Even though it's late in the season, fires still broke out all over California in the past couple of days. I've learned that the recipe for disaster begins with a forecast for extremely low humidity (like 4% or 10%) and a change from the norm in wind direction. If you add above-normal temperatures, such as the mid-90s that we've had the past few days, then that REALLY gets everyone on edge. The Kincade Fire broke out about 30 minutes south of here on Wednesday night and quickly exploded to 10,000 acres by the next morning. My mom had an appointment in Santa Rosa on Thursday afternoon, so we ended up driving right past the fire area. It is located near Geyserville, CA - aptly named for the natural geysers that are nearby. I took this photo looking south from the vineyard right behind my mother's house before we left for her appointment. You can see the smoke in the distance - that's from the Kincade Fire on Thursday. Then, on the drive home from Santa Rosa, I

If you want to mail Scott a package, here is the address: Kenneth S. Harmon PSC 1203, GD 5000 APO  AE  09803 You will need to fill out a customs form most likely. Rules: (Straight from Scott's mouth, ha ha) No pork or pork products; No porn; No religious material; and Nothing that would be considered offensive by the people in the Middle East And he said it will take about 4 weeks to get from your house to where he is. So keep that in mind if you want to send any goodies.  I just purchased a Food Saver (to vacuum seal cookies, etc.) and will be sending a batch of cookies today that I sealed up all nice and pretty.  He will be in a house with 8 guys total. If you want to send cookies and are feeling generous, you might consider sending a little extra for him to share.   His email is still: harmkenn@gmail.com if you want to send something in writing Or if you want to send him a text, use the app called "What's App". It works through Wi-fi and therefore cir

Scott made it safely to Kuwait yesterday. He flew from El Paso to Maine, then on to Ireland, and eventually to Kuwait. Today he was able to attend church for the first time since he left home in August! He really enjoyed it, saying that there were 11 attendees in total. In his words, "I like how they did church. Imagine taking the 2 hour block and crunching it down to 1 hour." He explained that they had Sacrament meeting first, then had a group discussion on 2 general conference talks. A little bit later, when I asked for a photo of him doing something in Kuwait so far, he immediately sent me a picture of him having dinner at the Chow Hall. :) This week I could feel the anxiety creeping up mid-week as thoughts would pop into my mind about Scott leaving the country. I had to fight back the tears when it was T minus 3 days, T minus 2 days, etc. Thankfully, the greatest blessing and the greatest help came when my mother and I went to the Oakland Temple on Thursday. We eac

This week I was able to fly down to El Paso to visit my best friend in the whole world!! We just barely made these plans 2 weeks ago and what a blessing, what a privilege it was to go and spend precious time with him before he leaves the country!! So OFFICIALLY I can tell you that Scott's assignment over in the Middle East is this: He will be advising and assisting a foreign military. I'm not allowed to know where he will be, but he is confident that he will be safe. He is a targeting officer, so he will be giving them targeting advice. And he is SUPER excited about this! He will be part of 2 small teams that will be doing the same "advising and assisting" efforts. I'm just happy that he is so happy. During our 3 days together this week, we were able to do some fun things in addition to just "vegging out" and getting caught up on our favorite shows. Some highlights were: Tuesday we went out to dinner with Bob Hoffenbacker (from Idaho Fall