Family History

Some people don't care for their families' history, but I do. I think it is amazing to learn about how people thought and lived; their troubles and triumphs. I am slowly making some useful documents of the already procurred family history information. I will modernize these documents in the future and create new ones. Here is the beginning of my efforts. I made a.pdf of the Richard and Dorothy Wegener diary. Click the first link below to gain access to my online storage space. Download the diary for your use. Enjoy!
http://cid-de77a7e360e75fd5.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/R%7C0D%20Wegener%20Diary.pdf

The next link below is to my family history web site. Go to the family history page to find pictures and instructions. Please, take the time to share your pictures, documents, or stories with others.
http://sites.google.com/site/wegenerproject/

It's been awhile...

Sometimes I wonder why we seem to have it all. We have a happy family, good jobs, and we live in a great neighborhood. All our most pressing needs are met.

We are not multi millionaires, but Joel and I were talking one day about what we would do if we were.

As I'm sure multi millionaires know, having money means having options. Like anyone else, we would secure our future and probably do some fun things if we were wealthy. Far more exciting, however, was the thought of making life better for others around us.

It seems to be in vogue lately to pick on wealthy people, and while some of the high-profile ones have become wealthy by lying and cheating, that isn't true for many others out there. So many of our friends and neighbors quietly write checks to fill the needs of those who have nothing. It appears to me that the complainers are the ones at fault for not recognizing what they still have, or owning up to their own mistakes when it comes to money.

No matter what we are given in this lifetime, whether it's millions or the steady trickle we've always had (or maybe nothing), I am grateful.

Upside down

Joel sold his business back in December, and we paid off almost all debts with the money. Now he works 2-4 hours a night instead of 12. I started working at Utah Valley Hospital not long after that. I work 12 hour shifts in the Stat lab, which is in the ER. Both events have been blessings for us, for many reasons(which is the usual for us when we get blessings of any kind.)

I am dusting off some rusty skills and using them with a new perspective. When I was young in the workplace, my job was all about me, my performance, and my benefits. Now, ten years later, things have definitely changed.

The first few weeks of working here were very raw. December/January with the snow and ice bring a lot of people to the ER, many in really bad shape. Utah Valley is a Trauma II hospital, which means we deal with the most serious cases in the Valley, and when the pager goes off in the lab, they're not kidding.

When a trauma comes in, we have to go to the room where the patient will be and stand by to receive any samples the team is getting. This means watching the EMT's roll the person in, and often seeing the frenzy as the team does what they do. And sometimes, it means watching someone slip away despite all the effort put in trying to keep them alive.

When I was younger, I hate to say it, but this would have been exciting-- not to see someone die, but all the drama that goes along with trying to save a life, and my part in it.

I'm glad I've grown up a little since then. It makes it easier to bear someone elses burden, even if it's only as I'm saying a little prayer for the family who is suffering. My part is very small, and I'm glad, because I can't offer the peace and comfort that comes from the place that calls them home.

Christmas memories

Any body remember this song from grade school?

Deck the halls with gasoline,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Light a match and watch it gleam,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Watch the school burn down to ashes,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Aren't you glad you played with matches?....

You get the point.

Don't teach your kids this. They'll probably get arrested if they sing it at school.

About Gratitude

Grace took a big tumble down the stairs today, and came out with nothing worse than a little bump under her left eye.

Jacob is the poster child for all the child safety warnings you see on just about everything.  He wraps cords around his neck, he falls headfirst into nearly everything with an opening big enough to fall in to, and he eats and drinks things that to most people would be poisonous.  Not to mention running with sharp objects.  You would think we haven't baby-proofed at all with all the things he does to get into trouble.

Joseph climbed up on to the roof the other day, and was amusing himself by running up and down the slope of it on the North side.  I bribed him with chewing gum to come down, because if you try to go after him, he runs away and thinks it's funny.  In case you're wondering, no, we do not leave ladders leaned up against the house, but the deck railing out back is just level with the garage roof, so he climbed up that way.  Joel took a box of screws and stuck them all along the railing so that it would be too painful to climb.  If that doesn't work, then, yes, we will get barbed wire.:)

Emily just goes to school.  That's danger in and of itself, what with all the lockdown drills, bullies, and bad words that she reads on the bathroom wall.

I have to say, though, that even with all the near misses (that happen daily, no joke), we are a healthy, happy family.  We live in an exceptional neighborhood, in our chosen State (for now), in the US of A.

I look at Google Earth from time to time, just to see what there is out there, and I often wonder how I got to be so lucky.  To be where I am, with all my needs met is really humbling, because it seems that circumstances like mine are the exception rather than the rule.

So even when I have to save my children's lives every day, or see the negative headlines, or hear the latest conspiracy theory that Joel has heard on Coast to Coast, I'm grateful that my part of the Earth is still right-side up. 

It's been awhile...

Something that really shows the sign of the times are the 'lockdown' drills they have for all the schools in Alpine School District.

I picked Emily up the other day, and she told me about the drill they'd had that day.  The instructions were for everyone to run into the nearest classroom and lock the door.  Then they were to turn out the lights and be very quiet.  She was really scared at first, because she didn't know it was a drill, and was afraid that there was really someone with a gun in the school.

I have to admit it was hard for me not to get choked up over that.  The very thought of my daughter cowering in a dark room, hiding from a gunman was way too easy to imagine.

For Joel and I it brought back Cold War memories-- 'duck and cover', among others.  But back then we were hiding from enemies in other countries, not unknown enemies in our own neighborhoods.

It's only been a couple of years since a plan for a shooting spree was prevented at Uintah High in Vernal, where I attended so long ago.  And I'm sure that for some of you who are reading this post, all I have to say is 'Trolley Square' to bring back memories of headlines from Salt Lake City; some of those victims are still in the recovery process.

Would it be a terrible thing to screen kids for difficulties before they reach for the trigger?  Would it label a person for life to know that they are 'at risk' for becoming a murderer?  What if, someday, I have to face the fact that my own children may dream of taking others lives?

How can we help these kids?  Preferably before they turn into criminals?

For my children, I hope that love and prayers and bedtime stories are enough. 

Emily is a very determined young lady. Last Saturday, the Heatheridge 9th Ward had their 2nd annual Fun Run. The course was only two miles long, but for an 8 year-old with no previous experience, she did very well! She finished the whole course and was far from last. This made her consider the possibility of participating in future events. Go Emily!!