The Saga of Lexie – Resolution!

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dog, Enumclaw, family, Lexie, pets, Puppy, washington

We found our sweet Lexie a new home! She is now keeper of cows and chickens at my Uncle’s farm in Enumclaw, WA. When we decided it was time to find her a new home, we asked several close friends and some family. Most said they couldn’t fit her in with their current situation. I called my Uncle Charlie and asked him, very directly, “Do you want our dog?” The conversation was very simple and I described Lexie and her energetic yet loving nature and he sounded pretty interested. I wasn’t sure how it would end up but had my doubts as the distance and inconvenience was a very real obstacle.

Soon my Uncle’s interest was revealed to be some real excitement as he continued to call me back to suggest ways to get her up there. We discussed flying her up there, meeting halfway, Charlie’s friend who drives a truck and other options. It turns out that my Aunt, who lives here, in Utah, not Charlie’s wife, was very near to passing away from a horrible fight with cancer. I heard the news in the middle of the week that she had indeed passed away. On Friday, I get a call from my Uncle that they were in Idaho and would soon be in Utah for the funeral that weekend.

A couple of cool weekends

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adventure, camping, family, Flaming Gorge, fun, love, outdoors, rafting, river, Spokane, Travel, washington

Flaming Gorge Dam

The end of July is looking to be a lot of fun! Last weekend, we packed up and headed eastward, to Flaming Gorge. We stayed at Firefighter’s Memorial Campground in our tent and had a great time. The weather is probably 5-10 degrees cooler than out here in the city. That made things quite a bit more enjoyable. While we were there, we went river rafting down the Green River. We rented a 5-man raft and started down at the base of Flaming Gorge Dam and followed it through about 7 miles. Along the way a few minor rapids and some incredible canyon scenery! Rebekah joined us and lent her outdoors expertise to enhance our experience. Along the way, we met up with Bill Rodgers and his group. He helped us to avoid the $45 shuttle fee by giving me a lift back from the end of the rafting route. We ended up bumping into them several more times during the weekend. They were a big help and told us some nice places to go check out in the area. We had a really good time and other than the death of my phone in what should have been a water-proof bag, it was a lot of fun.

I’m Alive!

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California, friends, love, Main, moving, Mt. Rainier, real estate, relocating, utah, washington

Folks, I am here! Life has been a little interesting lately. I’ve really been focused on family and life in general lately. We had some upsetting news as of late that has taken center stage in our lives. I’m not totally ready to divulge all the details at this time. If you are close with us, you already know. Let’s just say it was really hard to hear it and it’s taking awhile to sink in. Don’t get all worked up it’s nothing really tragic, no one is terminally ill. We’re all pretty healthy, actually. I’ll refer to the aforementioned as our primary concern.

On top of our primary concern, we’ve made a big life-changing decision that involves every aspect of our lives. Our jobs, Wyatt’s school, Church, and ultimately, where we will live. Since 2002, I’ve wanted to return to Washington to live. Opportunities never presented themselves. It never felt right. When we moved from CA to UT, it felt really good, plus my employer was paying for it all! We were able to buy a nice home in a great neighborhood, we both had wonderful jobs. Since then (about 2 years later), we no longer have those jobs and things are getting difficult to manage. We have good jobs, but they’re not so wonderful. For the past couple years, I’ve said, “This is the year we move to WA”. 2010 was the first time when I said it, it really struck a chord and felt more right.

Trip to WA

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adventure, California, friends, fun, joy, love, Main, road trip, Sacramento, Seattle, Tacoma, Travel, utah, visit, washington

A couple weeks ago, we were blessed with the opportunity to make a long-awaited trip to my home state of Washington! It had been over 3 years since my last visit and I was severely missing it. All my family is up there as well as many long-time friends and it was so great to reunite. My love for Washington is something that is tough to really put into words. I think that many of you, if not all, know how home feels. Maybe not your current residence, but home – where you’re from.

Shortly after Rachel and I were married, her dear Mother passed away. In an effort to be helpful to her family, we decided to move from Tacoma to Sacramento. This would allow us to be close enough to provide help and support to her sisters and Father. It was with a lot of hesitation and prayer that this decision was made. After about 4 years, we moved to Utah and we’ve now been here just over 4 years. I’ve mentioned that I like Utah much more than I did Sacramento. It held no magic for me. Nothing to grasp onto. I was there to help out family. I got a great job as well that really set me up for the long-term. Utah does have some magic. It has excellent scenery and so much family-oriented activities. I have been much more content with my station in life, here in Utah. But it’s still not home. My homesickness hasn’t been nearly as strong as it was in Sacramento. I was always wanting to leave. Get out of town. Go somewhere else. In Utah, I’ve really enjoyed it for the most part. Utah is not, however, without it’s faults. I don’t want to get into that here and if you know me, you probably know how I feel.

The search for Susan Powell continues…

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Faith, friends, God, Heavenly Father, hope, love, missing, missing person, search, Susan Powell, utah, washington

Susan Powell, 28

It’s now been over two weeks that the 28-year-old mother of two from near Salt Lake City, Utah, Susan Powell, has been missing. Over 8,000 have joined in the effort on the Facebook Group! There have now been three candlelight vigils in her honor. This last one included people in both Utah and her home state of Washington (and other places around the world) gathering at the same time. We offered prayer, a brief statement and sang Silent Night all together. The feelings felt were incredible. It felt like God’s angels were among us comforting us, acknowledging our efforts and feelings.

We are still hoping and praying for the best and the part that really is sometimes disheartening is that we are not hearing much about the investigation. We trust the police are doing all they can and understand they can’t expose any information until they consider it best. But thousands upon thousands of us are waiting and begging for the next bit of news or police action.