I felt the urge but I resisted...

When I got done with school and I almost went golfing and then I realize that I am tired and I am not golfing against my family for a year, so I came home and relaxed... I will probably go tomorrow because my withdrawl pains my overcome me if I don't feed my addiction.... I sure hope no one picks out that one sentence and burns me someday.... I am teaching this year using a power point and I am having a blast... I love teaching and that is the only reason I don't want to get old because I am afraid that someday I will not be able to reason with young people and lose it... I love teaching and I can't believe I get paid doing it.... Night.... 39

36 wonderful years.... I am a lucky man!

It is impossible to put into words how happy I am to be married to Venna... This may sound strange, but our love is so strong that I did not have to do something crazy to prove my love for her... We are low on money this month, it happens, so we had 14 dollars lying around and we went to Subway and had dinner... Most of our conversation was about the triumphs of Glenn Beck, but occasionally we would add a "I love you" or how thankful we are that we have spent the last 36 years together.... I have shared already how we met and that is a miracle, but the major thing is that we have 8 wonderful children that look like they are all going to be sealed in the temple and all of them will be college graduates.... That is my wife's and my life in a nutshell... We live in Lake LA and she has never questioned it once... She is still beautiful and I am a lucky man.... I don't know why we are here, but I can say that strong impressions have kept me here, I guess I will never leave, but I love the people here and again I am a lucky man.... Wade called me up today and we are going to the temple next week, I am looking forward to going with him, I am a lucky man.... My class was so kind to me when I got back and they are working for me, they seem to love my class and I have had zero problems, I am a lucky man.... My Mom told me about being in Fairview and when everyone went into a Art Museum mom stayed out and sat on a bench, and she told me that Dad was with her the whole time, she felt his presence, I have great parents, I am a lucky man.... I have a Father in Heaven who is allowing me to commune with him in prayers and I feel his presence in a powerful way several times this past week and I realize that I have been sealed to him, well, I am a lucky man.... Rachael is pregnant and she is thrilled to have the baby and that will make 22 grandchildren, yes, yes, I am a lucky man.... Thank you Venna for having me, because by you having me, that makes me the luckiest man in the whole world.... Night.... 39

Bishop in Visalia Killed, hmmmm......

Janet just called me and told me about a Bishop in Visalia who was killed in his office today.... Add to this our building being torched two days in a row and that is the making of wonder and if it is all a coincidence or are we getting started in being persecuted because of the teachings of Jesus Christ... I had a very special prayer this morning and what took place during the prayer is not important but I can testify that I know that the Savior lives... I had a wonderful visit in my prayers.... I had the opportunity to speak in church before our Bishop and Stake President and there was a wonderful Spirit as we discussed the wards efforts on activation/missionary work.... We are having the Saints bring into their home a less active, part member, or a non-member into their home to be taught by the missionaries by Jan. 1st... We are going to have priesthood holders tell us the date that they are planning on having the lessons taught and we are going to keep track of it for the missionaries.... Bishop Dassler and President Banfield then got up and had them raise the right hand to a square to sustain the action and do their part... It is pretty exciting what takes place in our ward... People make fun of it but we are mover and shakers and the Saints are great in doing marvelous things...Again, I had so much fun this past 3 days spending it with my nephews and brothers and the Spirit of love was obvious... Grandma Barto Briggs provided the money for the league and motel for the draft and that was kind to because I know I had children myself that were blessed for this kind gift.... I received a phone call last night stating that there were blinking lights on at the church so Joshua, Billy Dassler, Bishop Dassler and myself went to investigate, but the lights were from machines that are dioxidating the rooms but I did feel that I saw someone in the lobby on the south side so we all went into the church to investigate and boy, was the adrenaline flowing as we looked into every room to make sure there was nobody there.... We always knew that persecution was suppose to come back in the Last Days and if this is it then I agree with Taylor, "Bring it on!" We are on the winning team and we are not afraid to die for the cause of truth.... I hope that I don't sound arrogant because I do not want to see any trouble, but I do know that this church is true.... Night... 39

One of the great days of my life....

Today we had the family best shot golf tournament in St. George and we had Travis, Derek, Ryan, Tate and Wayne was the sheriff on the course riding around in a golf cart but not golfing but observing.... We also had Chad, Todd, Wade, and Neil.... On our team we had Joshua, Jared, Bo, and myself... The Wayne Briggs family won by shooting 6 under par, the Malesich's shot 3 under par and we shot 2 under par.... But the feeling was one of friendship and companionship like I have never felt before with all of us together... Afterwards we went out to lunch and we spent about an hour and a half just visiting and catching up... We are all touched with this opportunity and we all feel lucky that we have an event to get us together to see each other... We are growing up and there is not any pettiness, but just pure love... Again, it was special... I met up with Scott later on and I drove in with him to Las Vegas.. We had a nice visit and I was able to see Corine and the grandkids before Scott and I went... We are now in Grandma's condo in Vegas and when I say we, I mean Jacob, Rachelle, Scott, Bo, Joshua, and myself... We also have had a wonderful visit and while Josh and Rachelle go into Grandma's bedroom to sleep I am also going into the other bedroom to sleep and Scott, Bo, and Jake are doing WOW and I refuse to try and explain that but they are having fun... I got a strange message from Becca and it caused us to have a great laugh as we talked about Noah and his artistic abilities and what he draws at school... This one the teacher wanted to send home so Mom could see it.... It was a picure of a Grandpa, cousin, and uncle peeing on a beetle of some kind, yep I am not kidding and I just hope that the Grandpa was from the Hartzel side because I swear I know nothing about this, but oh did we ever get a hoot about it.... We draft our Fantasy Football team tomorrow then we get to go home and about this time I really start missing my wife and daughter Taylor, so I am anxious to get tomorrow over with and get home.... Oh, by the way Grandma, Joshua took the time to clean out your refrigerator and it looks and smells good.... We also have given work assignmnents for tomorrow before we leave so the place will be better now that before we came and yes everything will be turned off and taken care of... Thank you Mom for allowing us to stay here... Night... 39

Dad is happy, Jeff is ticked.....

We had our annual family golf tournament and Joshua won again... He beat me by 3 strokes and Todd by 8 strokes then it went Wade, Chad, and Neil... We played 6 hours, I'm not kidding, I love the Malesich's and I would golf 8 hours with them to have this experience but they are a slow bunch of golfers... Joshua and I are used to golfing 3.5 hours when we golf on a large course for 18 holes... But, oh my, the golf course is so beautiful here in St. George... Wade and I are going to the temple next month so get ready Rachael.... The room that we stayed in stayed warm, and did not cool down until about 1:00 AM... The shower is pretty strong so that is good... but we opened the rifrigerator and freezer in our room to try and cool it off and that is helping just a little.... Bo and Jared are going to be here in a few minutes and they get to sleep on the floor, but they will get the direct beat of the very weak air conditioner... Our church in Lake LA has been hit two nights in a row with flame bombs... Someone is trying to burn our church down... I guess they got inside and burnt the tables in one of our rooms... Are we in the Last Days, uhhh, I believe so... I really appreciate Venna for her support to allow me to hang our with my brother and all my nephews, thank you Venna for your kindness to allow me to do this without having to have a guilty conscience... I love you very much.... Night... 39

Josh and I are in St. George....

Wow, we got 2 beds for $35 and yet I feel ripped off... The one chair has pee stains on it, that is Joshua's chair, mine looks ok but I am weary of it... We have had the air conditioner on for about an hour and it is better, now I feel like I am in an oven rather than scraping against the sun.... Josh and I are both excited though to play against the Malesiches, I wish that at least Travis was here from the Wayne Briggs family, but the nervous feeling is entering our body... Venna, wished me Merry Christmas this morning because this is as exciting as Christmas for us.... I wish Scott could be here, I talked to him on the phone and though he didn't complain at all I could still tell that it was painful not being here.... I really hope he can come next year... Jared and Bo are coming tomorrow night... My class went well today, I am teaching a great group of young people... It is 8:00 California time and Joshua told me he is going to sleep, he states that he is doing his winding down routine so he can relax and go to sleep... Uh, who does he think he is kidding... I bet I am asleep before he is.... Night.... 39

I wish Jake, Scott, Brent, and Brian....

I wish they were going to St George too... We have the potential to put up 2 teams of four but I also understand why they won't be there... I am thankful that Bo will be there especially since he is going on his mission for our next men weekend... So it will be Jared, Bo, Joshua, and I battling Wayne Briggs family and Malesich family.... It's going to be fun to hang out with the family though.... They are all great guys.... night.... 39

Last tuneup for Todd and others....

Ahh, no one probably really cares and maybe it's my way to feed my competitive juices but I want to win the singles and family matchups in golf really bad this Thursday and Friday... I am golfing the best I have ever golfed before at this time but on one day, well this is avery weird game and everything can collapse very quickly, but it is fun to compete... My body is getting old but the flame inside of me is still there, the same one I had when I used to play basketball and other sports.... Heck, Josh won last year and yes I want to beat him also... I don't think I will be playing anymore until Thursday... I am meeting with my students parents tomorrow because I won't be here Thursday for Back to School... Don't worry Mom I got this okay'd by my Principal last Summer.... I got to be there for the Man's weekend extrvaganza, the part I like is that I can partake of the sacrament after this weekend and also give a sacrament talk which I will have to do this Sunday.... I shot a 79 today, I think I am ready for Todd and company.... Night.... 39

It is nice teaching again....

I had the easiest 2 weeks in the history of my teaching... I never had to discipline one student the whole two weeks... I am very thankful that I don't have to teach PE, math, or science.... I love teaching US History and we have already had some provocative discussions... I try real hard to pose both sides of issues without showing bias and the only way that my students think that I am in favor of the democrats is because I said that Republicans would like to have us teachers teach for free and the Democrats want us to be rich... They are giving conservative views a real honest look and I am thrilled that the one issue they practically all agree on is that abortion is wrong, even when I tell them that the democrats want the woman to have control of her body, they don't buy it and secretly it thrills me.... I have some great writers and some real potential of fabulous writers... And if I am tired during the day I have the potential of doing silent reading in two classes because I teach two separate groups of students... Jared and I had a tremendous interview/or just talking and the Spirit was powerful and I think Jared and Julie are considering some potential earth shaking news but more important Jared got to talk about his unfortunate situation with the teaching profession... Brian is now my official councelor and it just means that he is officially there because he has already been acting in that position and he has be very helpful and special... I am glad I am back writing, but I was really thrown into a change in schedule and I have been extremely tired every night and I now sleep great.... Night.... 39

It's almost over....

I really hate seeing the Summer come to an end... I don't know how to evaluate that because I still love teaching and yet I dred next Monday coming... Bo and Taylor seem to have a wonderful Youth Conference but Bo got really sick... Bo was in a play that was done and he worked on it for nearly 6 months... He did the 3 plays but needed two blessings to get it done.... I was really worried about Bo because he was burning up... Taylor had a bounce in her step with the feeling that her testimony grew by being there... That always makes me think of Becca and that very scary moment when she stated that she did not want to go Youth Conference and assured me that she had a testimony and she did not need to go to strengthen it... It turned out well but it scared me.... I'm anxious to see how my children will react to teenage years with their children... Bye... 39