Rhonda told me that I had to be the one to write this post since I was the one on the trip, and since I am a 100% obedient husband, here I am.
I had a chance to spend last weekend in Boston, but first some "history" on how this little trip came about.
Basically, I've maintained amazing friendships with 5 guys going all the way back to my Mission Days in California. They are: Chris Runyan, Jason Strong, Seth Wheeler, Jeremy Miller and Evan Smith. After we all returned home from our missions, the 6 of us roomed together at BYU in the Riviera for a semester until one by one we started getting married (One of us still hasn't taken that step...you know who you are..put a ring on her finger!!!!). Over the years we've all stayed in close contact and every couple of years we try to get together in what we call "Dogg Reunions" to catch up and have fun with each other. Believe me, we have some fun when we are together (Euchre Games with consequences, Brotherhood of the Travelling Rug (don't ask), Various alleged acts of indiscretion with each other's Mothers, Horse Humor and WAYYY too many "That's what she said" jokes for 5 Priesthood Holders :-).
Evan called us all a few weeks ago with some unfortunate news that Dr.s had found a tumor in his brain, and subsequently additional tumors in his body. Evan asked if the 5 of us could all fly into Boston (where Evan lives) to spend a weekend with him and lift his Spirits, etc. as he went through numerous tests, procedures, etc. So, we all came in from all over the Country: Jason from California, Jeremy from Portland, OR, Seth from parts Unknown, most recently London, Chris from Cincinnati, OH and me from Atlanta.
We had an AMAZING weekend, even though we were pretty much locked up in the hospital with Evan the entire time. We laughed, played cards, ate food and laughed some more. Played some guitar hero in the evenings, and steamrolled Chris the first night. In all, it was a great relaxing weekend with my best friends, we are already talking about our plan to get together next year after Evan BEATS this infection that is attacking his body. The six of us as a whole have an amazing bond of brotherhood, it is really special to be a part of.
You can follow Evan's fight here:
http://evanisasurvivor.blogspot.com/ Rhonda has it linked to the right on our blog.
This is Saturday morning (very early) as Evan was prepped for surgery to remove a few of the tumors in his abdomen so that they could be biopsied.
Pictured Clockwise from Evan (you could probably guess which one is him): Cheryl (Ev's wife), Seth, Jeremy, Jason and Chris.
This is Chris, Seth and Jeremy. We are hanging out in the halls of MGH (Mass General Hospital) with Evan on the Hospital Bed. We are pretty much taking pictures of him and making fun of him at this point.
This is the six of us on the last day we were together, Evan was getting discharged from the Hospital and we all had to leave for our flights back home. Great weekend. Pretty powerful bunch of guys:
Evan - Lawyer in Boston
Jeremy - Financial Analyst in Portland
Jason - IT for Wells Fargo in CA.
Seth - Investment Banker / U.S. Gov't
Chris - Doctor - 2nd Yr. Resident at UC in Plastics / Facial Reconstruction
Trent - I make babies and fart a lot.
Starting out with a cheesy camera smile.
This will be our last year of all 4 in one building. Rian will be in middle school next year...by the time Ammon makes it to Elem. school, 3 Wardwell's will be the max. that any facility will have.
