Antioch trip + Yosemite

This is a little out of order, but back in April, Brady and I flew back to visit my family in Northern CA. Ryan was basically going to be travelling for 4 weeks in a row and my dad had just gotten out of the hospital after his massive heart attack, so we figured it was a good time to head home for a visit...and I could spend my 30th birthday with my family instead of alone at home while Ryan was gone. 

So my dad had been in the hospital for a few weeks...in a coma for much of it and things REALLY didn't look good, but he defied the odds and made it. The doctors basically told him "you shouldn't be here", him surviving that severity of attack is basically unexplainable, medically. He had a defibrillator implanted and that surgery was the make or break point. The doctors didn't think he was strong enough to survive the surgery, but they knew if they didn't do it, he wouldn't make it. So it was VERY risky. But, he made it and after a few days in a rehab center, he got to come home. Unfortunately, the day before we were supposed to fly in to visit, my dad wound up BACK in the hospital with blood clots. 

He had been having some intense arm pains after getting home and the nurse told him to go to the ER. There, after doing some scans, they found blood clots in his lungs (I think). After a few days they realized that the pain he experienced had nothing to do with the clots. BUT that pain saved his life because it got him to go to the hospital where they discovered and treated the clots before they got to his heart or brain and killed him. Just another miracle for our family. 

Anyway, my dad came home a few days after we got to town and we were able to enjoy some time with him and the family. He has to rest a lot, so we mostly just stayed home and relaxed, but I was able to take him and my mom out to experience Daphne's California Greek, one of my FAVORITE places to eat! They both enjoyed it! ...and now my mouth is watering just thinking about it. 

My older brother came over one night and we celebrated my birthday. I requested Carnitas from my favorite local mexican restaurant, Juarez. Dinner was amazing and we finished it off with a Texas sheet cake, my FAVORITE!! If I could describe the PERFECT meal, that would be it!

Since it was my birthday week, I wanted to do something fun and different, so I looked into going to Yosemite. It's only 3 hours away from my parent's home and I had NEVER been, so I convinced my brother and sister to come with me for my first great adventure of my 30s :)

We only spent about 1/2 a day there, but what we saw was gorgeous! I'd love to go back with Ryan to camp and explore for a few days!!

Anyway, the trip was just what I needed. It gave me time to catch up with my family under happy circumstances, which it wouldn't have been if I had visited a week or two earlier. It also allowed me to get away from Omaha, eat at some of my favorite places (In-N-Out, Rubios, Daphne's), have an adventure, and it was great for Brady to spend time with my family too.