Farewell Truman

Truman Madsen, my favorite employer and family friend, has passed away. You can read his obituary here. When I returned from my mission I took my turn as one of the Fillmore boys who had the immeasurable honor of working for Truman as a secretary, transcribing his correspondence and some writings. In this brief time I learned an enormous amount from his wit and wisdom.He once made a comment in a letter to a friend that I will remember forever. He said "Faith is trusting what your spirit already knows."

When I was engaged to be married he spoke with me and my wife and shared with us knowledge that he had uncovered regarding my personal relationship with Joseph Smith. Indeed it is from Truman that my love and admiration of the Prophet Joseph first began to grow. I believe that Truman must be in the Prophet's company right now. Where else would he be? Thank you Truman and God be with your family.

Food Storage Rocks!

So my younger brother Jake is currently working for a company that sells high quality food storage. It's good stuff and it has an amazing shelf lfe. Right now val and I have been just rotating groceries which means every few months or so we find expired food that we have to throw away. It's like throwing away money except it smells worse. Click here for the readypak website. Anyway, here's the info on the stuff and also some infoif you'd be interested in selling it yourself.



If you know of anyone who is interested in food storage, please email readypaksales@gmail.com for a free sample. Easy, affordable, nutritious gourmet meals. See for yourself, the quality, taste, and shelf life are the difference. For every 5 people that your refer who buy a year supply, we will give you personally a 6 month supply of food storage absolutely FREE!!!!Readypak Emergency Preparedness Food Storage♦30-Year Shelf-Life♦Quick + Easy Preparation♦Group Discount♦Retains Nutritional Value♦Vitamin + Mineral Fortified♦Great Tasting Menu♦Truly Affordable♦Convenient Mylar PouchesReadypak is expanding and currently hiring across the U.S. If you refer a sales employee to us, after they make their first year supply sale, you will personally receive $100! If you are interested in applying full or part-time, please email readypaksales@gmail.com. Spread the word and contact Jake 801-602-3708 for more info on this limited time offer.

At Least My Dad Likes Me

My dad came to visit me here in Monterey last weekend. We had a super good time and now I'm going to chronicle it for you in pictures and in words. Because I'm not afraid of words. On Friday I picked him up at the Monterey airport. He almost missed his flight from SF. It's a long story but suffice it to say it was expected. I'm pretty sure getting on a plane as late as possible is a favorite game of Bill's. Like playing chicken with the departure gate.

Anyway, we first went and ate ginormous burgers at R.G. Burgers. I got the Black and Bleu and he got the Bleu Cheese Burger. We also each got a shake. It was enough fuel for the whole weekend. We immediately dragged our burger filled bodies over to the Bayonet Golf Course. It was cold and foggy. Very interesting playing in fog. It was a very beautiful but very challenging course.

Afterward we went to Lugano's Swiss Bistro in Carmel and got the fondue, which was mediocre. I shoulda gone with the giant plate of sausages.

The next day we went whale watching. While taking a picture of my thumb a few dolphins rudely entered the frame. There were hundreds of dolphins! Here are a few more. How do they move so fast without moving? Also, did you know that identical twins DO NOT have identical DNA? I didn't know that. Now, we never saw a whale. They tried so hard that we missed our Black Horse tee time. But I did get a rain check so I can go try and see a whale again. Note to self: Dramamine!

So we played Bayonet again and the weather was beautiful! This hole was memorable for me. Look real hard and you can see the tee box. I am taking this picture from where my drive landed. I was very proud. It went pretty far (I outdrove Bill on this one) and right in the middle of the fairway!
This was my best shot of the day. I am taking the pic from in front of the tee box. You are looking at the green in the distance. On my drive I hit the freaking pin! The ball did not go in but rolled a few feet away. I flubbed the birdie and settled for a par. But I HIT THE PIN!
That night we ate ate the Monterey Fish House with some friends of my Dad's, the Cummings. I got Chipino and Bill got the Swordfish pasta. We expressed that we were going to try each other's dishes so they brought each of us a plate/bowl of each. It was a lot of food and very tasty. Then I made the mistake of ordering the creme brulee. Very bland and the top was actually a wee bit burnt. Harumph!
We then went to Angels and Demons. It was better than The DaVinci Code (just like the books!). I don't know what else I can say.

The next day we got all religious and went to church. Afterward we went to Compagno's for sandwiches. They were enormous. We also asked for a slice of cake and I swear we got a 1/4 of the cake. It was all very tasty and healthy.

Anyway, thanks for coming to visit dad. Can't wait to see you in Hawaii!

My (Temporary) Homecoming

On May 1st I decided to go home to Hawaii and surprise Val and the kids. So when I got to the door I called Val to make sure she was home. She was. Then I told her I was going to send her a picture. So I took a picture of our front door and sent it to her. Here's the picture.

So I got all excited and I sat on the bench waiting for Val to run to the door. Nothing happened. SoI waited for a few minutes and still nothing. So I knocked on the door and Jon answered. He just said "Oh hello," like I'd just come back from the store. I told him to be quiet and I snuck in the kitchen and surprised my wife. Lots of screaming ensued. Anyway, she said she was washing dishes so didn't plan on looking at the picture till she was done. Oh well. It was a good idea.

Anyway, we promptly went to Stone Cold and got some Cookie Mintster all around. The next day we spent hours just hnitting up our favorite spots on the island (but not until after Val participated in a Primary activity. There's dedication for ya!), Matsumotos, Sharks Cove for snrokeling, Ted's Bakery and then we had dinner at Teddy's Bigger Burgers where I enjoyed the Jala burger (a 7 oz burger with jalapeno poppers on top!). So we went home and watched Twilight together (my kid's new favorite movie, go figure). It was a wonderful weekend and hopefully it was a very productive weekend (maybe more on that later). Now I'm back in California and all I have to console myself with is lots of good food.