Family Ties

On July 24th we took a trip out to Manilla, Utah, which is about 3 hours away from where we live, to visit the grave of my Grandpa Ken. He married my Grandma Erla when I was about 10 or 11. Though he was technically my step-grandpa I knew him better and loved him more than my biological grandpas.

Grandpa was among the last of a dying breed, in my opinion. It’s rare to find honor and integrity like that these days. He had enough love to "adopt" all of my Grandmothers kids and their kids, and make us all feel like we belonged to him all along. There is a lot I could say about him, among them that he was a well respected businessman and the sheriff of Daget County, Utah for many years, but suffice to say that he was a great man, loved and respected by many.

He died in 2004. Jacob was born in 2006, and when he was about 10 months old he and Allison happened across grandpa’s obituary. Jacob saw that small picture on the obituary, got very excited and said, “Pa!” over and over, before Allison told him who it was. Every time Allison tried to put it away, Jacob protested and insisted on having it out. He had the same reaction every time we showed him a picture of Grandpa Ken. We believe that he and Grandpa had a strong friendship before Jacob came to us. Proof to us that the special bonds we make in pre/post mortal existence carry on forever. Joseph’s middle name is Kenneth, and we hope that both our boys can look to him as a great example of what a man should be.

How grateful we are for our wonderful families, full of examples of Christ-like attributes. We are grateful for the legacies our progenitors have left us, and we hope to be able to be worthy of our heritage.

Is This Thing On???

I really have to admit that, in spite of my young age, I am fairly computer illiterate. This is my first attempt at establishing my family blog, and I’m feeling out this process on my own. So, long story short, there will probably never be an electric light show, magic trick button, or other silly things on my blog. I say they are silly because, really it would be cool to have an electric light show, magic trick button, and a ton of silly things, but if I say they are silly then I don't feel so bad when I can't figure out how to do them. It gives the appearance that I don’t want them.

This blog is mostly for family... lets be honest, I have no friends, therefore, this site is entirely for family. And the majority of what will be posted here is pictures and stories about my sons. My life is far to uninteresting to post stories of it, but my boys are another story.

Take my 2 year old son Jacob, for example. He now has body piercings! I asked him not to do it, and I even told him, in very strong language, that I would give him a time out if he did it, but that didn't stop him. Last Saturday, he "fell" (jumped, I say) off of the bleachers at a community play and split his scalp open. Boy, head wounds bleed a lot, don't they? Long story short, he got two staples in the back of his head. He was very brave (like Nephi), and was happy and smiling by the time we walked out of the ER.

Anyway, welcome to our blog!