Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

Congressional Candidate Lieutenant Colonel Allen West

Oo-wee! Talk about a motivator.

first snow

Yesterday we received the first snow fall of the season. Zayne was enthusiastic and ran outside to play. I got a kick out of watching the joy he exuded in his play. The best part was when on one the kittens got up on the table and attacked a snowman. Sorry, no picture of the attack.

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

I know that My Redeemer lives. This message is so true and for everyone at anytime in their lives.

first egg

Is that not a beautiful picture? Its our first egg from our hens. This past August we bought 7 immature hens and one rooster and had a fun time with the kids building a chicken coop. We knew multiple eggs were just around the corner.

As we made our way around that chicken corner we found that we had 6 roosters and 2 hens. Let me first say that you cannot tell the sex of an immature chicken, but it would have been nice to, for 6 roosters battling it out to be the loudest at 3 a.m. is not a pleasant thing to experience every morning.

To make the story short, 5 of those roosters are now eagle food. A local man has a blind eagle that he has been caring for for 30 years, and fortunately we could help in the food area a bit. We added 4 more hens to the roost, bringing the total up to 6 hens and one rooster, and we get 2 - 3 eggs a day. Hopefully more will follow as the new hens adjust to their new home.

After laboring to set up a home for the chickens, taking daily care of them, (or rather making sure the kids do), and awaiting that very first egg, watching our son walk proudly down the path to our home with the first egg has a certain amount of satisfaction.

Chia Obama TV Commercial

I've ordered mine already. Have you?

PJTV: Obama's Plot Against The Doctors

ushering a new world order

Obama will tell reporters that the G-20, comprised of 19 industrial and emerging-market countries plus the European Union, will supplant the smaller Group of Eight nations, G-8, as the go-to group for solving the world's economic ills.

"This decision brings to the table the countries needed to build a stronger, more balanced global economy, reform the financial system, and lift the lives of the poorest," the White House said in a statement. Contents from:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/25/obama-announce-expansion-global-cooperation/

Really think about the White House Statments means.

Greg Walden: Let the sun shine in

Wow. Wouldn't that be remarkable if our representatives actually read the bills that vote on.

obama's speech to the un

"Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges," Obama said, in his first speech as president to the U.N. General Assembly. "If we are honest with ourselves, we need to admit that we are not living up to that responsibility."

Obama cited issues such as terrorism, long-running conflicts, nuclear proliferation, climate change, poverty and pandemic disease, then added: "The magnitude of our challenges has yet to be met by the measure of our action."

Obama said Iran and North Korea "must be held accountable" if they continue to ignore international nuclear weapons treaties.

"If the governments of Iran and North Korea choose to ignore international standards; if they put the pursuit of nuclear weapons ahead of regional stability and the security and opportunity of their own people; if they are oblivious to the dangers of escalating nuclear arms races in both East Asia and the Middle East -- then they must be held accountable," Obama said. http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/23/obama.un/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

The U.S. shouldn't be pursuing world order agendas at a time when we have economic unrest at home. Who would the UN expect to bankroll every action? Us of course. I see this as a lead into entangling treaties, controlling carbon emissions, more or less forcibly taking America's wealth, "sharing" it abroad as well as subjecting our country to international law which undercuts our constitution and sovereignty. Yeah, I know I am a nut job; I read too much between the lines.

loaded question

Here is a question that I found on a Virginian, 7th grade, SOL Test. This is the the state's "Standards of Learning" test, that as I recall, all children in public education are required to take every other year.


5. A _______ was a forward-thinking person who wanted to make American society better.
? Procrastinator
? Proponent
? Progressive
? Protagonist

Does anyone find this question a bit loaded? It in essence says that anyone who opposed the Progressives were backward-thinking and wanted to harm American society. The Progressives did some good things, such as the child labor laws, but overall, they caused more harm to our form of government, individual rights, state rights and economy. They are the ones that really forced the notion that the individual, you and me, need to sacrifice for the common good. The legislation of morality of the Temperance Movement brought to you by the Progressives, Income Tax - Progressives, The Federal Reserve - Progressives. I came across the quote below which is attributed to Woodrow Wilson. It doesn't sound like something that a former president would say, but it points out the gross error of the Federal Reserve.

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the civilized world no longer a Government by free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." -Woodrow Wilson, after signing the Federal Reserve into existence

Good old Teddy started it by his "Trust Busting," and punishing successful businesses. Being successful and wealthy is not greedy, but somewhere around this time it became so. Sigh. I am too tired to expound more, but undoubtedly will later.

Here's a link if you want to see the former test online.

http://www.iq.poquoson.org/7socst/progressiveera/7progressiveera06tlm.htm

9.12 march observations and thoughts

I would like to thank our Senator Jeff Merkley for inspiring me to become a more politically involved citizen. Like many citizens I would passively follow the activities of our government, call my representatives only if I was extremely against certain legislation, or yell at my TV while watching the news, but mostly the later. After the August La Grande town hall meeting it became apparent that Senator Merkley was going to vote in favor of nationalized health care, as well as the Waxman- Markey bill, (Cap and Trade), regardless of his constituent’s arguments against them. Due credit needs to be given to him for listening politely and patiently to his constituent’s comments and questions, yet, I left feeling frustrated and helpless to halt some of these drastic changes to our free economy and our personal sovereignty. I am a nobody in the world of politics. I have don’t have powerful connections or deep pockets to have any pull whatsoever. Nor am I an intellectual, a good writer or an orator to be persuasive in those venues. What can little ol’ me do alone? I know that I am not alone in feeling that way. Two days after the town hall meeting I was online trying to learn about the varying issues when I came across the Tax Payers March on Washington D.C. which took place last Saturday. I felt compelled to go. I could go and be one more body to stand and show our joint opposition to the ever increasing size and reach of government, ridiculous spending and most of all our representatives ignoring “We the People.”

What happened on 9.12 was amazing. There assembled the largest gathering of people calling for government fiscal responsibility in the nation’s capital. I heard someone refer to this crowd as the sleeping giant that had awoken. I lived in the D.C. area for four years and I had never seen so many “normal” people there. Home-town USA had come to Washington and were demanding to have their voices heard. Marching up Pennsylvania Avenue to the capital were neighbors, grandparents, and the workers of our country who do the 9-5 to put food on the table, of all races; just everyday folk. These were people that personally sacrificed money and time away from work and family to be there. They were not extreme or angry. On the contrary, I have never seen such a well behaved, massive crowd. People were polite and friendly with one another. Everyone respected the police’s request to stay off the mall, so people had to gather on the side streets around the capital and mall. They even took care of most of their trash which is remarkable. Smiles abounded everywhere as they realized that there were hundreds of thousands of people that cared for their country the way that they did. I did not see any radical elements to this crowd. One attendee near the back told me that she saw a few disrespectful, far- reaching groups who were “conveniently” located near the media cameras.

Now for exercising our freedom of speech we are called ignorant and racist. I agree that we all should have stood up years ago, and I can respect some of the opposing points of views, but accusing citizens of racism because they disagree with a president who happens to be black is not only lazy and slanderous, but it is a devious attempt to change the focus from the real issue. Such an accusation used frivolously cheapens its use for when it is actually needed, for racism does still exist. It also pushes back the ground that was gained by men and women, both black and white, in this country who fought real racism with their feet by marching peacefully and those that bleed and died in a civil war for freedom. Our nation should be beyond this subject but there are those people that keep pointing out our differences when those differences shouldn’t matter. Martin Luther King instructed us not to judge another man by any other means than “by the content of his character.” The majority of Americans were raise with this ringing in their ears and hearts. Yet, it looks like some haven’t learned this lesson. Besides, the march last week was not an anti-Obama rally but rather a cry for stopping big government and representatives not listening to “We the People.”

Despite the false portrayals of the purposes and numbers of marchers, the 9.12er’s message sent to Republicans and Democrats is clear that we want less government and more freedom.

Tea Party Confidential: Live From the September 12 Taxpayer March on Washington

Reason.tv seemed to give a fair assessment of the 9.12 march.

Many might find these statistics interesting since the AMA has come out in support of the proposed heath care reform. The AMA represents only 18% of physicians and some might say that percentage is high. To read full article go to http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=506199

Tim Hawkins - The Government Can

Can I hear an Amen on this one!

i am a roadie now

After of years of being a devoted follower of mountain biking I decided to try road biking. I have always disliked riding on the road because I felt so slow and mountain bikes are not ergonomically dialed in for staying in the same position for hours on end. Today was my first ride on my new road bike and I can say that I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The best part was the scenery. Having a bike that is feather light isn't bad either.

taxation without representation

I could go off on a tirade how the national debt threatens the security of our nation but I am sure you have all had many conversations and monologues with similar word combinations leaving your mouths. Let me leave it at I am irate over what Washington is transforming our free, capitalistic society into. Our children have no say in this debt, well, neither do we, but they will be paying for the ill designs and stupidity of the Republicans and Democrats; thus taxation without representation. What are they thinking? What was their purpose of running us into this inconceivable debt? How can we recover from this?

A Father Indeed

Happy Father's Day!

Let Us Be Men

This is for all the men in my life who so lovingly sacrifice for their family and especially for Dan who taught me how me about true love and sacrifice. This is for my Dad who somehow managed with his busy work schedule to be at almost all my games and events. Now that I am an adult I realize how difficult it can be to give of one's time. You amaze me Dad.

berry pickers

Yes, those are beautiful, luscious strawberries and they smell and taste as good as they look. We were surprised at the amount that we pulled out of the patch. There are too much to eat right off so we are freezing them for one of our favorite snacks, smoothies.

Harvesting food out of our own garden (well almost our own) was quite fullfilling and cleaning up these strawberries, even with all their imperfections, was more enjoyable than the store bought kind. Least you imagine a too picturesque of an image of a happy family blissfully picking plump, juicy berries let me tell you about all the slug foam that was everywhere. It was really gross having it all over my hands and arms, but fortunately the little slimers left most of the strawberries alone.

Yesterday was a memorable day for it was the first day that we planted a family garden on our own property. Well, it technically is not our property yet, but the people that we are buying our house from asked us if we wanted to get a head start on the garden since we won't close on the house until June 30th. Don and Janet, the current owners, are incredible people. Janet was out in the garden most of the day with us eager to help out whenever she saw we needed help. Indeed, it was good that she was there to give us tips on how they had layed out their garden with the drip irrigation and how to work the different watering zones with the computerized timer. Whew. Such a system will save hours in watering time as well as water for it only waters where a small drip hole is in the watering line. Hopefully this leads to less weeds.This is a view of the garden behind the house. On the left side you can see a bit of the orchard that is three years old. We planted five rows of corn, tomatoes, beets, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, various peppers, peas, melons, various squashes and of course pumpkins. We still have three and a half empty rows in which to plant more. The kids had a fun time driving the tractor to till up the soil and planting the seeds and plants, though hauling out rocks wasn't their favorite thing of the day.

Between Zayne and the barn is the perennial garden area, in which we have blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currents, grapes, rhubarb and asparagus.

Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time

MY SONG IN THE NIGHT from THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR

This video will give you a warm fuzzy.

pics of trip to Sunriver, OR

Mormon Ad - Homefront - Swashbuckler

My children and I loved this little flick and they had to watch it several times. It is so true; our children just want time with us. A few years ago we had a family reunion in Southern California and spent days at the various amusement parks. While that was fun and memorable I thought it interesting when I asked Joshi and Zayne later what was their favorite part of the trip. Their answer came quickly; playing with us and the cousins at the beach and at the pool. Huh. We could have saved a lot of money by playing at the beach and pool all week.

Daniel Hannan MEP: The devalued Prime Minister of a devalued Government

Wow. Listening to Dan Hanna's speech makes me think, "What the hell are we doing following England's socialistic lead and spending money that we don't have?" Does anyone else feel disinfranchised? Its as if a minority of folks have highjacked my country and are changing her course to their personal destination and the majority of us don't want to go there.

The first time I heard that some people did not view members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints as Christians was when I was a teenager and that concept seemed unreal and almost comical to me. Christ is the author of our faith, the corner stone of the church, our Savior and Redeemer. Everything we do revolves around Him, so that thinking was not logical to me. As a twenty year old I was lucky enough to travel around Europe and the Middle East. At one point I flew on a small chartered flight from Rome to Israel with a large group of American non-denominational Christians touring Christianity’s historical sites. It felt comforting to be around so many openly Christian people once again and I quickly found myself in enthusiastic conversations with them about our Savior and His gospel. Naturally it came out that I was a “Mormon” and as soon as it did the main reverend, who sat behind me, changed his demeanor from friendly to a pouncing tiger. A scriptural and here say attack on my faith ensued. I really didn’t mind and enjoyed the opportunity to share my beliefs. I understood that many of my beliefs may seem different to others at first but knew they are at the core of Biblical Christianity and as a good seminary student, compliantly and peacefully I countered his points with scriptures. Finally out of frustration he said, “It doesn’t matter. You Mormons aren’t even Christians!” At that point I had no peaceful rebuttal. I was shocked. Me, not Christian? What were we just talking about for the last two hours? What was my whole life about? Speechlessly I turned around and cried to myself. People can say what they want about Joseph Smith, our belief in modern revelation, prophets, temples, etc, but to say that I was not Christian struck something within me that had never been hit. It was the first time someone had deeply hurt my feelings with their attacks on my beliefs. After composing myself and praying that I could speak with the Spirit, I turned around to face my brother in Christ and tell him that I knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, our Creator, His Savior, my Savior, everyone’s Savior and my friend. In everything I do I try to remember and emulate His teachings. Our Church bears His name, The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Days Saints, and He is our head and leader. The Book of Mormon is another Testament of CHRIST and every page of the book attests to that. It is written to bring people to Him. I then handed him a church magazine with some words from one of our Apostles addressing the World Conference of Religion and laying out our beliefs. Shaking inside and hoping it wasn’t visible, I turned back around and sat silently. I felt like a vulnerable baby. I never knew I was so sensitive. Behind me I heard various southern accents saying, “Oh, Reverend . . . . , you hurt that poor girl’s feelings. You need to apologize!” After a few minutes he did so and we continued our conversations, but in a more subdued fashion. That experience has always stayed with me for it was the first time that I had to stand up and be counted as a Christian to another Christian. Since then, if the non-Christian accusation is made I do not break down into a blubbery mess, but my message is still the same; Christ is my Redeemer and Exemplar; everything about me and our faith should point to my belief in Him.

We are all God’s children, thus spiritual siblings and should treat each other with such respect. My Christian friends of various sects and friends with no set religion inspire me and have changed my life for the better in ways that only people inspired by God can. They give me a new perspective and we strengthen each other in our resolve to seek for what is good. We Christians or people any religion and regardless of ideological differences, need to band together to speak out the causes of good and righteousness in our society. Separately our voices may be strong, but united they can be an unsurpassable wall to stem the tide of evil and indifference in our society.

Mormon Messages: Elder Gary J. Coleman - Are We Christians?

Invader Zim Happy Happy Joy Joy

For those of you who have not introduced your children to the "Happy Happy Joy Joy" song by Ren and Stimpy here's a good clip of it. I realized I would sing the song skiing or during some other happy occassion with them not know of its origin. Amazingly there is not a decent clip of Ren and Stimoy singing the clip themselves on YouTube. Maybe those of you with too much time on your hands can post one for us demented folks.

reluctant acceptance

On an early morning bike ride this morning I felt that I finally had to come to grips with what I have been trying to deny for the past week or so; spring is on its way. Typically I am eager for warmer weather to enhance my winter biking experiences, yet this year I have shunned such thoughts in hopes for an elongated skiing season; maybe that is because I have not really biked much at all. Who knows. This ski season has been so enjoyable for many reasons, some of which are: we didn't ski last season while we were living in Virginia and are happy to be back on the slopes, the children are skiing more aggressively thus we do not wait as much, plus Dan got me some really gnarly skis and bindings that allow me to hike up mountains and shred down anything my confidence allows me. This morning I had to acknowledge the warm(ish) breeze that made me shed my multiple clothing layers, the birds chirping and the geese making their way back north. My reluctant acceptance made me stop my scowling at those threatening green knobs of the tulips and lilies in my yard. Let those perky snow killers come. It is always winter in July in land of Argentina.

Obama's Elf

This is gauranteed to bring a wee smile to your face.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf - CREATE

The message of Pesident Uchtdorf from last General Conference speaks to me for I am one who considers herself not creative. Yet, he reminds us that creativity is not soley based on what we considered creative arts. We all do have a part of us that desires to create something that wasn't there before. I felt that Saturday night as I admired my awkwardly arranged bouquette of flowers that my husband sweetly gave me. The flowers were not organized in a fashion that would be presentable from a florist's perspective, but hey, I did it. I took some random flowers and arranged them a in better presentaion. All in all, I loved President Uchtdorf's whole talk, and here is a snip-it of it.

Saturday was a day of firsts for Zayne. He had his first slalom ski race. He did great and didn't even miss any gates. Then Dan took the family out to Haines Steak House for Valentines Day dinner where he had his first T-bone steak, 20 ounces. He ate about half of it after eating two meals worth of food from the salad bar. He finished the rest of it for breakfast. I think Dan was proud of his little carnivore son.

Zayne's a winner and how skiing is work

Zayne was so proud to receive first place for the Scouts Pinewood Derby tonight. Yeah Zayne! Dan's hard work paid off.
I haven't done any posting for awhile. I know you all must be "pining" for my updates. In short, this is what we've been up to since November: holidays trips, homeschooling, skiing, visiting family in Utah, loving being with family, homeschooling, skiing, looking at houses, getting frustrated looking at houses, homeschooling, skiing, looking at lots, getting frustrated at the lack of lots, homeschooling, skiing, selling some of our Poodles, homeschooling, skiing and not much else.

Ah. . . the joy of frolicking through fresh fallen frosty flakes brings me such peace and exhileration at the same time. Since the skiing season began I feel that there is more sunshine beaming into our lives as it is one of our favorite family past times. I must admit that skiing on weekdays was one of the reasons we opted to homeschool. The children and I have even started XC skiing which has been interesting. After taking Zayne for the first time he stopped after 20 minutes and panted, "I thought this was going to be fun, but this is work." Hopefully they will stick with it.
Devon Zayne, Dan and Joshi at Alta
Devon getting to know his local snow.

Playing with the cousins in Deer Valley
Joshi