It’s a quiet Sunday afternoon. Nina and I have been to Church. Scott is taking a nap (as is Austin). Jaelene is still in her pajamas. Nina has gone to visit a good friend. Jackson is also taking a nap (must be a theme here??). A couple of cousins have come over to play, so toys abound everywhere. Everyone seems to be having a good time.

We’ve had a good Christmas holiday. I enjoyed watching the kids open their presents and their joy at seeing what was in the next package. Jackson got a big play kitchen and has enjoyed playing with it. In fact, he eventually got so the other presents weren’t interesting; he just wanted to play with the kitchen. Colten has a new bike, but the real hit was a new set of yugio cards. He is absolutely enthralled with yugio, the TV show, and the associated ‘dualing’. He certainly understands everything about the game, but it’s all Greek to me! I was also well taken care of this Christmas as well.

We are also certainly eating well! There’s candy around everywhere (which Bradica The Dog enjoys), all kinds of food in the fridge, as well as a huge batch of fudge just for me.

This has been a nice, quiet vacation so far. Jaelene is coming back well from the birth and we’ll do some sightseeing out and around the area next week. I think we’ll leave on Saturday to drive back so we have some time to get things a bit in order before all the obligations of the new year start. Tomorrow I’ll do some work — visit a data center in north Phoenix. This is a place that we’re considering doing some outsourcing with. The big value is that by making this visit on Monday, I can turn in an expense report for the mileage. It was about 700 miles down here. It’ll be a nice reimbursement.

Interesting people and interesting things are here. Almost every car here is an expensive car. The more expensive, the older the driver (and often the worse the driver)!. Everything is flat. I don’t think there’s anything taller than two stories for miles around. There is real estate development going on everywhere, all in walled communities, some in gated communities. Huge tracts of land are being developed with highly restrictive covenants, meaning everyone has to drive somewhere else to work. The newspaper is filled with information about lawsuites, all related to real estate and many related to the dairy farms and land fill that were here long before the developments were here. We’ve become a very litigious people and I suspect there are few places more so than here. I think water and access thereto will soon be the major topic here (once again). I’m sure there isn’t enough water in this desert area for all the development that’s happening. I think I’m going to walk around to the supermarket and buy a newspaper. Something interesting may have happened around here besides people suing people! Besides, reading the newspaper is a good thing to do on a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Nina and I picked Jaelene and Austin up from the hospital this morning. While we were waiting for the hospital to get everything done so Jaelene could be released, I used my new cell phone to take a picture. He’s not even two days old and is already featured on the Internet! This is quite an age that we live in.

As we were driving here from Colorado Springs, we spent some time talking about how much technology has changed our lives, particularly in ways that we completely take for granted. DVD movies, microwave ovens, Internet, MP3 players, wireless devices, phones with cameras in them…. The list got quite lengthy as we were discussing the subject. About a century ago, people’s lives were defined by how far they could ride a horse or walk. Today we can be in any part of the world in less than a day. Then trying to visualize what technology will be available even 50 years from now is very difficult! Our grandchildren will be taking things for granted that we will find simply amazing. I’d like to be around then! Have a great life, Austin!

Austin made his debut this evening at about 8:30 p.m. MST. What a grand thing is childbirth! Jaelene called shortly after the delivery and we heard him squawl as they gave him a shot. He’s got lungs — and all other important body parts. Weighing in at six pounds ten ounces and nineteen and a half inches long, he’s now ready to start life in this world.

Austin, we’re so happy to have you here. You’ve got good parents who will nuture and love you. They’ll teach you not only how to live, but how to make a difference in this lifetime. I hope that you’ll listen to them but still develop an independent and inquisitive spirit that will be channeled in appropriate directions. Welcome to this life, Austin!

Yesterday afternoon Dawnmarie and Kirk were able to bring their new daughter Jillian home from Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. Her problem with reflux is under control, she’s eating well, and can now be cared for by her parents. Welcome home, Jillian! I’m so happy that you’re home!

Austin must be on his way. Jaelene called a few minutes ago to tell us that her water has broken and she’s headed to the hospital. So, if all goes well, little Austin will make his debut within the next twenty-four hours. Jaelene is very happy to think this pregnancy just might be coming to an end.

Two grandchildren in two weeks. This is pretty special. I suspect, however, that these will be the last grandchildren for a while until either Daryl or Jared start their families. Time enough for that, however. Merry Christmas to all!

Monday morning started with a blizzard. Heavy snow and furious winds created near white-out conditions. Since I live only a little more than a mile from the office, I was able to get there with no real issues. Much of my staff, however, spent the day working from a snowbound home. With today’s broadband internet connections and laptop computers, most of my staff can be just as effective working from home as they are in the office, at least for a couple of days, before things begin to bog down. By early afternoon the snow had stopped and by late evening the wind had died down. By tomorrow the snow should be history as we’ll have temperatures in the upper 50’s.

Tomorrow is memorable for an entirely different reason, however. The final installment of The Lord of the Rings debuts tomorrow. The Return of the King is probably the most anticipated film of the year. I’m taking my staff to the movie … at least all who wish to go. We’ll be at the 10:00 a.m. showing and some of my staff will be seeing the movie for the second time by then. My son-in-law Kirk is going to the midnight show tonight! He is a major J.R.R. Tolkien fan and has been telling his children bedtime stories from The Hobbit or from The Lord of the Rings from the time they were born. I’ve caught a cold and stayed home from the office today. I watched the first installment last night and the second this afternoon. I think I’m ready! Bring on the movie!

Little Jillian has made a detour on her way home to the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. She was not able to nurse and breathe at the same time. Since breathing is an important activity for her, she needed to be checked out. She has been diagnosed with reflux and is now on some medication and a different formula. Perhaps she’ll be able to come home by the end of the week. Nina flies home on Friday and her being there has been quite helpful. Dawnmarie and Kirk can make the hour-long trip to the hospital and not have to worry about the other four kids (most of whom also are sick with colds and strep throat)

The big news of the world yesterday was the capture of Sadaam Hussein — the ousted dictator of Iraq. Will he become another footnote in history? I certainly hope that he becomes nothing more than that. He has been a ruthless maniac responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s. He will not be mourned for very long, me thinks.

Dawnmarie gave birth this morning to her fifth child (our 15th grandchild), Jillian Marie. Welcome to this world, Jillian. It’s a turbulant, crazy place fraught with danger, pitfalls, and pratfalls. There are evil people, wierd people, sleazy people, and delightful people. You have come into a wonderful family who will teach you how to live, even thrive, in this sphere of mortality. More importantly, they’ll teach you about our Savior, Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation. I hope and pray that you’ll learn to cherish these principles and engrain them in your life. I’m so excited by what you’ll see and experience as you grow up and old. I can’t imagine what wonderous things will be at your beck and call. I even wonder if this short note on your birth day will be available to you then? I’m so happy you’re here! Welcome, Jillain Marie!

It’s just Nina and me at home now. The Utah contingent left about 8:30 this morning. Jared headed north to Denver about an hour later. We’re getting things ready so we can go to Church. We’ve got the afternoon schedule this year. Because this is the fifth Sunday, I didn’t have any meetings this morning (always a blessing). It’s kind of quiet…. a “lack of sound” not heard for several days.

Driving up to Denver on Friday afternoon for a shift at the Temple I passed a car with a large Dennis Kucinich for President sticker in the back window. How in the world does anyone in Colorado know anything about Dennis Kucinich, let alone know that they want to vote for him eleven months from now? I have vivid memories of Mr. Kucinich in the late 1970’s when we were living near Cleveland. We moved back from Germany shortly after Mr. Kucinich became mayor of Cleveland. He immediately set about bankrupting the city! Within a year the city had defaulted on several million dollars in debt and had become the laughing stock of country. He shared the headlines with the Cuyahoga School Board Chairman (I think his name was Gallagher) who provided “comic relief” by mooning other folks while driving down the freeway. Kucinich was soundly defeated when he came up for reelection. I thought that was the end of a pretty bizarre political career, but I guess some folks get addicted to politics. He was elected to the State Legislature for a single term in the late 90’s and then, rather than run for reelection, ran for Congress and was elected. He is so liberal as to be dangerous in the extreme. If a person has any money at all, Kucinich believes it belongs to the government for redistribution. He would have no military at all. In an earlier era he would have been branded a communist. And with that and more, someone in Colorado thinks that Kucinich should be elected President. I guess political machines can spin anything, but this just leaves me dumbfounded! What is normal, anyway?

We’ve had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. Everyone arrived safely on Wednesday evening for which I’m thankful. Thanksgiving Day started with Ty and me taking all of the kids bowling. Some years before we arrived in Colorado Springs someone started a Ward tradition of fathers taking the kids bowling on Thanksgiving morning to give mothers some space to get things ready at home. I think this is the third time that Ty, Heather, and kids have been here on Thanksgiving and the third time we’ve gone bowling. Of all the years we’ve gone bowling, this was by far the best experience. All of the kids are old enough now to be able to get their own balls, tie their own shoes, and have a good time. In total eight of us were at the bowling alley leaving Heather and Nina at home.

The traditional meal was traditionally delicious. It sure doesn’t take very much time to devour a meal — certainly not in contrast to how long it takes to prepare such a feast. Even the cleanup took longer than the eating! There doesn’t seem to be much justice in that. In any event, the food was great, the conversation was delightful, and all too soon we were cleaning everything up.

Football was the primary noise event for the rest of the day. Ty, Heather, and Daryl are involved in a football activity with other family members and they’re very interested in who wins, who looses, and by how much. Daryl picked both of the underdogs to win, and win they did. He was off to a good start on the weekend professional games. Heather, however, has a significant lead over the rest of the gang and probably can’t be beat. We finished the evening by watching the second Lord of the Rings installment, The Two Towers. The extended DVD version was released a week or so ago and is about four hours long. I could (and will) watch it a couple of more times before the third installment is released on December 17th.

Before the video and after the games, several folks spent a couple of hours building picture books for the Church’s Humanitarian Center. These books consist of six pages of pictures cut out of magazines, pasted on paper, and put in sheet protectors. Heather will take these books back with her to turn over to the center. This has been a fun project and just about everyone can particpate in putting together these books. They’ll be given to schools in other parts of the world so that kids can have their own books. We had several piles of magazines laying around the house. They’ve all now been sliced up and the remnants tossed away. I think this is a good use for old magazines. Some of the photography in these magazines is quite impressive!

So, on this Friday morning, we’re taking it quite easy. We’ve had a big, sumptuous breakfast. The kids are playing, the adults are lounging around, and we’ll just take it easy. Many other folks are out shopping on this biggest shopping day of the year. We won’t be among that group. Family time is much more important, thankfully!