Remembering My Carnalito

Last night my mom, and two of my sisters were over for a visit. We always enjoy each other's company and talk until the cows came home.

After dinner we started talking about our memories of my Grandpa and Grandma Whetten and the different experiences our family had as they reached the end of their lives. It was good to hear Mom's perspective on the events and understand a little more how our family character has been shaped by these experiences.

Eventually the conversation got around to Timmy, and we each shared our experiences leading up to the day he passed away and the tremedous sorrow and comfort we felt during that eventful week. We all had a good cry as we remembered our feelings, and it was good to be together while we remembered him.

I don't really have a whole lot to say, just that I miss my little brother and am grateful for the opportunity I will have to be with him and the other members of my family who have passed on.

Love you Tim!

Tagged by Dulcinea (aka Salsa Mama)

OK - this is the first time I've ever been tagged, so we'll see how it goes.

Here are the rules for playing the game: Post these rules on your blog; List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

- Joys

1) My sweet wife.

2) My wonderful children

3) Long motorcycle rides

- Fears

1) Losing any member of my family - physically, spiritually, etc.

2) Surviving a major motorcycle wreck (I'd rather die than be maimed for life)

3) Barack Obama becoming President (Heaven help us!)

- Goals

1) Be debt free and financially secure

2) Own a Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide (Rock On!!!)

3) Build a very nice house for my family

- Current Obsessions/Collections

1) Politics

2) Motorcycles

3) Firearms

-Surprising Facts

1) I am left handed but right eye dominant so I shoot a rifle/shotgun right handed but a pistol left handed. I also bat right handed but catch and throw left handed.

2) Heights terrify me

3) I think I talk too much

OK - I tag Armed Citizen, C, Jon, Teeny Bopper and Sweet G

(I don't know if any of them actually read my blog so this may be an exercise in futility.)

¡Viva San Carlos Baby!

OK, this post is a week overdue, but better late than never.

Last Thursday, June 12, my Dad called me up to tell me what a great time he was having in San Carlos with two of my brothers and their families. He rubbed it in for a little while and then offered to pay for my gas and my hotel room if I picked up and left right then with my family. I hesitated for a couple of seconds and then jetted out of there like I had my hair on fire.

The trip was a blast! We stayed in two different hotels right on the beach and played and played and played. It was my little boy's first time at the beach and he was scared at first, but then thoroughly enjoyed the water.

It was a great weekend with my folks and it sure did re-charge the batteries.

¡Gracias Jefes!

What goes around...

Several days ago I was having a real heart-to-heart discussion with Teeny Bopper about obedience. During the discussion I explained to her that my demand for obedience was not a power trip for me. I am larger and stronger than her and, if it came down to it, I could force her to comply with my requests by brute strength (at least until the cops came). My desire for her to be obedient was much more important than my personal ego. I explained that her mother and I have been around the block a few more times than she has and can see things that are beyond the horizons of her personal experience. More importantly, if she learned to be obedient in the small things that we asked of her (i.e. pick up your room, do your homework, stop beating your sister with a board, etc.) then obedience would be easier for her in the big moments of decision. (i.e. - chastity, word of wisdom, tithing, no dating till your 16, etc.)
In the middle of this discussion I had a flashback to when I was 12 years old and my dad was telling me: "Obedience is the 1st law of Heaven, and the sooner you learn that the easier your life will be."
Here I was, 23 years later, having the same discussion with my daughter. As I remembered that talk with my own dad the whole lesson he was trying to get through to me came together in a blinding moment of clarity. I understood why it was so important to be obedient, and how it really does make life easier once you have that lesson learned. I understood what Dad was saying and why.
Another revelation to me was that my dad's lessons actually got through my thick head and were still there to help me as an adult. I felt an overwhelming love for Dad and all of the times he taught me life's lessons and then repeated them over and over again. It also gave me great hope that the things I am telling my own kids are getting through to them and will one day help them out when they need it. Who knows? Maybe Teeny Bopper will have this discussion with her oldest child and remember her dad saying: "If you learn to be obedient in the small things, then it will be easy to be obedient to the big things." And maybe, just maybe, she will feel like saying what I am saying to my Dad in this post: "Thanks Dad!"

The Price of Freedom

Today is Memorial Day, and while I would love to wax eloquent about the meaning of the day and the price paid for our freedoms, the picture above says far more than I ever could. Marine Staff Sergeant Marcus "Marc" Golczynski was killed on March 27, 2007 during his second tour of duty in Iraq - a tour he volunteered for. This picture shows 8 year old Christian, receiving the flag that covered his daddy's casket from Lt. Col Ric Thompson at the conclusion of Marc's funeral services on April 4, 2007.

As we relish the "freedom" of a three-day weekend, let's remember the real meaning of freedom and the price paid for us to have that freedom.

God bless our Veterans and their families.

Oh, what a beautiful morning...

I spent this morning in the Temple with Teeny Bopper (top secret blogging code name for my oldest daughter) and young women from our ward and two others in the stake. Although we had to get up really early it was a great experience for both of us. I baptized about thirty young women for between 10 and 15 people each and had a wonderful time. For four of these young ladies it was their first time doing baptisms and I could see that they were impressed by the spirit they felt.

This wasn't Teeny Bopper's first opportunity to do baptisms, but it was her first time in the Mesa Arizona Temple. It was neat to see her there and to talk with her afterwards about how she felt, the meaning of the ordinances, why we have temples, and how come all of this is important.
I would love to go on and on about my experience this morning, but I don’t have the time or mental energy right now (this is two days in a row getting up at 4am). I just wanted to record this experience before I got too busy to remember what a great morning I had.

I am grateful to live so close to the Temple, and thankful for a young lady who shared a very early morning with me in a holy place.

Confessions of a Scrapbooker's Husband

My sweet wife has an addiction to rubber stamps, paper cutouts, brads, hole punches, picture layouts, colored paper, ink, toner, ribbons, scissors and tape. All signs indicate that she has contracted that life-altering infection commonly known as "Scrapbookus Giganticus Obsessium" or "Recordum Lifeus Largo" Some of the more obvious signs of this addiction include a dizzying array of colored ink pads, enough paper to make the environuts go postal, and photographs scattered from heck to breakfast throughout the house. An ever increasing number of scrapbooks seem to absorb an ever diminishing supply of bookshelf real estate, and the one thing in the house my wife can always find is her camera.

Like most clueless husbands, I originally ignored the increasingly obvious signs of my wife's affliction with this bug. "This is just a fad." I would say. "She will enjoy this for a little while and then everything will return to normal." I was so naive, so innocent, so blind.

In its current state, my wife's affliction has ratcheted up her creativity (already impressive) to heights never explored before. She has become much more tech saavy with her digital camera and the computer that organizes a plethora of pictures each week. She can turn ordinary events into a celebration of family life, and records them in a way that drive us back to the books time and again to relive fun times and remember those moments which help shape our family's character.

In the not so distant past, my wife took her scrapbooking out to the blogosphere where she has not only recorded images of our life, but written her own thoughts about the images shown there and how they have affected her. I confess that I look at her blog daily, to see what has happened with our family and to get her wonderful perspective on life and parenting. I also confess that, while I personally am not addicted to scrapbooking, I am addicted to the way that my wife is recording our family history. My children and I are indebted to her for taking the time to record our lives and her observations on them. I enjoy her talent to capture our family activities and turn them into permanent exhibits on who we are and what we do.

I am grateful for my wife and her attention to the details that make up our experiences here. I thoroughly enjoy her hobby and am glad that she has found something exciting for her to work on during the few quiet hours she gets at home.

Thanks Dulcinea!