OPTOMETRIST?!?

What I think everyone should know about optometry.

1) Optometrists are different from ophthalmologists. Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who specialize in eye surgery. In other words if a person wants lasik they would go to an optometrist for pre-operative care and evaluation but the surgery itself would be done by a ophthalmologist (in nearly every state). You can think of optometrists as general physicians of the eye and ophthalmologists as eye surgeons.

2) Many eye diseases cannot be felt---no pain. Why, because the retina, the back of the eye, has no pain neurons. Why should everyone know this? Because many eye diseases, like glaucoma (which can blind you), have no symptoms and hence must be detected by an eye exam. So, when was your last eye exam???

3) Children should get their first eye exam before age ONE. Why, because most childhood eye problems can be more easily managed if caught early in life. Plus knowing how well your child is seeing is essential for good school performance---so why not do it early. Google InfantSEE for more details.

4) To see clearly, everyone will need some type of vision correction in their lifetime. Why, because of a condition called presbyopia. It happens because the lens in our eye wears out with time and we become unable to see up-close (think of plus 40year old people reading the newspaper at arms length). So what do you do?---you get bifocals! Getting old stinks but its great job security for me!

5) Everyone needs yearly eye exams. Why, because sight is so important to so many of us. Can you imagine life without your vision? Get an eye exam!

6) The back of the eye is the only place in the human body where living arteries can be seen. Why, is this so important? Because optometrist often can see vessel changes that indicate high blood pressure, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis. In some cases we are the first to diagnose these diseases. Yet another plug to get an eye exam.

7) Optometry is rated as one of the best professions in the US by U.S. News and others. Why do you need to know this---you don’t it just makes me feel better about going to school for eight hours a day for four years.

4th of July!

We were invited to a BBQ, on the 4th of July, at the Harada home. It was so fun! Thanks Kimmie for inviting us! We ate, played horse shoes and Scrabble (I won the Scrabble game with the help of everyone standing around me), and played with sparklers. We had a good time with great friends!

Singing in the rain!

Nothing can rain on this guys parade! After the rain stopped I joined Dash for some puddle splashing. I wish I had taken the camera with me because it was so cute to watch him running and jumping in the puddles. Sometimes nothing is more fun then a rainy day! Luckily the rain left in time to enjoy the rest of the day (July 3rd). Red, White, and Boom went off with out a hitch.

Yellow slide park

Dash has memorize and categorized all the parks we have taken him to by the color of the slide. This park is "Yellow Slide Park". Since it is just a couple blocks away we go to this park almost daily. These pictures were taken on July 2nd. We went to the park while we passed the time before daddy got home from clinic.

When the cat is away (getting dressed for the day) the mice are at play (getting into the 4th of july cupcakes)!

Red River Climbing Rocks!!!

My Exceptionally cool and amazing wife let me go climbing with some of friends over the weekend. From left to right is Bret, Chris, and Reza. We went to the Red River Gorge in Kentucky. For those of you not in the know the Red is one of the best climbing areas in the US. Last year the Petzl rock trip went there and the worlds best climbers made the Red look easy (it's not). Most of the routes are very overhung and usually about 50-100 feet high. It's very pretty there. The rock is sandstone and is nicely contrasted by the green of the forest. Due to all the trees it seems very remote and you feel alone even if you are not.

After climbing a few routes we decided to head to a new area. Bret and Chris look a bit serious but there really just posing for the camera. Reza carried that crash pad on the 20min hike into the forest---it looked a bit heavy.

This is Reza on one of the first routes of the day. This one was a good slab route and had very cool views.

It's hard to see on this picture but it rained hard for about 30mins. The rock had water running off the top of it and onto one of the climbs that still had some of our equipment on it. In order to get our draws back I had to climb it. Basically like climbing a waterfall---it was fun but a bit scary.

Ya that's me on the last day of our trip. I had a great day and red pointed this route (called ro shampo 12a) which I had wanted to do for a long time---third trys a charm I guess. I attempted it a day before and did not think that I was even close to getting it clean but things came together. I know some of you are going to make fun of my cool bandanna and the fact that I'm not wearing a shirt but to my defence it was about 85 degrees and with 95 percent humidity it was HOT. I am three maybe four moves from the end in this picture and about forty feet off the ground. It made the whole trip worth it!

My good friend Bret on a fun little route. This too is a bit overhung but was tons of fun.

In case anyone was wondering climbing is the coolest. For more pics or a great time at the Red come and see Becca and I in Ohio.

Independance Day!

I was watching the news yesterday (a very rare occurrence with two small children). They were interviewing a man that is going to running in the Olympics (or hoping to be). He had an amazing story! He was one of the lost boys of Somalia. He escaped his captors by squishing threw a small hole in the fence with some older boys and ran. Bare foot he ran for his life and eventually made it to a refugee camp. He raised him self with out a family and years later was fortunate enough to be brought to America and adopted by a great family. Well, he once ran for his life and now he is running in the Olympics!

I am so blessed! I am so grateful! I am American and given freedoms and others in the world lack. I know the feeling of air conditioning, I have running water, my refrigerator is full of food, and I have a car so I don’t need to run any where if I don’t want. I know that economic times are not as abundant as we would like. But I will try hard not to complain the next time I have to spend $4 a gallon for gas. At least I have a car.

Anyways, I don’t mean to stand on a soap box here. I just want to express my love for my country on this Independence Day!

I would also like to wish everyone a happy 4th of July! Or to my family back home, on their way to Stadium of Fire, happy Miley Cirus Day! I am sure that she is the only thing the little girls in Utah will be celebrateing today.

Quirky kids!

Dash and Miley are the quirkiest kids I have ever known! They are constantly cracking us up.

Dash will howl like a wolf every time he poops in the toilet. He is also obsessed with poop, farts, burps, and dirt. All conversations lately lead back to one of those favorite topics.

Every time Dash hears the neighbors use their drill he thinks he is pooping his pants and has to sit on the toilet until they are done.

If Dash gets out of bed at night and wants us, he stands at our door (or at the top of the stairs if we are down stairs) and clicks his tong.

Chris watched the kids while I went to the grocery store the other day. Apparently Dash didn’t know where I had gone. When I came home he ran up and hugged my legs as hard as he could and yelled “MOMMY YOU’R ALIVE!” I guess he was pretty worried I wasn’t coming back.

Dash is afraid of deflated balloons! When I say afraid, I mean nervous breakdown, freak out! He loves balloons that are already blown up, but don’t try to blow it up in front of him unless you want to watch him climb the walls. He used to be afraid of penguins and the popcorn style ceilings, but he has gotten better.

Miley thinks it is so funny to blow raspberries at Dash. Dash only blows raspberries in defiance and thinks that she is trying to be mean, so he has to blow them back at her harder. They go back and forth trying to out blow/spit the other until they are laughing as hard as they can. It is the funniest thing to watch and Chris and I can’t help but laughing with them.

If hugs were pennies I would be a rich women! Miley and I each get roughly 1,600 hugs a day from Dash. He is the most cuddly, grateful kid! All day long I hear Thank you for juice! Thank you for animals! Thank you for wipen’ bum! The list of things that he thanks me for is never ending. Today we were at the doctor for Miley and to pass the time I had dash looking out the window telling me what he saw. We were counting motorcycles and every time we saw one he would get so excited and give me a great big hug.

Dash and Miley are truly one of a kind kids and I am so glad that they are mine! I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything

Summer days observing the ducks

This lake is one of our favorite places to go. There is a walking/running trail all the way around the lake and a great big deck to sit and watch the ducks.