Naughty or Nice

Merry Christmas

HO!  HO!  HO!

The latest from Matt

The entrance into the Nigeria airport (Lagos, I assume)




The Ride to ????

This is an email from Matt

Yeah it was pretty crazy I guess. They shipped everyone up to Lagos so they were recounting the event to us. I guess the rebels blocked in the convoy by killing the guards then just came by and shot up every car. And no, I didn't send that to mom. Also did you hear about the clash up in the city of Jos? We didn't get too much activity here except for a couple of marches.

I arrived in Escravos today finally. Its a lot better here because they provide all my meals and we don't have to drive to work every day. I am still no closer to flying then I was in Utah. The government here takes forever for everything. I had a funny experience to get on the plane to get here. The ticket agent told me that I needed to pay him 5000 Naira ($47ish) to get on the plane because the rates went up from the time my company bought my ticket till today. Obviously that didn't go over so well with me so we had a conversation about it. He told me I couldn't get on the plane so that was the end of that. So I walked about 3 feet over and got a "boarding pass"(a hotel door key-like piece of plastic) from the guy standing right next to him, gave the first guy my goodbyes and away I went.

Every one here is looking to get tipped or bribed because it is close to Christmas. Luckily most of them take no for an answer but there are a few persistant ones. These people are borderline bi-polar. They will go from a church gathering to an all out brawl in the matter of minutes. Its funny to watch. The most interesting part of the day is the 30 min drive to work every day. The roads are crazy because they don't have stop signs or traffic signals. Also the road system was designed by the british but when Nigeria got it's independence they decided to drive on the right side of the road. So the result is that you have to drive 5-6 miles out of the way to get on the freeway and the off and on ramps become 180 degree turns. Its crazy.

I only have a few photos because I got in trouble with the security for having my camera out in view of the people. I guess he didn't want any extra attention getting drawn to us. I only managed to get a picture of the entrance to the airport and a portion of our drive to work. This is in the better part of town where you don't have to worry so much about security.

Well I had better get back to studying. Checkrides in two aircraft coming in a week so I'm hitting the books.

This is an email they received from the company he works for

This morning the 0615 hrs convoy from Eket to QIT experienced a situation that resulted in two of our colleagues sustaining injuries from gunfire targeted at the convoy.
The injured personnel Tony Yusuf Adams and Ilya Madaki were taken to QIT facility where initial medical treatment was carried out. Subsequently both Tony and Ilya were airlifted to SOS clinic in Port Harcourt for further treatment, Ilya has now been released whilst Tony while stable will require further surgery. Our thoughts are obviously with Tony at this moment and we pray for a speedy and full recovery.
All other personnel have been accounted for and are now in lockdown in the various Eket facilities. Flight operations have been suspended from QIT until a full review of the security situation as been completed.

Senior management in Redhill have been fully briefed on the situation and are offering full support to all involved. Lagos management are also in contact with MPN management regarding the situation and formulating forward action plans.
On behalf of the WASBU management team, I thank all for their support, notably the team in Eket who have performed a sterling job under very difficult circumstances.

Family Photos 2008

winner of the week

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What's new

In the what's new department.....
Matt's next assignment is in Lagos, Nigeria.... He signs a 3 year contract to work over there. He will work 1 month on and then have 1 month off...For his off month they will fly him anywhere he wants for free....
He hopes to see some places like Australia, New Zealand, etc...

For those of you wondering where Lagos is here is a google map of where it is

Yes , that is the Equator (yellow line underneath)
and the Prime Meridean to the left (yellow line to the left) so
pretty much the center of the Earth

Lagos, is where the push-pin is (bottom center) on the map

He is supposed to be here (Provo) the end of October to get ready to
go (has to get a work visa) to Lagos

Some pics from Matt

One of the many wildlife coming to check things out


A nice "warm" afternoon in Alaska


Somewhere in Alaska

Sam in Hip Hop Magazine

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Amanda and Jared's visit and our trip to Mirror Lake

Hi All-- We just had a great 2 1/2 weeks with Pauly, Amanda and Jared here. The slide show are the highlights of their trip here. Amanda and Paul became one of the elite crowd of passengers leaving from JFK to sit on the runway for 5 hours. We were supposed to pick them up at 11 pm and we didn't get them until 3 am. Luckily for Amanda, Paul slept a good portion of the time and all ended well.

We spent 2 days up at Mirror Lake in the Uintahs in our new trailer. It was so beautiful up there, and we had a great time.

They have all gone home and it is a little lonely around our house.

About the time the Millers went home, my brother Mel, who's health has been failing for about 6 or 8 months now, took a turn for the worse and passed away last night. The poor guy has been in bad health for a couple of years now, and it has been hard to watch him struggle for so long.

School starts next Mon. and the kids are starting at the new Lakeview School, just across Geneva Road from us. We are very excited to have a school in our neighborhood and it is very pretty. This will be a great year for both Lizzy and Sam (5th and 1st grade)

hi

hi how yal doin

Random videos

I finally figured out how to cut some videos from our video camera down to less than a 100 mg...that is as big as blogger will allow..



anyway here goes (I hope)

Introducing: Paul, on Keyboards

Sam: the next back up dancer for P-Diddy

and last but not least,

Lizzy; "So she thinks she can dance"

It sucks to be 50!

OK so I goes to the doctor to get a check up and after the delightful turn and cough exam, he says you really ought to have a Prostate exam....(so is that some sort of blood test ?) Since I had already peed in a cup (as Sam calls it) and they had just pricked my finger to do a glucose test I couldn't imagine what I was agreeing to. Then he told me; but it was to0 late to back out (excuse the pun) Anyway after that fun and excitement the glucose test results come back and he says it's 267 or something like that....OK is that good or bad..... Turns out the normal is 80 - 120. So he says have you been doing this or feeling that or yada, yada, yada and I say "not really" he turns to the nurse and says lets do a A1C test or something like that (gives a 3 month history of your glucose levels) When she returned he said OH, 13.5 (which somehow translates into 330 something average for the 3 months) Then I start having visions of having to poke myself once or twice a day (did I mention I don't do needles or blood). The doctor says we'll give you a prescription for some glucavance (pills) and see how that goes (sigh of relief) and we'll see you in 3 months. So for those of you interested in losing 40 pounds (turns out if your body doesn't keep any of the nutrients you lose weight) try DIABETES for a new weight loss program and see what it can do for you....

Oh I almost forgot....my Colonoscopy is scheduled for a few weeks from now

Sam's birthday

Yes, it is a week after his birthday but we just got the pictures transferred to the computer.
We went to the Veteran's pool and had a fun time. We had a picnic in the park first then went swimming.

hi Paul is HERE

hi PAUL IS HERE

Matt: His first TV appearance

Matt's Debut (Click on the link to see him in action)
when you get to the news report click on the video on the right side of the page

starring Matt Golding as "pilot"

More from Matt

Hi all,

Things have been pretty good up north here. For the past week we have been stationed at a small camp just northwest of a town called Livengood. It is pretty remote up here which is obviously my cup of tea. The bosses had to come to town for a conference call with the bosses in Anchorage so we got to come to town for a bit.(hence the email).We have been working hard and putting in some long days. I still haven't gotten used to the 24hrs of light but working 14 hrs a day helps put me to bed at night. I've been working with a hydrology crew for all the pipeline stream crossings. They are pretty cool and I'm learning quite a lot about it.
Last week we finished shooting the commercial for the pipeline. It was a blast and they got some cool video of the scenery and of us working. Hopefully it gets on the web cause they are only playing it in AK. Apparently there is a big controversy about the state giving a Canadian company 400 million to do the same gas line. So conocophillips and bp are launching a pr blitz for the "Denali Project." Any who its been pretty cool being in on the early stages of such a huge project.

Sam's Slideshow...WOW

Our 50th birthday cruise

From somewhere in ALASKA

Here are some photos from one of the guys with Matt..

Sam's music fest video

I hope this works. I have been trying to figure out how to cut videos to a smaller size to fit on Blogger...so here goes.

Are we there yet?

It seems like we have been in a whirl for several months. I have been in tax season for so long, that I don't know how to act now that it is over. Since April 15th we have had Amanda here for a second week. We gave Shayla a shower on Tues. it was really fun. Amanda did all the work, so it was totally fun for me.

On Fri Amanda, Lizzy, Paul, Jamie, Gabraylie and I went to Lizzy & Braylie's dance competition in Cedar City. Fri night Lizzy performed her solo "You can't stop the beat". This was the 3rd time she has performed it, it was, by far, her BEST!!! It is a very fast paced dance and she blasted through full throttle all the way to the end. Friends came to report that they overheard people saying they couldn't believe the intensity level and skill level combined. She did very well and I was very proud of her.

We came home from Cedar City and Amanda had to fly back on Sunday night. Jared's spring break only overlapped by 2 days with Amanda's so Jared flew in on Sat morning to be here for his mom's birthday and his dad's graduation. So Amanda passed Pauly off to Jared and she went home to work and Jared stayed here all week with Paul. I weaseled him in to leaving Pauly here on Wed, Thur, and Friday. I took the days off from work and just had a great time with Paul. He is so fun! He is very easy going and easy to please. Everything makes him laugh, but especially the dog. He spends several minutes trying to get to the dog and then the dog gets up and walks away.

Anyway, they left yesterday morning and I miss him terribly! I'm always prowling airfare deals to go see him, or have him (and his parents, of course) come here.

Now that tax season is over and the Millers are gone home, I am expecting to get the house in order for a change, but that will have to wait, cause I'm having bunion surgery on Wed. It will only be a couple of days off my feet and then........I really am going to get this house in ORDER!!!!! I mean it! Even if I have to do the "Sylvia-haul-trailers-of-crap-to-DI/the dump" routine.

Does this sound like me (Renae) or WHAT ?

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Orange

You're a bold, confident orange. A warm, powerful color that indicates a strong, welcoming personality, orange is the mark of people who are social and extroverted by nature. Vibrant, with an upbeat attitude, you have a bright, inviting demeanor. Energetic and fun-loving, you're a real friend-magnet. Your easy charm and unassuming manner make you the sort of person people want to meet and get to know better. Well-rounded and fun to be around, you enjoy helping others, so it's no surprise that orange also symbolizes attraction. Orange is an extraordinary color — for an extraordinary person.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=colorogt&c=50652

Sam signed in and created this Slide Show all on his own