Fall approaches...

It was a good summer. Took the ladies and our children out on two vacations. Took the big boat out too. One of my brother in laws showed up and learned to drive the boat. So I took a try on tubing. Wild ride.

Kids had fun too. Swimming and hiking and time with Dad. Moms all had a break since I basically took over on kids.

It was fun. Preparing for winter now.

Our son's headstone was completed and looks good. He is looking out for us.

the stone is to be laid

Our son will get his headstone. He is next to his brother in a plot that was nearest the railroad track by the cemetary.

Our first son loved trains. When he died we bought plots nearest the tracks. We never thought another child would be there before us.

Anyway, we are getting the stone done this month.

Our recovery continues. Our search for a sisterwife continues too.

economy and more

Well we are recovering. After losing a son, my wife was depressed, for obvious reasons.

She is doing better now. Morale slowly on the rise. We are doing several things to remember our son. First, a custom headstone. Another idea one of my daughters had was to plant a tree. Her mom also chimed in and agreed this would be a great project for all the children to remember the tiny little brother who passed.

We have to decide what kind of tree to plant. I am asking you for your input out there. Our son was 6 months old when he died. He was a fighter and fought hard to survive.

What kind of tree should be planted? We will be placing a marble stone with his name on it in front of the tree.

sometimes irony just bites you in the butt

I mentioned how ironic it was that our first son died just a while after we had purchased a house and that we had just built a huge house and now Charles Jr. was struggling.

Well, now that Charles Jr. has passed away, we have decided NOT TO MOVE. Gads, everyone. Each time we move to a new home, we lose a child. What the heck is that?!?!?

So here we stay, if for no other reason than to protect our children.

I know that this is not a rational fear...that moving is not what caused our 2 son's deaths. I am just startled at how irony comes a haunting our lives.

We do not need to move. This house is big enough, especially now that one room is vacant.

wow, things are happening...

Well things look bleak for the world.

With the loss of our son, we are still recovering. His death hit us completely off guard. He was supposed to be out of the woods. Now he is gone. Seeing his empty car seat when I walked by his room is what cracked my foundation yesterday. I walked into my room and I simply prayed.

I know I will be with him celestially. I my wife is still getting past things. Even anti-depressents have not helped her. She is struggling with it even now. She dreams about him and so do I. I have put her to work on the new office we are finishing. I explained to her that I needed help completing my new engineering office and that I had no one else to turn to. The truth of it is that I need to keep her occupied to get her out of this dark hole she has crawled into. I told her I had to get this office completed so I could produce more income. She has helped me paint and finish walls. By the end of the week, we should be ready to set up desks and move my computers and software in, at least that is the hope!

I am having trouble sleeping.

Financially, we have circled the wagons. I have frozen corporate plans to create any jobs. Instead, I have paid almost all debts off. I am now in a good position to weather the storm. We will, by the end of March, only owe about $5k. Given what we DID owe, this is miraculous. I have to say things have slowed down IMMENSELY. However, as of end of March, my ownly debt will be my home, of which I have paid 42%.

This is my testimony.

For all the lay people out there let me say this....

There is no bottom in sight for the crashing economy. We are headed down for the foreseeable future. The FIRST SIGN of the end of this downturn will be when the housing market bottoms out. I do not see this happening any time soon. We are headed down and the landing will be hard. Put your trays in their upright positions and place your head between your knees with your hands on top of your head...this landing will be rough. My advice? Buy enough food for 3 months for your family. We have (and with all the kids/ladies in our homes you can guess that this is a lot).

The first step to recovery, is banks lending.

the media today...

I do not trust the media today. Several people have asked that we participate in 'documentaries' and these have ended up being a farce; nothing but slanted. They misled people as to what plural marriage and the Principle are about.

I respectfully decline. I do not know if this most recent request is legitimate or not.

I do know that the credibility of journalism is almost non-existent. After the last election, it is clear that objectivity does not exist.

We have experienced bigotry against us already. Why in the world would I risk more.

If this offer is legitimate I have to say thanks, but the trust with journalists does not exist; we respectfully decline.

Time together and God heals...

I took the ladies and kids to a hotel near a job site I was on. Has an indoor waterpark. Given that it is subzero OUTSIDE, a good time like this helps.

We are talking about Charles Jr. and we also pray. I know, one day, I will be with him in the Celestial Kingdom. Does little to comfort us now.

For now, we circle the wagons. We stay together as a close family. We grieve together and we talk about Charles Jr.

Pray for our daughter, who watched her brother die. She is only 8.

Unbelievable Sadness!

Well, there is REAL bad news. Our son, who survived all this and had clear sailing ahead of him, has died.

We were told by the medical exam that they have no idea on his cause of death. I know he passed in his sleep. I woke, he was not breathing. I started CPR after calling 911 and handing the phone to his mom. My wife was hysterical, but CPR was more important at that moment than anything else.

I was told by the EMT's at the hospital that when they arrived he was already gone. To their credit, they tried anyway.

My wife was blaming herself for days even though she clearly did nothing wrong. I was told this was common for mothers who have recently lost children.

We were totally blind sided by this even. Shock was total. We do not know what to say or do.

We now believe that there was a hidden, undetected problem he had and it is what contributed to this.

We appreciate prayers. We are quite upset, especially his Mom and I.