Israel O'Bryan R.I.P.

On Friday, June 11, 2010, my sister Brenna lost her husband, Israel O'Bryan to a suicide bomber in Iraq.

The news shocked our family and brought sadness to us all. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq and was scheduled to come home in July.

I remember the first time I got to meet Izzy. We had Thanksgiving in 2007 at Theresa and Dean's in Wichita and Brenna was surprising mom and dad by bringing him to meet everyone.

We were all excited to meet this boy that had captured Brenna's attention and knew that he must be special. He was a quiet guy at first, but opened up and we had a great time.

Brenna and Izzy had served in Iraq together the first time, but had decided that nothing could happen while they were both over there and waited till they returned. They were married on December 29, 2007 and things were great. The wedding was a lot of fun and everyone quickly took to Izzy.

Unfortunately with Brenna and Izzy being stationed in Washington, we didn't get to see them much, but we tried to keep in touch. It was so exciting last year when they had Turner and made their family whole.

Brenna moved back to Mom and Dad's when Israel went back to Iraq for the second time and I don't know how her and Rachel did it, being away from Izzy and Scott so much, but it was working for them.

I didn't get to know Izzy as well as I would have liked to. I know that he loved Brenna and Turner and I'm sure he was excited to see them again. I am also very proud that Ihave a family with so many military ties that have served our country to the fullest. I just wish Israel didn't have to give everything in that quest.

Many of you have offered your condolances on Facebook and other mediums, and I thank you for that. This is such a difficult time for everyone and it helps greatly to know that so many people care for and love Brenna and Turner.

Haley's team made it to the bronze bracket today. Tracy and Haley are in Redwood and Xander and I are at the park.

Haley's First Volleyball Tournament

Last Saturday Haley and I were up bright and early to head to her first JO volleyball tournament of the season.
The first tournament of the year always has a question mark to it, how the girls will play, if they'll be ready and how the other teams are.
The Marshall 14-4 team started off strong and I was really impressed with how they played. Haley has improved dramatically from last year and is able to get up and block now, something a lot of girls here age are even close to doing.
The girls played awesome in pool play, going undefeated and earning the overall #1 seed for the tournament.
And then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We waited for almost 3 hours while the other pool finished and the first two tournament games were played.
The girls had to play a team they swept in pool play and this one ended much different.
Though they didn't medal, they played great and I'm looking forward to seeing how they do in Tracy tomorrow.

Not Much to Show

Since Tracy, Haley, Xander and I were going to St. Cloud for Abby's birthday, I was excited to see there would be a card show in Waite Park while we were up there. I normally would have brought some stuff to trade, but I'm glad I didn't.

After lunch at the mall, I took off for the card show, wondering how I was going to be able to get everything in fast. After going in, I realized it wouldn't be a problem.

There were about 10 dealers and for the most part it was the same stuff. Favre cards in a vikes jersey, Percy Harvin autos, other Vikings, Twins, Wild and Timberwolves autos and jersey cards. I was really hoping to find a new Greenway I didn't have, but I guess I'll have to stick to looking online for now.

The Chad Greenway Project

As a football fan, I've always wanted that one player to collect. For the longest time it was Jose Canseco, but there's just too much stuff and his autos and relics are took expensive for me these days. I'm considering selling off my collection, especially the graded cards (I have everything from the 82 Madison Muskie card through 86 graded) if anyone is interested.

When Chad Greenway was drafted by the Vikings in 2006 I knew my collection was about to begin. Being a South Dakota boy myself, it was exciting to see someone from the state not only drafted into the NFL, but also to Minnesota in the first round!

Since the draft I have slowly obtained about 100 different Greenway cards. My goal is to get as many individual cards as I can. If you are a fellow collector and have any you would like to part with, check out my scans and let me know if there's anything you see you like.

Soon I'll get my want list up here and hopefully find even more that I don't have.

Been a long time

Wow, it's amazing what a young child will do to your blogging! When Xander was born I blogged about everything going on with him. Well, with Haley, Xander and another on the way, I figured I should get back into this.

I'm really excited to start blogging again. There are always things I want to comment on, talk about and sometimes just vent over. I figured this is the perfect place.

I had a few other blogs, namely the Xander Oey Zone, but with Haley and TBD, everything is going to be here. I just don't think multiple blogs is going to happen.

Here's a quick recap of life right now.

I'm back at Schwan's after about a 9-month hiatus, not by my choice. Things are good but busy, which is fine with me because it means that they did miss me.

Haley is 13 and in the 7th grade. She went back out for volleyball in the fall and basketball this winter. Now it's time for JO volleyball again!

Xander is 2. Wow, time has flown! He keeps getting bigger and doing more every day. He's going to be a very independent person when he gets older.

TBD is due in July. I'm excited to have another one on the way and can't wait till they get here.

That's life right now, check back for more later.

What is 50%?

I was a very disapointed person yesterday. Our 44th President was sworn in and I did everything I could not to catch a moment of it.

There are a lot of people that are very excited about him, but I am not one of them.

I just have one question for the man - What is 50%?

To me 50% is half of something. Not matter what it is, it takes two halves to make a whole. And right now I only see Obama as half a man.

To me he is only half a man because all you hear about is his African side, never the other. As a person of mixed-heritage, it offends me deeply to have everything placed on one half of your life.

To me it's hard to claim something you never lived. If his parents separated when he was 2 years old and then divorced later, where did he learn about his African heritage?

If he saw his father once before he died in 1982, when did he have time to help him understand what it meant to be Afican in more than skin tone?

I am half Indonesian and half Scandinavian with a few others sprinkled in. I grew up on Lefse and Goulash, as well as the food my father brought with him from Indonesia.

I have always been proud of my mixed heritage and the ability to learn from both sides. Why do we only hear about the side he never had much of a chance to learn from?