For me looking at all of the blessings that I have in my life and how I am undeserving of them. I have a wonderful wife who loves and supports me. She does a wonderful job raising our kids and she teaches them so much. She is my biggest fan and gives eerily accurate honest criticism. She is so beautiful and talented. I truly “married up”. She is my partner and friend.
I have three great children that I love to play with. I can’t think of a better feeling then returning home after work and seeing them run out the front door to meet me as I pull into the driveway. This never gets old. Even when I try to sneak in they are looking for me. They always have so many things to say and questions to ask and I am their expert. G& S have started using the MacBook more so they ask me how to do things. I am thankful for the chances that I get to steal away with each child and spend alone time with them. I treasure this time with them while they are small (at least Reece is small). I know it won’t last.
I am also thankful for faith. Faith helps me as a father and husband face each day knowing that my family will be safe. I love them all so much (especially my sweetheart, Tammy). I have a wonderful life and a beautiful family. I am extremely blessed.
With the holiday season upon us I think of all the traditions that families and friends have. It is heart- warming to think of getting together and enjoying this time. Not to get too mushy here is a great SNL holiday clip.... JT is pretty talented.
David Pogue is a technology columnist for the New York Times. I have mentioned him in this space before and this week his column deserves another mention. But first I want to add my two cents.
Mr. Pogue wrote a column about why we spend countless hours and dollars snapping, taping, shooting and documenting the mundane events that make up our lives. For me the answer is easy; because I need to. It is in my blood. I grew up in a home where we took a lot of pictures and videos of whatever we did. So much so that for fun my brother, our friends and I would video tape ourselves lip syncing in our upstairs rec room. (If these tapes were to ever be found then they would probably be good for blackmail). Another example of our family putting it all on video would be Christmas morning. My Dad would set up the tripod for the video camera and let it just record it all. All the conversations, the bickering about whose turn it was to pass out presents or open a present. We have it all on tape; about 30 years worth.
When my brother and I went to the Grand Canyon with our Grandmother in 1990 we took our big VHS video camera to document the trip. Talk about scenery, too bad we really didn't think about narration...But you can sure see the canyon. I was o involved in getting the adventure filmed that when I lost my footing on a path near the canyon and ripped eight stitches out of my right knee, it was due to the fact that I was filming the view from the canyon rim. (That was not a pleasant drive back to Idaho, since the wound had to heal open and I couldn't bend my knee at all).
Now as a father I will admit I am not as bad as my father was...but I do have quite a few pictures on our MacBook. I take full responsibility. This is the reason that in the spring I hope to install a larger hard drive. Our photo library takes over 7gb of space. That is after archiving photos that are pre-2005. There are many photos. The goal is to eventually upload them and create hardbound books about each of the kids. But for now they are preserved in iPhoto. I know that I am not the only one that does this. It is not that I hope that my kids or friends will be famous or that I will be able to sell the pictures or movies to "E!". It is that when I look back as an old man and share stories with my great-grandchildren I want to be able to show them how happy there family is and has been. How blessed we are. The good stock they come from. So that they know what kind of legacy they should leave for thier great-granchildren.
This is my favorite reader response:
“ Were it not for the video shown to me on our first date, I probably would not be in this 22-year-old marriage of mine. When we sat down to see his family video, I watched my husband run around in the woods playing Indian at the age of 7; I saw his family and the house where he was born and raised. In that half hour of our first date, I fell in love with the boy in the man I married. Viewing that video told me all I wanted to know; I still see the boy in his now 80-year-old self.”
I share this so that we all can see how important it is to share with our children the respect that our elected officials deserve. As with the gentleman in the story I don't think that most Idahoans are racists, but even a joke heard by a child can be taken out of context. Threats to the President of the United States are against the law...
§ 871. Threats against President and successors to the Presidency
(a) Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. (b) The terms “President-elect” and “Vice President-elect” as used in this section shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the offices of President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained from the results of the general elections held to determine the electors of President and Vice President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 1 and 2. The phrase “other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President” as used in this section shall mean the person next in the order of succession to act as President in accordance with title 3, United States Code, sections 19 and 20.
REXBURG - Controversial words spoken by kids on a school bus have some Madison County parents concerned.
Matthew Whoolery and his wife aren't blaming the school district for what happened on the bus but they do think all parents need to be careful about what they say and teach their children.
Whoolery and his wife couldn't believe it when their second and third graders got off the bus last week and told them what other students were saying.
"They just hadn't heard anything like this before," said Whoolery. "They were chanting on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama. Assassinate Obama.' Then adding in a name sometimes of a classmate on the bus, 'Assassinate Obama and Kate.'"
The Whoolery's explained to their kids what assassinate means then contacted the school about what was happening.
"I think the thing that struck us was just like, 'Where did they get the word and why would they put that word and that person together?'" said Whoolery.
It's not that the Whoolery's are big Obama fans they just don't like people joking about a serious matter concerning any leader of the country.
"I'm assuming if it were, 'Assassinate McCain' you'd feel the same way?" asked reporter Nate Eaton.
"No question about it," replied Whoolery.
After the incident, the Madison School district superintendent sent an email to all teachers, principals, and bus drivers saying that all students should show proper respect for elected officials.
If a student does say something inappropriate, the adult is to calm them down and tell them the behavior is unacceptable.
"I don't think that the majority of people in Rexburg have extreme ideas like that but we were just surprised that it would go that far," said Whoolery.
The Whoolery's moved to Rexburg a year ago. They came from the Middle East where they lived for three years.
In all their time living there, they never heard any comments similar to these about any leaders there or here.
