2010 Year in Review

Sometimes you have those little experiences that end up making a big difference in your life. Experiences that change the way you think, act, or even believe. This year, we were fortunate to experience a week of those types of moments as we made a trip overseas to Israel.

It began with sleeping at the airport because the plane was missing a part (it was an adventure for sure especially when a few passengers got a little upset). We saw the walls of Canaan (or rather walls built by the Canaanites), the River Jordan, Capernaum, Bethlehem, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Dead Sea, Masada, and a Live Archaeological Excavation. We saw the Garden of Gethsemane, Golgotha, and the Garden Tomb. We saw the ancient Temple Mount and much, much more.

Throughout the trip, I thought, you don’t need to see Jerusalem the city to know that what transpired there really took place, but it sure was amazing to stand on the remnants of the Temple Mount and know that not even 2,000 years ago, the Savior stood there, proclaiming it his Father’s house, then His house, then “your house” which was left desolate and destroyed.

Our posts about the trip have more details that you can read if you desire.

Leading up to the trip, we attended a passover dinner put on annually by BYU which was incredibly insightful. To participate in the tradition, and the meal, that Israel has been commanded to keep and that the Savior kept with his apostles the night of the Real Passover was fascinating.

It’s been a wonderful year of growth for us, in many regards. One of our growth experiences has come from working very hard to find healing for Angie with her Rheumatoid Arthritis. We’re pleased to announce that she’s been medication free for about 8+ weeks. We’ve explored and have begun a new way of eating which is nothing more than just plain eating healthy with a very cautious approach to foods that might affect the Rheumatoid Arthritis. Of all the things we’ve read or heard, two of the most beneficial have been the Word of Wisdom and a talk given by Elder Dallin Oaks entitled “Healing the Sick” given in April of 2010. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s very enlightening.

The kids have been fantastic this year, and await a new addition to the family. We feel blessed, not because we have no trials, but through our trials and work great things have happened.

Perhaps the words by Victor Hugo from his masterpiece Les Misérables (one of my favorite books) captures the essence of it all as Jean Valjean, battered, exhausted, and lost is trying to find his way escaping the battle of armies above by sloshing through the sewers beneath Paris:

The pupil is dilated at night and eventually finds daylight in it, in the same way as the soul is dilated in misfortune [or challenges] and eventually finds God in it.

- Annual Updates -

Books Angie Read

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• The Help
• 7 Miracles That Saved America
• Kingdom and the Crown: Fishers of Men
• Kingdom and the Crown: Come Unto Me
• Kingdom and the Crown: Behold the Man
• Jesus Christ and the World of the New Testament
• Conquering Arthritis
• The pH Miracle: balance your diet, reclaim your health
• The Total Money Maker Over by Dave Ramsey
• The 4 hour work week
• Aiming at Amazon
• Ivy and Bean (with the kids)
• Pippy Longstockings (with the kids)

Books Thomas Read

• Starting an iPhone Application Business for Dummies
• Treat me Like a Customer
• Jesus Christ and The World of the New Testament
• Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words
• Jehovah and the World of the Old Testament
• LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls
• The Total Money Maker Over by Dave Ramsey
• Deduct It!
• The 48 Laws of Power
• Aiming at Amazon
• POD for Profit
• Elements of Style
• Thru the Wringer: 9 Secrets of Survival and Success in a hard World
• Smart Pricing: How Google, Priceline, and Leading Businesses Use Pricing Innovation for Profitability
• The 4 hour work week
• Marketing to the Affluent
• The New Psycho-cybernetics
• The pH Miracle : balance your diet, reclaim your health
• Conquering Arthritis
• Driven: An Autobiography by Larry Miller
• Alkalize or Die
• Excerpts from lots of other health books

New Media we Enjoyed

• The Annoying Orange
• Star Wars the Clone Wars Series
• The Eternal Christ – DVD (2010) by Truman G. Madsen
• Toy Story 3
• Disney’s A Christmas Carol

World Events

• 1/12/2010 A terrible earthquake kills an estimated 220,000 in Haiti
• 3/21/2010 – A massive volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupts air travel over the Atlantic
• 4/20/2010 – An explosion of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico causes one of the worst man-caused environmental disasters in history.
• 7/25/2010 – WikiLeaks posts to the Internet “leaked” US government documents and secrets.
• 8/31/2010 – President Obama announces that the combat mission in Iraq is finally over.
• 10/13/2010 33 Miners were trapped over a thousand feet below the earth’s surface in Chile. All are rescued