we found out yesterday that somehow we got into the family housing in Nebraska so we will be paying cheaper rent than we paid here in Provo. We are kinda excited about that minus the fact that the Kitchen is kinda small, no pets, etc... Life will be good around next Thursday time than we can celebrate some fun with family and Graduation! Love you all and Peace out until then!

Casey Post #14: Almost done and Easter!

So I don't remember that last time I posted twice in a row, but I am totally almost done with my weekly posts since school is almost over and I will not be required to post every week; however, it has been such a great experience. So I am supposed to write something about how I helped someone that was more stressed than me this week, and I can say Kimber was definitely more stressed. She threw a baby shower, bridal shower, a friend get together, went to Logan to help me do taxes, and saw family for easter. What a busy, stressed girl, so I decided I would do a ton of dishes to help her, and basically clean the whole house since I had some spare time. I actually liked cleaning it for some reason, probably because she was super happy when she came home.

 I can't wait to be out of my Undergrad! I can't really say school because I'm gonna be there for 4 more years so it really doesn't make sense, but grad school will be so much more applicable and enjoyable I think. So I am excited Kimber and I will go to the annual Easter on the Hill with my side of the family except we haven't gone on the hill for a long time so we are actually going up this year and I am excited. We will do our taxes than go up to the hill on Saturday and than come back for some Best of DIVINE COMEDY! This show is so funny! It is like the best BYU/Mormon humor that kinda makes fun of ourselves. Also, today I totally rocked in my presentation for the same class I do this blog for and now we really only have one more project and a final. SO HAPPY! School is almost out and the Sun is definitely here. Peace

Casey Post #13: April Fools

So for some reason Kimber thinks it is so funny to spray me in the face with water when I am trying to wash a dish for her. Ok, so this morning I was kinda going on a little less sleep than normal and I of course didn't remember it was April 1st. I was so kind and was making good ole Kimber some German Pancakes and when I needed some water to do the dishes as well yet again I got sprayed in the face. You can see last year's post here. Ya so I think it was more in the afternoon time last year and I think I had just changed my clothes and this dear wife of mine decides to just get me all soaked. I was not a very happy camper. I thought April Fools stuff was supposed to be happy for each other kinda jokingly, but not violent haha. I don't find it very funny to get washed out with water, I was much kinder and understanding this year, but I still don't find it very amusing. Anyways I thought I would share my little rants that Kimber should try doing something a little nicer next April Fools what do you all think? Thank you I love you and Good bye!

Casey Post #12 Being Alone is No Fun!

Kimber left early Tuesday morning for her student career days in Kansas so I have been basically by myself in the house and it is very awkward, lonely, dark, all those words that mean something is missing from your life. Luckily, I have been able to work almost every night since her being gone so that kind of makes me forget that she is not at home for a moment.

Anyways we randomly decided that I would go pick her up on Sunday and on our way back we will go up to Lincoln and look for housing in the area and go to the ward that we would like to go to etc... We will spend Sunday there and drive back to Wyoming on Monday and than probably get up early on Tuesday and  and go to school. I like our little sporadic adventures they are fun! I plan on going to Wyoming on Thursday to be with the family for a day or two. It will be a fun weekend!

casey post #9 Best Snow on Earth

It snowed 3 days this week! Thursday night it snowed a few inches in the mountains, and skiing on Friday was the best this season and maybe the best I have ever skied on. Or I might have not had the best snow this season so when there was actually awesome snow everywhere it was just heaven. I loved the powder and even though I fell a little more than usual it was so much fun to fall in fresh, powdery snow.

Kimber liked it too, but not as much as I probably because it was impossible to see sometimes going down because it was still storming/snowing at the top of the back mountain. It was crazy! We are glad to enjoy this last winter here in Provo with the mountains and season passes for skiing/snowboarding. Having Season passes to ski is probably one of the best investments for our happiness in the wintertime over our college career at BYU.

We are happy to go to Arizona this upcoming weekend to celebrate Kirk and Whitney's Wedding! Of course I will buy some snow from a little place called Bahama Bucks because it is the best place to eat a snow cone!!! We are excited to see family and be in a more warmer climate for a weekend so that will be so much fun!! Congrats to Kirk and Whitney it will be exciting to see you guys in white!

Casey Post #8 Senioritis

So we know that we are going to be going for Nebraska for Dental School, and I feel I am taking the most time consuming classes right now. I basically saved them for this last year, and I am glad I did because my GPA will probably not be so hot this semester, but the funny thing is I am still trying. I know that all I have to do is pass and it is hard to put forth the effort, but I still am doing a little here and there.

I learned in my business writing class that when you are writing an email you should vary sentences and you spaces between every few sentences so that the reader can stay tuned to what they are reading. I noticed that Kimber practices this very well when I read her last post.

Anyways, I have Senioritis! I know that there is only 2 months left and I am just ready to be done. Well at least done with stuff that isn't really relevant to what I am going to be doing the next 4 years. I am excited to graduate from BYU with a degree, and go on to bigger and better things. So I just wanted you all to know that I am so tired of busy work and having to turn in assignments, taking tests that really I don't care about, and sitting through some pretty boring classes.

I am glad you all made it through my complaints and I hope you never get this Senioritis like I have, it is terrible!

Casey Post #7 Charity never Faileth

So for our blog post this week, my teacher asked us to basically do a random act of service for a complete stranger like buying a coke and giving it to someone walking by. I decided to reminisce on a small act of kindness that a stranger did for Kimber and I when we were first married. We hadn't washed off our, "just married" writing from our car yet and we were going into deseret book to shop for some things, when we came out we found an envelope with 5 dollars and a note. The note said, to spend this money on something that you both can enjoy that doesn't come out of your own pocket, but that you can spend care free. I don't remember what we spent it on, but I remembered the act of charity. So a couple of weeks ago I was walking to school when I saw a car with similar writing like we had when we were just married, and somehow I had 5 dollars in my pocket! I tore off a little piece of paper and put the money in it with a note that was something similar to what we received 2 years previous. I felt pretty good spiritually because I was able to give back to someone else and hopefully pass on a tradition from newly married couple to newly married couple. A little act of kindness can really brighten up someone's day.

Casey Post #6 Birthday Freebies Begin

Birthday celebration kind of begins!!! So Kimber and I used 2 coupons yesterday and she will probably get mad at me for posting this because I know how she loves to state everything that is going on. BUT…. We went to Tucano’s Brazillian Grill yesterday because they give out a free coupon for a meal during your birthday month. I tell you what it is the best ever!!! I love the Grilled pineapple and spicy wings the most! We also were able to go to Buffalo Wild Wings and get a free dessert, which was super tasty. I printed out a few hundred free things to go do during the week and until the coupons expire. Ok it wasn’t a hundred, but there are a lot of them and they are mostly all desserts so I kind of Love it! Anyways so the birthday freebies have begun and I actually think it is one of the best things about having a birthday!

giveaway below

Casey Post #4 BYU VS ST MARY'S

 

 

 

 

   

 

BYU Vs. ST MARY's: This game had to be the worst officiated game I have ever seen in history, even worse than some of my high school games when we played on the road in freezing Wyoming. I wouldn’t say BYU played amazing, they played pretty bad too, but I believe the Refs never allowed them to sustain anything throughout the game. This statement about the game was hilarious because it was so true, "it's not easy to make 22,000 mormons upset, but that's what happened tonight."-KSLradio. They have it spot on I mean when 22,000 LDS people start throwing things onto the floor multiple times that caused a technical foul to be called on BYU form their fans; the game has to be pretty bad. My dad came up for the event and I hope he enjoyed at least the food, we went out to Costa Vida and then the three of us went to the game. Dad stayed the night and attended church with us the next morning and I think it was the first time he had been to church here, and I think it brought him back to his younger years will all the couples holding hands and just showing PDA in church. We had a great weekend and I am glad my dad came because it is always fun to have family around.

Casey Post #3 What would Tazz do?

So it was a nice week not having to go to school on Monday because of Martin Luther King Day. I don’t know how I am making it through this last semester because honestly I am ready for my undergrad to be over. Alright, so Kimber told me to talk about one thing so I will tell you about a funny saying that I came up with as a rebuttal to any of her trying to make me think she is right; and yes she is always right. So whenever I do something she doesn’t like or a difference that she has with something I like to do AKA: Videogames, Fantasy Sports, etc… there is always a reference to what would Jesus do coming from her. Yes, I know I know Jesus probably wouldn’t have played video games and he may have only saw a play of the Super bowl, but I could never find a rebuttal for this statement. We were in Arizona last weekend and Kimber’s parents have a dog named Tazz, she is a quite interesting dog that always just loves to whine at the back door until you let her in. She wont even fetch her ball anymore when the back door is open she thinks she is going to get locked out, it is a horrible game. You know sometimes a little annoying kinda stinky so you don’t want to pet her a whole lot, and so I got the bright idea to tell Kimber, well what would Tazz do? I think Tazz could care less, but to whack your face with her massive tail, eat anything in her path, and just want to be inside, when she is an outside dog. This phrase will always make us laugh and especially when I hear that phrase What would Jesus do? I will always think of What will Tazz do? Isn’t this rebuttal the best, c’mon, Tazz is almost like a little child innocent, carefree, really doesn’t as long as she receives a can of anything she can gobble up. I think it is pretty great!

2nd week class post; ARIZONA

For week 2 of my little class blog, I think I will talk about our little trip to Arizona that we are taking late this evening. I am pretty excited to start listening to the last Eragon book, Inheritance. I hear it is pretty good, but may surprise us at the ending. No matter it is fun to take these road trips with my sweetheart. She really wants to help out driving, but ends up sleeping most of the way anyways. We are excited to attend a wedding of one of our good friends. Also, We love spending time with our little nieces down there, and cherish every moment of Bahama Bucks we can ingest. I will someday own a franchise of that Heavenly place. I know a Dentist owning a snow cone shop?! It doesn’t make sense does it? I love any opportunity to spend with family, and it will be in the heat instead of the cold.

Gratitude

For my last semester I am taking an English class that requires me to make a blog post every week of at least 150 words, and with this being such a blessed week I decided I would post about some things I am grateful for. The first and foremost of importance is my wife, Kimber. She has always been a supportive spouse with all the optimism in the world. She is a wonderful woman and I am glad to call her my own. I am grateful that I have been accepted to dental school, and that the Lord has provided a way for us to go to Nebraska and spend the next 4 years of our lives. I know that that is where we are supposed to be and that we will be touched and will be able to touch the lives of others. I am excited and am grateful for the endeavors we will experience in our future. I am grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and that he is our Savior. I am grateful that we have living prophets, the scriptures, and that we live in America.