February 22 - 28, 2010

Fortie Family Flyer
February 22 – 28, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,
February 2010 come and gone, WHOOSH! Forever in the past. What will it be remembered for? Earthquakes I suppose; big earthquakes. 7.2 in Haiti sending more than a quarter million people to the spirit world (makes you wonder what the meeting was like there as they prepared for such a mass migration coming their way this month). Then an 8.8 in Chili – crazy. I have noticed that there have been several happening along this earthquake line up and down the west coast and even small ones here in Utah over the past few months. I wonder if things are shifting just a bit and will settle down or if we are getting ready for a few big ones here in California and inland. Even Yellowstone is acting up. Are things even going to wait for December 2012 (hehe). According to the United States Geologic Survey there have been more than one hundred (mag. 5.0 or higher) quakes around the world in the last month. Here is a breakdown of what has happened (mag. 5.0 or higher) over the last week:

EARTHQUAKES THE LAST WEEK OF FEBRUARY 2010

2 THE LAST PART OF LAST MONDAY

5.1 2010/02/22 19:48:38 SOUTH OF TONGA
5.1 2010/02/22 23:47:45 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA


7 ON TUESDAY

5.1 2010/02/23 06:05:03 TONGA REGION
5.1 2010/02/23 10:25:58 WESTERN IRAN
5.3 2010/02/23 10:43:10 KURIL ISLANDS
5.3 2010/02/23 10:52:16 GUATEMALA5
5.6 2010/02/23 15:16:01 GUATEMALA
5.0 2010/02/23 15:36:10 SAMOA ISLANDS REGION7
5.3 2010/02/23 22:38:32 TONGA REGION


1 ON WEDNESDAY1

5.3 2010/02/24 11:58:02 NORTHWEST OF NEW ZEALAND


4 ON THURSDAY

5.6 2010/02/25 03:15:03 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
5.0 2010/02/25 04:56:57 YUNNAN, CHINA3
5.2 2010/02/25 08:03:41 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
5.0 2010/02/25 11:26:36 TONGA REGION



7 ON FRIDAY

5.5 2010/02/26 00:11:51 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.5 2010/02/26 01:07:58 TAIWAN REGION
5.0 2010/02/26 04:41:29 MINAHASA, SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.4 2010/02/26 04:42:30 WESTERN XIZANG
5.7 2010/02/26 08:37:03 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.1 2010/02/26 16:18:57 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
7.0 2010/02/26 20:31:27 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN


77 ON SATURDAY

5.1 2010/02/27 00:48:46 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
8.8 2010/02/27 06:34:15 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
6.2 2010/02/27 06:52:35 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
6.0 2010/02/27 07:12:29 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 07:19:49 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 07:33:31 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
6.0 2010/02/27 07:37:18 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 07:46:50 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 07:51:06 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 07:56:37 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 07:59:56 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
6.9 2010/02/27 08:01:24 OFF THE COAST OF BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 08:13:16 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 08:19:24 VALPARAISO, CHILE
6.1 2010/02/27 08:25:30 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.7 2010/02/27 08:31:05 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 08:48:05 OFF THE COAST OF ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 08:53:27 MAULE, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/27 08:53:57 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 09:00:18 VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 09:21:26 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.8 2010/02/27 09:59:21 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 10:10:15 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
6.0 2010/02/27 10:30:33 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.9 2010/02/27 10:38:36 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 10:54:24 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/27 11:27:00 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 11:45:03 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 12:03:27 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 12:19:51 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.0 2010/02/27 12:23:06 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 12:44:50 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 12:46:19 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 12:58:33 REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 13:07:42 ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 13:12:52 MAULE, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 13:54:04 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 14:06:47 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 14:20:00 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 14:23:28 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 14:40:53 OFF THE COAST OF COQUIMBO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 15:09:08 REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 15:23:06 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
6.3 2010/02/27 15:45:41 SALTA, ARGENTINA
5.5 2010/02/27 16:21:14 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 16:27:58 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 16:32:21 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 16:37:34 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 16:50:20 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 17:11:49 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 17:22:26 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 17:24:34 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/27 17:43:37 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/27 17:56:53 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 18:12:51 REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/27 18:15:23 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/27 18:23:12 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 18:41:51 BIO-BIO, CHILE
6.3 2010/02/27 19:00:08 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 19:06:18 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 19:46:10 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/27 19:54:30 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 2010/02/27 20:29:23 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 20:37:41 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 20:44:34 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 21:00:37 OFF THE COAST OF VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 21:43:11 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 21:48:26 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 21:59:08 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/27 22:13:52 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 22:16:15 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/27 22:20:04 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/27 22:22:33 REGION METROPOLITANA, CHILE
5.8 2010/02/27 23:02:01 ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.8 2010/02/27 23:12:35 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.7 2010/02/27 23:21:13 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
5.2 2010/02/27 23:35:15 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE


47 ON SUNDAY

5.3 2010/02/28 00:00:49 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 00:53:34 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/28 01:01:12 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.5 2010/02/28 01:08:24 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/28 01:20:35 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.3 2010/02/28 01:33:12 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 01:45:29 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 01:58:50 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 02:04:29 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.4 2010/02/28 02:38:32 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 02:41:10 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 02:51:47 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.1 2010/02/28 03:14:12 OFF THE COAST OF VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 03:23:49 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 03:33:50 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.0 2010/02/28 04:17:52 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 04:29:12 MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
5.3 2010/02/28 04:55:49 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 05:04:06 MAULE, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/28 05:13:59 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/28 05:19:35 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 07:14:21 OFFSHORE ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 07:36:30 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 08:07:46 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.6 2010/02/28 08:17:45 OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 2010/02/28 09:14:54 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 10:11:07 OFFSHORE LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.3 2010/02/28 10:26:53 NEAR THE COAST OF ECUADOR
5.1 2010/02/28 10:43:11 OFF THE COAST OF ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 11:14:27 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
6.1 2010/02/28 11:25:34 MAULE, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 11:50:36 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 12:01:15 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 12:13:27 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.2 2010/02/28 12:18:59 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 13:47:06 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 14:50:33 OFF THE COAST OF VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 14:55:25 OFF THE COAST OF VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 15:26:55 MAULE, CHILE
5.2 2010/02/28 15:46:25 MAULE, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 18:19:53 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 18:44:31 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.9 2010/02/28 19:48:39 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 22:07:48 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 2010/02/28 22:41:29 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/02/28 23:45:06 MAULE, CHILE
5.1 2010/02/28 23:49:05 BIO-BIO, CHILE


17 SO FAR TODAY (AS OF 1:10 P.M. MOUNTAIN TIME)

5.0 2010/03/01 00:01:27 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.4 2010/03/01 01:10:58 MAULE, CHILE
5.8 2010/03/01 02:44:43 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.1 2010/03/01 03:07:51 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/03/01 03:15:51 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.2 2010/03/01 03:15:58 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
5.0 2010/03/01 03:53:16 ARAUCANIA, CHILE
5.2 2010/03/01 05:30:36 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.1 2010/03/01 06:16:12 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/03/01 06:24:59 SICHUAN-GANSU BORDER REGION, CHINA
5.3 2010/03/01 07:49:08 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.3 2010/03/01 08:58:34 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 2010/03/01 12:20:19 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.3 2010/03/01 12:27:16 LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.3 2010/03/01 14:36:30 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.2 2010/03/01 16:56:50 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 2010/03/01 17:23:33 OFF COAST OF LIBERTADOR O'HIGGINS, CHILE


Well, Chili, of course, gets the highest number at 125 earthquakes above 5.0 in one week
Japan comes in second at 9
Tonga in third place at 4
Indonesia and the Philippines tie for fourth place at 3 each
Guatemala, China, Argentina and the mid Atlantic all had 2
Iran, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Alaska, Taiwan, Afghanistan, Ecuador, Samoa, Kurit Island (wherever that is) and Xizang (never heard of it) all had one each.

Chili had 1 at 8.8, 1 at 6.9, 1 at 6.3, 1 at 6.2, 2 at 6.1 and 3 at 6.0 (and a whole lot of 5.somethings)
Japan had 1 at 7.0
Argentina had 1 at 6.3
The rest were in the five point something range.

Significant earthquakes this year:

Magnitude 7.0 HAITI REGION January 12, 2010
Magnitude 5.9 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA February 04, 2010
Magnitude 6.9 CHINA-RUSSIA-NORTH KOREA BORDER REGION February 18, 2010
Magnitude 7.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN February 26, 2010
Magnitude 8.8 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE February 27, 2010

That’s pretty crazy stuff for sure.

All’s quiet on the Utah front.

And now, to shake things up a bit, some local family news:

Primary Children’s Hospital called and said Jennifer will most likely not need surgery so we will have to try and get her back to good health by other means. What those other means are I don’t know yet. Appointments with a few other doctors will tell us more (I hope).
The rest of the week was same old same old. I did have a meeting with the Republican Party on Thursday night to plan for the changing of the guard as we re-elect precinct chairs for the next 2 years. Hard to believe I have been doing this for 2 years. Most of the meeting was spent in training us how to run our meetings and make the elections go smoothly. We did have a few things to vote on but the same dumb thing happens every time. They have a few simple rule changes or clarifications and someone proposes that we combine them all and vote on them together to save time, then a few others disagree on which ones to combine so we end up taking longer to vote on the 4 or 5 roles in groups than if we had voted on them separately. They finally decided to send them back to committee to make them clearer. I thought they were clear enough and we should have voted on each one and been done with it. Crazy how inefficient a large group can be when giving people a chance to express their opinions before voting.
Saturday Michelle picked up my snowshoes (Christmas and Birthday combined) as she was out and about so I will now have to head up in the mountains and try them out before spring gets any warmer. Hopefully we will have another good snowstorm soon.
My store sometimes gets rid of 2 or 3-day-old Lion House rolls. The employees can buy them very cheep but you know how good bread like that can get old fast. We have a hard time eating them up sometimes when I bring them home because they are so dry. Well, I figured out a good way to use them. I cut each roll into 4 slices then make mini French toast out of them (and sometimes grilled cheese sandwiches); they are really good. Alicia said she didn’t know what she was going to make for dinner Sunday so I suggested we have a breakfast for dinner and I could make up a pan of mini French toast. They all agreed so we had beacon, juice, eggs, hash browns and French toast. Tami made some strawberry crapes for dessert and it was way good. Well, that’s it from our house to yours. I’m thinking we all need to start singing the song – Don’t Rock the Boat Baby to the earth. Wow, these are crazy times.
Ken and clan



Nathan and Paige:
Nathan called and said he has been busy over the last few days moving to a new location. He also said things are a bit slow due to weather. That's about all I can say about that. Paige is still growing. Not too many more months and there will be another hungry mouth to feed in the family.



Chad, Alicia and Spencer
Chad is always busy with school but he is doing great. Alicia is going to the spa regularly and Spencer is still growing and is fun to be around.



Brian:
Brian is doing homework and more homework. He is correcting other students papers as part of his class and his message to all mothers out there is make sure your kids can write a decent paper by the time they get to college.



From Elder Fortie:
Well my new companion is enjoying his first week in the area. He thought he was going to die for a day or so, but once one gets used to it and you realize they don't ever really bother us missionaries, then you are just fine and you don't worry any more. Me this is all I've known my whole mission, so to me, I don't know any better haha!
But this week we have been trying to find ways to get the zone back up on it's feet, we find they seem to be burned out, and so we're looking to do a re-charge, our options are limited, but we're seeing what we can do. (dad you had a nice idea with serving kids in hospitals but unfortunately due to our legally complex and law suit happy culture we are not allowed to do any type of service with children... stupid world is making things so complicated you can't even be nice without having a high powered lawyer to back you up.) So we are looking for other ways to unify and get them going. I had a cool experience in that our mission does a fireside once a month in Spanish, where recent converts tell their stories to investigators of how they came to believe in the church, and yours truly is the one in charge of them because President Wade doesn't speak Spanish. So I am the next best thing (yeah, pretty bad second place haha) to president Wade that they've got, so I conduct and run the fireside every month and teach the audience of usually around 100-200 people about our church, and as I was closing the fireside this Sunday I challenged everyone in the audience to be baptized and was bearing testimony about the church and it just felt really good. Afterwards this one guy came up to me and asked me if he could talk to me. He said he felt the spirit while I was talking and wanted to be baptized. I challenged him to be baptized March 28th, and he said he would try because he would have to get married first. He doesn't live in our zone, so I will likely never see him again, but it was cool to see my testimony reach out to someone like that.
We're working with a couple great people right now that are all on the verge of being baptized, but there's just some little obstacle beyond our control on all of them which is just putting a damper on things, but we're trying to work through it and find ways to help them get going.
Well I hope you are all doing well, sorry I don't have much time to write this week. Hope you all can keep on smiling!
Love,
Elder Fortie



Michelle:
Michelle has been busy with work and homework. She had Friday off of school, so she went out with friends, and then had breakfast with friends Saturday morning and then went to a movie with Jennifer and Alicia to a movie in the afternoon and then babysat Spencer Saturday night then wasn’t ready for school on Monday morning and was up at 4:30 to get homework done before school started. Silly teenagers, she was late to school and then found out the assignment wasn’t due until Wednesday. Bad day.



Jennifer:
Jennifer did her usual – school and work. She had Friday off and worked and played. She went to the movie on Saturday with Michelle and Alicia and then worked.