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