Something to Help You Feel More Festive

What gets you into the "holiday spirit"? Christmas music? Striped candy-canes? Setting up a tree? Teacher notes telling you that school will be out for the holidays soon, leaving you to deal with all the children all the time?

For me, I don't feel festive until I read Dave Barry's annual Gift Guide. It doesn't help me find anything to give, but I like it.

Star Wars

A friend sent me this link and we thought it was very funny. If you like Star Wars, you will enjoy this. Click on the title of this post to watch.

ND happenings

I thought I would post a couple of recent pictures. You can check out our family blog as well. We had a huge storm last week, which kept Ben in the capsule for a double shift. But then he got to fly home in a helicopter! It was his very last alert, and very exciting. He now will have a semi-normal job. We are thrilled.

It is definitely winter here. We have lots of snow and freezing,and even dipped below zero one day, temperatures. Anyone want to come visit for Thanksgiving?

one of your favorite nephews is now 1 :)

We celebrated DJ's first birthday on Sunday! If you go to my blog, there's a cute video of him eating cake :) http://daveandtaraplus7.blogspot.com/
David and Susan, it was great to attend the blessing and baptism and to hang out a bit! We love you guys!

Our Update

Well we survived our week. Bird was blessed on Sunday, we celebrated a 4 year wedding anniversary Wednesday, and we went trick-or-treating Friday. I posted an update and tons of pics on our personal blog. Rather than take up tons of space here, I request you click on our link on the right and visit. I think you'll be impressed with
Porter's costume!

Big Day for Miriam & Joshua

You are all invited to attend Miriam's baptize on Saturday, November 1st, at 12:00 noon in the church building across the street from our house. Following her baptism and confirmation, we plan to bless Joshua.

We don't have any definitive lunch plans yet, but are leaning toward going to a Golden Corral or something afterward for anyone that wants to come.

Chess Wizards

Well, it never ceases to amaze me as I watch how childrens' brains work. They are completely motivated on their own to do things they want to do, though at other times, if you try to get them to do the same thing it is of no interest and is like pulling teeth. Jeff, Will and Abel spontaneously cleaned an entire room, the dining room, on their own today. They swept, dusted, vacuumed, polished and decorated. Why? Because they were making a chess museum. Yes, a chess museum. Along with the seven chess sets they set up, one of which is the prized glass chess set grandpa sent, they spoke in quiet museum voices, listened to classical music, and worked like professionals. The only thing missing was them quoting Shakespeare to make for a truly remarkable scene to behold. Here is a video for your enjoyment.

Jeff's big day

Here are a couple of pictures of Jeffrey's baptism. It was a marvelous day. Jeffrey was so happy. We are sorry none of you could be there in person, but know your hearts are always with us. Jeffrey is an amazing young man. He is a great example to old and young alike. We are thankful for his choice to follow the Savior.

It's a boy

Hello to everyone. Hope you guys are well. We are too. I just had an ultrasound and we found out that we are going to have another baby "BOY". Everybody thought that the baby was a "GIRL" except KC. He was right. Kianna was kinda disappointed as well as nanay haha, but we surely are excited to see the baby in February. So far, the baby has two legs, two arms and one head hahaha.The baby is healthy. KC was funny because when they started the ultrasound, the first thing they did was to put the gel on my belly and KC saw it and he said really loud "Why are they putting HAIR gel on your belly Mommy?" (He cracked us up! ) Oh well, As soon as they touch the equipment to my belly the very first thing that showed on the screen was the baby's butt with a penis(titi) very obvious .Here is the ultrasound picture...You guys take care

PS. If you can figure out what you are looking at here, the "manhood" is apparent.

Why miss Fairview?

I had an interesting craving yesterday. I really wanted Iron port. Remember that? Then I got talking to Ben, trying to tell him what it was and we started talking of picadillys too. Picadillys and iron port. Yum. A couple of reasons to miss Fairview.

Joshua Franklin Benge

Joshua Franklin Benge was born at 7:19 tonight, weighing 7 lbs 15 oz. He is 201/2 inches long. Susan had an appointment with her doctor today, and he found that she had very, very little amniotic fluid and felt we should do the c-section right away. So we did. Mom and baby are healthy and happy.

(Sorry about the poor picture, but my phone has a broken seal and the camera part is filled with dust inside. I will get my camera later.)

News That Only Affects Me

The official announcement came today: our whole Church department will be relocating to Riverton next year. We intended our latest move to be our last--at least until Susan and I were empty-nesters. Now, I am leaning toward another move. But, at last count, I was out-voted 8 to 1 (no word yet on which way the unborn child is leaning). Maybe I will change my career to something that lets me be at home more, like driving truck cross-country or custodial work on the international space station. ;)

Super Funny SNL skit... Tina Fey and Amy Poehler

This is perfect!

E-bikes

I thought some of you might be interested in this. There is a guy up here in Minot who has started a new company that sells electric bicycles. You've probably heard of these. When you search on line for ebikes, there is all kinds of cool stuff, even a "pterosail", or a recumbant, street legal bike with a sail! The problem is a lot of this cost saving stuff is actually pretty expensive, some costing as much as cars. His prices are comparibly less ($700-$900 versus $1500-$6000!)
This guy says he's looking for distributors or "dealers". He's set up shop in Minot and has dealers in a few other states. He seems very keen on getting into Utah and Arizona (although I think he has one dealer in Arizona so far). So I'm including some links so you check this company out. If anything it's pretty innovative( Kristin and I actually rode some of his bikes and they were really fun, a combination of a good quality bike with moped except all electric. He has one that folds up which is really neat).
He told me (the owner) when he went to China to check out the electric bike market there, that over 20 million ebikes are sold in that country every year. In the U.S., the number is about 100,000. But consider, that number is up 6000%! Could this be the next CNG or Alternitive transportation craze? Check out some of these links and let me know what you think.

www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/515759.html?nav=5002
http://www.electraped.com/

went into labor last night

i was having contractions 5 minutes apart for over 3 hours last night. had to go to the hospital to have them stopped. crazy. for pics and the full update you can go to our blog.
http://ddjohnson.blogspot.com/

Grace

Just thought I'd post a picture of our cute little Grace.

Another Big Boy

Just got back from a "growth" ultrasound. So, we are exactly 8 weeks away from the due date, and they estimate this little guy weighs about 5 1/2 pounds already. (the norm would be to hit this weight in 4 more weeks) We had an ultrasound with Porter to find out his size just before he was born (six weeks early) and they estimated that he weighed just under 7 pounds. Two days later he was born at 7 lbs 15 oz.....so I'm guessing this little guy might be a bit bigger than they are estimating. Maybe technology is better now. Either way, unless he comes early, the little newborn outfit I bought for him to wear home from the hospital is going to be too small! But his little ultrasound pics look very much like Porter's did. So, hopefully he's a cutie. I keep saying that for all this pain and trial he has to be as cute and as smart as Porter! I am doing well though. I'm being really good about the diabetes diet I am on and it's helping a lot....with how I feel. Just not quite as exhausted, or hungry, or thirsty as I was before. The glucose levels still aren't quite down to where they should be, but I'll find out more about whether I need to be on medication in the next week. I'm still on partial bedrest just to make sure my blood pressure doesn't get too high. It seems fine, but I don't want to have to be on magnesium again for pre-eclampsia. That was awful. It looks like we may be able to do this one planned and not emergency. Right now it's planned for Sept. 4, but since baby is big, and daryl has school that day, I'm going to talk to the dr. and see if we can switch it. We'll see.

This makes us laugh!

We saw this on tv and then found it on youtube to laugh again! It's fun to watch my kids watch it.....they feel his pain! :)

Gestational Diabetes

Well, it's finally official. I have gestational diabetes. So, now that the c-section is probably only a month away, i finally get to go get some counseling and instruction on what i'm supposed to do and by next week i will finally have a glucose meter. crazy i say. maybe, if i could have been monitoring a while ago.....and known what to do then. but it's already pretty obvious that my baby is super oversized and complications began a while ago. oh well. maybe with all this info, i can actually try one more time to have a baby and see if i can have a close-to-normal pregnancy. of course, i'll be 40, so i may be done anyway. at least there are excuses now for all the complications with porter. crazy!

Little entrepreneurs on the prairie

We are sorry we missed the great get together. We love you all and are still praying for you, Kirk and Cherrie and nanay. I am posting a few pictures. One of Grace on her blessing day. One of Ben's pinning on Captain (I am so proud of him). And one of the little entrepreneurs on the prairie. A couple of weeks ago we had a yard sale. The boys wanted to participate, so we decided they could do a cookie and lemonade stand. They decided not to set a price, but to ask for donations only and just give them out. Very smart! People thought they were so cute. The boys would say, "You can have a cookie. It is free, or you can just make a donation if you want." Some people paid $5 for one cookie! They worked hard, paid me $5 dollars for supplies and still made a profit of $28. Amazing!
We are doing well and enjoying some nice weather here in Minot, finally. Darcee and Darryl and Porter should definitely come visit us here. We just barely got to 80.
Ben got a call yesterday informing him that his brother, Richard, was racing motorcycles, and crashed and then was run over. He is in the hospital and not well at all. He has broken 12 of 13 ribs, his scapula, clavicle, 2 lumbar vertebrates and one cervical vertebrate. He also punctured a lung and broke his breastbone. They don't know if he is going to have some paralysis or not. They are doing some surgery today. He has a wife and 4 children and no medical insurance. Needless to say, we are worried for them and would appreciate any prayers in their behalf.
Tragedies do occur, but we are so thankful for the gospel perspective that we have! We are so thankful for loving and supportive family and for all the blessings that the Lord gives to us. He loves us. He loves Nanay and her family and Richard and his family. I love Him for loving us so much and when I focus on that, I am happy despite temporal, temporary circumstances. We are eternal beings, and we can be an eternal family. Cause for celebration!

we are back in phoenix

so, we are home now. it's nice to be in our own beds....but that is about it. we pulled in around 11pm (12 utah time) and it was 98 degrees outside. our first day home (yesterday) was 113 degrees. the record high in 1887 was 114. so we came home to "extreme heat warnings" and today is supposed to be close to the same....in fact...the temps are going to slowly drop over the week and by next tuesday we should get all the way down to a high of 108! so, porter is frustrated already....stuck in our house...no outside, no stairs, no cousins. poor kid!
it was so good to see everyone (sorry we couldn't go on to N. Dakota, pooh!). thank you especially david and susan for making an effort to come see us. i know it was expensive and totally chaotic for you. but we really enjoyed seeing you and your kids! and porter loved seeing so many cousins. porter is still talking about our trip. we keep hearing "grandma granpa benge's house," "uncle bret trailer," "uncle devin," "kirk cherrie," "no K.C.!" "toby lily kyle baby dedek," "dave," "uncle david," "nikki etan aaabelle," "playground" "swimming," and he recognizes even more of you all in the pictures we have now. it's so cute. i'll email and post some photos as soon as i get them off the camera.

Cherrie's mom had a stroke

As most of you probably already know, Cherrie's mom Anita (Nanay) had a major brain hemorrhage on Saturday night at about 6 o'clock. It turns out that she has a large AVM (Artereo-Venous Malformation)just like Devin. These malformations have weak walls which is why it hemorrhaged.

At first she didn't have any symptoms other than a sudden excruciating, debilitating headache. For about fifteen minutes we were with her, talking to her, trying to figure out what was wrong, we even took her blood pressure, but she didn't have any other stroke symptoms, just the headache. So we were left to either dial 911, run her to the emergency room (about 15 minutes away) or run to the insta-care clinic in Bountiful (about 10 or minutes away). I was afraid of going to a busy emergency room and getting ignored as the "Lady with a headache", so I left Cherrie and the kids and drove with Nanay and Tatay to the Insta-care clinic. Nanay was still talking to us the whole trip, but as soon as we started to get out of the car, she stopped talking and starting mumbling. She had lost all strength and could barely stand up. We hurried her into the lobby, and we were lucky that nobody was there. Just as we got inside, she started vomiting, and lost all strength in her legs. I yelled at the receptionist that she was having a stroke and everyone in the clinic jumped on it. Within a minute she was on a gurney and being evaluated by two doctors and several nurses. They're response was awesome, and they got her stats and info as they started loading her into an ambulance. It just so happened that our very good friend, Alili Perez, was also in the clinic at that moment, and she came over and got my keys to lock my car and take Tatay home while I climbed in the ambulance with Nanay.
We drove to IMC in Murray while the ambulance team stabilized her and contacted a stroke team at IMC to be ready for us. They put did a CT scan to see if the stroke was a "bleeder" (hemorrhage) or a clot. It was a bleeder, but they also thought that there was something else there too, so they put her on medicine to help control the brain inflammation and keep her blood pressure low while they did further MRI's and angiograms to see what was going on. They found that she had an AVM which sort of changed all the treatment options. If there had been no AVM they would have tried to get in and relieve the pressure immediately, but with an AVM they needed to stabilize her and let the bleeding stop on its own so that they could evaluate where to cut without causing more uncontrollable bleeding. On Monday they performed an angiogram/embolizaton (just like on Devin), where they blocked of the major feeder veins to the AVM.
On Tuesday they performed surgery to remove the clot formed by the blood which had pooled as well as the veins and arteries of the AVM itself. She is still recovering from that. She has weakness on her right side and still isn't able to talk, but the doctors are hopeful that she will make a pretty good recovery and be able to regain some of those functions.
Cherrie and I feel really blessed. We were supposed to go down south for two days to celebrate Cherrie's graduation from the dental assisting program, but Cherrie had a feeling we shouldn't go, that something might happen. Wow was she right. I can't imagine what would have happened if we had been 4 hours away when this happened.



What a change from the way she looked a week ago.

Cup of Tea

"One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

"Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups oftea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!'

"My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up. Then she says, (as only a mother would know... :) 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that baby can reach to getwater is the toilet?' "

(Cousin Rick Benge sent me this.)

Cute picture

I thought this picture was really cute, and wanted to share :) Sounds like you had some fun this weekend Kirk. Glad no one was hurt.

A drunk driver crashed into my house last night. He crashed into several neighbors vehicles as well. I guess the fellow is an illegal immigrant... no license, no insurance, stolen license plates, and the car which he claimed to own was not registered in his name.

He first hit that green car, pushed it up over the curb, and then continued on, turning just in time to miss my garage and hit the corner of my porch, after which he continued through two neighbors yards, then he crashed into another car about two blocks away.
After that he ran and hid, but we were outside with some neighbors, and they saw him, and chased him down and showed the police where he was hiding. It was a pretty exciting night.


Luckily, he hit the most solid portion of my home, the porch. He only damaged some stone, a little siding and cement, and destroyed my handrail.

CNG Article

A Broken Man

Had some visits with some doctors about a progressively sore wrist this week. My wrist and thumb always hurt. I can't shoot three's or do push-ups, and it is very sore after shoveling or lifting.

I injured it way back when we lived in Manti, and the pain has slowly gotten worse. And guess what? I have a broken wrist. It has been broken now for about 9 years. As the surgeon said, "there are eight bones in your wrist; well, you have nine." I don't know whether that means I am a tough guy or a dumb guy.

It has been so long the surgeon thinks the resulting arthritis has destroyed my cartilage. Thus, there is no point in repairing the bone, as I will still have bone on bone in there. He thinks my best option is probably to remove some of the bones and then let the other ones "settle in." It reduces my movement but should get rid of the pain and stop further deterioration. I'll think about it.

Thanks for letting me share.

Take A tour Without a Top Secret Clearance!

Here are two links to the "Today Show" on MSNBC's website. Al Roker is doing a series called "Access Granted" in which he and the cameras have been given special permission to enter and film what would be normally highly secure and sensitive areas. In these links he travels to Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and interviews Airmen who work directly in the Nuclear Deterrence mission in defending the United States 24/7 365 Days a year. The second link is what I actually do, although Al didn't interview me or come to Minot. The mission and capsules are pretty much the same. This is the first time the Air Force has ever allowed live cameras in a Nuclear Launch Control Center.
Now, if you would like your very own personalized tour, just head our way and I will gladly accomodate you. But seeing how that won't really happen and is only wishful on our part because we miss all of you, enjoy the links.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/#24479883
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/#24479883

Edit post by DVB: I think I found it. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/#24482119

Cherish Grandparents

Today, Grandma and Grandpa Benge began their long trek back home to Utah. They had arrived almost two weeks ago to help out and meet the new little addition. They spent their time serving us. Grandpa did an assortment of construction and landscaping projects, as well as teasing the boys. It made Grandpa laugh when Jeffrey knew when he was pulling his leg. Grandma did cleaning, cooking, and nurtured her grandkids and daughter. Not to mention reading "the little mouse and the red ripe strawberry" to Dallin at least 150 times. It was a wonderful visit and they were a great help to us.

But as we all stood on the lawn waving goodbye, wondering when and where we will see them again, it really struck us just how much we love them. We realized in that moment, or were reminded again, what a blessing a Grandparent really is. Their's is unique role that really can't be filled by anyone else. And Grandma and Grandpa Benge take great Joy in that role. Why else travel to North Dakota? And when we miss our Grandparents and wish they were closer, we really cherish them most. We just pray for them in their special mission to all their grandchildren, that they will have strength and many more wonderful years ahead.

Safety of CNG cylinders

Here is a video for all of us in the family who are currently driving CNG vehicles. Just in case you or you spouse is worried about safety. This is also a good video to show that guy at work, you know, the guy who thinks you are driving a "death bomb" because your car is CNG.

cute scared KC

Haha that is so cute! Big ol tough KC! Toby said something funny last night and it made me laugh, and also think of Kirk!!! You'll see why :) So we made sandwiches for dinner and Toby said "Wow I love this sandwich!!!!! It tastes like mayonaise" hahaha

KC and a scary moment

So, yesterday KC was playing in the garage while I was working, and I left him alone to go get something behind the house. While I was back there I heard him start screaming; like really screaming. I thought he must have gotten hurt or something so I ran around to the front of the house and into the garage. At just about this same time, Kianna came out of the house into the garage to see what was wrong too. KC was just screaming and crying, so i asked him what was wrong.
He pointed at a robin (the bird) in the yard quite close to the garage, and I said, "What? Did the robin come in here and scare you?"
"No!" he sobbed.
"What happened then?", I asked.
He just kept gesturing toward the bird.
Then Kianna asked rather sarcastically, "Did the robin come in here and peck your face?"
Still sobbing almost uncontrollably he replied, "NO, it's LOOKING AT ME!"

I guess he was terrified of the robin's evil eyes.


Remember, given half a chance, a robin would kill you and everyone you love.

Grace

By some amazing grace we now have a Grace to grace our home. Grace Eva Schlenske was born April 22 @ 8:22 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 in. We are very excited about her being here.

Blast From the Past

Check out Tara! And Courtney and Dixie, too.

Another JibJab

We are kinda liking these Jibjabs as well!

Book Recommendation

I recommend this book. The author's oldest sister is a babe.

I looked for the book this afternoon in downtown SLC and couldn't find it. So, I had a sales clerk look it up on the computer and there it was (I felt proud). They had put the book in the wrong section. Well! We got that fixed.

For those of you who don't know Steve and Christy Hardman, it has taken Christy a long time to get this published. She is one of Susan's sisters. She wrote the entire story of David as historical fiction, and this is the first book.

gopher catcher

thank you all for your advice on gophers. we didn't even know they existed out here....only ever seen tiny prairie dogs. but my research indicated the holes in our yard were made by a gopher. we had bought those bomb/poison gas thingys but hadn't used them yet. then yesterday afternoon, porter and i went out to play in the sprinklers (because is was 95 degrees!) and not only were there 2 new holes...but there was this tiny cute little gopher hiding behind one of our bushes! i didn't realize that from a distance it would look so much like a mouse. so, i couldn't just leave it....maybe i could do something! it ran into a small hole under the bush. i got the hose. it had one of those nozzles on it that shoots water hard. i couldn't get the nozzle off, so i just shot the water into the hole. the guy came back out. i think not only was he waterlogged, but i think the water had beat him up pretty badly. he could hardly walk. i just got a bucket and scooped him up. i couldn't bear to actually do away with him. so he sat in a bucket in the heat all afternoon. when daryl got home, he drowned him and disposed of him for me. i learned online that unless it's mating season, gophers usually are solitary in their tunnel systems. so, hopefully we have taken care of the problem. daryl went ahead and put one of the gas bombs into one of the holes last night just in case. so we will see. but i am feeling mighty proud that i caught a gopher!

porter LOVES jib jabs!!!!

It's a Boy

So, found out today we are having a boy. So far my pregnancy is going fine. It was just about this time that I started getting sick with Porter, so we'll see if this one goes better. I did get a really really bad cold that lasted almost 2 weeks, then Porter got a 24-hour flu...which he passed on to me. But we seem to be over those now and are pretty much healthy. Right now the Dr. plans to do a c-section about a week before my due date....so around Sept. 4-ish. We'll see what really plays out. Daryl is well and working hard as always.....2 evenings of school at ASU, homework, regular work, and lots of home-improvement projects.....the latest being trying to figure out how to get rid of the gopher we seem to have just acquired in the back yard. Porter gets smarter and cuter every day. He knows most of the letters of the alphabet....not written, but signed. It's cute. And he now counts to 10 on his own when he wants to play hide and seek.....it reminds me so much of Toby when I first moved here! He's a handful, but fun. And I'm so excited that we are having another boy so he'll have a buddy to play with! Guess that's about it. come visit!!!----okay maybe wait awhile...we'll already be hitting the 90's next week....but if you wanted to come swim in an outdoor pool somewhere, you could visit!

Gmail Custom Time!

This new Google feature was offered today. Or was it offered yesterday? I sure could use it sometimes. But as cool as it might be, it isn't really as cool as the free internet TiSP they offered last April.

porter sings happy birthday

We are well. Thought you might want to see the changes in Porterman...since they grow up so fast. I'm a bit sick this week. So, I'll write more another time.

air force test

Here's a little test for you. They say fighter pilots can do it for 2 minutes, but that you are brilliant if you can do it for 18 seconds. Have a try at it! The link is http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

Bret and I camping near Lake Mead

CLICK HERE to see the pictures from kirkandcherrie.blogspot.com

8

Susan is pregnant. Which means we will soon have . . . um . . . a lot of children. Best guestimate: 10/10/2008, which is Taiwan's "Double 10 Day", similar to our 4th of July--but Jeffrey probably already knew that. (Go, Benny! I still cannot do puzzles.)

Gush

I keep thinking I ought to blog, but can't think of much interesting to say. Our most exciting news always seems to be the cold extreme weather of North Dakota, or Ben being so overworked we pray the end of this assignment will end soon. What else can we tell you without being too boring?
The boys are doing great. They are so full of energy but are learning so much. Jeffrey makes breakfast by himself nearly every morning and does a great job. William is in charge of the dogs and does so well. Abel wanted something to be in charge of too, so he is now in charge of snack time. They all help cut and gather wood for our stove and even take out the garbage! It is fun to watch them grow up and learn responsibility. Jeffrey is obssessed with China lately. He has a chinese art kit and is learning the ways of their art, and he reads books and learns everything he can about China. We keep meaning to call David Benge on a weekend to see if he can teach Jeffrey a few words. Dallin is in his 3-year-old possessive state, but is sweet and says the sweetest prayers. Benny Walker is as adorable as anything you can imagine. He already does puzzles, which amazes me and he jabbers all the time, with a smile that is contagious.
Anyway, I really just wrote to say how much we miss all of you. We love you all.

We are finally part of the blog WOOHOO!

Photo Sharing

Just sitting here thinking about sharing photos. I love to see the pictures, but often don't know where to save them or what to do with them.

Web spaces for photos are becoming popular, such as Flickr (a Yahoo product, needing a Yahoo account), PicasaWeb (Google) and KodakGallery. Flickr seems to be a leader and has some good options, such as (as far as I can tell) unlimited storage--although there is a monthly upload limit--and an option to upload photos to a standard size allowing 4X6 printing for "friends" and "family" invitees. Picasa and PicasWeb use Google and gmail accounts, so it is easy to have all of us invited and able to use the space, and there is currently a 1 gig limit for pictures, which seems like plenty. Kodak has a buhzillion printing and product options, but looks like they want a yearly purchase.

Anyway, I am wondering what, if anything, any of you use. Is there an advantage or preferrence you know about? If so, please reply to this post. Also, if you do have such a site, could you share the link and let us know how to get an account? I could add the link to the right side here. Is anyone interested in me setting up something with Picasa where we could share photos using this account?

9-11.....Watch Out!

FYI. i now have an official due date. Yup. 9-11-08. we'll see what really happens...
the raspberry looks fine thus far. and i'm not as sick as last week...and overall not as sick as i was with porter....so far anyway. we still have a ways to go.

President Hinckley's Viewing

Since I am right downtown, and they have special times for employees to attend the viewing to alleviate security and attendance pressures, I went to his viewing today in the Conference Center. I have very few experiences of relatively close proximity to this prophet, but I have had a few--for which I am extremely grateful. I am sure he is very, very happy where he now is, but I miss him.

Anyway, I wanted to share an experience a co-worker of mine had at the viewing early this morning. He brought his family down. Elder Richard G. Hinckley was there. He approached and shook hands with his young son and said (quoting from memory, but this is close), "I am President Hinckley's son, and I appreciate you getting up so early to come here." Nice!

FYI, I hope you like the new layout. I didn't care too much for the old one and thought I would try something new.

weather and chaos

The title may be a bit extreme. However, I thought you may feel very pleased to live in Utah or Arizona right now. I would take a picture, but it could not do justice anyhow. The winds are gusting at about 50 mph. The temperature is -3 ambient, with windchills around 50 below! It is quite exciting. If you open the door, the snow blows in and covers the floor instantly. We don't get as much pretty snow as you, but it sure is dramatic. And to add to the choas of this weather. Ben is gone on alert, leaving me and all the boys sick with the flu at home. If that's not bad enough, I tried to start a fire and smoke came billowing through every crack of the chimney! Our house was filled with smoke. (I guess you can't just light a fire with a cold chimney and a backdraft blowing through. You have to heat it up slowly with paper until the draft sucks upward! Live and learn.) Anyhow, with it being so gusty and cold, there's not a great way to vent either, so we just laid around upstairs and hope the smoke will somehow vent through tiny cracks in the walls! I know it all sounds horribly sad, but can't you just picture Grandma Walker or Aunt Winnell telling this story. At the moment it was quite frustrating, but already it makes me laugh. And why does it seem that such things always happen when we are already sick, or spouse is gone, or both! We love you all and hope you are warm wherever you are!

Official Announcement

so, it's a bit early for an official announcement, but....i ended up begging daryl's family for help. i'm not throwing up much, but had a couple of days where i couldn't get off the couch (and all evenings are really hard)...and daryl is in school 2 nights a week, so he doesn't come home at all. i had to get someone to come play with porter, make him a good meal, and vacuum my carpet!
anyway, baby johnson looks to be due around the middle of september. i have an ultrasound on february 1st and will know much more then, since i'm only 7 weeks now.
but, since i had to tell daryl's family, i decided i'd just make it official for all family members.

medical update

In December, when I saw Dr. Benowitz, he ordered a variety of blood tests which were done that same day.  He also ordered a glucose test, a bone density test, and scans of my parathyroid.   Yesterday I had the glucose and bone test.  This morning I had the scans and then went straight to the office for another visit with the doctor.  My blood sugar level is not normal - it is up.  It was normal in September, but is not so now.  (Interesting that it could change so quickly.)  My calcium &  parathyroid hormone levels are still up indicating there is a problem there, but they are not dangerously high.

 We are not going to do anything about the parathyroid right now.  Doctor is waiting for the results of the scans and also a test to see if I carry the gene for MEN (multiple endocrine neoplasia).  This gene test takes 2-3 months.   In the meantime, I am not in an emergency situation.   Bone density is good, no sign of loss.   My heart is back to beating normally - why it ever went crazy is unknown.   I am to return to primary care physician.  Work on the blood sugar and lose "lots of weight".   

I will see the doctor in 4 months.   If I test positive to the gene for MEN, surgery will probably not be an option because all 4 parathyroid glands are probably a problem and they cannot all be removed.   If it comes out negative, and only one gland is involved, then I will probably have surgery to remove it before it causes more problems.

That is the latest.  I am feeling okay and I know losing weight will help me feel much better and I am sure that the doctor is wise in telling me to get some weight off.

We send our love to all of you.     

Mom

PS  Why won't this blog keep my paragraphs separated like I separate them?  I don't write mile-long paragraphs.

Hello all and Surprise.

I have actually been to this blog and read and read and caught up on some things that I never heard, or at least don't remember hearing.    It has been fun.   

Now that we have high speed stuff, we will try to start posting our letters here.

To start off,  today I was scheduled to be to my endocrinologist's office at 9 a.m. for some tests - his office is by LDS hospital.  We left here at 7:10 as it was snowing, so we knew it would be a slow drive.   As we drove, we listened to the road reports.  They continued to mention that the traffic at the point of the mountain was just stopped and not even moving.  The snow plows couldn't get through and it was a total mess from point of the mountain to Bangerter highway,  both north and south.   They also informed us that is was going to continue to snow and that roads were bad everywhere.   As we approached Lehi, we decided to just turn around and not even try to make the appointment.   When we arrived home, I called and left a message that I was not going to be in.   I will call later and reschedule.

We love you all.  Enjoy the snow.

Mom

From Dad (Photo from about 1947)

My brother Jim sent this to me. Does the little girl on the left look like Lily? Does anyone see any resemblance to Grandma Benge or Grandpa Porter Benge? Does the little boy on the right look like he could be anyone's grandpa?

Competing with North Dakota

We got at least 18 inches of snow up here today. I thought we already had plenty. If it wasn't for my kind-hearted neighbor and his snow blower, we would be in serious trouble. Apparently, this is not a rare occurrence--it snows like this every few years. (FYI, it snowed another 6 to 8 inches after the picture of me by our mailbox.)