Anything look a little odd in this picture? Hint: look at the piccolo player in the middle
You can't see it real well in this pic but someone blocked off this house supposedly because of the swine flu. Yikes!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Fun in the Idaho Sun!
We were lucky enough to get to spend a couple of days up at Betsy and Travis' place in Preston, Idaho. We went to a parade, played Mario Kart, jumped on the tramp and went tubing in a nearby river. It was really nice to be able to spend a little bit of time with my parents and siblings. Thanks for a great time Despains!
Anything look a little odd in this picture? Hint: look at the piccolo player in the middle
You can't see it real well in this pic but someone blocked off this house supposedly because of the swine flu. Yikes!
Anything look a little odd in this picture? Hint: look at the piccolo player in the middle
You can't see it real well in this pic but someone blocked off this house supposedly because of the swine flu. Yikes! 
Bowling with the Bettens
This past weekend Meghan and I hopped in 'ole Betty Bleu and made the eight hour journey to Utah for Independence Day. Our first stop was Mom and Dad Beutler's followed by a trip to Bountiful to go bowling with Nicki and the kids. Yeah, we both sucked it up! Oh well, we had a great time.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Denver Cherry Blossom Festival
Meghan recently stubbled across an ad in a parenting magazine for the Denver Cherry Blossom Festival, a two-day celebration of everything Japanese...or so we thought. Some of the cooler things we saw included...
a happy sumo
Tom Cruise
martial arts 
socks with heels
creative advertising
temporary body art (how did they know Meghan has a tribal band?)
Sidnee's glasses from middle school
a kitty
a happy sumo
Tom Cruise
martial artsgeishas
karaoke in Japanese
karaoke in English
socks with heels
creative advertising
temporary body art (how did they know Meghan has a tribal band?)
Sidnee's glasses from middle school
a kitty 
members of the Alice in Wonderland fan club
and last but not least, Fidel Castro (notice the cigar).
This concludes our acount of the 2009 Denver Cherry Blossom Festival. We can't wait to see what they import next year!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Joe's Photo Archive
I was just looking through some of my old photos and thought I'd share a few of my favorites.
Any Beutler (0r Despain) that has ever woken Betsy up from a nap will recognize this look.
I love this picture. I can't help but laugh every time I see it!
This an old mission pic I came across. I was modeling an outfit I bought for Dad. Wonder why he never wore it? That's ok Dad, it worked wonders on the honeymoon.
This is just one of the things we did in High School to pass time.
I think this one speaks for itself!
I've always loved Chicklets. Now I know why.
Any Beutler (0r Despain) that has ever woken Betsy up from a nap will recognize this look. 
I love this picture. I can't help but laugh every time I see it!
This an old mission pic I came across. I was modeling an outfit I bought for Dad. Wonder why he never wore it? That's ok Dad, it worked wonders on the honeymoon.
This is just one of the things we did in High School to pass time.
I think this one speaks for itself!
I've always loved Chicklets. Now I know why.Friday, June 5, 2009
We're Pregnant!
Ok, maybe I should clarify...Meghan's pregnant.
It's been almost 6 weeks since we found out. Sorry if we misled you, but we were trying to keep it a secret. Anybody who knows me, knows that I'm a horrible secret-keeper. Thank goodness it's all out in the open!
Meghan's already gone to the docter a couple of times and was told the baby should come around the 20th of December. That puts her right at the end of her first trimester. We're pretty exited if you can't tell!
We thought we'd be creative by making our mothers a gift for their birthdays. We took a late-night trip to Wal-mart, got some empty boxes and spent a couple of hours making ovens.
Here's the finished product! Happy Birthday Grandmas!!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Finalists Have Been Determined!
Thanks to all those who took the time to give us suggestions on what to name our new car. In fact, we got so many good suggestions we need your help to choose the best one. Please take a minute to choose your favorite off to the left of this post.
Honorable mention goes out to Dad Beutler's suggestion: the Blue Jew.
Honorable mention goes out to Dad Beutler's suggestion: the Blue Jew.
Memorial Weekend Rain-out
The big plan this weekend was to go camping, but Mother Nature had something else in mind. We have had several HUGE thunderstorms the past couple days. Oh well, camping can wait I guess!
Just as a side note, Meghan had gathered all our gear together and made PB&J sandwiches for us to take on our camping trip (or so I thought). I opened up the baggie and took a rather large bite as you can see. I was pretty disappointed to find she had put the slices of bread in the baggies and was waiting until later to add the stuff in the middle. We both had a pretty good laugh.
Just as a side note, Meghan had gathered all our gear together and made PB&J sandwiches for us to take on our camping trip (or so I thought). I opened up the baggie and took a rather large bite as you can see. I was pretty disappointed to find she had put the slices of bread in the baggies and was waiting until later to add the stuff in the middle. We both had a pretty good laugh.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
BBQ with the Missionaries!
We had our ward missionaries over for lunch yesterday. It was great fun and we got to pull out the BBQ!
As you can see I had lots of fun flippin' burgers. I don't think we are supposed to have open flames on our balcony, but eviction would be a small price to pay for a good burger!
As you can see I had lots of fun flippin' burgers. I don't think we are supposed to have open flames on our balcony, but eviction would be a small price to pay for a good burger!What do you think of the new Beutlermobile?
In our ongoing quest to eliminate our debt we decided to buy an "older" car and sell my Maxima. We found this bad boy at a used car lot in northern Denver. It's a '93 Oldmobile Cutlass Siera S with only 117,000 miles. We know it's a grandma car but it drives like a dream.
Just so you know we are now accepting suggestions for names for our new car. Post your ideas in under the comment box of this post and in a week or two Meghan and I will put the finalists up for a vote. Finalist names will be determined based on creativity and how well they suit our new car. Hint: think of senior citizens and of the color blue.
As a side note, this car should not be confused with my parent's old Chrysler New Yorker. This thing could waste the Red Rocket any day of the week!
Just so you know we are now accepting suggestions for names for our new car. Post your ideas in under the comment box of this post and in a week or two Meghan and I will put the finalists up for a vote. Finalist names will be determined based on creativity and how well they suit our new car. Hint: think of senior citizens and of the color blue.
As a side note, this car should not be confused with my parent's old Chrysler New Yorker. This thing could waste the Red Rocket any day of the week!
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Reason Healthcare Costs Rise
Here's another excerpt from an article I found online. It's pretty interesting...at least for me:)
"Hospital acquiescence to the rapacious greed of government has done significant damage to private health care in the U.S. In order to make up for inadequate payments from public pay patients, hospitals have tried to extract higher payments from private pay patients. To the extent that they have been able to do this, they have made government officials better off. Extracting more money from private pay patients means more money for government programs without overt tax increases. It is a win-win situation for elected officials. They get to promise voters ever increasing piles of goodies that they don’t pay for, and the hospitals are their enablers.
A problem with this approach is that because it raises the cost of private care relative to public care, it encourages more people to become dependent on failing public systems. The Lewin group has told the Colorado Health Care Reform Commission that private payers in Colorado now pay 1.88 of hospital cost, Medicare pays 0.81 of cost, and Medicaid pays 0.71 of cost. When Milliman Consultants examined payment rates for Premera Blue Cross in Washington state, their results suggested similar levels of underpayment. In 2004, 80 percent of Washington hospitals lost money on Medicare patients and 82 percent lost money on Medicaid patients. Under a set of reasonable assumptions about the ratio of hospital costs to medical costs, Milliman calculated that
government irresponsibility likely raised the cost of each family’s private health insurance by $490 a year.1
Recent research suggests that at roughly 60 percent of the children enrolled in the last SCHIP expansion had private insurance but switched to SCHIP when the lower cost option became available. If SCHIP reimburses at Medicaid rates, its expansion, as is the case with any Medicaid or Medicare expansions, means that more costs are loaded onto private payers, more people drop out, and provider financial stress increases. Commercial physician payments were 24 to 45 percent above Medicare prices and 13 to 137 percent above Medicaid prices.
The low payments probably explain a great deal about the shortages in areas in which large segments of the population have their health care paid for by Medicaid or Medicare. With such low government payments, neither hospitals nor physicians can afford to provide good service in areas without private payers. In some areas, neither hospitals nor physicians can afford to provide any service at all."
"Hospital acquiescence to the rapacious greed of government has done significant damage to private health care in the U.S. In order to make up for inadequate payments from public pay patients, hospitals have tried to extract higher payments from private pay patients. To the extent that they have been able to do this, they have made government officials better off. Extracting more money from private pay patients means more money for government programs without overt tax increases. It is a win-win situation for elected officials. They get to promise voters ever increasing piles of goodies that they don’t pay for, and the hospitals are their enablers.
A problem with this approach is that because it raises the cost of private care relative to public care, it encourages more people to become dependent on failing public systems. The Lewin group has told the Colorado Health Care Reform Commission that private payers in Colorado now pay 1.88 of hospital cost, Medicare pays 0.81 of cost, and Medicaid pays 0.71 of cost. When Milliman Consultants examined payment rates for Premera Blue Cross in Washington state, their results suggested similar levels of underpayment. In 2004, 80 percent of Washington hospitals lost money on Medicare patients and 82 percent lost money on Medicaid patients. Under a set of reasonable assumptions about the ratio of hospital costs to medical costs, Milliman calculated that
government irresponsibility likely raised the cost of each family’s private health insurance by $490 a year.1
Recent research suggests that at roughly 60 percent of the children enrolled in the last SCHIP expansion had private insurance but switched to SCHIP when the lower cost option became available. If SCHIP reimburses at Medicaid rates, its expansion, as is the case with any Medicaid or Medicare expansions, means that more costs are loaded onto private payers, more people drop out, and provider financial stress increases. Commercial physician payments were 24 to 45 percent above Medicare prices and 13 to 137 percent above Medicaid prices.
The low payments probably explain a great deal about the shortages in areas in which large segments of the population have their health care paid for by Medicaid or Medicare. With such low government payments, neither hospitals nor physicians can afford to provide good service in areas without private payers. In some areas, neither hospitals nor physicians can afford to provide any service at all."
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Boulder Farmers Market
Today we decided to take a trip and explore the town of Boulder. It's an interesting place for sure. A classmate recommended the Boulder Farmer's Market. Here's a couple of our
interesting finds.
Here's Meghan at the organic apparel stand. It's artwork you can wear!
This was one of my favorites, Magic Fairy Candles. I didn't know how much I needed one until I saw them.
We showed up in Boulder without any maps or directions, but just happened to drive past a trailhead. Now we know a good place to go hiking. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but isn't it beautiful?
interesting finds.
Here's Meghan at the organic apparel stand. It's artwork you can wear!
This was one of my favorites, Magic Fairy Candles. I didn't know how much I needed one until I saw them.
We showed up in Boulder without any maps or directions, but just happened to drive past a trailhead. Now we know a good place to go hiking. This picture doesn't really do it justice, but isn't it beautiful? Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Healthcare Situation
As most of you know, I'm in grad school here in Denver studying healthcare management. For that reason, I've been really interested in the recent talk of reform coming from Washington DC. Here's a little something I found in the NY Times about the current healthcare situation. I'll continue to post interesting articles as I find them.
Just How Bad Is US at Controlling Health-care Costs?
By John Tierney
“You can’t fix the economy,” President Obama has said, “without fixing health care.” Which makes sense, given the soaring costs and wastefulness of the American health-care system, right?
Wrong, says Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst at the Reason Foundation. After crunching some numbers at Forbes.com, she concludes that countries with universal coverage have fared worse economically than the United States in recent years as well as during the current financial crisis. And she says these countries generally haven’t done a significantly better job of controlling health-care costs, either:
Indeed, between 1990 and 2003, the rate of growth of America’s per capita spending [on health care] was 3.6%, only a little bit higher than France, Germany and Japan’s–but significantly lower than England’s 4.2%. That’s striking given that England engages in the most aggressive rationing known to the free world, routinely delaying care to patients unless they are critically ill.
However, Canada, which too indirectly rations care for many specialized treatments by putting patients in queues, has succeeded in limiting per capita spending to 2.4%. At best, then, universal coverage has a mixed record in controlling health care spending increases, even after resorting to rationing.
All in all, there is no major industrialized economy with universal coverage that has performed as well–let alone better–than the United States in the last decade. Universal coverage might not be the cause of their inferior performance. But the crucial point is that there is zero evidence that it has put them on a more solid footing. Before applying this exotic therapy to America, Obama needs to offer more than mere hunches that it will work. He needs to offer actual evidence.
Just How Bad Is US at Controlling Health-care Costs?
By John Tierney
“You can’t fix the economy,” President Obama has said, “without fixing health care.” Which makes sense, given the soaring costs and wastefulness of the American health-care system, right?
Wrong, says Shikha Dalmia, a senior analyst at the Reason Foundation. After crunching some numbers at Forbes.com, she concludes that countries with universal coverage have fared worse economically than the United States in recent years as well as during the current financial crisis. And she says these countries generally haven’t done a significantly better job of controlling health-care costs, either:
Indeed, between 1990 and 2003, the rate of growth of America’s per capita spending [on health care] was 3.6%, only a little bit higher than France, Germany and Japan’s–but significantly lower than England’s 4.2%. That’s striking given that England engages in the most aggressive rationing known to the free world, routinely delaying care to patients unless they are critically ill.
However, Canada, which too indirectly rations care for many specialized treatments by putting patients in queues, has succeeded in limiting per capita spending to 2.4%. At best, then, universal coverage has a mixed record in controlling health care spending increases, even after resorting to rationing.
All in all, there is no major industrialized economy with universal coverage that has performed as well–let alone better–than the United States in the last decade. Universal coverage might not be the cause of their inferior performance. But the crucial point is that there is zero evidence that it has put them on a more solid footing. Before applying this exotic therapy to America, Obama needs to offer more than mere hunches that it will work. He needs to offer actual evidence.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Name that movie
Every once in a while I catch Meghan with her hair slicked back and it reminds me of Michael J. Fox in the movie Teen Wolf. Owwwwwwwww she hot!Watch Out Nature, Here We Come!
Last week Meghan and I went to the Denver Scout-a-rama because we heard they had some sweet deals on camping stuff. Boy did they ever! I couldn't wait to take my new mummy bag for a test drive.Sunday, April 5, 2009
A Simple Observation
We just happened to be browsing a few of our favorite blogs when we came across an uncanny resemblence. Who knew?
We know this bottom pic is kind of random, but we thought it was hilarious. It's from the cover of Prince's debut album. Let's just say we are glad Ty decided to get his hair cut!
We know this bottom pic is kind of random, but we thought it was hilarious. It's from the cover of Prince's debut album. Let's just say we are glad Ty decided to get his hair cut!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Road Trip!!
On Sunday Meghan and I decided to follow the Despain's example and take a road trip to Colorado Springs. It was a pretty quick trip but it was a neat adventure.
This is the entrance to Garden of the Gods Park. It's a pretty cool place with red rocks jutting up out of no where. 
Notice Meghan in the corner. This should put the sheer size of this rock into perspective.
Meghan gave me a drive through tour of the golf resort she used to work for right after graduating massage therapy school.
This is the entrance to Garden of the Gods Park. It's a pretty cool place with red rocks jutting up out of no where. 
Notice Meghan in the corner. This should put the sheer size of this rock into perspective.
Meghan gave me a drive through tour of the golf resort she used to work for right after graduating massage therapy school. What do a Hippie, Uncle Rico and Six Layer Bean Dip All Have in Common?
My gorgeous wife holding her gorgeous bean dip.
Saturday Meghan and I went to our stake adult Valentine's dance. The theme was the 40's through the 70's. It was kind of funny because we bumped into a few people from our ward and they didn't even recognize me with my new daddy stache. I wanted to get a pair of tinted glasses to wear but we were unsuccessful in our search. Just on a side note, Meghan's bean dip was gobbled up before any other appetizer. Happy Birthday Meghan!!
I didn't have any wrapping paper so I had to improvise. She's beautiful though isn't she?Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Highs and Lows
I took this picture yesterday while on campus. The weather's either freezing cold or super warm. A couple of weeks ago the temperature got up to 71 and this week it's supposed to be in the high sixties. I can't believe it flucuates so much here!
The weather out here in Colorado has been crazy this past month. If you can't tell this picture is of our sliding glass door. I tried going outside one day only to find it frozen shut. Duh!
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