Presidets Day 2/19/07

Today is Presidents Day (United States), we commemorate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They were the two greatest Presidents of the United States. (The old postcard is Washington welcoming the assassinated Lincoln into heaven). Both Joseph and his dad are very interested in history and admire both these men.

This weekend was a slow one, both Tim and Gloria are suffering from colds etc. We really enjoyed the visit however from Wayne Adams from Bradford, near Leeds in England. Wayne (on the right in the photo) and Scott Ferre (on the left) were companions together in the Deaf Programme in our mission. They had great success in their missions and are having success in life now. They are both great men. Scott lives not far from us with his beautiful wife. Wayne is over on holiday to America for the first time. It was great to visit with them.

The Last photo is 'Uncle Joe' with his favorite niece Cheyenne. She's always on the move and loves to ride around in Joseph's lap.

My Valentine Sister 2-11-07

The night before Valentine's Day 1978 Gloria had a dream of a beautiful dark haired dark eyed little girl. It was the night Joseph's big sister, Elizabeth Dawn Taggart, was born. When the call came from LDS Social Services in Idaho Falls 2 weeks later, to come pick up our little girl, the whole community of Grace Idaho was abuzz with the news.

We were "pregnant" with Joseph for almost four more years. When he came, our family was complete. Within days we moved to Salt Lake City (to our present home) and began an adventure together. Elizabeth and Joseph have enjoyed and endured, and laughed and loved, tickeled and tramped around together ever since.

Just a couple of weeks ago we learned Elizabeth was pregnant with her third. A wonderous thing and a miracle in it's own right. Joseph gets to be "Uncle Joe" again. What a delight to see in the Grandkids the same wonder that occured 25 years ago when a brother and sister came together and started the common educational experience called family. Valentines day is always special because of Elizabeth's birthday. But every day is great when you have a brother/sister who loves you.

We celebrated Gloria's folk's anniversary today in Logan. The children and grandchildren all made scrapbook pages with photos and love notes and presented them to Don and Barta. Family is a treasure more important than gold.

Attending Class with Class 2/5/07

Joseph is part way through the semester at the University of Utah majoring in Political Science and International Studies. This semester he is taking three classes: Philosophy of International Justice Systems, Foreign Policy, and Public Administration. He has a ton of reading, but is really enjoying it. As you can see from the photo of his textbooks we spiral bind each book so he can turn the pages easily. He has delved into Philosophy, Vietnam, the Cold War and a host of other interesting topics. It is amazing to his parents to observe his intellectual growth and increasing focus.

Looking back at the blog, one year ago Joseph was eating his first solid food since the accident and looking forward to having the feeding tube removed from his nose. We’ve come a long way, baby!