What are we thinking???

It started out a normal week with a few appointments for both Tracy and I and no big life changing events, but life has a way of jumping up and surprising you all the time. On Tues night we met with a fun Chinese neighbor who had a proposition for us to take on two Chinese foreign exchange students. A boy and a girl. We started out with a NO, which worked into MAYBE for two weeks to help out, and ended up as YES for the whole school year. What were we thinking? We like our independence and don't really have time to cook meals, entertain, or run kids around. What were we thinking? It only took two days before the mission office to call and say - "You can't do that with Sister Missionaries." Now I have a whole new reason to love the missionaries. What were we thinking?

We did do a little entertaining taking them to Pike's Peak, the movies, to see Tracy's horse, the Alpine Slide, and a short hike to St. Mary's Glacier. Life is interesting at all times.

Summer Saturday

It is mid August and summer is about to end and so I felt the urge to use up the glorious Colorado sunshine while it is still here. After an appointment in Boulder mom and I headed to the South end of Rocky Mountain National Forest to hike the Ouzel Waterfall trail. It was a perfect day include something I can compliment Obama on....it was a "fee free" day at the park set up to encourage people to get out and enjoy the natural beauty. It saved me $20, and I got to take these pictures.

It's Only Money -

This has been a disastrous week as a blow to our financial future. It is the accumulation of a string of bad news related to our finances and it has nearly sent me over the top in anguish. The judge ruled against us in our 1031 lawsuit against First American Title, it is a case we should have won easily but it wasn’t argued well and the judgment went the other way. It means we have lost the $33,000 of equity in the Provo condo plus I have to pay my legal fees which so far amount to another $32,000 and the court will probably have me pay the legal costs on the winning side. That amounts to about $55,000. So instead of walking away with $33,000 in our pockets we will end up losing all of that and pay out $87,000 in legal fees. If I appeal it will only add to the bill, but then it may also go my way and we could have everything restored.

There is something criminal about our judicial system when I have to lose $120,000 to fight and eventually lose a legitimate claim to money rightfully mine. I have always disliked lawyers, but judges are now high on my list as well. Look what one judge in CA did as he rejected the majority vote of 7,000,000 citizens and overturned Prop 8 and allow gay marriage. He is openly gay and didn’t recue himself from the case – totally dishonest. Then the weenie judge in AZ (Clinton appointee) overturned the legal proceedings of the state’s immigration bill. If you can believe it; our federal government supports a foreign government (Mexico) and has sued the state of AZ for putting into state law the same language as the current and unenforced federal law states about immigration. I have lost trust in the judicial system.

It has been a string of financial disasters and losses for us and I just need to write about it, to get it out of my head.

1031 case - $120,000

Ponzi scheme - $115,000

Preferred Care - $ 40,000

Branson home - $ 40,000

Codling - $ 20,000

McFarland - $ 15,000

Total - $350,000

Thanks goodness it is only money and the sun still rises in the morning and we have a loving family and good friends around to soften the blow of a very harsh and unfair world. Heavenly Father has blessed us and I need to be grateful for the true joys in life – those that can be taken with us into the next world. Pray that a few things can turn around for us or we will be relying on our kids for our retirement living.

Here are a few shots of the important things in life: