Sammy's blog

Hey everyone this is sammy i just wanted to let everyone know that i have a blog now but it is private so just log in with the horsley news username. If you have any problems email me and i can invite your email instead. My email is gigglybear15@gmail.com
Love you all tons!
~sammy~

ABOUT THE FLU PANDEMIC

I found this to be quite interesting. Do with it as you will. Your mother and I are adding extra food to our food storage just in case we are not able to leave the house for several weeks.

"About a month ago a seminar was put on by Dr. Susan Puls, who is a cardiologist appointed by the First Presidency of the Church as the head of the church's pandemic committee. She said she was not an expert on pandemics as this was not her specialty, but in the two years she's been in her position, is fast becoming one. She now works for the church on a full-time basis working on planning for the pandemic and trying to get the word out to as many church members as possible. There were about 1400 people at the Saturday all-day seminar.
In her capacity, she works with the governor's pandemic committee and the federal pandemic planning agency. She also said a pandemic is coming - not 'maybe' but is DEFINITELY coming. She says the pandemic is expected within the next two years but she personally believes it will be 'sooner rather than later...' The various groups (CDC, WHO, etc...) do not know what the pandemic will be but 'first among their list of suspects is the avian bird flu. It's only one mutation away from being easily transmitted from birds to humans and from human to human.'
She said the World Health Organization expects 40% of the world population to become sick. Of those who become sick, they expect 50% will die. If you do the math - there are over 6 billion people on the earth today - that puts the death rate at over 1.4 billion people - and she says these deaths will happen over only a 3 to 4 month period of time.
Dr. Puls related that when the pandemic hits the US, mandatory quarantine's of all infected and NON-INFECTED peoples will occur within the first 48 hours. Only emergency personnel (Dr's, nurses, firemen, police, national guardsmen, etc...) will be allowed to leave their homes - not even to go to the store, etc... This quarantine will last during the duration of the 'pandemic cycle' which will last approximately three months.
Her main point was that everyone will need a *MINIMUM of 3 months supply of food at home* as the governments of the world will be overwhelmed within the first week and cannot be counted on to provide food, medical help, etc...
She only briefly spoke on the 'social disruption' that will occur and did not go into any detail about what plans may, or may not exist, to deal with this. However - think about this - if your neighbors (both those you know and strangers) run out of food and are starving how might they react? Then think of all the individuals who already live outside of the law and are only 'controlled' by our current legal system. How might they react when law enforcement becomes ineffectual due to illness among the ranks and those who abandon their jobs to stay home and protect their own families. Ditto for the national guard and our own military.
This isn't to scare anyone - just to provide a 'heads up' as 'to be forewarned is to be forearmed.'

I checked the authenticity of this by Googling Dr. Puls on the Internet and was eventually linked to the Church's Provident Living website and was surprised to find that they have a section on Pandemic Planning under Home and Family Preparedness.

http://providentliving.org/content/display/0,11666,8041-1-4414-1,00.html
The government also had a website:
http://www.pandemicflugov/plan/tab3.html

I found it very interesting that in the Church's new pamphlets on food storage, they recommend building your supply up to a three months supply. As you can see in the article, Dr. Puls states that everyone will need a minimum of three months supply of food at home.

Susan and I are purchasing more food storage each time we go to the store to build up our supply. We encourage each of our family members to do the same. The headlines in today's news is about the swine flu coming out of Mexico into the U.S.

Sister Weekend Idea

I've been looking on the Internet for rental deals. I found this condo that is in Deer Valley for $139 a night during the summer. It might be a little bit of a tight fit but with a couple of air mattresses we could make it work and it would only be $14 a night each.

http://www.lake-mountain.com/park-city-condo.htm

Let me know what everyone thinks.
Lydia

SISTERS WEEKEND

O.k. So I really want sisters weekend (or day)to happen. I missed it last year and I don't want it to just fizzle out this year. Frances is alway so awesome to try and put something together. It isn't working out so lets all do what we can. I have a possible chance to get a condo from a friend who has a timeshare. He could maybe find us a room if there is an availability with his bonus time. A two bedroom condo would cost around $50-$60 dollars, but we would need a three bedroom. We can't book until 2 weeks before the date. So would you all be o.k. to pay some money. Also, I need to confirm a week end. June 13th we have the bear lake marathon going on. The 25th, 26th, and 27th Franni has Youth Conference. What else is going on that month and how flexible is everyone. Again, this condo is not for sure. I am trying to get it in park city. If we can't get a place, how would you all feel about just one night at someones house or camping? Let's put our heads together. We can get this figured out. Also I am off the computer this week because of no t.v. and computer week (it will be just as hard for me as the kids). So if your comments can't wait for a week, call me. Love ya all so much.

The Trip to Kentucky

This is the story about our trip to Kentucky to visit Taylor when she was baptized. Aunt Frances, Grandma Susan, McKayla, Cambree, Jade and myself left at 6:30 am on Wednesday, March 25^th. I thought we would need to store some of our luggage on top of the van, but we were able to get everything into the van. We did put Susan’s special lounge chair on top of the van which worked out great. We said a prayer for a safe trip and that all drivers would be alert and cautious while driving. We also prayed that the van would not have any mechanical problems. Our goal was to drive all day and all night.

We drove up through Provo Canyon to Heber on our way to I-80 and Wyoming. It started to snow as we got near Heber. It was a light snow, and we were hoping the weather would improve as we continued to drive eastward. The snow did cause us to drive slower than the speed limit for several miles but the weather eventually started to clear up as we got into Wyoming.

The drive through Wyoming and Nebraska on I-80 is a long, boring drive. The girls were so good on the long drive. They stayed entertained watching videos and playing with a new toy that was passed out to them every couple of hours. When we passed Laramie, Wyoming, Susan made sure to “boo” Laramie. This is because BYU fans are treated very rudely when BYU plays University of Wyoming there in basketball and football.

We used a GPS system during the trip to make sure we did not take a wrong turn. We have come to love using our Garmin GPS system. It really saved us on Thursday morning when we drove through St. Louis, Missouri. It would tell us which lane to be in as we approached the next junction. Without it we would likely have missed a junction but we were able to get through St. Louis without any problems. Coming home, however, we were in the wrong lane and missed our junction. The GPS just recalculates where we need to turn to get us right back onto the correct road. Susan and I both agree we will never take a long trip without our GPS system. We love it!

We arrived at Janice’s house about 12:30 pm on Thursday, March 26. So we drove from Pleasant Grove, Utah to Paris, Kentucky in 28 hours straight. We only stopped for gas and to eat at McDonalds. Susan and Frances took turns driving to help relieve Grandpa Jack.

According to Frances, Grandpa Jack could have used this vehicle the first day.

Here are some pictures we took while there:

“I’m having so much fun, I could throw up!”

“I just love driving all day as long as I’m with you.”

"Aren’t we just the cutest things?”

“Can I get out and walk for awhile?”

Morgan is happy to see her cousins! “Someone said, ‘Suck in up!’, so I did!”

The girls all had fun being together again. Is Morgan “Happy” or what!

The girls get aprons and slippers! Grandpa Jack is getting some zzzzzzzz’s

Janice & Frances preparing for Taylor’s B-Day party Samantha showing off new apron

Entering the Adena Springs breeding farm New foal with her mother

We visited the building where the new born foals are kept with their mothers

View of horse breeding farm from top of the office building

Looking through window of tower over breeding farm building built around circular stairway

We took pictures from top of this building Friends at Taylor’s birthday party

Taylor’s baptism day! Two down, one to go! Jade is next year. “The 3 Musketeers”

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Many others were taken but these were some of the cute ones.

We went out to dinner on Saturday and left Samantha to watch the youngsters. Sunday we attended the church in Paris. It is a nice building only 5 minutes from the house. After some serious visiting on Sunday night we finally got to sleep in anticipation of the long drive home.

We left Monday morning at 6:30 am. Couldn’t help but notice a little sadness on Janice’s face.

We stopped at McDonald’s and picked up breakfast to eat on the road. The GPS guided us on the way and recalculated our route when we missed a junction in Louisville. Love that GPS! We planned to stay in a motel this time. Our goal was to get to Nebraska before stopping. Susan took over driving for Jack after a gas stop in a small town, where we had a hard time finding “the gas station”! The “big girls” expressed apprehensions about going into the “gas station” but they gathered their courage and everyone was “relieved”.

After driving for two hours, Susan got a serious back ache. Jack took over the driving as we looked for a motel to stay the night. We arrived in the city of Grand Island, Nebraska, bought food at McDonalds then checked into the Holiday Inn Motel. Susan’s back pain became severe. Jack gave her a priesthood blessing assuring her she would be comforted and get a peaceful night’s sleep. Susan felt nauseated and sweaty. We decided to seek out the hospital. The GPS took us directly to the St. Francis Hospital there in Grand Island. Susan was admitted to the ER about 9:15 pm Monday night. The doctor, a woman, thought she was having a heart attach, but after several tests and a CAT scan it was determined she was passing a kidney stone. This is what we both were thinking it was. Susan was given anti-nausea medicine and pain medicine and began to feel better. We left the hospital and finally got to bed at 2:30 am on Tuesday morning. Susan was feeling pretty good by then. She said she had the best sleep since our wedding night. (Just kidding, but it was the best sleep in many years.)

Tuesday morning we got up at 7:00 a.m. and found it was snowing and the wind was blowing the snow horizontally. The night before must have been stormy on I-80, because we passed 5 cars that were upside down on the side of the highway and two semi-trucks were on the side of the road. The wind and snow continued most of the day. The snow let up at times but the wind was blowing strongly all day. We stopped for lunch at McDonald’s in Cheyenne that had a playground for the kids. They had a good time running around for awhile before we headed off again anxious to see the Utah boarder. Finally, we crossed into Utah about 6:00 p.m. and arrived at Jade’s house about 8:30 p.m. after a long, long, day. It was good to be home again.

We are all praying for Glen.
The trip was great and we made it.
Even a side trip to the Emergency room
at Grand Island Nebraska didn't take away from
how special everything was. The little girls were fantastic
and even Frances did better than she thought she would.
We had a great time at the baptism and an interesting time
at the horse farm. Kentucky is very beautiful. It was a long drive and I highly recommend
that everyone buy a GPS. It saved us more than once.
We love you all.
Momma Susan

Welcom Home!

I'm glad to hear that everyone made it home from Ky. Dad how about an entry detailing your crazy drive all night long from what I hear. Mom, give us some details about the visit and what you thought about Ky. Any pics? We're just sad that we didn't get to come along. It meant a lot to Nate when everyone came to his baptism back in Sept.

Love you all,

John

Pray for Glen.

Hi Family...this is Sarah.
I would rather be posting about something else, but I came over here to the "family blog" to ask for your prayers in behalf of Glen. He had is annual visit at Huntsman this Feb. and walked out with some shady news. They found a tumor in his neck and some other goofy things going on in his mouth. Long story short he is having surgery to remove the mass on Monday. He should only be in the Hospital for a couple of days and hopefully the recovery will go quickly and he will be back to his crazy self soon after! We will keep you posted on the results of the biopsy which we should get back within a couple weeks after the surgery. There is strength in numbers and I know that with the Faith of the family we can beat whatever the circumstances turn out to be and Glen's best interest will be in the hands of the Lord. Thank you!
We will be Fasting on Monday if you would like to participate :)
P.S. Glen doesn't want anyone to worry.