I'll follow Diane's lead and post the family letter on the blog. We celebrated Rick's birthday by taking some buddies to Point Dume in Malibu for some rock climbing.


You would probably recognize this spot as it is used in most beach scenes for movies, tv shows and commercials. We picked a perfect day - 78 degrees and no wind.


This shows Rick just about at the top. Thanks to Cory who was the belay man for at least 2 hours straight.











Next comes Michael in the road show. He was undoubtedly the best nerd in the stake. I think he secretly enjoyed wearing the big rimmed glasses and short cut pants.

Otherwise life is moving along. Brandon is enjoying his time at BYU and finds time for weekend trips to explore caves and hike in the snow. He wants to stay there for the spring term so he won't come home until June. Having too much fun, I guess.

There is never a dull moment at work. You'd think after retiring the Countrywide name we could take a break from the press, but they have just moved on to bad mouthing Bank of America now. One moment congress is beating up their CEOs for flying in corporate jets and sponsoring junkets, and the next moment they are getting on the same jets and going to their junkets. I guess you must leave all shame at the doorstep to be qualified for political office.

Rick turned 14 and will be ordained a Teacher next week. He is eager to join his friends in his new responsibilities.

All of us are looking forward to warmer weather and longer days. This makes time for more biking, hiking, running - or even enjoying some down time in the backyard.

I hope everyone is doing well. Let's hear from the others too.

Kent

Deborah turns 11,000!

Her youthful beauty and grace can be deceiving- Deborah turned 11,000 a few days ago! Thats right- 11,000 days old. That is 264,000 hours. 15,840,000 minutes. 950,400,000 seconds. She was grateful that her husband takes the time to calculate and keep track of such things, otherwise we may have missed the big day (I did miss her 10,000 day birthday a few years ago- sorry Deb.) Chris, if you're reading this- we're next.

Dahlism:

Sometimes with secret pride I sigh

To think how tolerant am I;

Then wonder which is really mine;

Tolerance or a rubber spine?

Family Letter:

I've decided I will put my family letter on the Blog. Others may want to do the same. I have to admit, the monthly letter has been missing for several months. I've included a picture of the pool, I spend more time trying to figure it out than anything else, I'm trying to make friends with it. Not much has changed around here. I work alot, they have decided I should not be able to take days off without pay any more (like I used too), so no extra day here or there to get things done. So this week I got sick, the only way I can get time off. I'm feeling better today, and went to my Advance Lifesaving class, that I must renew every 2 years. I'm re-certified, so I guess I'll get to work for another 2 years. I'm still playing piano for the choir, I hope I'm improving, my 2 years of lessons have certainly payed off. I've also been put on the Single Conference committee for this summer. We had Elder Christofferson last year, I don't know if we can do better than that. If you know anyone famous in the church, let me know. I'm trying to stay active, and find the energy to play. Come visit anytime, I'll let you kick the pool around. Thanks to Cory, moms house is functioning, still has working plumbing and electricity. Hope you are well. Looking forward to the girls weekend in Palm Springs, should be sunny and warm.

Diane

Love ya'll

When we were young,

Fine resturants were priced above our salaries!

When now at last were better paid,

We can't afford the calories.

Some of my favorite picture from my New York trip in November. "Central Park"

Picture of the Empire State Building from the "Top of the Rock"

"Statue of Libery"

"Brooklyn Bridge"