Shoutout to my kids

As I was reading in my scriptures this morning I came across a scripture about how the Lord gives us all temporal blessings according to the circumstances he wants for us. I knew early in our marriage that we would never be blessed with a lot of temporal wealth and I have always felt bad that our kids didn't always have the best of things or everything they wanted. However, I have always realized that we have been truly blessed in many ways other than temporally, and the biggest way that I always remember is the blessing of our children and now their spouses and our grandchildren. We are so blessed to have the wonderful children that we have. They are doing good things in their schooling, careers, homes and wards. We have been blessed with wonderful sons and daughters in law and beautiful grandchildren. How many people could say that their posterity more than doubled in one year? As a mother I often think how many things I would do differently with my kids if I could do it all over. However, they have become wonderful adults in spite of me and I thank them all. So, I tell our children, Marchelle, Nathan, Derek, Shaun and Megan that I love you and am proud (even though we are told not to use that word) of all you are doing in your lives with your spouses and your children. Always remember though, that no matter how much money you will have, the most important thing you can do for your children is teach them the gospel and spend time with them. You know your dad is a great example of that and I love him for that.
Love, Mom

Who's there?

Well, I thought I'd better get in a few words. Since the last time that I had entered anything was quite a while ago. Much has happened since that time...events that have been memorable and moments that can only be considered manifestations of our Heavenly Father's love for us. Of note, we were blessed with another grandchild, Anika and then another, Kyna and looking forward to another with Nathan and Bridgette and then news of 2 more one to Derek and Rebecca and one to Shaun and Jamie! All coming this year!! Both Maureen and I are absolutely overwhelmed and know that our prayers and the prayers of many within "the family" have been answered realizing that the Lord has his own timetable for when he responds. As much as we would like to move his response forward, humbly we see his wisdom in all things. I know some people, maybe most people would pass that off as just the normal course of life and perhaps some people today would question even the thoughts of bringing children into this world considering the current state of affairs globally. However, my thoughts are that there has to be a rising generation taught the laws of God. One that unashamedly proclaims the truth not only in word but also in deed and does not cower in the face of opposition. This is our blessing, not only in our immediate family but also reaches out to the extended family on both sides. We will write down, just as our fathers did, those things which are of good report because that is what will be passed on. We will witness to them, the rising generation, our love of our Savior and the priviledge of being able to serve our fellowmen. The world, would have us do otherwise and think only of ourselves believing that this is prudent thinking when in actuality the rationale for such acknowledgement generates from a source where people are ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

The next few weeks and months will bring families together in a spirit of gratitude, love and respect. We will have joy and rejoicing in all of the triumps, successes and accomplishments but also be humbled by loss, uncertainty and the unknown. Through it all we will have each other to gain strength from, a heartfelt hug and a hand to lift because in essence we are all we have.

As each passing day goes by, I seem to see with much better clarity those things which are actually important to me. I seem to hear much more clearly the patter of little feet on the floor or the innocent giggle of those sweet little spirits and I cry within myself when I consider a life without my grandchildren, my children and my wife. I have come to realize what I saw in my dad and my mothers' eyes when they looked at all their posterity....a contented peaceful look. Not that life will not come without it's trials and roadblocks of that I can guarantee but for the moment, at this very moment, heaven is very very close!!!

Start your engines!

Well, although this picture is from a couple of years ago, I did manage to go again to NASCAR qualifier's on Friday. For those of you who don't know or maybe don't even care, NASCAR is pretty big. The slump in the economy has affected it a little bit but it is still a pretty big deal when NASCAR comes into town! As I was trying to explain to my friend just before going out there, there are a couple of moments when it is an absolute rush and then, for the most part, just kinda hangin' out on the bleachers. One of those moments is just prior to the beginning of the race as the cars are going around the track following the pace or lead car. All of the cars are going at about maybe 25-30 percent of full throttle. The best description of the noise, at that moment, is comparable to the idling of Harley Davidson sitting next to you at a stop light with your windows up. When the guy, waving the flag to start the race actually starts the race and you see the pace car pull off the track, the combined energy with all of the cars pulling full throttle and the excitement and the rushing of the cars on the track towards you is pretty awesome! The decibles shoot way past the safe hearing zone, the rumble of all the engines together and the movement of wind created as all the cars are moving in unison are unbelievably transforming!!! You just have to be there to really appreciate the feel of power!

But the down side is....you then settle down and watch the cars go round and round and round. Your neck is pretty much stuck in one position with just the slightest movement when the cars go past you. They go by so fast that it really doesn't pay to try to follow them. I'm reminded of our dog and how he tries to follow his toy, he tries to anticipate the movement and snag it out of my hand as I am moving it around and around and around his head but to no avail and he is left snapping at air. And so you have to find other things to do as the race is going on.

Thanks to my good friend Jordan K.!! He always extends an invitation and this year I bit!!

A couple of weeks ago, my brother Mike brought a volleyball team down for a tournament and so they wanted to do something that was away from the strip. Going down to the dam was suggested and since I hadn't been down there for a while I thought I'd follow along. It was pretty impressive to see the span of work going across the canyon that will eventually become a bridge over which all vehicular traffic will travel. I was duly impressed with the dam again as it had been some time since I had done all the work on the Arizona approach side. I must say, that I feel a sense of accomplishment when I look at what were able to do along with all the other builders of the dam years ago!!!

Why not something new?

So Maureen and I decided to check out a little of the oscars last night as we enjoyed some pretty good movies during the year. At some point there was an oscar given for the screen play adaption or something along those lines. The winner was announced and during his acceptance speech, by the way the movie was 'Milk', didn't see, don't think we'll ever see nor do we have a desire to ever see it, anyway this guy then proceeds to say these words...I am so thankful that I my parents moved from a conservative "Mormon" home in San Antonio to San Francisco where I could live my life and meet and fall in love with my 'partner'. At that point, I decided that the whole entire evening was pretty much wasted! It would be refreshingly and absolutely righteous if somebody in the entertainment world would stand up and say these words..." I am so thankful that I grew up in a loving family that taught me about honoring the commandments of God and that moral purity was true happiness. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and am not ashamed of the way I was taught!" I believe it would be so refreshingly new that there would be many people who would say, "Wow, did that person just make a stand for right?!!" I am pretty fed up with agenda which is being pushed, rammed and slammed down our throats in the name of tolerance. I can feel genuine concern and Christlike love but that doesn't mean that I have to embrace and until I see some kind of doctrinal announcement from the First Presidency my position will never change. There I've said it!!!

Hot time in the old town!

Just wanted to chime in on the celebration last Sat. We were very fortunate to be there to enjoy everybody's company but more importantly to share in the joy of Dad's, grandpa's and great-grandpa's birthday. I for one, miss being able to call and talk with my parents whether or not I'm having a bad day or a good day. When they were alive, I treasured each and every moment that I had with them, whether a simple touch or words over the telephone like, "hi son..." followed by whatever was on their mind or where ever the conversation would take us because I knew that those moments would not last for long. They were joyous when we were joyous and were saddened when we were saddened. So I pray that there will be many happy returns and I must say to everybody, Maureen, Brenda and Lisa can continue to sing "fast" songs! Who am I? Randy Jackson????!!!!!

Not to be left out!

I guess it's safe to say that we're getting snow down here! It was expected but the amount was kinda iffy...the iffy part has been answered! There are sooo many people who don't know what to do in snow conditions, consequently, the traffic is absolutely snarled and jacked to where nobody can move without getting too close to one another!! The school district closed down all after school activities, all parent teacher conferences and anything else that would keep people at the schools any longer than is necessary. There are no snow plows in the valley because Las Vegas is a sunny climate....so who needs any such equipment?? It will be interesting to see the morning news and how they treat this storm which, by the way, is supposed to last well into tomorrow morning!!! I guess the next big piece of news is that I am officially legit with the business. We obtained our business license Monday afternoon...the business name is titled, JADE Services...JADE is an acronym for my partner's and my name....Jon And Dennis Exclusive Services. We are excited to get going and hope to be able to lauch officially by the last week of December! It has been a pretty long haul just getting going because of the tight budget that we have been operating on. We're keeping our fingers crossed and our knees constantly on the floor. We'll keep everybody posted as the days and the next few weeks go by. I guess the worst that could happen is that we could show up at one of your doorsteps with sleeping bags and suitcases looking for a place to stay!!! Then we'll really see how thick blood is!!!!!!!

Post Thanksgiving notes

Well, just had to chime in on what went on for Turkey day. As you can see, we're all smiles before dinner (actually this was a post dinner, dinner...) and then after dinner, as you can imagine, the smiles disappeared and were followed by looks of pain! I was actually proud of myself for only being able to eat one plate but the plate was the size of a pizza dish! I complained to Maureen that I could only eat one helping! Pie was a different story! Because everybody doesn't like pumpkin pie, Maureen decided to take orders so that everybody would have a pie that they liked. So we ended up having, pumpkin, apple, banana, pecan and cherry!!! Mmmmm!

The women really didn't like this picture butt the cameraman couldn't resist! Grandma and Grandpa came down to join us for dinner, which we really loved them coming down. Because of Grandma's sore leg she wasn't as mobile as she would have liked but each day she seemed to be getting more mobility in her leg. Grandpa would accompany me on my morning walks with Orland out in the desert and he would help me find golfballs that had been left from my previous days of walking the dog and practicing my drives.

Of course, during the weekend you had to play

games and one of those games has to be a rousing

one. Here they are playing "pit".

Kalie really getting into the lolipop action and watching the rousing game. She found a bff in Shaun.

All in all it was, as always, a good weekend to have family around and to just chill in Htown. We particularly love being surrounded by the sound of our grown children enjoying each other's company and the little voice running all over the house calling for Shaun. We appreciate that Grandma and Grandpa are such that they can truly have joy in their posterity be it here or in Utah or the news from the mission field. We believe that the magical moments of familial bonding which happen to our extended family are not by accident or happenstance but through faith and prayers of grandparents, parents and children. We look forward to repeating the same during the Christmas holidays! Hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!