I have worked my way through the particle sample provided by Microsoft.  I must say, it was far easier than I thought.  In fact, it is really quite simple to understand.  I will be incorporating it into the game soon.  There is one consideration that I will have to take into account.  When the particle emitter is not in an allowed distance of the viewing frustrum, then I shouldn't update draw any of the items.  Of course, I will have to draw and update those emitters that are close enough where their particles could potentially be in view.

 

Also, when the player gets close enough to an emitter, even it most likely won't be drawn, I will be updating the emitters particles so that when the emitter does enter the view frame, it won't look weird.  If I just start updating the emitter when in view, then particles will only be a short distance from the emitter and the image won't look authentic.

 

Look to CodePlex for updates soon.