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...