Cooke City, Montana
M-Hart kids and us at the top of Bear Tooth Pass
As per usual for our summer vacation, we had a lot happen to us this past week. Let me wrap it up. On Monday we traveled with Marshall to Cooke City, Montana to spend a few days with him and his family at Jani's family ranch. They best way to get to Cooke City, MT is to drive through Yellowstone National Park. It was fun. I've (Tim) only driven through it once before and it was near sunset then. This time it was the middle of the day and it was cool to see a lot of the park. Kaitlyn and I are taking a few classes this summer and needed to turn in our last assignment (our big project) while we were in Cooke City, unfortunately we didn't feel like amazing guests because we were busy finishing that up. However, Marshall and Jani still managed to show us a good time. They took us up the Bear Tooth Pass, which drives directly over the Bear Tooth Range. The road reached heights in excess of 10,000 feet. It was pretty cool. Along the way, we stopped and had a snow ball fight followed by some impromptu car mat sledding. We had a great time with them.
LASIK Eye Surgery
A close up on Tim's eye post LASIK
On Thursday of this week I (Tim) went in for LASIK surgery. The doctors told me I had about -7 3/4 prescription in both of my eyes. I have been in glasses since the first grade and contacts since the 7th grade. I haven't been able to see my alarm clock at night for years, so laser correction surgery was something to look forward too (no pun intended). The procedure took about 20 - 30 minutes. It was very interesting, allow me to describe the process to you. First, before any cutting or lasering could be done the doctors needed to secure my eye by suctioning it to stay still. The suction cup worked just like you would imagine. After the suction cup was attached and my eye lids were securely pulled back I was taken the short distance to a machine that would cut a flap in my cornea to allow access to my eye. The cut was made by two lasers. The laser didn't actually cut my cornea, rather, where the two lasers met a small bubble of air formed. The lasers simply make hundreds of little bubbles in the shape the doctor wants and that's what makes the flap the doctors could pull back to access my eye. After the flap was made I was taken over to the laser correction machine. The laser correction part simply removes material away from the front of my eye so that it is the shape that it should be. After the correction is made, the doctor put the flap back in place and sent me on my way. I have to put drops in my eye every hour for the first few weeks (to help healing) and I can't get any water in my eye for at least three-four weeks. The doctor told me that the suction cup gave me a hickie, or at least burst a blood vessel on the right side. However, these are small prices to pay for 20/20 vision. I'm happy with it.
Creating the flap Pulling the flap back
Creating the flap Pulling the flap back
Hurdle for Hope Race
Kaitlyn and her sister Valerie
On Saturday Kaitlyn, her sister Valerie, and her brother-in-law Matt ran in a 3k/5k obstacle course. This race was called the Hurdle for Hope and was, essentially, a community fun mud run to raise money for an orphanage in Equador. The race was a giant obstacle course where runners had to run through tires, jump over fire, wade/swim through a pond, and make it through a mud pit. I (Tim) just had LASIK on two days prior so there was no race for me. Instead, I stayed on the sidelines and took pictures of them where I could. It was a fun day, and I suspect that this will turn into a annual community event. Kaitlyn did come out with a twisted ankle from the race. She can't remember where. Below are a few pictures from the event. There is also a new photo album with more pictures from the event. Hurdle for Hope Photo Page
