this is gonna be short. i went to hamilton montana on wednesday and spent the day with bob gingrich jr. and his wife deb. he took me out to see the largest live, wild deer in my life. it was mind blowing. i then went over to stan and onita gingrich's house for supper and to spend the night. it was great getting to know the people who had been such good friends of my parents and grandparents. in the morning i went over to bob sr.'s house and he took me around the town and to where my parents used to live and we had pizza and then got to see some more huge bucks. then i went back to stans for the evening and we played a few intense rounds of dice and "three's" the next moring i went on a wonderful hike up mill creek, and i layed down in the water upon recieving a dare from bob jr who said i wouldnt do it. i only had my rolled up jeans on and it was one of the dumbest/coldest things i have ever done- in part because i jumped in with my cell phone in my pocket, but we arent going to talk about that anymore. i then got to go fourwheeling with stan and he took me up in the mountains to look for elk but, surprise, there werent any. we then came back and i went over to bob jr.'s and had a slice of the largest pizza i have ever seen and got to be formally introduced to kayla and we had a great evening and then stayed up till 1:15 watching music videos on TVU wich was really fub. then i returned to brady and we went to church and played games that evening and im now leaving in the morning.

so, (most) good things must come to an end i suppose. it really is kind of saddening and shocking to realize that this will be my last post for my wonderful trip out west. nearly all of my expectations have been exceeded and i am so thankful for all of these great people in my life that were more than willing to take me in for a week or two (or three- tom and deb:)). it was such a wonderful experience and i will never forget the experiences and the people i got to meet and the ones that i got to know better. i have learned a lot about myself and others and i wouldnt trade my experiences for the world. i really believe that i have become a better person from this trip and that this trip has been a stepping stone for me into my future, wherever God may lead. again i cant say enough about all of the people that made this trip a reality and a blessing to me. wether it was uncle jon maturing me into a seasoned combat fisherman, or aunt donna taking me to shaw island, or uncle chris taking me on that amazing dive in the pacific or aunt frances handing me a BART ticket and saying "go downtown", or the homeless guy i talked to in san fran when i eventually did make it downtown, or tom exploding my lungs in an effort to find an elk, or deb spontaneously arranging a three day trip to hamilton in a few hours, or jay grubb showing me where my dad used to hang out (and also refusing to release any dirt on my dad), or drew for taking me hunting, or stan and onita who took me in in a heartbeat and played dice and "three's" with me, or bob jr. who dared me to jump in mill creek and had me over for dinner with him with his two wonderful kids, levi and kayla, or shea, levi and his friend that stayed up with me and discussed bands and who was good, or bob sr. and his wife who took me out for pizza, or tell for assisting me in catching my first ever wild trout, or ryan and carl for supplying the four wheelers to go up one of the mountains in search for elk, or all of the pople praying for me, they all played a vital role in this being the most memorable and constructive trip i have ever been on. theres more to say but i cant really put into words so thank you to everyone who has kept up on this journal and has left comments. this is jon, signing off for the last time.

God bless,

:)