motivation...

life lessons...

i am on the trauma surgery service. every day i deal with patients who flew off their motorcycles, rolled their cars at high speed and are paralyzed, brain dead, in extreme pain and the list goes on. in one of my rare moment of reflection i thought of my dear old dad. he covered the ER at ventura county medical center and certainly saw the same types of patients.

a sense of guilt came over me as i thought of my 'occasional' speeding and my general flippancy about things speed. my father made a personal, moral decision years ago never to speed. i remember egging him on as a teenager on the way home from gunnison when his brothers and my cousins would pass us up before reaching levan ('navel' backwards).

the question is how his personal decision affected me. do i speed because i felt repressed all those years of being passed up? or do i feel guilt for speeding despite my father's decision that it is morally repugnant? am i personally more or less safe because of my father's decision?

one thing's for sure. i won't let the car roll until everyone has their seatbelts on...just like my father before me.

my steps to curb my son's need for speed? stickers like lightening...

mormon pre-empts romney...

Well, the writing is on the wall and it is conceivable that in two years--if my predictions hold up--we may have two mormon's among the ten (or so) most powerful men in Washington...that should get the cult conspiracists talking.

Congratulations to the democrats. Maybe their time at the anti-WalMart rallies paid off. Perhaps it had more to do with the debacle parodied by peter and stephen on halloween. Maybe it has to do with very poor managment of a fragile Iraq in the first few weeks, months and years after 'victory' was acheived. Whatever the reason, it will be nice to see Bush actually use his veto power (once in six years? you could probably keep your liscense if you only had momentary lapses of blindness every six years...)

I look forward to a better balance of power. More checks, more compromise and probably more gettting done in the nation's capital.

Congrats to Reid. Condolences to Hatch. And watch out for Romney.

hanging out...

In Amy's post, she caught some great moments from our weekend, but I wanted to highlight some of my more favorite events...

1. Biking in the San Bernardino mountains. Relaxing and in good company.


2. The Beach...The girls got stuck at Ikea so Matt and I enjoyed the beauty in kid-filled solitude. We were quite the couple.



3. Amy's Halloween Party...Michael's best friends.



4. Just Hanging Out...

Holloween Highlights...

Just so you know, it has been a wonderfully eventful 5 days at our house. My brother, Matt brought his family (wife Angela, children Brinlee and Max) to visit.

Activities included a trip to the pumpkin patch/carnival, a bikride for the men, a BYU win, an IKEA trip for the ladies, a night beach extravaganza, helping Amy in church while Paul was on call Sunday, Disneyland until closing, a Halloween carnival at our house, Brinlee's 3rd b-day party, and of course--HALLOWEEN! Michael and Brinlee had so much fun together! We were so happy to have them visit us.



So here are some Halloween costume pictures...

Michael was a BYU football player (surprise, surprise!). He got the biggest kick out of his cleats (Lafe's old ones) and black marks under his eyes. He alternated between being Hala Paongo, John Beck, and (of course) "just Michael."

Brinlee was Cinderella... and knows just how to curtsey! How many kids get Halloween a birthday on the same day?? This was a big day for our little princess!

The girls were inchworms... costumes found by Grandma Frandsen. They lived up to their Halloween titles and inched all over the place.

They both found each other quite interesting and sometimes inched all over each other!

Oh... and at Disneyland, Michael was tall enough to ride Space Mountain... I still can't believe we took him on it. Paul kept him emotionally stable by singing the "Star Wars" theme song throughout the ride. Below is a picture of the picture they take while you are on the ride.

I was just glad Michael didn't have an "accident," as I didn't bring an extra pair of undies.

left hanging...

75 degrees and hanging out, indoors, forlorn.

mourn with those that mourn...

There is a segment of the population whose suffering rarely ends. >20% of patients on a typical medicine service (personal observation) suffer from decubitus ulcers. I would have posted live pictures but we have our standards on this site. You can find plenty on google image...

Decubitus ulcers are brought on by chronic inactivity/bed rest and the inability to apply proper prophylaxis. Patients are often paralyzed and don't have the social support to be rotated and moved regularly to keep pressure off points of greatest pressure. Once the ulcers form it is very difficult for them to heal because the circumstances that caused them are often unrectifiable. The pain of the ulcer is immense, the infections that brew to the bone are often uncurable and people pass in pain from this phenomenon. Every morning I see people with this problem and every morning I feel compassion, revulsion and sadness. I'm not doing much (consult wound care, iv antibiotics, softer bed, rotate and change dressings) and it's frustrating.

It brings out a thought. To comfort those that stand in need of comfort brings to the light the idea that members of our society suffer to an unnecessary degree. Without support, kindness and service many people will die in pain. Perhaps contact with that pain reminds us we are human, fallible and selfish in nature. Alleviating the pain salves their wounds and our souls.

Our Day Trip to BYU

So the kids and I are in Utah and I must give a report about some of our adventures... well--mostly just one. It was a red-letter day in the life of one 3-year-old Cougar fan.

Our Day Trip to BYU

One must dress for the occasion when visiting the college of one's favorite football team. Yes, the ride there was filled with a running commentary on the "pretend John Beck, Fui Vakapuna, and Hala Paongo" playing a football game in the back seat.

First stop: the Bookstore where Michael was dazzled by the plethora of BYU paraphanalia. He pointed out many Bs and Ys and Us. Our greatest find? A BYU flag:

We've taught Michael that the flag (a US flag) is a symbol of our freedom. So whenever we ask what the flag stands for, he dutifully says "It is a symbol of our freedom." But when he found the BYU flag, he excitedly said: "Look mom, it is a symbol of John Beck's freedom!" and later he remarked that it is also a "symbol of the Cougars."

We purchased a BYU football and put it to good use...

...throwing some touchdowns...

...and kicking some sweet kickoffs.

Then he wanted a picture with the football player.

Needless to say, it was a marked event in the life of the biggest 3-year-old BYU fan in California. We just wish daddy could have been there.

And I can't let this post go without showing you what Grandma found when we were having breakfast the other day:

Yes, Bekah found a BLACK permanent marker. It has been worn/scrubbed off of her skin, and *mostly* cleaned off of the carpet (YIKES!).

would you vote for him?

Last week's Economist had this to say about Mitt Romney.

The gist of the article is that Mitt is extremely well qualified and is emerging as the front runner in the race to beat Mcain to the republican nomination. The problem is that a recent LA Times/Bloomberg poll found that 37% of respondents would not vote for a mormon.

I would vote for a mormon (I think I've voted for a mormon in every election since I turned 18). I even voted for the democrat who was a friend of my grandpa's (mom insisted and I was still young). This year I hope to vote for a body builder and a mormon. Would any of you not vote for someone based on their religion? race? preference? political party?

Any predictions? I'll go out on a limb and say that Mitt will beat Hillary in the general elections (barring a loss to Mcain in the republican primaries).

Yes, I'm on my own this week; therefore, you aren't getting any pictures of cute kids. It's just me, politics, medicine and hopefully some recreation after my test on Thursday. Anyone want to go biking?

With Humble Integrity

My grandfather died today. He leaves behind him a full life and a legacy for his family. To me, he personifies the word integrity. And for me, he is an example of humility. The world is better in so many small ways because of people like my grandfather. Quiet, humble, and thoughtful--his presence was always calming and welcome. He will always be a welcome presence in my life.

michael loves BYU.

Michael loves the BYU.

So, just a quick caveat to this post before we move on. I don't want you getting dissapointed that this blog is just a photo journal with a bunch of 'stuff and flugg' (anyone still watch Winnie the Pooh?). We will give you life updates often, however, there will also be occasional posts that just might reach a level of art seen in certain sacrosanct spots elsewhere.

Back to the BYU. Michael is shown below as he arranges his cars. When in Michael's presense, please don't refer to them as 'cars' as I have just done. You will be quickly corrected. They are football players and the second picture will serve as your guide.


Notice which players are sports cars and which are more run down. This will give you an idea of which players are Michael's favorites. Dan Bates didn't make this list; however, when Michael and I play football in park near our home Dan Bates is the kicker.


The fantasy doesn't end with the cars. At dinner the other night, Michael announced that he was John Beck. We had been in a hurry to get him seated and begin dinner, so Amy humored him and asked Dad to help John Beck into his seat. Michael didn't budge and in dismay informed her that Dad was in fact 'just Hala Paongo'. Once we got that straightened out, things went smoothly as John Beck gave a blessing over dinner and Hala Paongo kissed the cook.

In the comments of our previous post (on which many members of the family have yet to comment--don't be shy), Peter asked about how to tell the girls apart. I will make an attempt to educate you.

Shown below are Bekah (on the left) and Abby (on the right). Amy's thought from a previous comment are as follows:

You asked how to tell the girls apart. Bekah's face is a little rounder, her eyes wider. Abby is a little smaller, and her eyes squint like her mom's when she smiles.

Does that help? Does Grandpa Frandsen still try to tell by the shape of their lips?

Truly, the biggest differences are in their mannerisms and personalities right now. If you could spend a day at our house, you'd be able to tell them apart easily.

That's an open invitation to anyone, you know!

Here they are in the 'mannerisms' poses. Abby getting ready to crawl around and Bekah strutting her stuff in the sitting position which she has mastered.


Below are two more pictures to help you get acquainted.
Bekah: She has really blossomed lately. Her face is much more expressive. She no longer rolls over when Abby crawls by to relive her of her binky. Her grip is quite strong and has won the majority of the binky battles of late. Oh, and this morning Bekah got so excited about the remote control in front of her that she dragged herself and kicked her feet and moved several inches to the previously out of reach item. She will be crawling within the week..?

Abby: She is so very expressive. When she is excited she shows it with every ounce of her being. The other day she saw something on the floor that she had to have. She start squirming and looking intently at the item. Before Amy had even set her down she was breathing rapidly as she readied for her flight to the item. Today during conference she dissapeared from our site. We found her in the corner of the room., where she had removed the outlet cover and was attempting to eat it.

This week was a nice one for us. We finally got our cars registered, so we are officially California residents. We enjoyed conference here at the house. We tried out the BYU TV streaming video. It was nice as we could pause if things got 'interesting' in the house. Highlights from conference? We both loved the power and feeling in Elder Holland's talk. On Saturday, my favorite was Elder Ballard's talk. His talk of loving members first and fulfilling a 'program' 2nd were much needed for me. There is a wide variety of commitment in our elder's quorum and love rather than guilt is the order of the day when working on home teaching.

Elder Eyring and Monson were both powerful talks during priesthood. People have different opinions on the lyrical style of Elder Monson, but I felt from him a power that emanates from his example. He is a man that spends most of his waking hours in service. The sheer volume of names and faces that he remembers is amazing. What is more amazing is that he goes one step further and goes into the homes of the people he knows on a seemingly daily basis to serve them.

What talks were your favorites and why. Was there anything that suprised you? How did President Hinckley look? He is inspiring as he carries on despite his grief over the loss of his wife and his recent surgery.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Hannah! Seventeen and writing to a missionary (how's that going by the way?)

Well, this weekend has been great--beginning with the BYU v. TCU game on Thursday. So from Michael's 'cars' and the rest of us here in California we say, "rah, rah, rah, rah, rah".