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As I sit here in my office on Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas there is literally hail coming down the size of grapes. Pretty impressive considering I live in a dust bowl, with a collection of sand mixed in. I have been here in El Paso for the past year and a half and have never seen it hail at all. Something new today. Just to give you a run down of my life let me start by saying it has been quite a ride.

I was born in Salinas, CA on September 18, 1970 to William Edward Porter and Janet Yvonne Heard Porter as their second son. I was born into the LDS Church and have been a member all my life. I great most all of my younger years until the age of almost 17 in California. Living in Salinas, Mountain View, San Jose, and Gilroy, CA. My teenager years in California where spent mostly in Gilroy, CA. Right before I turned 17 my family moved to Orem, Utah where I finished my last two years of High School at Mountain View High School.

After high school I prepared to go on a church mission. I went looking for a job from north Orem to north Provo to work at Wendy's where I met my future wife, Tiffany Ann Jacobson. Wow!! That is all I can say. We fell in love that summer, only one thing stood in the way and that was that I wanted to fullful a full time mission for the LDS church. So in June of 1989 right after my senior year of high school I recieved a mission call to the Seoul West, South Korea mission. I left October 4, 1989 to fulfill that responsibility. Those two years where the most important two years of my life. What an awesome experience. Hard but awesome! When I returned from my mission I started dating Tiffany again. We where engaged two months later and two month after that on January 2, 1992 we where married and sealed together for time and all eternity. We have been married for almost 19 wonderful years. As normal we have had our own trials and struggles but we stay strong in knowing we where meant for each other.

After being married for 6 months we found out that Tiffany was pregnant. (Interesting story- ask me about it I will share it with you individually) I went in the next week and joined the active duty for 4 years leaving October 15, 1992 to go to basic training. I wasn;t able to live with Tiffany again until July '93 after finishing that training. In March 1993 Scott (currently 17 1/2 years old) was born.  I missed the birth but I arrived a few hours afterward and of course cried when I held my son in my arms. What an amazing experience. My first duty assignment was at Ft. Huachuca, Sierra Vista, AZ. We loved the area and the dry climate. Jessica (currently 15 1/2) came into our family. After two years in AZ, I was sent to Korea for a year hardship tour. It actually was only 10 months due to the fact I got out of active duty and went into the Utah National Guard and worked in a civilian job for a few years. I worked as a Deputy Sheriff in Utah County for 3 years during which time William (currently 10 1/2) came into our family. (don't worry I cried when each of my kids came into the world. The Utah National Guard had a full time opening so I left the Utah County Sheriff's Department and went full time with the Guard. About 6 months after the move Jaden (Currently 8 1/2) came into our family. I felt that as I was going to stay military I better get a better retirement so I went through Officer Candidate School (OCS). I completed that training right before Ryan (Currently 7) joined our family. Let me just stop and say that I think pregnant women, especially my wife are just amazingly beautiful. Something about it. So I had a few month after my OCS completion to revert back to my Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) rank until I went to my Officer Basic Course (OBC). My course didn't start until January, but due to my Grandfather's passing who served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, I wanted to give the flag to my Grandmother. So I took my commission and was able to present my grandmother with the flag. That was a great experience as well, and I remember being so nervous. I wanted it to be just right.

I went to OBC and after those 4 1/2 months I was sent to Charlottesville, VA for 4 years to work for the Army on full time orders at a Strategic Facility. While in Virginia our caboose Emma (Currently 4 1/2, do not say for or she will correct you) came into our family. In January 2008 my National Guard unit pulled me back to Utah to prepare for a deployment to Afghanistan. I returned to my family 13 1/2 months later in Virginia and requested to go on active duty full time status. In May '09 I drove from VA to El Paso, Texas to join the 1st Armored Division. I have been here for a year and a half. Interesting that during this last year I was called into the Bishopric and then made Bishop May 30, 2010. It has been quite a ride especially the last almost 6 months.

I have been thoroughly blessed in my life and give all the glory to my Heavenly Father. I will write more later but wanted to start by telling you about my 40 years of life. I am sure there will be many other posts. Till next time.