Teresa's Mother - update

11/29/2009

Teresa's mother left this earth for her next assignment on Thursday, November 26, 2009. Teresa was able to spend over 5 weeks with her parents before she had to return home to Virginia. These were loving times when she had the opportunity to give loving care to her mother who had loved her all of her life. The funeral is Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:00 am in the Glenwood LDS Chapel in Glenwood, Alberta, Canada.

Teresa's mother, Thelma Law, has cancer and is not doing very well. Teresa left for Alberta, Canada the first part of October to help take care of her. I spent 12 days up there, returning last Tuesday night. Teresa intends to stay in Canada for a few more weeks. Her mother is not expected to be with us much longer.

I didn't get along with my mother-in-law very well in the beginning. I think there seemed to be some competition between the two of us for Teresa's attention. Over the years though, I have really gained an appreciation for her. There were some very hard years in the Law family and through it all Gramma and Grampa, as I call them, have always been true. Their actions have shown that they are true disciples of Christ, they have been true to thier children and grandchildren and no one has been left behind. They served a mission in France. They served as temple workers in the Cardston Temple for many years. Gramma was the temple organist. They criss-crossed the country to visit thier children and grandchildren. They have been to visit us several times since we moved to Virginia. As recently as last summer, they drove to Washington state for a family reunion. Gramma got sick on the way home from that trip. She spent several days in the hospital and has never really recovered her strength.

Gramma and Grampa have been married almost 58 years. They had 7 children. Angela died as an infant. The other 6 have all spent time with her in the last couple of months. I know that is a great comfort to her and Grampa.

When I was in Canada, she and I had several good talks. She has a firm conviction that this life is not the end and that families are forever. I asked her to look after those of us who will stay behind, especially the grandchildren and great-grandchilren. We are going to need all the help we can get.

Done with school...

For the past 18 months, I have been 'attending' online classes with the University of Phoenix. Well that all came to a screeching halt last Monday night - because I FINISHED!!

Proof is below:

9/11/01 Remembered

I had just logged on and was looking at the news when reports of the first attack began to be posted on Tuesday morning, the 11th of Spetember, 2001. In the first few hours, news was sketchy. Was it a terrorist attack or a terrible accident. Then news of the second plane hitting the second tower and a third hitting the Pentagon. Throughout the day, the reality of the events sunk in. At the time, we did not have broadcast or satellite TV in the house. It wasn't until that evening that we saw the video clips at a neighbors. When we saw the videos for the first time, it was all of it together. The first plane into the towers, the second plane, the plane into the Pentagon and finally the collapse of the towers. We simply sat there and cried. Who would of thought that we could be hit by an attack that would claim twice as many lives as Pearl Harbor. I hope that the memory of that day never fades for me and that we as a nation will remember those who lost and gave their lives that day.

And not only those who gave their lives that day, but in the two wars spawned by that attack. We were attacked, because radicals did not believe in allowing people to be free. Free to live their lives as they wanted to live. Two wars have now been fought to extend that type of freedom to people who have not lived with the sweet experience of being able to choose.

It's a mystery...

just waiting to be solved.

Update - 8/22/09 - I spent the afternoon with some very nice people at the Fluvanna County Historical Society. As soon as I showed them this picture, the three of them got very excited. After talking about it, we suspect that it is from the Bargesburg villiage circa the 1820's. The road could be the old stage coach road that ran between Columbia and Charlottesville. The historical society was not aware of the chimney, which makes me feel better than if I had walked in and had them say "Oh yeah, we've known of that place for years." I know the name of the property owners now. The next steps are to get in touch with them to see if they know that the site is there, and to visit the county records office to trace ownership of the property back to the early 19th century.

We walk the dogs in the woods behind our house. We have known all along that there was an old roadbed back there. Today, we went around some downed tree and followed the road farther than we have before. Look at what we discovered. We have no idea how old it is. The road leads to our subdivision, so it obviously went through it before the houses were built. The chimney is directly up a hill from Broken Island on the Rivanna river.

Lily showing off her new skills

Camping Trip

Wii Little Lily

We broke down and bought a Wii a couple of weeks ago. As you can tell, everyone is getting into the game...

Morning Visitors

Just about every morning we can see deer from our back windows.

Most of the time there are 5, but we have seen as many as 12

They seem to be as curious about us as we are of them.

This morning, they were all staring intently at something off to the left. After a few minutes, they all bounded away and Gateway, our blalck and white cat came wandering in from the woods where they had been staring.

A Day At The Park

Lily, Isaac and Katie at Lake Monticello

Lily loves to swing

Gramma likes the warm weather

Can you find the squirrel in this picture?

A Weekend Trip To Utah

I took a quick trip to Utah over the weekend. I got to visit with my parents, all 5 of my sisters (especially my sister Ann) and Crystal, Ryan and Cassia. I drove around Salt Lake City and took a few pictures of some of the old places.

Where my parents have lived since 1962

The Cabana Club swimming pool, where I spent every summer day - developing skin cancer

Gramma Larabbee's house on Park Street

1218 Emerson Avenue, the first home I remember

Westminster College, my alma mauter

A Winter Wonderland

We had snow last night, making the house and yard look wonderful.

Too bad it also collapsed the dog kennel.

Parker came to visit

We watched the movie Cars, built a better mouse trap and went fishing.

It's better than sleeping at night...

About 5 years ago, I took the advice of a good friend and enrolled in an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class. The first night, they showed a video of an ambulance rolling up on the scene of an accident. There were flashing lights and radio chatter and I said to myself, "I can do this". It took me a year to get certified, but I have now run hundreds of calls with the Madison Country Rescue Squad.

When we moved to Lake Monticello, I moved my membership to the Lake Monticello Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Last night (or was it early this morning), we got a call for a 37 year old asthma patient having difficulty breathing. Before we got there, dispatch radioed that he was now unresponsive and not breathing. When we got there, he was not breathing and had no pulse. We started CPR and inserted an airway tube while the medics installed an intraosseous device (into the marrow of his leg), which is faster than starting an IV. They pushed the regimine of cardiac and pulmonary drugs. We continued CPR. After 40 minutes, the medic said that he was going to call it if we did not have a pulse in 5 more minutes.

As we paused the CPR, we detected a pulse, faint and irregular, but it was definately a pulse. The medic set the EKG for pacing and we called for the helicopter to be launched. The helicopter had been on standby through all of this, but we are not allowed to launch it unless we have a pulse.

We moved the patient to the ambulance and then drove to the landing zone. Before we loaded him into the helicopter, he had a stable heart rate, decent blood pressure, was opening his eyes and moving his head.

I don't know if he will make it, he was down for a long time, but I love being an EMT when I can help make a difference.

What did you do last week?

I went out to sea on a new Navy ship. It's called the USS Makin Island and it is an LHD Amphibious Assault ship. Its just about 900 feet long and is basically an aircraft carrier for helicopters and other things that can take of and land vertically. I have been working on the software for this ship for the last 4 years. This 4 day trip in the Gulf of Mexico was the second time it has been out to sea for tests. The water was calm, the weather was cold the beginning of the week, and then warmed up. Most of the tests were successfull, but we had some problems that set us back a day. Since we got back after the last flight out on Saturday night, the company arranged for the 8 of us to fly back to Charlottesville in one of the corporate jets. I love working for a big company almost as much as I loved looking out the cockpit window as we flew over Atlanta without stopping.

So, here are the pictures:

I

An Evening With Lilliana

We got to tend Lily while Isaac and Katie went out for a birthday celebration. Of course we brought the camera along.

Scrat's back

We got a car for Angela

We thought we would check the air filter

We found Scrat's hiding place

A Weekend Trip

Teresa and I took an overnight trip to Raleigh, North Carolina. We drove down Friday evening, had dinner at the Bonefish Grill (thanks Isaac and Katie), stayed at a hotel (thanks Isagenix) and then went to the temple the next day. On the way home we stopped in to see Jeremy, Janell and Parker

It was a nice relaxing - although short - trip.

Definietely Settlers fans...

Our new favorite game is Settlers of Catan. Crystal and Ryan introduced us to this game. Now its a given whenever we get together. Adam and Angela just gave us one for our birthdays. Teresa is ruthless with building the longest road and winning the game.

Now prominantly displayed...

Teresa's diploma - in an approtriately expensive frame - now hangs triumphantly over the desk

Angela's New Job

In an effort to keep from going crazy while she was off from school, Angela got a job! (Thanks, Angela!)

She works as a hostess at a restraunt and gets paid more in tips than hourly pay - and of course the tips are all $1 bills.

Vehicular Tradgety and Recovery

Vehicular tradgety struck a couple of days before Christmas. Angela was in a minor accident. The only damage was a fatal blow to the right rear McPherson strut on her 1986 Toyota Corolla. Alas, the Corolla had to be put down.

But wait, we found this really good deal on a 2002 Ford Taurus with (drum roll please)

only 45500 miles on it.

We scooped it up and it now sits in our driveway. No, this is not a replacement for Angela's old Toyota. We are kind of playing musical cars. Teresa gets the Tauras while Angela and I will timeshare the old van, as much as we can, until something else becomes available.

Stay tuned...