Something I'm working on.

So here's a little sample of something that I have been working on. I came up with the idea to write a story about some of the people that followed Moses out of Egypt. Now these weren't prominent people, but the every day normal people that are just trying to get by. I was inspired by the work of Ken Follet and his stories "Worlds Without End" and "Pillars of the Earth".

Here is the beginning. Please feel free to let me know what you think.

As Efram pushed along with 20 others, the block started to roll along the logs laid out on the ground. The hardest part was over. Once the block was moving it was much easier to keep going. As they approached the top of the ramp they began to slow down. They didn’t want the block dropping off the end of the ramp and ruining half a days work. When they got to the turn at the top of the ramp, the slave master told them to stop and gave each man some bread and water. Efram drank the water sparingly so that he could save some for just before going back to work. The sun was relentless today. He enjoyed the rest as he chatted with his fellow slaves. Efram had been with this crew for almost 2 years now. He started with them when he was the age of 10 as a log boy. He would grab a log as the block came off it and run to the front and place it down again. This enabled the block to be moved into the proper position from the pit. He had done this until he was strong enough, then he was promoted to his current position. During the 2 years, he had seen a few friends fall beneath the block and be killed as they tried to place a log. He had learned early on to be quick and stay out of the way. Lunchtime was over when the slave driver returned. Efram quickly drank the last of his water and began to push.


This was the trickiest part. They had to push the block only a little ways then stop it and push it another way up the next ramp. This usually happened with very few problems, but today something was wrong. As he pushed he placed his foot down and stepped on a log. One of the young log boys had not yet removed it. As he slipped, he took a couple of other men down with him. The block started to roll back down the ramp. He desperately tried to regain his footing, but he was only stepping on others feet. The block continued to roll back. It was at that point that the men gave up and jumped out of the way. Efram was alone in front of the block as it slid towards him. He quickly regained his footing and jumped out of the way, but the block caught his sandal and started to drag him towards the edge of the ramp. As he struggled to free himself he felt the other grab his arms and start to pull him back up. The pain was incredible and most of the men let go. As the block tumbled over the edge, his sandal came free. But it was too late he was heading off the edge of the ramp as well. He struggled to grab an edge when some of the men grabbed his arms again and pulled him to safety. As he got to his feet he looked over the edge to see the block had been smashed to many pieces when it fell. But that was not the worst part. It had fallen on one of the Egyptian leaders and killed him instantly. The punishment would most certainly be death for whoever was found to have caused this incident.


Efram quickly turned around to see the chaos behind him. There was his cousin Ezekiel being whipped by the slave driver. His blood boiled with rage and jumped towards where they were standing. He was ready to attack the slave driver when another Egyptian leader told the slave driver to stop what he was doing. The man ignored his superior and continued to whip the young boy. That was when Efram witnessed the most amazing thing. The Egyptian leader drew his sword and killed the slave driver! Everyone stood around in shock and wonderment. The leader seemed to realize what he had done and began to worry about his own life. He started to run down the ramp. Efram caught him and asked him his name. He said it was Moses. Then he pushed Efram aside and ran off into the crowd. Moses. That would be a name he would never forget.

Life To The Fullest: To Kai...

My wife made this wonderful and touching video as a tribute to our son Kai.

I hope you enjoy it.


Life To The Fullest: To Kai...: "It seems only fitting that my first post should be a dedication to my son, Kai.  I never really got to meet him, but his short life has..."

The Weekend After

The week after our loss we had planned a shopping trip to Great Falls. It was supposed to be a shopping trip for baby stuff, but now it was just a chance to get away and for some retail therapy. The trip down was also quite the experience.

So we left Friday about mid-morning. We had decided that we should stop by the Temple and try and get some sort of understanding about what had happened. The trip to Cardston wasn't bad at all. We arrived in Cardston around noon and asked the people at the front desk if we could just go in and sit and think. We were told that we would have to perform some service before. So, grudgingly, we performed some service and went to a special area to reflect on the recent events. Unfortunately, we weren't in the best frame of mind and had a bad experience. After we were there for about an hour, we decided it was time to leave. It was at this point that April told me she had some bleeding and that we should maybe go to an emergency room. So we head to the Cardston Hospital, 2 blocks away. After waiting for about an hour to see a doctor, he decides to run some blood tests. So after another hour he decides to prescribe some medicine and assures us that the 2 pharmacies in town would have it. We go to the first pharmacy and the technician informs us that he has never seen this particular medication and he phoned the other pharmacy and they do not have it either. Great. So we go to the Church bookstore to get a few books that might help. We find a few items and are waiting at the counter with no one bothering to help. There are a few people chatting right beside the counter an we thought that they were other customers. It turns out that one of them is the cashier. After standing there for about 10 minutes she decides to serve us. This puts us in an even worse mood. We finally head out of town and head for the border. We get to the border crossing and are slowly pulling up only to find that they closed about 10 minutes earlier. We can actually watch the US border guards leaving the office and driving away. Great! So we head to Coutts. We get there around 6:30 and are waiting in line. we get up to the window, and we get flagged and told to pull over to the side for a search. GREAT. After about 30 minutes they come back and say we can leave. We get back on the highway and head for Great Falls. After a while I notice that the gas is getting low. I head for the nearest gas station according to the GPS. We get there and they are closed. GREAT. Head for the next one on the list, and they are also closed. GREAT!! At this point the gauge is reading empty and the little gas light comes on. We head for the next gas station on the list and it is about 10 miles away. We coasted down every hill, and tried to preserve as much gas as possible. With a bit of luck, we make it to the next gas station and fill up. We leave the little town and head back on the highway. No sooner than we had gotten on the highway when we saw the lights from Great Falls. GREAT!!! By this point I am ready to check in to the Hotel and crash on the bed.


The rest of the trip went off without a hitch and we had some great retail therapy. It was nice to get away from all the reminders of Kai that were still fresh in our minds at home. The following weekend we had to bury Kai and say our final farewells. It was tough, but with our wonderful families beside us we were able to get through that tough day as well.

Over the past 2 months we have been shown a great amount of love and support from both families and friends. We appreciate all that everyone has done for us during this time.