I know I have posted this picture before and the reason I post it again is to show who I am talking about with the medical problems that have cropped up. Rylie, on the left, is the most serious and is being treated by the doctors at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. We should know by Friday just how serious a problem she has. It has the doctors in a buzz I do know that.

Amber, we found out, has similar problems but not as serious and since it was caught at an earlier stage she should be all right with theraputic treatment.

Both girls have some sort of neck development problems. Don't ask me to tell what cause I can't pronounce the word. Rylie did not get caught soon enough and is undergoing professional treatment while Amber is being taken care of at home.

Rylie also has another undeveloped spot on her head (not the normal soft spot) and that is where the real serious concern comes from. There is a possiblity of brain damage, although she shows no indication of it right now, and if the worst case senario was to develop it could lead to death. Needless to say her parents are quite distraught and asking themselves what did they do wrong. We keep telling them they did nothing wrong and it is just one of those things we don't expect, but they still have to come to terms with it all.

I was thinking about this blogging thing. I started writing so my kids would have something about their parents but they never read my blogs. I have gained some friends whom I probably will never meet but even they get bored after a while. I am beginning to wonder if anyone (other than Schaumi) reads these things and is it worth continuing. There are just days that there is nothing to write about. Oh, by the way, did I ever tell the story about some idiot jumping on my truck in LA when I was going about 60 mph? Probably did and don't remember it.

For someone with nothing to say I sure have a long blog.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't drink but sometimes I find these kind of pictures funny.

Does anyone know what "blogger beta" is? Is it any better than "blogger"? It wouldn't take a great deal to accomplish that but I am curious.

We are back to being boring, as if we ever left it. The only concern we are dealing with (major concern that is) is our granddaughter Rylie. Apparently she has a soft spot on her head that could cause some extremely serious consequences. She has been to the Children's hospital for tests and everyone is waiting for the results. It is not good, we know that and she is such a cutie.

Going to the Red Lobster tonight. Each year Cheryl and I watch for the shrimp feast and we go and piiiiiiiig out. Another couple wants to go with us so it should be fun.

Pulled the tomato, bean, and pepper plants today. Now to see if the tomatos will turn ripe in the bag with newspaper and an apple. Cheryl made the best apple butter the other day. No wonder I fight the battle of the bulge with a good cook like that.

Well, got to close and do some name extraction.

Have a nice day everyone.

I don't have to leave until later this afternoon so thought I would blog.

Yes, Tiger Sue, name extraction is a lot of fun and very rewarding. I find it interesting to do death certificates especially. The listed reasons for death can be quite shocking at times. I came across a family who had burned in a fire, several murders, a suicide or two, and various other reasons for passing on. It is very sobering to see how many children suffered from the plague, abuse or whatever. Right now I am doing the Pittsburg, PA census and marriage from Norfolk, England. Are you doing the new church program on the Internet? It is the greatest. I just got called to be the assistant stake director for name extraction.

Okay, I am in a griping mood today. Must be caused by my several trips and the
*&^%$#@!!! drivers out there on the road. When I drove truck it was a common thing that most of the time you could spot a Utah or New York driver without seeing their license plates. Mind you all states have these problems but these two states always stood out the most.

Can anyone out there tell me what the official designation of a left lane on a freeway is? Not guessing, but the legal definition.

How I wish there was an invention that could truly dim headlights when a car was within 500 feet of you whether from the front or from behind. I know they have tried but so far nothing very successful has happened. Where is this excellent German engineering when you need it?

Anyway about the left lane on a freeway. I have never seen two states so bad about driving in the left lane all the time. I mean these guys never leave it. It don't matter whether the speed limit is 45 or 95 that is where they drive, most of the time going slower than anyone else, and everyone can kiss their royal behinds. Last night I watched the license plates of those who were in the "wrong" lane and I swear 95% of them were from Utah. I feel somewhat uncomfortable about passing on the right side of someone because they might wake up and suddenly swing to the right and cause a fender bender. Aaaagggghhhh, Utahns!!!!! Of course there were a "few" Idahoans doing the same thing but they were from the Blackfoot reservation.

I have this saying from my earlier years, "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you are perfect in every way."

Aleaha thank you for the last update on A.J. Sounds like things are getting back to normal and it will just take time for the old geezer to get back to his crotchity old ways.:)

Here is a story I thought you might enjoy.

Mother-in-law killed

A newlywed farmer and his wife were visited by her mother, who immediately demanded an inspection of the place. The farmer had genuinely tried to be friendly to his new mother-in-law, hoping that it could be a friendly, non-antagonistic relationship. All to no avail though, as she kept nagging them at every opportunity, demanding changes, offering unwanted advice, and generally making life unbearable to the farmer and his new bride.

While they were walking through the barn, during the forced inspection, the farmer's mule suddenly reared up and kicked the mother-in-law in the head, killing her instantly. It was a shock to all no matter their feelings toward her demanding ways.

At the funeral service a few days later, the farmer stood near the casket and greeted folks as they walked by. The pastor noticed that whenever a woman would whisper something to the farmer, he would nod his head yes and say something. Whenever a man walked by and whispered to the farmer, however, he would shake his head no, and mumble a reply.

Very curious as to this bizarre behavior, the pastor later asked the farmer what that was all about.

The farmer replied, "The women would say, 'What a terrible tragedy' and I would nod my head and say, 'Yes, it was.' The men would then ask, 'Can I borrow that mule?' and I would shake my head and say, 'Can't. It's all booked up for a year.'"

Have a nice day everyone.

Being one who fights the battle of the bulge I was quite shocked to find that after all these years the weighing procedure has been done wrong. I don't remember who sent me this picture but I got quite a kick out of it. Maybe it was Dana that sent it to me and now we know how she lost so much weight.:)

We got our first snow the other day. It never made it to the valley floor but it was mighty close on the foothills. The wind was blowing and very cold. I loved it. I felt sorry for the kids playing soccor though. Those uniforms are not made for keeping them warm. At least the ones running up and down the field were somewhat warm but the goalies had nothing else to do but stand there and freeze. Lots of goals scored in the game.

Cheryl has been quite good lately. No mischief to report. She has been canning pears and apples so that keeps her fairly busy. Still lippy though. I keep singing the song to her about an attitude adjustment but she ignores me. I wanted to do something special last night (heh, heh, heh), but she said she had a headache and didn't want to. Not too often I want to drive 35 miles to eat at Red Lobster. (I hope that is what all of you understood me to mean.)

Another busy week staring me in the face but not like last week. The school even put me up in a motel one night so I wouldn't have to drive home and then return withing a couple of hours. Someone asked me how I could drive bus since I have been on disability, I forget who it was that asked. Welllllllll, quite frankly I was a little surprised myself. I went to the doctor and he approved it so here I be. I truly expected him to deny me but he felt after two operations and etc, etc I was good for this. I will be honest in saying my disability does not affect my driving for short distances (200 miles tops) but longer than that it would be a problem. I don't have to lift anything, which I could not do, so it works out.

Last week I took a bunch of girls to a volleyball game and on the way home they got to be quite noisy. I got their attention and motioned for them to hold it down. From the back came this voice saying, "We're sorry Mr. Bus Driver. You know you love us anyway." I couldn't help but start laughing and told them I was still thinking about that one. The kids have treated me very well.

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for not getting to your blogs or posting like I want to. When I am not driving I am doing name extractions from old documents so they can be put in an electronic format and put out for the genealogical world. It is truly rewarding to do this.

Have a nice day everyone.

I want you to know I do read different blogs but lately I just have not had time to make too many comments. Schaumi I tried several times one day to post a comment but the system just would not let me in. Must have put an Irish block on it.

I found out how to bring total silence to a bus full of kids (girls actually). On the way home from a game the other night the volleyball team was a singing and expending lots of energy. I waited for a pause in between songs and then started howling like a dog who's ears were hurting. I think I shocked them because no driver has ever acted that way before. Once the shock wore off the laughter started and the songs grew louder. I love hauling kids like that. They keep me young at heart.

Took the varsity volleyball team to Idaho Falls yesterday, (they got their behinders kicked quite badly) but on the way home I could not believe how many vehicles were on the highway. This is Idaho for crying out loud. Half the states population had to have been driving last night and half of the half had their bright lights on. We are farmers in this country. What happened to the good old farmer who went to bed at 10:00pm right after the news and was up at the crack of dawn? I am talking about midnight last night and it was bumper to bumper traffic. California yes, but Idaho no, no, no.

I had a guy flip me off the other day. It shocked the girls that he would do it. I was trying to make a turn off a busy street and this guy and the female he was with had me blocked. I pointed to where I was trying to go and motioned to them that if they would just back up a little I could get out of the way. "SALUTE!!" Now, I don't take salutes very well. I have been known to break fingers over things like that. I invited him to come over to the bus and we would discuss the situation like gentlemen but he didn't want no part of that. Oh well, it is water under the bridge now. I felt bad that I reacted like I did and wanted to discuss his "salute" in person. People can be so ignorant at times.

Cheryl is having a Red Hat meeting here today. I cannot figure out women. (DUH) As if they don't have enough to do but then they go and start up these clubs or whatever because they need a social life. What better social life can you have than with your husband? Why get married? We husbands can take care of all your needs! Sorry Dana but I just had to say this. Luce will probably tear me apart and what Schaumi will say... well you know Germans. Oh, I have a story to tell. Looks like this is a long blog but when I look at next weeks schedule this will probably be my last blog for a week.

A soldier was in the middle of a firefight when he ran out of bullets. Surrounded by the enemy he frantically looked around for some means to defend himself. Nothing. As a final desparate gesture to the advancing enemy he pointed his finger and went, "Bang, bang, bang." To his surprise three of the enemy fell down dead in their tracks. "Hmmmm," he said, "What caused that?" Pointing his finger again he went, "Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang," and several more of the enemy fell dead. Finally all that was left of the enemy was one lone soldier. Smiling to himself the man pointed his finger at the enemy and went "BANG." Nothing happened. The enemy soldier just kept marching toward him. "Bang, bang, bang," Nothing and the enemy was gettin uncomfortably close. "Rat ta tat,tat,tat; Bang, bang, bang", but the finger failed him this time. The enemy soldier marched up to the man, stomped him in the ground and continued on his way. The man drug his poor torn up body to the rim of his foxhole wondering what kind of enemy he just encountered. As he watched his enemy's back he could hear him say, "Tanka, tanka, tanka."

Have a nice day everyone.

For some reason I got to thinking the other day about some of the situations Cheryl and I have encountered and I remembered the one where she got a speeding ticket which I thought was funny but she sure didn't.

I was pulling mobile homes for a living and had picked one up in Caldwell, then headed for Idaho Falls, ID. Along the way I became horribly sick and had to stop in the small town of American Falls, ID. I called Cheryl and she came and got me. Five days later when I was finally able to raise my head up we headed back to American Falls so I could bring the trailer on to Idaho Falls.

Just out of American Falls there is a radar tower that sets off the radar detector in the car or truck. We were traveling along, Cheryl following me in the car, when the radar detector started beeping. Since we both had CB's I told Cheryl not to worry about anything that I was sure it was not a state trooper. How wrong I was. We were both going about 10 miles over the speed limit when he passed us on the other side of the freeway. Immediately his lights came on and over to our side he came.

Cheryl grabbed the CB mike and called me to tell me a highway patrolman was coming up behind her with his lights on. Well now what was I supposed to do, stop and say hi? I don't think so. I wished her well and told her I would see her at home. When the patrolman asked her what the hurry was she told him she was just following me. His reply was that I was going too fast but she was the one getting the ticket. I laughed until my sides hurt when she told me all about it. To this day she has not forgiven me. No sense of humour in that woman.

Of course the sad part of the whole story is that I had to pay the fine no matter what although it did not show up on my driving record. Lost a little bit of my sense of humour then.

Have a nice day everyone.

Have you ever seen the movie, "Invaders From Mars"? I watched that movie as a child and it scared the living dickens out of me. We would sleep outside on the lawn, look at the stars and just know the "Invaders From Mars" were coming to get us. People would get sucked down in the sand and later appear out of nowhere with marks on their necks and then they would do strange things.

As I got older I realized this was all fiction and the fear left me... until the other day. I have told you about the young woman I know that lives in Colorado and how she was abducted by space aliens. I have always suspected they did strange things to her by some of the things she would do. Now I have undisputable proof that they did something to her and she has just cause for her actions. This is a picture of a mark they put on her neck while she was in the mother ship. Now my fear has rekindled and I am afraid to go to sleep at night because I know she will send her space buddies to do bad things to me.



We just had a minnie family reunion. The occastion was Amber Nicole being blessed and named in our church. Our daughter Katherine, from California, surprised us all by showing up with her husband and children. We haven't seen them for several years and it was a great surprise. Those grandchildren have grown so much. We had a good time but I have reached that stage in life where I enjoy seeing the tail lights as they round the corner headed for their home. Sure makes you feel good when those grandchildren make a beeline for you and just hug you to pieces.

Here is a picture of all the women (biological) in my life. I have another granddaughter from another marriage but I consider her my granddaughter just as much as I do the biological ones.



Of course we still claim Amber (the space abductee) as one of our family but as you can tell from her picture we wonder why. (She would be disappointed if I said something nice)



She was trying to be a pirate and accidently poked herself in the eye with her sword.

Guess that is all for now. My brother in law is doing very well now and is out of intensive care and should be out of the hospital in a week or so. Still some healing to be done but at least he is acting more normal.

Have a nice day everyone.

I have a few minutes so will post something.

I will admit something about hauling kids, teenagers, around the area. They do keep you young feeling. All that chatter and enthusiasm can be contagious at times, irritating at others.

There is a rule that I am sure is nationwide and I emphasize it everytime I start a trip, no moving around the bus while it is in motion. All it would take is a sharp stop or swerve and someone could get hurt. Trust kids to come up with an alternative solution for their needs. Last night I am driving along interstate 84 when a movement caught my eye in the mirror. A girl had decided she needed to move from the back to the front where some of her friends were so she was on her hands and knees crawling up the aisle. Just at the time I looked up she looked up and seen me watching her. Talk about a silly grin. I couldn't help but start laughing.

I know in some of my previous posts I have been somewhat critical of soccor. Having taken the time to watch a couple of games I now find I do enjoy watching the kids play 'cause they play with such intensity. Yesterday, however, I found the perfect sport to truly call "BORING". I took the cross-country team to one of its meets. I repeat "BORING". Even watching paint dry is more exciting.

I now know why Schaumi and others like her do enjoy teaching even with the bad days. Kids can do the funniest things. Cheryl comes home and tells me some of the most interesting stories from second graders.

Oops, the breakfast call has sounded. Gotta go.

Have a nice day everyone.