Jake And Shannon Sittin In A Tree

K.I.S.S.I.N.G.


First Came Love


Then Came Marriage




Now Comes A Baby In A Baby Carriage

Happy Birthday Snake!

Happy Birthday Son!

24 years old!

It is hard to believe that you are that old.

Seems like yesterday when we were spending every Saturday

 in some smelly gym, watching you turn someone into a pretzel!

I remember when you and I went on the float tubes to fish,

well I mostly floated - you fished.  We saw eagles soaring that day.

  

 You are a favorite with all your cousin's children.

Does that mean you act like them?  Hmmm.

 

 You were a grandpa's boy.

Yeah, we miss him too.

 

 This little girl sure loves her Uncle Jake.

She's 1 year old now and she got mad at your wife

when she put on your hat.  She knew that it wasn't

Shannon's.  Boy did Shannon hear about it.

 

 Here is another buddy.  Is he your cowboy?

Or is he a worker guy?  An army guy?

Never sure what you guys are going to be.

 

Your dad rubbed off on you and you loved raising cattle,

just like him.  In fact you are soooo much like your father.

 That's not such a bad way to be! (Even though you are a mama's boy!!)

 In October you married your best friend!

Your sister loves finally having a sister.

 

 Speaking of your sister, she sure loves you.

As a child, she was always ready to take someone on

if they were being mean to you.  I still think she would do it too!

 

 Thanks for being our wonderful, crazy, fun son!

We love you!

P.S.   I did two posts at the same time - be sure to check out my Thanksgiving/Shannon post.

Wedding Day!

Jake and Shannon!
I did not know Shannon that well prior to the wedding,
but I have to say that the way she looks at Jake makes me love her.
She looks at him like he hung the moon!
And that is how she always looks at him!

These two kids could not stop smiling.

We are thrilled to have Shannon in our family.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding. The morning started out stormy
but by the time the wedding was over it very nice outside.
Mt. Timpanogos Temple

Jake and his sister, Snortney

Mom, formally the most important woman in his life!
Yeah, I am perfectly cool with that too!

Dad - Jake's buddy.

Brother-in-law and niece.
How cute is that curl in the middle of her forehead?

Snort got a kilt for our little guy.
He really enjoyed wearing it.

The baby in her Scottish dress.
Hats never looked so good!

Here is Grandpa and his buddy.
Kilt is looking good.

This is the only good picture of me in my evening dress.
These are dear friends. It was great to have our friends
come out and support Jake and Shannon at their reception.

My sister. I love her so.

Getting ready to throw the garter.
By this time, most of the bachelors were gone.
It was between two high school boys.
Shannon's brother caught the garter, sort of.
He picked it up off the floor.
I think he was embarrassed

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported Jake and Shannon. We had relatives who traveled a good distance to spend this day with us. It is so good to have family around to celebrate this great day. We love you!

Wedding Announcement

Here is the front of the wedding announcement.

The picture and the announcement was done by Shannon's dad. I think he did a pretty good job. We have mailed out all the announcements so if you haven't got one yet please let me know so I can send you one.

P.S. This is Mel - I removed the announcement with all the personal info, but aren't they the cutest couple!

THE BIG DAY IS ALMOST HERE!!!

The wedding is about a month away and we are both really excited. Sorry that the invitations aren't out yet but they should get mailed in the next couple of days. I'm really excited to see all of you guys who can make it out, and i know that my parents are looking forward to seeing you too (almost as much as they are to get me off their hands.)

For those who have asked, we are registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and also Dillard.

Love ya all

I'm Engaged!!!

This as a picture of me and my fiancee Shannon. She is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. We are getting married on October 15 in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Sorry this is a fast post but I'll add more details and pictures later.

Snakeman's Pictures

So here are a few pictures from my photography class. I thought a few of them were okay so here they are.


This one is just down at the cows


This one is of Snort and its my favorite.


Look at me, I'm glowing. I must be doing something right.


This is my HOLY COW.


Snort and Monkey Boy playing hide and go seek.


This one is up Hobble Creek Canyon.


Another up the canyon.


A habit that I picked up that my parents don't know about.


Okay this one is my favorite. Look at the mouth on that one. The invasion continues:)

Hope you like the pictures.

THE REST OF THE STORY

So I hacked onto my parents blog and added myself as a blog author so that y'all can get the truth! I will be here making comments and adding post to try and keep my mother honest and humble and telling things the way they really are and not how she sees them in her mind. Let the invasion begin. Lalu!

This is Mel. What the heck Big Jake. First it is hacking into my blog, what's next - my bank account? What do you all think, should I let Big Jake stay connected to do a few posts of his own or should I change my password to kick him off? Unfortunately I think my kids know all the different password I use because they have set up so many of my accounts for me.

How Long Does It Take To Dry Out a Tent in Scotland?

Here is our tent, set up in the backyard, trying to dry out.

Here is our tent, getting rained on every day.

Here is the cover for our tent. It got relatively dry on the clothesline.
I brought it in after it sat out in the one day of sunshine,
in hopes it would dry out the rest of the way in the house.
The cords were still damp.

After the next day of sunshine I brought the tent in to dry.
I wasn't going to risk my good fortune of a mostly dry tent.
After two days it still wasn't dry.
We put it back outside today, in the sun and the breeze,
hoping to get it dry.
We brought it back in a short time later,
when the clouds started rolling in.
Maybe someday it will be dry!

On another note, Jake is doing alright. He is struggling with the decisions he has to make. Now that he has had a second seizure, it increases his chances of having another one by 70 - 80%. Poor kid. I wish I was there to make things better!! Ha ha, if that would actually work I would be on that plane in a second! Since there is nothing I can do I guess I will stay in Scotland.

Jake - Round 2

Well I got the phone call I was hoping to never get again. Jake had another seizure yesterday. The phone rang and it said INTERNATIONAL on the caller I.D. I assumed it was one of my kids. I said hello and the voice on the other end says,

"Is this Mrs. Farnsworth?"

"Yes, it is."

"This is the Orem Fire and Ambulance. We have your son Jake with us. We want to ask you a few questions."

My heart sank, "Did he have another seizure?"

"Yes."

Aw heck! Jake was at UVU doing some Surveying for his Surveying Class (as in engineering surveying) and had the seizure outside on a sidewalk.

This is what your face looks like when it hits the pavement!

I don't really have any of the details, since he doesn't remember anything. Poor kid. We had just celebrated his 6 month anniversary of him being seizure free on May 1st. Thankfully I have my ANGEL OF A DAUGHTER to call on. I mean every word of that. I called Snortney up as soon as I hung up with the paramedic and told her Jake had a seizure. The first words out of her mouth were, "I'm on my way." I know it can't be easy for her to be "mini me" with two little kids but I am sooooo very grateful she is there for her brother. She has always been very protective (sometimes translates into bossy) of her brother. She dropped off her little guy at his other grandmother's house and took the baby with her to the E.R.

Jake, once again, can't drive until he sees the Neurologist. Snort has been trying to get an appointment set up so he and she can go meet with the doctor. The hospital didn't run any test on Jake since he had that battery of tests done recently with the last seizure. Jake said he probably got lax in taking care of himself since he hadn't had any seizures in 6 months. This kid, I am afraid, is going to have to be very careful in taking care of himself. He has a girlfriend so he has been staying out late with her, has an early morning (7 a.m.) class and was working more hours. The cows have been getting out, causing him problems and I suppose the jet lag from his trip here didn't help matters either. Court is taking over the responsibility of the cows until he gets on his feet again. Read her blog - she went swimming in the canal trying to get the two bulls back where they belong! What a COWGIRL! Anyway, I don't know what the outcome for Jake is going to be. I am sure Snort will keep everyone posted. I cannot express deeply enough my gratitude for my girl. I would be insane over here if I didn't have her picking up my duty as a mother! Bless her!

This pose is just for me! Jake always seems to have a sense of humor no matter how sucky his situation is. I think he should have drawn an "X" over both his eyes to make the picture complete. Say a little prayer for him, please.

The Final Word on Jake

Jake the cattleman!

- I hope anyway. Jake had his final doctor's appointment yesterday. We were finding out the results of his final EEG. It wasn't what we wanted to hear but it wasn't all bad either. The EEG showed more abnormalities in his frontal lobs than the first one. On the first EEG it was only in one sphere (I am sure I am not getting the wording quite right - sorry) of the frontal lobes. The second EEG, where he was more stressed and more sleep deprived, showed some minor abnormalities in both frontal lobes. When the P.A. was telling us this she said that he would need to go on seizure medicine. Jake and I both brought up the fact that Dr. Vincent told us on the first visit that she thought it was probably the result of being kicked in the head, some damage, and that most seizures occur in the middle and back (lower?) lobes. The P.A. said she hadn't heard that and went to talk to Dr. Vincent. After conferring they decided that he didn't need medication. Just proves we all need to be active in our own medical diagnosis'.

Anyway, seizures in the front lobes are typically very minor seizures. The P.A. said that they can appear as a feeling of an "aura", vision squiggles, a funny feeling, stupor, blocking someone out while they are talking, deja vu, etc. I said that I think I must have seizures everyday - stupor, blocking someone out while they are talking, etc. Makes you wonder. The problem with frontal seizures is if the electrical current crosses over to the middle lobes. That can cause the full blown seizure, which is what happened in Jake's case.

Jake and I both feel that this was a wake up call for him to take care of himself. With this minor abnormality, and it is minor, if he doesn't take care of himself his body may react this way again. At the time of his seizure he was not eating well, lacked good continuous sleep, working full time and going to school full time, managing the complexes at his duplex (there are four complexes), doing cows, being in charge of FHE for his ward, and most importantly chasing women. He has cut his work hours in half, is eating better, sleeping better, and taking vitamins and minerals the doctor recommended he take. He said he is feeling better - he doesn't hardly need to nap now. I feel bad this happened to him but it is good to know. I am glad it happened while I was in the U.S. and not in Scotland.

He still can't drive until February 1st. The doctor said the first three months are critical in determining if he is going to have problems with seizures. If he can make it through the first three months without a seizure, he reduces the chances of having one down the line. If he can make it through the following three months (six months total) seizure free, then it is likely he will never have one again! I am betting on that scenario! I know he is anxious to be driving his new car again and while I love spending the time with him as his chauffeur, it is cutting into my time to get things done before the big move. Oh well, it will all get done whether I am ready or not. I love my boy!!

Happy Birthday Jake

Today is Jake's 23rd birthday.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
Happy Birthday Dear Jacob!
Happy Birthday to you!
(Ahh!)

Someone wanted his hair just like Uncle Jakey.
Too bad he acts like him too!

Yum, looks good!

Who are these people? (Chris and Sarah)

Joe and Bree (I don't know if I spelled her name correctly.) Joe is Jake's roommate who called the ambulance when Jake had his seizure. I am grateful to Joe because he did everything right and he was at the right place at the right time! My hero!!!

A bunch of strange people . . . I am not sure I know these people (probably homeless!)

Every party needs a pooper and that is why we invited them!

The best feeling in the world - a snugly baby!

P.S. I know I am way behind on my blog. I will have to catch up later on!