This Is My Country, Land That I Love!

McKay's teacher asked if she could take a picture of me and her kids.

I originally started a post with this title on the 4th of July but never got around to finishing it.  I think that in light of all that has gone on with the presidential election and with our country in general that I needed to write down some of my feelings about our country.  My kids in elementary school had a Veteran's Day program and I had the day off of work. My daughter Makenna asked if I would come dressed in my blues. I accepted her invitation and arrived at the school with Cami and got a front row seat.  The program was held in the school's parking lot with chairs set up on one side for parents and on the other for the high school band that came to play the Star Spangled Banner and medly of military service songs.  As the seats began to be filled people were talking and mingling around.  The wind began to pick up and unfurled the proud American colors posted on one side of the little podium situated in the middle of the parking lot. The wind got stronger until it blew hard enough to overcome the base that held it down and the flag fell to the ground.  I ran over and picked it up. Several teachers suggested ways to firm up the platform that held it up but nothing worked. The wind continued to blow and the only way it remained upright was to post someone at its side and hold it firmly providing the support necessary to anchor it against the forces that threatened to topple it.



This is the flag prior to the fall.

I found this experinece very significant to us today.  What makes our country great is its people.  We the People, are the United States of America.  We hold up and support the standard of freedom and liberty that is a beacon to the whole world. If we see something in our government, our community, our family, in our own hearts that needs to be changed do something about it. Empower yourself. Do not be an armchair citizen complaining from the comfort of your couch watching as what our forefathers died to create and keep crumbles before your eyes. 
Harold B. Lee, former president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said,
"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail. This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won’t fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.
I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through."


( Source: Ye Are the Light of the World 350-51 )

This is an incredible country, it is the promised land! We must live as though all is not lost. We must live as though we realize the incredible blessing that it is to live here.  We have seen how the vocal minority has slowly overtaken the silent and often complacent majority.  Be silent no longer. This is worth fighting for, your voice is your weapon!

Stupid Rush *#@&#!

Growing up it was not uncommon to hear the phrase "STUPID RUSH" uttered by my dad after attempting some ill-advised feat typically resulting in more work and expense than necessary.  I had such an experience today and figured I would share my stupidity that all ya'll will be smarter than I am.  Cami asked me to find a bucket for the dog food.  There was a clean bucket right outside the garage door but I used it to wash the car so I started looking for a different one.  I spotted the bucket that you see on the top shelf behind the cast iron dutch oven.  I grabbed the car wash bucket to stand on and hoisted myself upon it to see what was in the bucket in question.  In order to tilt the bucket down far enough to see what was inside I had to pull the dutch oven forward to that two of its three legs were off the shelf.  That little voice in my head said " that dutch oven is going to fall" but I knew better than that! KABOOM!!! The obvious and inevitable (inevitable if you are being a STUPID RUSH) happened and the heavy cast iron dutch oven landed on the hood of my new car.

AWESOME!!!! I must say I was proud of myself for not freaking out.  Cami and the kids came out to see what all the commotion was about and I was standing there shaking my head and saying "Stupid Rush".

To add insult to injury after I got the bucket (not even the bucket on the top shelf, it was full of fertilizer) I was rinsing it off with hose and tossed the hose to the ground when it landed as pictured above and sprayed me right in the face. STUPID RUSH!!!!

A Little Company in Jackson Hole

My brother Jeff and my parents came up to Jackson Hole to hang out with me.

Each day after I would attend my classes we would go out and explore.

One night we went out to the Bar J Wrangler's Chuckwagon Dinner and show. You can see by the look on my dad's face that he was not looking forward to the audience participation.

These guys were pretty funny and very talented musicians.

Me and the folks at a beautiful waterfall.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The birds in the picnic area were certainly not shy.

Don't feed the animals!

Lower Yellowstone Falls

Dragon's Caldron

The boyz!

Not trip to Jellystone would be complete without a few buffalo.

One morning Jeff and I went mountain biking.

We rode up to some bike trails they had created down the mountain.

Normally you pay $40 for a lift pass and spend the day riding down the mountain but the lift was closed for the season.  It was tuff climbing up but the downhill was super fun.

Despite the temperature of 38 degrees when we started we had a good old time.

You can see the haze created by the wildfires nearby.

Another Day in Paradise

The pictures speak for themselves.

This water is crystal clear. My sister and I have pictures of us wading in this lake in our underwear about 30 years ago.

Cami and I jumped off the ledge you can see about two thirds of the way up the cliff on the right, back when we were young and foolish (maybe 4 years ago)

The Mountains of the Lord

I left San Antonio this morning to spend a week at an anesthesia conference in Jackson Hole, WY.  This has got to be one of my most favorite places on the planet.  I had to leave this morning at 4 and did not arrive in Jackson until after 1 so there was no opportunity to attend any Sunday meetings.  I got in my rental car and drove to Grand Teton National Park about 15 minutes up the road.  There is a fire in a neighboring town and so the air has been filled with smoke so I was unable to see the mountains well until I was pretty close.   

You can see the smoke in the air in this photo.

The leaves were changing and the colors where vibrant.

I took a walk down one of the many trails to enjoy nature and the scenery.

The landscapes are absolutely awe inspiring.

I came across a family of deer out for a leisurely Sunday afternoon stroll.

Perfect!

I sat down on a rock at the side of the trail and just started to ponder upon life and God and His long-suffering patience with His imperfect children.  My attention was drawn to this little tree.  Beautiful and full and green it is the picture of life and vitality.  As you look at it you cannot help but look up as its shape moves your eyes upward to the heavens.  All of God's creations are a reflection of Him including us as imperfect as we are.  We are created after the image of God and it is He that made the mountains. It is important to remember that we are spirit beings having a mortal experience.  Love life enjoy this time and remember to look up to Heaven.

Attitude

I was humbled by a recent occurrence and thought it important to share it with you that you might not make the same mistake. Cami and I went to Utah for Rob and Schaefer's wedding at the beginning of June. While we were there many people asked us how we were liking things in San Antonio.  Cami overheard Connor talking to someone saying that San Antonio was alright but that working with the military was horrible.  Connor has on numerous occasions listened to me express my frustrations to Cami about many of the  aspects of working in the military.  I realized that I was guilty of creating prejudice in my family because of my poor attitude regarding the situation we are in.  I was robbing myself and my family of optimizing the  opportunity of being in San Antonio and making the most of the experience.  Those who follow this blog or have heard why we joined the Air Force in the first place will know that we we know we are suppose to be here.  This is a place where we can grow as individuals and as a family.  I, as the patriarch and leader in my home, need to help my children to see what a choice opportunity they have to be here.  I need to repent of my attitude and put forth the effort to make the most of this experience.  I love this country.  I want to serve and sacrifice for what I believe in.  The military provides me with the unique opportunity to do all of those things.  My attitude will determine this experience and will influence that of my family.  I hope to be a better example in the future.

First Four Months of Military Service

It has been quite a while since my last post. A lot has been going on since I returned from Commissioned Officers Training.  I completed my first in-processing experience with the United States Air force at Lack land Air Force Base.  It was quite an experience.  Every person that is ever stationed on any military instillation has to go through this process.  It took about a month to complete and consists of attending meets, signing forms, tracking down signatures, talking to various departments to set up access.  As my first official experience outside of COT, in-processing put a bad taste in my mouth for the way things are run.  For as often as this process is completed you would think they would have it down.  That is not the case.  Evey time I would arrive some place new they acted like this was the first time they had every done anything like this.  There was A LOT of sitting around and waiting.  I was going through the process at the same time as one of my new commanding officers who is a Colonel and his experience was similar so it seems as though the process is just that way regardless of how long you have been in the military.  After completing my in-processing at Lackland AFB I was told that I needed to go over to Fort Sam Houston and in-process there as I would be posted at a hospital there.  So once I again I began a new scavenger hunt of searching out signatures and filling out forms and going through credentialing committees.  After all the paperwork was done and I was waiting for my credentials to be approved I began my orientation to SAMMC, San Antonio Military Medical Center.  This place is enormous.  It is a joint medical facility meaning that Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines all work together in the same facility.  Since it is on an Army base the mentality is more Army than anything else but there are some definite issues that come up having so many services with different ways of doing things all working together.  This Joint Military Force concept is relatively new and there are definitely some bugs that need to be worked out in the system. 



The facilities at SAMMC are all state of the art.  It has lots of things that I have never seen before or have just read about.  It is going to be a phenomenal place to learn.  This is a teaching hospital so there are lots of residents and students of all types around.  It is a Level I trauma center so we get civilian trauma patients too.  I am surprised at how sick the population that we serve is.  I have anesthetized very sick people which always makes it more scary.   




One of the cool things about this hospital is that it is where all of the soldiers come after they have been stabilized in Germany.  I have had the opportunity to work with many of these brave soldiers that have given everything for their country.  It is a pleasure to associate with them and to be a part of helping them recover.  There are a lot of these young men and women who have lost one or more limbs in IED explosions and fires.  Many of them have unbelievable attitudes and are great examples of courage and sacrifice.