Year-End Update

I just want start out by saying that we loved seeing our friends and family this Christmas but we really missed those of you who we didn't see over the holidays. That’s one of the joys and sorrows of having such a large family: you can’t be with all of them, all of the time. One of our New Year’s Resolutions is to try and see you all as much as possible in 2013. If you guys want to help us out with our resolution, we welcome the help (and any visitors to our humble little home!).

Work-

                So my poor, poor wife had to deal with me leaving her for a full week at the beginning of December  so I could go to Dallas for a medical conference for work. I really enjoyed the conference and it was a cool opportunity to make myself more valuable to the company, but afterwards I promised Val that I will do everything in my power to not travel for work that long again. Just too hard being away.  Work is going just grand right now and I am continuing to move up in the company. It is really a tender mercy of the Lord. They are opening a new plasma center not too far from our house in Provo and I have been asked to run the whole medical side of things. That’s alone is pretty great, and the nice raise that comes with it ain't bad and helps us out soooo much. We are really blessed that I have such a great job.

On top of that, Valerie just got herself a new job! I would let her tell you all herself, but I need to brag about her a little bit first. She submitted a sample email ad for a local, growing company that was looking for an ad writer/editor for their documents. It was amazing, and so much so that the owner of the company hired her as soon as he read it. No questions asked about experience, no resume submitted, and not even an interview or application. So she will now be working for them, writing ads for their promotions and any odd editing stuff they need done. It’s not a ton of hours but it’s all from home and it’s good experience for an English/editing major! I have a very talented wife.

Christmas-

                We had a wonderful week in Oregon with my family for Christmas. We first flew into Portland for my cousins wedding on Saturday, which was just beautiful. Gotta love being in the an LDS temple with family. It was pretty amazing having my youngest brother Tommy, who just got his mission call to Columbia, in the temple with us. We then drove down to Medford and enjoyed 5 days of being lazy, eating too much, and being around family. I think we need to buy about 200 acres of property someplace and have all our family just move together in one centralized location. We love being around family. Overall, a great trip despite Valerie being a bit sick and throwing up a few times Christmas day.  

                Another tender mercy moment. When we got back to Provo after being in Oregon, we went to get Valerie’s car Draco from my work where we left it for the week. We tried starting it and it just wouldn't start. After getting some more gas and a LOT of jumping it, it still wouldn't start. When one of the managers from work walked by us, he was flabbergasted that Draco was our car. All last week they had been calling the cops and trying to get it towed because it was covered with a foot of snow and no one at work seemed to know whose it was. No one knows why, but somehow it didn't get towed! We still had to get a new battery for it, but I HATE getting my car towed. So that was a blessing.

A New Year-

New things this year? How about a list! 

·         Val’s new job

·         My new promotion and new center

·         Both of us will be in school (We’ll see how having a baby mid-semester works for Val. I’m sure she’ll do great).

·         New baby girl around March 3^rd!!!! (Any good names suggestions?)

·         Applying for PA school in May 

This last year brought some pretty great things into our lives (like all you guys!). We’re just excited to see what this one will bring!

With love,

Bard Doll (aka Brad)

P.S. We might be doing our baby’s blessing the Sunday of General Conference weekend ( April 7^th). If anyone wants to come for that and Conference we would love to see you! Don’t you want to help us with our New Year’s resolution?!?! 

A "B" update from Brad

Baby

So, as you all should know by now, Valerie is pregnant! We are so thrilled and can’t believe we are already 4 months along. The due date is March 3rd and so far everything is going well. We need to figure out how to make space in our small one bedroom apartment for a new addition to our family. We might be able to find some space in the bathroom, the biggest room in the house, to squeeze in a bassinet. We find out if it is a boy or girl in just two weeks! We're more than a little bit excited.

I think I may have scared Valerie a little bit today in nursery… There was only 5 minutes left and one of the kids got a really smelly dirty diaper. It didn’t seem worth it to go find his dad all the way across the church so we just decided to wait. That was all fine ‘til he decided to come sit on my lap while I was reading the kids a story. It was pretty bad smelling so I jokingly told the kid to go see what was in the opposite corner of the room. In an uncharacteristic stroke of obedience, he went over to the corner and stayed there until I got him to come back over just a moment later. I had to promise Valerie that I won’t do that with our kids when they have dirty diapers when she’s not home.

Barf

Valerie has been a pretty sick the past couple months and still gets some morning sickness every now and then. It’s a lot better now than it was, but there are still mornings she just wants to sleep in ‘til forever. She is starting to show now and is starting to feel pregnant. She doesn’t want people to notice, but I think it’s the cutest thing in the world. Luckily she hasn’t had any more stroke-like problems so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it really was just what they call a complicated migraine.

Biomat

So I’m not sure that people know what I do for a job, so I’ll just give a brief synopsis. I’m a certified EMT and Medical Supervisor at a plasma donation center. We draw people’s plasma which then goes on to make necessary medications for all sorts of diseases like immune deficiencies and hemophilia. My job is to do a brief physical process with new donors to determine if they are healthy enough to donate. I’ve been with the company for over two years now and I was just recently made part of the training program to train other medical supervisors. It’s a lot more work but it is a nice little promotion that helps us out and will help me get into PA school in the next year or so. 

Beard

Although the picture below shows my nice long Jewish beard, I am now currently clean shaven. Filming for the New Testament movie has concluded and they did not end up needing me. Although I was sad about that, at least I got permission from BYU (and my wife) to grow out a full beard for once in my life. I shaved it all off for Valerie’s birthday two weeks ago and surprised her when she woke up. I think she barely recognized me at first! 

Baker

The past couple of weeks Valerie has started moving outside her comfort zone when it comes to cooking. When her sister Carmen came to Provo in August she gave us some good tips when it comes to feeding a family and even sent us some really great cookbooks. Since then, Valerie has tried all sorts of fun recipes and it’s been great. My favorite was the pumpkin Alfredo she made this week. It was better than any pasta dish I have ever had, even at a restaurant. She hasn’t had any real blunders yet except the time she added a ¼ cup of dry mint flakes instead of whole fresh leaves to a rice dish. Regardless it still tasted fine, and to boot, my breath was great for the whole next week!

Busy

Overall, life is just busy right now. School, work, church callings and pregnancy get us both completely exhausted by the time we get to bed at night. But we’re loving it. Life is good!

Brad's Political Ramblings

I feel like I need to take a moment to vent my political feelings.

Should a candidate stand for what he thinks is right or for what he thinks America wants?

My fear is that both Obama and Romney might be sacrificing what is right and truly best for the future of the country to gain approval from different groups. If Obama wins in November, does that mean America wants what Obama is giving? Could it be that they don’t like what Romney wants to give? Or could it have more to do with image and communication than actual differences in governing styles? In all, one should keep in mind that a presidential candidate will try to win over different groups from the population; Union workers, teachers, the very rich, the very poor, the student, the middle class worker, blacks, Hispanics, retired people, and even different religious groups. 

How do we chose who to elect?

Realize that in order to fix our current economic problem, every single one of these groups needs to rely on the government LESS, not more. Each may need to take less from the government. We need to reduce government, not increase it. Just as in the war times of our past, the country must rally together and fight, to work for improvement, to struggle through the difficult times and come out triumphant! America, be more industrious, more frugal, and more careful. Be less wasteful, less selfish, and less ignorant. Ask our government to take their hands out of our lives and our pockets and WE, we the American people, will take care of each other and work for a better future. WE the American people will take care of our own health care decisions. WE will protect the unborn child, whose life should be protected from the supposed “choice” to defenselessly murder it. WE will love others, especially those different from us, and ensure them their God given human rights, while not trying to redefine marriage or give exceptions to those that break our immigration laws. We will protect our country and citizens from foreign powers while loving them, respecting their people, and keeping our hands out of their business. WE need to chose a president who will fight for our inalienable rights and not for the “rights” of the government. 

Regardless, what we really need to be looking at is what role the United States government should play. What is it's role? I see only two main purposes of the national government:

- Protect our God-given rights

- Protect our safety

What should be debated is what our essential rights are and how to protect them, and then how to protect our people. Every law, every department, and every military decision should be scrutinized based on these two purposes.

We can then ask questions about government programs like welfare, regulations on business and our foreign policy. Do we want a government that redistributes wealth and decides who should be winners and losers? Is it right for the government to control business and industry or should everything be left to the “free market”? Should our country be involved in the issues of other countries? Should we provide monetary support to struggling countries when our own country is in debt? The men who run our country should be elected based on how you believe our government should run and not based on how much assistance they can promise you.The percent of Americans that are receiving welfare, unemployment, and other government assistance and those who do not pay taxes has increased dramatically over the last 4 years.

As 47% goes to 48 and then 49 and upward, we are slowly moving towards the socialist idea of complete redistribution of wealth. Our society cannot sustain this! Although we need to take care of our poor, we all must realize that as the number assisted by the government increases,  America’s productivity decreases. Those who receive government help need to understand that although it is nice to receive help, this will result in a diminished America. Do you really think it is right to force the richest portion of America, at the point of a sword/gun to give up their wealth? I currently receive college Pell grants from the government. I love it and utilize it because it is available. So I do not fault those who use government assistance, but to expect it from our government is wrong. 

We need to learn to take care of ourselves. Do not vote for a president just because he supports more government assistance for you. We need to decrease government spending, even out taxes (which includes everyone paying at least some taxes), and lower the total amount of taxes paid.America was built on American's taking care of themselves. We gained freedom so that we could chose how to manage their families, while protecting the inalienable rights of others. Don't let that be taken away from us. Whatever you choose in November, make a decision that is fair to all Americans and supports what is best America, not just what will be temporarily better for you. 

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