Keith Workshop

This year we decided to make our gifts. We started out with grand plans, but as soon as we started the "smallest" project, we realized our scheme was far beyond "over ambition".

Turns out we were only able to make small somethings for everyone.

The Keith Christmas was tonight, so this post only exposes already unwrapped gifts.

For each couple (Mom and Dad, Mel and Bill, Joelle and Jared+baby judah) we made pajama pants. The guys got "hobo" pants, and the girls all received monkey pants. They were a blast. Pajama pants supposedly are extremely easy and low cost. But we managed to make them more expensive than you can buy them AND we spent about 1.2 hours per pant! HA!

The 2nd part of the gift was a menagerie of fine chocolate barks that we made in our home kitchen - what fun! We made dark chocolate almond joy bark, white chocolate peppermint bark, mint chocolate bark and milk chocolate smore's bark. Our whole house smelled of warm chocolates and creamy vanilla from the candle on our bar.

The whole experience was awesome - it was a great way for us to spend a lot of time together and it was amazing working on projects together.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few pics of the disaster, nay, the fun!

Luke Away = Restless and Rowdy

Faith says...

Here I go again...I must be bored...I got the sudden urge to buy a new kayak, which was quickly overtaken by the desire to go diving paired with the purchase of jet skiis...which was overtaken by my desire to purchase a dirt bike...which was surpassed by my urge to get that mountain bike I've been wanting for a while....Then I remembered my skateboard...and the cello...

Not sure where to start but I'm ready to go mud fight someone, or back pack for the weekend, or SOMETHING! ...maybe my husband needs to hurry up and get back from his business trip!

Shoulder surgery - a success!

"The surgery could not have gone better" were the doc's words to me when Luke was moved to Recovery. They were able to successfully relieve the tension in his rotary cuff and surrounding tissues and re-open the "tunnels" that allow electricty to flow to that area. He experienced a lot of atrophy during the past 9 months while the muscles and tissue were NOT receiving electricity, but Luke is so strong and healthy, we know he will be back to snuff in no time. I continually am in awe and thanksgiving for the Lord's work on Luke's body and his miraculous survival of such a horrific accident.

Thought I'd share this praise with you all! Thanks for your prayers!

Cool x-rays!!!

Preop for Luke

...here are a few fascintating pics to give you an idea of the crazy damage my bones experienced:

Luke's birthday!

08:00am Woke Luke up with a surprise massage and "gift bag" that contained items he would need for the days events:

• fork
• blindfold
• baby diaper
• apron

Fork: homeade cinnamon rolls hot out of the oven awaited us in our kitchen.

Blindfold: We dropped by starbucks for my daily caffeine fix and donned the blindfold. Camera rolling.

I took winding turns and sped on straight roads to confuse my walking GPS of a husband. Then pulled into LG motorsports. He had no idea. *handed diaper to him (because he was going to pee his pants when he realizes whats going on ^_^* I told him to leave the blindfold on and listen only to my voice as we walked in. His hand on my shoulder and the camera on my other shoulder, we slowly walked into the shop. As soon as we were in I stopped him and said "I want you to tell this man what kind of a *Cam you want" - he was so flabbergasted he couldn't think straight. Camera still rolling.

*Cam = Cam kit. A bolt on (part for the car) to improve the camshaft. it basically makes the engine more efficient and makes it sound meaner. he has been wanting one since before we were married, but held off to purchase my ring and any wedding expenses.

Blindfold back on, I drove him to the San Francisco Oven for lunch in the fun outdoor Firewheel Towne Center.

After lunch we tooled around and picked up a pair of swank shades for him to wear when he drives off in his "new and improved" GTO.

Apron: Dinner was at the "Butcher Shop Steak House" where we cooked our own steaks! how fun!

Overall...it was a great day for both of us. Happy birthday Lukey!

Holiday splitting and surgery forthcoming!

Luke will go for surgery on December 5th! there is a 92% chance he will have FULL functionality of his left arm after the surgery. The surgery will be relieving tension as well as repairing nerves around his rotator cuff. This is very exciting for us. Luke has been dragging his feet at the gym in discouragement because he can't do what he used to. By "dragging his feet" I mean to say that I can sense his discouragement, but in actuality Luke only exudes a thankful attitude that he is even alive. He has the best attiude I have ever seen. Of all people, he could complain, but he trudges through life as if "life coudn't be better". He is my hero.


Holidays - splitting time between families is a skill I am sure we will improve on over the years. This year was a tough one for me to adjust to being the first time I have ever had to split a holiday, but I am SO looking forward to it! I love change!! We will spend Thanksgiving with his side and then the remainder of the weekend with my family, since my mom and sister will be unable to celebrate Christmas with the family. My mom will be flying home to the Philippines for Christmas and Leah has been scheduled to work that week.

We are looking forward to starting new traditions. And we are also looking forward to another excuse to make my pumpkin cheescake Mmmm...

RE: Picture
Wednesday night is game night for us and a few other couples - we had a pumpkin carving contest that was hysterical fun.

So...Anyone running the Turkey Trot this year?

Happy November everyone,
Luke and Faith

Just a quickie!

A lot of you have been asking about Luke's progress, so I thought I would update via a little blogging. :) He has been undergoing some nerve tests and MRI's because it seems certain muscles are not receiving appropriate signals. One of our biggest concerns is his shoulder/back. His left arm is not capable of making certain movements anymore. The doctor is running tests to eliminate theories. Some of these results we will need to wait till January to begin reassessing as the doc says we need to give it time.

He has been experiencing increased discomfort in his pelvis/hip area because of the misalignment during the intial healing. The most we can do for that right now is insoles and custom shoes.

His bone graft in his jaw seems to be progressing right along, so hopefully when it settles, in about 8 months, he will have nice teeth implants to fill those gaps.

What a trooper! It's pretty amazing to see how he takes all of this in. He has such a great attitude despite his many ailments. I am proud to be his wife.

Luke's big project

Luke is currently awaiting feedback from Creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, Mirage Studios. He has been working on a vision for 3 years now with Steve Lee. Together they developed the perfect vision for the next live-action Ninja Turtles movie.

As we continue to seek opportunities to gain attention please help us out by clicking here to "digg it". This kind of attention and awareness is just what we need to help boost our leverage. Make some noise!! http://digg.com/movies/Ninja_Turtles_The_Movie_By_the_Fans


http://digg.com/movies/Ninja_Turtles_The_Movie_By_the_Fans
www.turtlesthemovie.com

Wedding Videos!!!

To see our wedding videos, CLICK HERE

Happily Ever After-math

Since we have returned from our awesome honeymoon cruise, we have hit the ground running! Both of us had projects waiting for us at work and Luke had a pending surgery. The surgery to remove scar tissue went well, he recovered fast and is now back at the gym.

We are laughing our way through this first month of marriage and thank you ALL for you continued prayer and support! It means the world to us to hear of the prayers being lifted for our sake.

Luke's life will never be the same because physically he is now incapable of doing many things he loved to do. (Running, flip flops, sports, walking normal without custom shoes...) These things may improve, but most likely not. Though "Luke's life may never be the same" has a negative tone, we believe with our whole heart that this is exactly what God wanted and that life will be extraordinarily better as a result had the accident not happened.

Our List

• Make a movie
• Invest in Real Estate
• Take a long road trip together across the country
  
• Done 2009-09-03.Meet the family in the Philippines
• Visit Japan
• Done 2009-03-00.Visit Germany and Luke's old stomping grounds
  
• Done 2009-04-28.Buy a Z06 and turn it into a race car
• Done 2009-02-15.Skydiving
• Build our own house
  
• Visit Australia and New Zealand
• Visit Argentina
• Connect with a distant relative
• Sip coffee in Paris
• Go on an Alaskan cruise
• Visit Africa
• Visit Bejing
• Go into business together
• See the Berlin Wall
• Bungee Jumping
• Go surfing in California
• Watch a [clean] show in Vegas
  
• Professional driving lessons
• Go to a real drag race
• Actually print our wedding photo album
• Have kids