When will it be out?  Hopefully, within a month.  Alongside keeping DoddemaGen going, I’m also working on getting the USS Riverside site ready for next month as the Riverside becomes a full-fledged chapter of SFI.  Exciting times, indeed.

So, keep checking in.  You won’t be disappointed.  Of course, I always look forward to hearing how others in our family are doing, extended family included.  If interested, post a short message about how you’re doing.  I’m not looking for a book, it’s a blog, remember!?

I’ve added a few more plugins that maybe you haven’t noticed (some were just updates) but one I think important enough to mention is the “Notification” plugin.  Now, you have the option to automatically receive an email when a new post or comment is posted.  To do so, login and go to your profile.  At the bottom left, you will see a drop-down box with the options.  Save and you’re ready to go.

I’ve added the pages widget again but still debating if I need this with everything in the navbar.  Do you have an opinion?  Of course you do!  What’s your take on this site?  Use the poll, comment or contact me and I’ll get back to you!

After emptying the van, wrapping presents, and just plain relaxing, I called my dad. Since the last time we had visited, they had, again, moved–into the “boonies”. Located around five miles out of Trout Creek and in the back roads, my dad led us to their new home. Since the county doesn’t plow the road, ranchers use their own tractors. Although Missoula hadn’t had any snow for a few weeks, Trout Creek didn’t lack for any. My sister and her two kids were at my parent’s house to greet us. So after hugs, kisses, small talk, more fresh-baked cookies, we caught up on all the local “stories” and happenings in the family.After supper, my dad pulled out the slide projector that he had borrowed from school and we watched some slides that I had never seen before of my grandparents and other family members. My parents made the very appealing offer of taking 4 of our 6 kids; an offer we couldn’t refuse. We went back to the motel at about 8 after stopping at the local gas station/general store for some snacks and settled in for the night.

A Spoonful of Sugar-Day Two–I had handled the previous pretty well despite the pain that I was in. This day was hell. I couldn’t sit still, couldn’t find anywhere to sit to help relieve the pain. We left the motel probably at 10 and headed for my parent’s house. Since we had already missed breakfast, my wife and the kids were going to take a walk so I decided to take one with them. I think I was fortunate in that I got about 100 yards from the house before I had to walk back. It was a beautiful walk. Snow everywhere, the scent of pine trees, turkey and deer tracks going off into the distance. Amazing. Unfortunately for me, the pain got worse and Mr. Happy pill stepped in. At this point, I usually lay down and enjoy the ride. During my medical haze, my family watched more slides.

We had a Christmas Eve dinner and gathered around the tree to open one present each. With my own family, we read the Christmas scripture and open a present. While growing up, I remember going to my grandparents house and all the relatives would be there. My grandpa would dress up like Santa Claus and come out from the back of the house. Everybody knew who it was but we still enjoyed the fun of it. Although my dad didn’t dress up as Santa, my sister gathered all the kids into a back room and had them sing Christmas songs while “Santa” dropped off a few gifts for the kids to open. Unfortunately, Santa forgot one of the kids and my sister had to go chasing down Santa through the house. The kids had a great time laughing. My sister may be a pain sometimes but she is funny! She just throws her whole self into the act and doesn’t stop until the show is over.

Afterwards, I watched some of the slides that I had missed during the afternoon. We left for the motel around ten but this time only three kids stayed with my parents. During the day, Bridget had been coughing non-stop. We just figured she may have had allergies from the cats that my parents kept outside. Once back at the motel, Bridget got worse. She was having difficulty breathing. Once she got to sleep, it lessened a little but still she was having trouble breathing. We called my parents and my mom and Kara headed for the closest hospital (about 40 miles away) at 11:20 pm. It wasn’t until 4:30 am that she got back. Bridget had pneumonia but since we had caught it before it got worse, she didn’t have to be admitted to the hospital. It was raining when Kara left the hospital but by the time she got back to the motel, it was snowing heavily.

Let It Snow, Let it Rain….rain!-Day Three–Now that Bridget was sick, Kara having to work the next day and still thinking that it was snowing, we were going to have to cut our Christmas vacation shorter than we wanted. We opened the door expecting a Winter Wonderland and found a swamp. I don’t know when the weather decided that rain was better but the road to my parent’s house was slush. Kara had to fight to keep the van on the road. Once at my parent’s house, we opened Christmas presents. Since we were leaving earlier than expected, my parents put out a buffet of meats, cheeses, etc to snack on. We left around noon and drove through over 2 hours of rain. After bringing everything in, Kara and I collapsed.

Until next year?–Life is never as simple as we would like it to be. While some could assume that Christmas was over for my family, we still had some left. Prior to leaving for my parent’s, our church had given my family presents. We had left them behind to open when we returned. So there they sat, mocking us and our kids baiting us. Worse combination ever! We opened, paper and boxes everywhere. One positive of all this: our friend, Dan, came over. He just wanted to stay and wish our family a Merry Christmas and we made him sit through the whole unwrapping (I don’t think he plans on having kids anytime soon!). He got Kara and I a gift–Season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. Those that haven’t watched this new series–do! Amazing!

On the 26th, Kara’s brother and sisters came over and we opened more presents. Yahoo! We got a wonderful surprise as Kavan (Kara’s brother) and his wife, Sarah, are expecting their first child this upcoming June. We ended up going to Pizza Hut for lunch and the boys went with Uncle Kavan sledding in Tarkio.Christmas is finally over. Kara’s birthday is tomorrow and Annie’s on Sunday. I’m still recovering from the whole trip. I cannot wait until the 8th when my massage therapist comes back to town!

I’m hoping that Kavan and Sarah will take advantage of this forum to keep everybody updated.  I think I mentioned it enough during their short visit today!    OK, maybe I shouldn’t do my own advertising!  Anyways, be patient and more will be posted in the next couple days.

I’ll try to keep things updated while I’m gone.  I’ll be taking loads of pictures so be prepared for when I return.

I know many people that aren’t familiar with our faith find it amazing that a young man of 12 can hold the office while others wait the majority of their lives before they can attain such a title. For those that are interested in what a deacon is and their responsibilities, please refer to this article, “The Role of a Deacon” found in the New Era, May 1974, p.8

Congrats, Josiah. You deserve it!

Unfortunately, we learned late last night that he would be set apart today so we didn’t have lots of time to invite family to attend. Many apologies, we would have loved for you to be there.

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I should also be uploading more photos this upcoming weekend. Most are scanned images from my childhood. Why not, that’s what a gallery is for, isn’t it?

Have a great day! 

As it’s been getting harder for me to travel for even short distances, my family will be staying put and having a dinner with our close friends and possibly Kara’s dad. I did say possibly, didn’t I?! We’ll have 15 people in our home, sharing good food and company. It should be great fun.

We’re trying something new this year and that’s deep-fried turkey. We’ve had it once before but this is the first time that we’ve done it on our own. It has an amazing taste and the injectionable marinade really adds lots of flavor. Did I mention the pumpkin cheesecake? Amazing stuff!

My family wishes all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Our prayers and thoughts are with you. All those serving in the military, our prayers are with you. We’re deeply indebted to you and the sacrifice that you’re willing to make on our behalf.

I was having trouble running it in my site and within 12 hours of notifying the author, I had a fix. Now that’s service!