Brent is back!

Brent returned to work today!! Was he happy? As he described it "It feels like the first day of school." I suppose that means he is both excited and dreading his return. We all miss him already...Abby the most. She came in our room this morning asking after him. Abby and he have been able to become better acquainted throughout the last month Brent has been home (due to mandatory Christmas time off minus the week he spent in the hospital). Do I miss him? What a question to ask! Of course I do!! I miss his company, but realize he was a bad influence on me. I have accomplished more today than I have in the last week he has been home from the hospital. I guess we both had to go back to our jobs today!

Goodbye to more intestine...who needs you anyways!

On Saturday we had some neighbors watch the kids so we could go down to the ER at St. Mark's hospital in SLC for what we thought was a blockage. Brent's doctor admitted him on the basis that you never know how long these things will take to pass. However, when he came to take a look at Brent he found something "very wrong" as he described it. That is always something you want to hear from your surgeon. He told us we would be there for the night until they could run scans or he got worse. Unfortunately he got worse and so the doctor was back and had him in emergency surgery within an hour. Thankfully, the surgery went very well and it wasn't as bad as he thought it was. He removed a fistula (which was causing a chronic blockage due to his Crohn's) at the end of his intestines and so Brent only lost a few more inches. He said the rest looked very good and there were no other problem spots, which means he can continue to take the Tysabri which seems to be helping him so much (the original reason we went in and asked for the Tysabri was because we thought he had a fistula). He has been recovering since Saturday, but finally seems to be taking a good turn today (he ate more than ice chips!!!). The girls and I are at home for the next couple of days so we can get in to a routine again and get some good rest. We wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and all those who helped take care of the kids (or offered). We couldn't have made it through without you!! Hopefully he will continue to improve and will be home within the next 2-3 days.

Ares 1-X

The rocket Brent has been working on since being hired at ATK launched October 28th. We are very proud of him and his accomplishment.

This is Brent and the Fifth Segment Simulator. He was the Lead Integration Design Engineer for the Fifth Segment Simulator and spent about 2 months this year down at KSC assisting with the build of it. This picture is taken inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center where it was assembled. This part goes directly on top of the solid rocket motor (about right in the middle of the rocket).

Brent was at work at 4 in the morning as support for the launch. He said everyone was very tense as they waited for lift-off. There was an especially tense moment when the live audio countdown feed came to zero and the rocket just sat there. Apparently the video feed was just slightly behind.

Here is a picture of the Ares I-X rocket on Pad B with the space shuttle Atlantis it is replacing in the background on Pad A.

Brent is Master!!!

Brent got the final okay he needed and has now earned his Master's Degree!!!!! We are all thrilled that we now get our Dad back. Thinking back on all he has done makes me think of some of the interesting (cute) things our children have said and done that have come as a result of him going back to school...

We have said many special prayers in Brent's behalf. They have included prayers of thankfulness as well as special help needed on tests, homework, health, and managing his time. This morning Emma prayed that Daddy would do well on his test, we were happy to tell her he is all done and there will be no more watching classes or taking tests.

Lillie, although she is not in school, always says she has to go do "homework", which includes practicing her letters and numbers. She loves doing it on Brent's yellow graph paper, which he uses for his homework. We have even heard her saying to Emma, "I can't play with you right now, I have to do my homework." Can't imagine where she heard that from.

The girls and I are so proud of Brent and how hard he worked to balance everything in his life. It was hard, but worth it.

Congratulations Daddy!!!

Brent Passed 2/3rds

Brent went in for his final graduate school exam today. He had 2 hours of written examination and then an hour of oral examination with the professors asking him questions. Only 2 of the 3 teachers passed him because the other professor forgot to show...ooops (that's embarrassing). Being that it isn't American Idol (doesn't go through with 2 of the 3 judges approval) Brent will have a phone call with his professor tomorrow so he doesn't have to go all the way back down to Salt Lake. Good luck Babe, we know you will do great!!!

Stay tuned to see if the results will be unanimous.

Brent the Mathematician

So Brent has this habit of reading over my shoulder when I am reading my friends blogs. Being the nerd,I mean mathematician, he is he gets stuck on any math related information people put on there such as running miles in a certain amount of minutes. Today he was distressed that someone used two different units of measurement (km/miles). Yes, Lia you are the culprit. Halfway through my reading he had to open a math program to solve the problem before he would let me go back to reading. Just for your info a 10 minute mile is 6.214 min/km. Maybe my friends should write at the top of a new post DO NOT LET BRENT READ as a warning that mathematics may be contained somewhere within and to avoid reading it with Brent around.

Show Off

Brent called me this morning asking if we had gotten any snow yet this morning. I looked out the window to see several inches of new snow. When I told him so he asked me to speak up as he was in his convertible with the top down driving in the sunshine....SHOW OFF. Some people have no respect for those they leave behind.

Almost all the snow had melted within the last few days. Happy Spring everyone.