I am going to use some otherwise useless time, and put some thoughts down, so that I can move faster tonight at home, where my internet is very slow.

The last few days have been very full, emotionally. We had the opportunity to go to the temple with Justin last Friday. The trip to Memphis was pleasant. It is a fairly flat, straight drive once we pass Bald Knob. Dad can vouch for the drive. There are long stretches that are similar to driving through Texas. Straight as an arrow, nothing on either side but vast fields, and very little, if any change in altitude.

The Temple was a very special experience, as we had a very small session. I think I counted 20, which included several temple workers. Overall, it was a very good experience. We all (Michelle, Justin and myself) had experiences that I will share with many of you on a personal basis. I just don’t feel this is the place to share some of those moments.

The weekend went way too fast, but it was good to have all of us at home. Of course, Justin was not working, but we had him hopping, as he packed, and unpacked. He had to go through his checklist with Michelle and me, because packing for 2 years takes some care, as most of you know.

Sunday went by way too fast. We had a wonderful primary program during sacrament meeting. (clarification): Primary refers to our church organization for kids between 3-12 yr. old. Each year they present a program during our main worship service. Since Justin is one of the teachers, they had planned it before he left. Elizabeth is playing the piano for Primary, so we had 3 of ours in the program. Kaylee sang a solo for one of the songs.

It was also nice to have one of our Stake Presidency as the visiting speaker, to finish out the meeting.

Then, as we do on every 3^rd Sunday, we had our Branch potluck dinner. Wow, we have got some very talented chefs in our little Branch. I know Justin enjoyed the “last meal”, but it did mean we were at the church until nearly 3:30.

Factor in the long drive home, and it felt like Sunday night came way too quick. Justin’s flight was going out at 6:50 Monday morning, so we needed to leave our house by about 3 am to get him to the airport for check-in. We decided that Michelle and Elizabeth might be too teary-eyed to make the drive back to Drasco, and the younger kids would struggle with the early start, so I would drive Justin to Little Rock, and then go from there to school.

We went down to Searcy to see the Stake President, so that he could set Justin apart for his mission. We had a good visit. President Berkheimer’s son comes home in just a few days, so it helped Michelle that they felt it had gone by fast.

We had an emotional visit Sunday night, got everything checked, packed, labeled and piled in the front room. I gave Justin a priesthood blessing, and we went to bed at about 11:30.

I think all of us wished the hours would slow down a bit. Especially the short hours between 11 and 2 am. That’s what time I got up to get ready for work. I woke Justin up as late as I could justify, and still make the airport. I am really glad that we have family in Utah Valley, so that J. could have a day or two to adjust, rest, etc. Mike, Karen, Thank you so much for helping us out that way. I know it made the transition easier for Michelle, and I am sure Justin was better off for the transition as well. I know from the time I left for my own mission. Staying with David and Margo for the two days prior to my entering the MTC was both enjoyable and helpful. Thanks again for letting Justin come spend some time with you and his cousins.

Monday morning was hard. The early start was the least of it! I wanted to talk Justin’s ear off. I needed to talk to stay awake, but I knew how tired Justin was, so I wanted to let him sleep. As it stood, Justin was also pretty keyed up. (can’t figure out why) He and I talked the whole way down to Little Rock. It was a very good father/son time. I hope some of the things I said will help Justin, but I also know that he is a strong enough young man, that much of the conversation was about things he already knew. “Preaching to the choir”, so to speak.

It is going to be very strange not having him around. I know with work, school, etc., he was gone an awful lot of the time, but this is not the same. Even when he was away at UALR (sorry, family; University of Arkansas at Little Rock), we still had the ability to talk to him daily. Okay, this is Justin! He frequently forgot to turn on his cell phone, or was out of his room at odd hours doing library research, or playing "airsoft BB's war" with roommates and dorm mates. One time he had been unreachable for 3 days, so Michelle asked me to take the long way home from work, and drive over to check on him.

Can't do that now! As a missionary, he will have a weekly opportunity to send and receive e-mail, and of course he can write letters on his preparation day (laundry, letters, shopping, cleaning, for those not familiar with the lingo). Some of you got a forward of his first e-mail.........yes, it was only 3 lines! We got a letter from him today.........It barely filled a small page; maybe 30 lines. He will have to get better about including detail, or his Mom may be asking me to "take the long way home from work" to check on him.

Mr. Linn, I may be gone the next several days. :)

Interim post

I am such a dummy! I have been working on a draft with thoughts about the major events in our family's life, but the flashdrive containing those thoughts got left in my classroom after parent/teacher conferences.



There were some things about Justin, naturally. Some thoughts about Elizabeth's doings, and of course, a planned update on the situations of all of the children.



I also think I had started something in there about the weather. I am generally pretty laid back about things that I can't control, and I do enjoy the amazing varieties in nature, including the weather patterns. I guess that is why am starting to think I am about sick of all this rain! Not much variety in the pattern, when the pattern is a month with only 7 days of sunshine! Kathy, did we switch weather with Seattle and I just missed it?

I am back. If it seems like my train of thought derailed,.......... it did!

I was typing along, and then our stupid dial up issues nuked my momentum. Being on a single line, unless I block call waiting, any in-coming calls will disconnect the browser. I usually block, unless I am expecting a call. The problem is, that anyone in the house picking up the phone and dialing will do the same thing. So unless we make a loud announcement about getting online, that does tend to happen, unless I post very late at night.

And once the connection is down, there is always something to do while waiting. It usually involves chicken houses. That's a 25-45 minute interruption, and then it is usually late enough I just want to go to bed.

Oh, yeah, about the weather. One thing that has amazed me about this year's wet summer is the relatively low incidence of severe flooding. Don't misunderstand; lots of high water, and flood damage, but not as many stories about houses washed away, people and their cars swept off bridges, etc. This year, it is more about crop loss, and records being set. And Greer's Ferry Lake has not risen to the same level it reached with all the flooding of about 2 years ago.

Anyway, I look forward to some sunshine!

I can't just keep quiet!

I have tried to be very positive and fair with my posts, and since I am aware that these are not exclusively for my family, I wanted everyone to know that I enjoy talking about family memories and events, just to keep everyone updated.

I know that these forums have great potential to become "rant" pages, and I really don't want to turn mine into that, but I have just about had enough over the past several weeks, and I can no longer keep quiet!

Let me say, It has been a real joy having Dad and Mom out to visit us this weekend! We got some great time together, and have shared a lot of stories, and updates, and just generally had a very pleasant visit. Friday morning an announcement hit the news pages, that led to some interesting discussion at our house.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I consider myself a fairly staunch conservative. I have registered Republican simply because the majority of Rep. candidates over several voting cycles have leaned more conservative than their Dem counterparts. That does not mean I support the republican party line categorically, only when they support those values and policies that I believe are best for this country and individual freedoms. I may be wrong, and those that disagree with me, I hope you feel the same about that right to disagree. That you would also defend to the death my right to disagree with you.

But we all know by listening to our politicians rant, that the right to disagree is only considered valuable to some, when they feel they are in the minority. But when they take the majority, anyone who disagrees is all of a sudden a person to be vilified, and ostracized, censured, censored or worse.

The number of times I have listened to people go on about our current president is a perfect example. Under Bush II, those currently in power (Dem's) piled on the vicious, the twisted, and sometimes the downright false, and claimed with all sincerity that "questioning" the administration was the highest form of American patriotism. That "We the People" should never just simply accept what the vast Right Wing fed us through the "supportive media". (What the ....what?!?)

Anyone with open eyes and half a brain cell can see that the vast media is leaning so far socialist left that they actually make our current President look conservative by comparison!!

Back to my point! Vicious personal remarks were commonly aimed at Bush II, websites encouraging such vile things as violent hate sex were posted naming conservative female congressional reps as preferred targets, policy decisions were touted as hate crimes against humanity, and the media and Dem politicians alike claimed that this dialogue was just an exercise in free speech! Now it's anti-american to disagree with our current administration!

I don't have time to get into the biased media NON-coverage during the last election. Suffice it to say, I also believe that the year 2008 can be named as the year in which the concept of objective, hard-hitting, expository news coverage passed away. Died, dead, finito, ausgestorben! But congratulations to a junior senator from Chicago, whose major efforts in his Senate years (other than giving some great leftist speeches and running for President) involved efforts to make the UN and other international entities take precedence over US interests and policies. Things like a "tax" for lack of a better name, 1% of the US GDP to be handed over to the UN for "distribution" around the world. Has anybody heard lately how many billions we already send around the world in humanitarian aid? There are countries that wouldn't even exist were it not for the United States of AMERICA!

Well, payback is expected! Less than 2 weeks after moving into the White House, Pres. Obama becomes a nominee for the Nobel peace Prize! Now he won! Congratulations! But for What? According to comments posted on a German NEWS website, where they actually still ask the hard questions, the answer seems to be for a bunch of promises! I read over 200 comments posted by Germans, and even though it is not a large sample, the sample broke down into about 3 categories.

Group one, nearly 2/3 of the sample were shocked, and/or appalled at the thought that such a prestigious award would go to someone for a bunch of yet unrealized-and probably unrealistic promises. Others felt like he deserved it because he had "admitted" America's arrogance and stupidity, and promised to be better. A tiny group (maybe sarcastic, with Germans it's hard to tell in print) said "what's the Nobel peace prize?"

My rant has to do with the hypocrisy of it all. Tie in the current debate on health care, middle east policy, Gitmo, you name it. Hypocrisy abounds. The favorite phrase I hear over and over is "racist". You cannot disagree with this President without being racist, because only a racist would disagree with a black man who made history by becoming the first black US pres.

To disagree means you are a racist dinosaur who doesn't see the vast picture that this president sees. A picture where the govt. provides all the basic needs from cradle to grave, using the money left over after they take 1% of the GDP to do the same for as many countries as possible. A picture where the evil (translate hard-working/ambitious/gifted/motivated) people of this country who make more than you are penalized for their efforts, to make sure that everyone's needs are met. You know who you are.

A picture where everyone simply says "hurray" when the president speaks, (but only a leftist pres.) and all those who disagree can be easily identified by the "racist" card they carry in their wallets. A picture where blind voters follow gladly behind blind government avarice.

When will Americans wake up? We always need to be questioning our Government! We don't need to be mean spirited about it! We can, and should disagree, because no one person has the perfect solution for a country this big. The debate is where we find the middle ground where all can truly thrive, but the debate is key to that discovery. Show respect for the office, even when you disagree with the man! Show respect for the man, even when you feel he doesn't deserve it! Show respect for the great men who helped found this country by being a part of the process, not just a loud angry mob on the sidelines.

But for Heaven's sake, and most certainly America's, allow and expect the same treatment for and from the other side!