How Did That Happen

I was looking at a link Bob sent me and he had a link to "Mom's Blog" which I hit. Lo and Behold!! It has been 8 months since I posted anything, and so very much has happened. I guess we have been so busy with life, that I have not taken the time to write about my life. Here is a quick synopsis of some of the high points.



First and foremost, we have two new members of the family. Troy Robert Kahaku Justus was born on 4 October 2009 a bit premature but healthy and strong. He is the adoptive (still in the process) son of Bob and Jen. What a cutie!! He is growing well and developing so many lovable traits. He has the ability to focus on things for a pretty good period of time, something I do not remember my children doing. He loves the stars that Bob put on the ceiling of his bedroom, and pretty soon he will probably find the planets that are appropriately placed around the "sun" (ceiling light). I have been spending most Friday nights with them to help care for Troy and to help Bob and Jen get at least one full night's sleep a week. I know it is not much, but I only have a limited amount of time.



Sophia Morgan Justus was born on 28 December 2009 in Fairbanks, Alaska. She is the daughter of Brad and Rebecca. I have seen pictures of her and I was able to watch her on Skype a week or so ago. She is so sweet to look at, and according to Brad she is a delight. She is bringing her parents to Denver in mid-February to meet all of the family. I can hardly wait.



My sister was here to help care for Mother when she had surgery in October. She stayed until just before Thanksgiving. Mother continues to recover and is still trying to regain her strength. We are grateful to her doctors, the surgeon, the oncologist, and Heavenly Father for the outcome of the surgery and pray that she will continue to regain more of her strength as time goes on. It would also be nice if she could regain a little of her hearing. I think we need to figure out how to get her a hearing aide.



I have continued working my mission but will be released soon. I am finding it is just too much to work full time, care for my mother, and be available to my family all the while trying to put 25 - 30 hours additional into the mission. I do not feel that I am supporting the mission as well as I should, and have opted to request a release at this time. I will try again when there is more time (when I retire in a few more months).



Bob and Larry have each lost about 90 lbs over the past 10 months, and I have decided that I need to follow their lead. So far I am down 11 pounds. I guess at 63 weight loss is a little more difficult that it was at 35 and I have almost as much to lose this time. I lost over 140 lbs then and kept it off well for quite some time. It is only the last 8 years or so that it has started coming back on and I know most of that has been because of Mother's exceptional cooking and my lack of willpower. She has promised to stop cooking those wonderful gourmet meals and I have promised to limit my portions. We have started the long slow slide.



I am still working hard on our Family History, and we are finally making headway on Daddy's line. That was a really hard one to get going after the initial 4th generation. I can feel the urgency of getting this work done, and I feel that I am receiving a lot of help from the other side of the veil. With all of the new tools, and so much being made available on the Internet, I am sure we will be able to continue to work our way back. Pray for our success. The kids and I are serious about getting this done.



Those are the highlights. I hope to take time now to add some detail and maybe some fun stories in the near future. In the meantime, please take care of yourself, enjoy your life (it is the only one you have), and remember us in your prayers.