Marathon for Natalie

Natalie is my baby sister (who is now 20. Not really a baby. :)) She was diagnosed on August 31, 2007 with a cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. It is a form of bone cancer. They found it in her spine and pelvic bone. It has been a long hard year. Through it all she has had the best attitude and has fought so hard. She is a blessing in my life and such a huge strength to me. Anyway she was attending a singles ward at Weber State when she was diagnosed. Her bishop of that ward has kept in such great contact with Nat this last year. Well he has decided to run in the St. George Marathon for Nat. Below is a message that he wanted us to pass on to everyone.

For more than a year now, Natalie has fought a courageous battle with cancer. In a way, she has been in a race for life. In honor of Natalie’s valiant courage to fight cancer, I, Scott Conlin, Natalie’s Bishop, am running another type of race, the St. George Marathon. This marathon takes place on Saturday October 4, 2008. I am running this race as a fund raiser for Natalie and am seeking donations of any amount. The distance of a marathon is 26.2 miles and some people are donating a certain amount per mile or just a flat amount. I would appreciate your support and encouragement in the race and any donation in behalf of Natalie. 100% of the donations will be given directly to Natalie and her family. If you wish to support this effort you may contact me Scott Conlin at: conlinsj@ldschurch.org or cell phone (801) 718-3490 or office phone (801) 240-5374
We love you Nat!!!

Just a quick update

Well the stand off lasted until about 9 or 9:30 last night. The man shot himself in the chest and then died at the hospital. I think it is so sad. I feel bad for his family. Especially his 10 year old son. I have thought a lot about the whole situation and thought how does it get to that point. It started out as a domestic despute with his wife then I heard it was a hostage situation. He ended up sitting in his truck the whole day with at least 2 guns. The police tried everything to get him out of his truck. They broke the windows with the robot and threw tear gas in there, they threw the loud grenades, nothing would get this man to budge. Anyway it is a sad ending. Just wanted everyone to know.

In case you want to know...

... there is a hostage situation right outside my work building. It started this morning around 9 ish. I work at Davis School District in the Payroll office for all of you that don't know. Well around 11:15 this morning the Superintendent's office upstairs called us and told us that our building is on lock down. (Well we can still get out the south and west side) They told us to stay away from the windows, so of course we all flock to the windows to see what is happening. They told us it is for our safety incase gun fire starts they don't want us to get hit. It is now 2:40 so it has been an all day event. The news people have been all over the place. They have had the S.W.A.T team out there with all of their guns. So it has been an interesting morning/afternoon at work. You can go to www.ksl.com for the story.

First Day of Fall

Today is the first day of fall. I love the fall season. Right now it is currently raining which makes it all that much more fun. I love the memories that come with this time of year. On my mission in North Carolina the best time of year was the fall. There are trees everywhere and it is so beautiful to see all of the leaves start changing colors. In some of my areas we would tract, the streets were lined with trees. We would walk down the sidewalk and the leaves and little acorns would crunch under our shoes. I loved it. My companions and I would purposely try to crunch them. I loved that crunching sound. The excitement that also comes as the holidays approach. There is a certain scent that feels the air. I also remember my sweet grandma loved this time of year. She lived right up against the mountain in Ogden. She loved the fall. She loved being able to watch the leaves change. Some of my greatest memories are of her and my sweet grandpa and the holiday time. I was also married to my sweetheart in the fall. I just love this time of year, when it seems families come together more often and enjoy time together. So I hope everyone will enjoy this day, and enjoy the fall season.

Oh how they grow up so fast!

It amazes me at how fast babies grow up. They certainly don't stay babies for long. It is sad and exciting all at the same time. I love watching Colsten trying to figure new things out or trying to find out how something works. What a wonderful creation human life is and the progress that takes place every day as they learn and do new things that just seem so simple and easy to us.
Colsten crawls everywhere. He hates to sit still. He is a very active little boy. He absolutely hates church and he lets us know every week. He doesn't want to just sit on someones lap for 3 hours. He wants to get down and play. But we try not to let that happen to much. He has already figured out if he screams loud enough and long enough during sacrament meeting then one of us will take him out into the foyer. So we are trying to overcome that obstacle. He is also pulling up on everything. He is even starting to walk around the furniture a little. It kind of scares me because I don't know if I am quite ready for my baby to be walking yet. He is just getting to big too fast.
We also found out tonight that he has cut his first tooth. I was feeding him a small piece of cookie and I went to pull my finger out of his mouth and felt the tooth. I got all excited and told Tally that he had a tooth. Tally didn't really believe me so I told him to feel. Sure enough there is a tooth poking out.
I love it. I love watching his face when he does something new. There is nothing else like a baby. What a blessing they are.