Archive for October, 2007
Saturday I couldn't face doing homework, so we went on a family outing to Kootenai Falls, Montana. The trailhead is right off the highway about 45 minutes from our house. We arrived early in the morning to a very cold and frosty day. Madeleine was bundled up about as warm as she could be in her new snowsuit, ready for winter.
The hike is interesting and short, two essential elements for any successful family adventure. You first descend down a steep slope to the railroad tracks, where there is a caged bridge that takes you up some metal stairs and down the other side. Then comes the footbridge, a la Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, minus the crocodiles. Crossing that bridge is just about the most unsettling thing I've done on a hike. I can handle steep hills and drop-offs, but a bridge that sways in the wind and, if broken, would hurtle you hundreds of feet below to churning frozen waters is right at my limit.
We continued on to hike up the slope of the valley, where we got some good views of the lower part of the falls.
Pictures are on our Picasa site or in the slideshow below.
October 28th, 2007
Occasionally I visit the website of the Gresham Outlook, the paper in Gresham Oregon where I went to school. I often find news of people I knew from Oregon, most of which is not happy (newspapers aren't the best place to find positive news).
This morning I read that Drew Jensen, a kid I knew in school, had died of injuries sustained on duty in Iraq. Drew was the younger brother of a friend of mine, Shane Jensen. Shane and I had French class together for two or three years, plus a shared history at Damascus Middle School.
Drew was a captain in the infantry. He was shot in the neck by a sniper while attempting to help a fellow soldier after a road-side bomb explosion. After several months in a hospital, he asked to be taken off life support and passed away September 7, 2007.
There was a great article in the Seattle Times about Drew. The eighth-grade history teacher mentioned in the article was Stephen Corkett, who was also a very big influence on my early interest in history and military strategy.
The family also set up a site about Drew here.
October 22nd, 2007
My dad passed away on October 4th in Spokane, Washington. Here are the pictures from the funeral.
Here's the obituary that ran in the paper (with a few minor corrections):
SCOTT, Phillip John
Passed away October 4, 2007 from complications of leukemia. He was born July 4, 1941 at his grandparents' house in Annis, Idaho. Most of his adult life was spent working for LDS Family Services, a private social service agency. His work was very respected by many. After a brief early marriage, he married Julie Ann Stoddard on March 12, 1966. They were sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple on May 11, 1967. Phillip was a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was a very faithful servant until the end. He was also a dedicated and loving husband and father. He and Julie were married for 41 years and had eight children: Andrew, Nathan, Jonathan, Amy, James, Matthew, Ryan and David. He also had two children by his previous marriage, Cindy and Phillip Jr. He is survived by 32 grandchildren. He will be sorely missed by his children and all who knew him. He has gone on to a glorious place to continue serving his Savior and rejoin his parents and loved ones. Those of us left behind will sorrow at his passing but take joy in his memory.
October 14th, 2007
The last few months have been hard on my dad. He has lived with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) for more than ten years. The disease causes a very slow deterioration of the person's ability to fight infection. Dad has been in and out of the hospital with various infections for a while now. A week ago he went in the hospital again, but this time none of the drugs the doctors prescribed had much effect. By mid-week they said it would be his last struggle, and most of the family made it back to visit with him this last weekend. They've stopped several of his drugs and now it's just a matter of keeping him comfortable.
Coming as this has on the heels of my sister-in-law's funeral three weeks ago, I feel like our family has had quite a dose of cold reality lately. The first couple of days in the hospital with dad were hard for me, but I seem to have run the course and now feel a little more comfortable saying goodbye. I'm really glad we had the chance to move closer to him during the last three years; there are so many memories made during that time that we would have missed out on had we stayed in the Midwest. My two oldest children will have memories of grandpa reading them stories and taking them out on the boat, and that is something that they will treasure forever.
October 1st, 2007
