It will be officially Autumn, soon.  Which means like it or not, the Holiday Season is fast approaching. This is a great time to start some family traditions, or to continue some that you may already have.  We have some in our family that we very much enjoy. There were also some that we had started at old employers, that hopefully are continued on. One of the things that we can all do is donate a few hours or our own time to something.  I'm sure that there is something that we're interested in that we can donate time to somewhere. No matter your current situation in life, you can always give a little of yourself and I promise that you'll feel a little better and whether you call if Karma, Blessings, or whatever you will find that you will benefit from it in someway. Whether you do it yourself, with your family, a Scout Pack/Troop/Team/Crew, for a Wood Badge Ticket, whatever it is volunteering especially this year at this time of year is something that we can all do. Check out the Volunteer section of 211ut.org for opportunities in your area.

My only question is what happens if the diaper fills to greater than 100%.  Is there something in the code that instantiates the bath object?

Okay, so I don't usually rant and rave about Politics.  I have opinions, but a lot of the time I keep them to myself or share them sparingly.  It's just who I am, and I think that it's mostly because I hate the current state, which I see as mostly finger pointing and name calling and not enough problem solving.  Which usually throws logic and reason out the window. There's been a lot in the media lately about the speech delivered by President Obama this morning to the school children throughout the country.  It's caused quite an uproar, which I think is ridiculous. I completely agreed with my friend Nichole's comments here (and even my own response to her post).  What a great chance to talk to your children and to this schools that opted out.  Your students missed out on a great chance to hear the President of the United States speaking directly to them, the youth of America. You can see the text of his speech here (looks pretty controversial doesn't it?).

So summer is basicallyover.  We took the opportunity to go to Jordanelle and swam for a bit.  We then drove home through the Alpine Loop. Most of my family had never been through the loop before, nor had they been to Cabela's so we stopped there and looked around at all of the animals for a bit. We had a few quarters so we fed the fish, which the kids loved. It was a fitting end to a very busy and fun summer.  It wasn't quite the same as last summer, but then again that was a once in a lifetime thing. Now I'm anxious for Fall and ready for the crisp Autumn air.

Hillcrest High was put on lock down today, because a local business was robbed at gun point. Not long ago my own children's school was put on lock down from a situation that I found out about through the local media.  No letter was ever sent home from the school, no phone call made to our home, no nothing. As a parent, I had to find out from a news report that I found on a local news media website.  It caused me to wonder why were they not communicating with me, the parent.  Sure maybe my children were not in danger, but it would have had some type of communication, even if it was as simple as a "You may have heard that there was a lock down at our school today, let me tell you what that means for your student..." and then explained what procedures they may go through.  I would much rather be informed about things like this be able to speak intelligently with my children about something like that then have it an unknown. On the flip side, what a great tool (if it hasn't already been developed) for someone to develop.  Take something like Google Maps and integrate it a subscription type emailing system, where you allow businesses and individuals to sign up for alerts of anything happening in their area.  You could send out coupons, event and informational alerts, etc. Take the Hillcrest incident I mentioned above.  So the store above is robbed, they send out the information to those people, the school gets it and is put on lock down (or is put on lock down in their typical fashion), they then alert their parents in through the same email type system. It all happens in a matter of minutes and for relatively little cost compared to composing  a paper letter replicating it and sending it home with students. Now who wants to help me develop and market it?

As a parent, my wife and I have had a few of those times when we've turned our back and one of our children wasn't where they were supposed to be (surprise surprise, it seems to almost always be the same child too). It was a story on the new today for the Amber Alert GPS which seems like a pretty cool product for parents to use.  My original concern was that it seemed rather expensive for the unit, especially if it was something that my child is going to carry around all the time.  I suspect that it may get destroyed quickly and for that price, it's expensive to replace.  The monthly subscription plans aren't too bad, though the unlimited plan is a bit expensive. Once I saw all of the features that it has I would consider getting one for each of my children, but I may wait for their next generation product and see if their prices come down or they add features.

We attended the 2nd Session of Oquirrh Mountain Temple Dedication this afternoon with some of our children. It was great to be able to take them and experience that with them.  Just as it was about to begin, President Monson and President Uchtdorf were walking by the room that we were in and briefing stopped and waved to us as they went by. Afterwards, President Monson stopped and "wanted to say Hello".  Since it was his birthday everyone wished him a Happy Birthday.  He mentioned a couple of words about his birthday and a couple of the younger girls in the room being dressed in pink and how the boys had better watch out, then went on about his way. Overall it was a great experience.  My children were grinning from ear to ear. Afterwards we went to lunch at New Dragon Diner.  We of course received fortune cookies and if you've been reading this site for any length of time, you know me and fortune cookies. This one was fairly tame.  It read "Assert yourself, your ideas are worthwhile at this time."  We'll see where that leads me.

Since we were gone this week, we celebrated the birthday (and since everyone was gathered at church for him today anyway) today. His two favorite gifts?  A cookbook and this...

A Ute themed apron! (I think that I'm going to need to steal it from him)

Heading up to Bear Lake to spend the next few days there.  I can't wait to get away. Then again, I'm going to be spending it with several Scouts at their Scout Camp, so we'll see how things go. I'm taking my GPS and plan to do a bit of Geocaching while I'm there and while they are in their merit badge classes, so at least I'll be able to relax.  I've also packed my fishing gear but I'm not sure that I'll be able to break away for that long. It's my son's birthday while I'm there, so at least I'll get to spend some time with him on his birthday.

I always worry that things like this are going to happen when we are leaving not only church but any parking lot.  It's why I may at times seem really strict or tough on my kids, when in parking lots or in areas where there are lots of dangers to them.  I don't want anything to happen to them and if that means that I need be neurotic and keep track of them every move, then that's what I'm going to have to do. Don't get my wrong, my heart goes out to this family and I am in no way criticizing them or anyone involved.  It's just things like this that serve as a reminder to me that I need to be ever vigilant with my own children, even if that means sounding like a task master sometimes.