Is it cold or am I old?

I've lived in Las Vegas almost all of my life. Well I was born here lived away til 8 years old, came back, went to the Y, mission, back to Y, graduated moved to California, then came back. So yes its all my life. I like the heat in the summer, doesn't bother me much. If it does there is air conditioning and I stay inside. But I've noticed that the winters here seem to be much colder then I remember. I have memories of playing in shorts on Christmas day. Going water skiing in late February and now I have to wear a jacket to type on the computer. Everyone is talking about global warming and I think its more like a ice age coming then a hot spell.

When I try and tell people about my concerns that another ice age is occuring they tell me that I'm getting old. Whats that got to do with glaciers extending? Does your blood get thinner when you get older? If it does thats the only thing that gets thinner with age. If it did why all the hype about cholesterol and blood clots, no if it got thinner it could slip around any blockages. I think people just want to call others old. Thats the rub of it. You can't insult anyone directly but you can discreetly cut them to the quick and remind them that they are aging as we speak. Old people allways seem to be cold. For instance the shawl is not well used on the teen age set. But walk around the mall and look at the benchs and its shawl city. Go to the library and its even worse. I think the shawl is like a hole filled blanket, it would look kinda homeless to walk around with a blanket on but the shawl is a fashion statement. Still why do you have to get colder as you age? You should have more insulation to cover those vital organs, that should keep you warmer. But it doesn't. You still just feel cold.

Thoughts on Matt

Ok, now its been 6 months since the first attempt to blog. That went so well I figured I could take some time and really let the ideas percolate. Decay would be a better word. Its 2009 and in some ways it feels like 2008 again. Not really, there are some noticible difference in my life and the life of our family. We still do a lot of the same things that we did in 2008. We still go to church on Sunday, call for shotgun in the car (unless Marlene comes). Spencer's playing football, Jenna's playing the field, and Emily plays the Viola. But things are different. My oldest son, Matt, is in El Salvador. Whooooo. Yeah when I tell people that he's there I get some interesting looks. Most people still feel there is a war going on there and in a way they are right. Matt is in a battle, a battle between whats good and whats better. What he is teaching the people in El Salvador is changing their lives. Making them better people, closer families, happier for what they have. His cousin Loren Denton is doing the same thing in Colorado, in fact there are over 50,000 people throughout the world passing along the same messages. They are helping families be together for not only this life but the life to come. Teaching them to be happy no matter what circumstances they may find themselves. He's making a huge difference there and here.

See him being there doing what he's doing is making me realize that I need to be better here with the family I have now. Since he left in September his corespndance has influenced me and my family to be better then we were. We are more thankful for what we have, more involved in each other's lives. He's caused us to open our eyes and recognize things that we've always taken for granted and see them in a whole new light. Its like a great gift has been given to us, one I hope we never forget. In this changing world, where all things apear to be filled with dark and gloomy thoughts my hope is that we may all remember who's children we really are and that He still cares for us and wants us to suceed. He loves us. My son reminds me of that every day, and he probably doesn't even know it.

Getting Started

Due to the fact that our family is starting to leave the nest and information concerning the family tends to be corrupted by word of mouth we are starting a blog. We have seen it be very successful in other families even among some of our own extended family members.

As introduction we are the Stewart family from Las Vegas, Nevada. I'm Clair and my wife's name is Marlene. Our oldest, Matt, will soon be serving in the El Salvador, San Salvador, West Belize mission for a period of 24 months. This will be his first foray away from home as he explores Central America as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known as the Mormons. Jenna our 2nd oldest still attends high school but has ambitions to attend Southern Utah State University in Cedar City, Utah upon graduation. Our other two children, Spencer and Emily, are enjoying middle school still but have plans also to leave the desert after high school. Our hope is that this blog will still keep our family in touch with some of the day to day events happening in our lives without accumulating higher phone bills. That's the gist of our thoughts, we still have much to learn about the information distribution by web.