Sad News Happy News

My heart is heavy as I write this first part, we found out late Thursday night that our good friend of the family Tom Bettger died in in a bicycle accident. I've known Tom since Infancy and am very close to his children Molly and Andy. Tom was a shining example of the Christian life well lived, always joyful, always outgoing, always willing to give of himself to help someone out. One of the things you could always count on was going to church on Sunday morning and having Tom shake your hand and ask you how things were going. He wasn't just making conversation, he was genuinely interested in your response. While we take great comfort in knowing that Tom is with the Lord and is now glorified and perfect, we will miss him and there will always be something missing when we go home to Boise. For those of you reading this that believe in Jesus, we ask that you pray for Kathy, Tom's wife and his children Molly and Andy as well as his extended family and friends who will miss him dearly. Please pray also for the driver that hit him and that this whole thing will be used to grow God's kingdom. Here is a link to Tom's obituary http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/idahostatesman/obituary.aspx?n=thomas-dale-bettger&pid=127650089

It was a year ago Saturday that our good friend Kelly died in a plane crash. The NTSB has issued their final report which basically states they have no idea why he crashed. It's hard to swallow. It seems that we would have more closure if we knew what happened. I suppose we do know, God has numbered our days and Kelly's days were up and now he and Tom are sitting at the feet of Jesus singing God's praises in a heavenly harmony that we cannot even begin to fathom. I frequently find myself wishing that Kelly could come over to help with projects on the new house or come on a hike or play with our dogs. All of which he would have loved to do, but I know he is far better off where he is. I had hoped to avoid aviation altogether on the 23rd but as it worked out, I ended up flying six legs and I really enjoyed it. I even "stole" the airplane for a few minutes and flew circles around Crazy peak where Kelly, Ryan, LeeAnn and I camped out a couple of summers ago. At any rate it's nice that flying is fun agaian, I'll always miss Kelly but time does heal all wounds. . . just not that quickly.

Enough sad stuff already, I'm crying like a little girl.

Ok happy stuff, yesterday LeeAnn and I took a drive to "Eddie's Corner" which is a gas station in the middle of nowhere somewhere between Great Falls and Billings. The purpose of our trip was to pick up a puppy. Specifically, the puppy that LeeAnn was gracious enough to get me for our anniversary. He is an 11 week old weimaraner. He should make a great hunting dog for me and companion for the family. He and Otis have become pretty good friends too. We named him Ruger in honor of my favorite deer rifle. Here's a picture, I love those Weimaraner ears!